Owais Ahmed
Chicago,IL
Summary
Multi-talented business leader bringing several years of experience as successful professional. Strategic problem solver and change manager. Visionary executive implements plans that meet current and future needs. Key expertise in industry. Creative and highly strategic with excellent leadership and client relations abilities. Professional and outgoing with success in building relationships and attracting new clients.
Forward-thinking professional with solid history of accomplishment in settings. Keep operations smooth and consistent to maintain company stability and sustainability. Articulate and personable leader with excellent program management, strategic planning, and operational oversight abilities.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
Work History
Custody Service Manager
Northern Trust
Chicago, USA
08.2022 - Current
- Consulting with clients, Relationship Managers and the Shared Service team regarding organizational delivery and solutions delivery to meet the evolving needs of North America (NA) Custody clients
- Building effective relationships with Relationship Managers (RMs), Shared Service Managers and NT support groups
- Generating, interpreting, and actioning Management Information Statistics (MIS) metrics; monitor key metrics for trends and act accordingly
- Ensure appropriate operational controls in order to manage and mitigate risk to Northern Trust
- Scheduling or supporting Quarterly Service Reviews, Due Diligence meetings, and other client meetings as required
- Responsible for management oversight of a client-facing global custody service team
- Responsible for the work and knowledge of each specific service team function including, Cash Management, Global Trade Servicing/Settlement, and Corporate Actions/Income support
- Resolves complex client service issues regarding cash management, trade generation and settlement, tax, income, and compliance issues
- Coordinate day to day operational needs with Northern Trust Partner areas, most notably Northern Trust’s Hedge Fund Administration group for which I manage the custody team for all of Northern’s Hedge Fund clients
- Ensures all trade breaks and account overdrafts are investigated and resolved in a timely manner
- Serve as a resource to ensure client issues are promptly resolved
- Coordinates the efforts of Northern Trust’s global operations teams to ensure the client’s needs are met
- Develop and retain client relationships by assisting in complex client issues
- Assists in the coordination of all service related issues: asset servicing, system applications, and client service-level agreements
- On-boards new clients by coordinating custody service and technology needs
- Responsible for assigning tasks to the team, organizes work-flows, sets short-term priorities, monitors all activity, and ensures timely and accurate completion of the work in accordance with client service deliverables
- Responsible for the risk management of the team, including the loss-due-to-error budget
- Oversaw two consecutive years of below budget losses for the team despite increasing customized processes and client growth
- Charged with creating and reviewing global processes/procedures, including the development and delivery of the department’s new-hire training program
- Responsible for creation and training of client-specific processes to meet individual client's unique requirements, ensuring proper risk management
- Responsible for providing ongoing coaching and development, as well formal biannual performance reviews to 12 direct reports
- Responsible for hiring, promotion and salary decisions
Vice President/Manager
Northern Trust
Chicago, USA
06.2007 - Current
- Operations Management, BAU, SLA Delivery and enhancing on Process Expertise
- Risk Management and Controls are maintained in compliance with accepted Policies and Procedures
- Adherence for the Bank’s stringent compliance standards and regulations requirements
- Reduced Operational risk incidents by 20% year over year through improved risk assessment protocols
- Migration and Training for the team
- Ensure Accurate and Timely reporting
- Partner with technology on the development and Enhancement of process and system
- Demonstrated success at identifying processes and complex systems, work with clients to streamline operations, establish goals and implement strategies to achieve those goals
- Have worked closely with various departments like Asset Coding, Asset Pricing, Corporate Action, IMLG, Security Lending, Fund Accounting, Trade & Settlements, Entitlements, Trade Order Entry and Reconciliation
- Have analysed business trends to effectively utilize resources and manage productivity to achieve agreed business SLA’s
- Relationship Management with offsite Consultants and Business Heads for smooth process efficiency
- Performance Management by conducting timely performance reviews and providing Performance Feedback
- Defining performance standards, conduct performance reviews, and handle salary administration for individuals and Managers
- Build professional relationship with business units to manage Day-to-Day business issues and future growth
- People Management and Recruitment
- Effectively handle the cross training of team members in sub-processes to reduce the Non-Production hours and to increase the ‘FTE utilization’
- Develop team and individuals, focusing on development and Skill Sets of direct reports
- To mentor, coach and guide the team, play an active role in managing Career Development on an individual basis
- Have always been People-Centric, willing to listen to concerns, inspire and motivate the team members by appreciating their work in daily devotionals and through rewards and recognition
- Controlled attrition levels with effective leave/absence management, employee motivation and retention
Loan Operations Manager
Northern Trust
Chicago, USA
06.2017 - 07.2022
- The Northern Trust Company facilitates new loan and custom loans for domestic clients in North American region designated as East, Central and West
- Mainly the clients are Wealth Management Clients and Corporate & Institutional Services
- Company generates revenue through interest and fees by providing various features to client to meet their daily business or personal requirement
- Loan operation is a process which undertakes the new loan booking, renewal/modification/amendment of existing loans, servicing, billing and reporting, as well as loan closing
- Funding and following procedures, working closely with the critical lending functions within a bank as defined in the service level agreement
- The team performs all the activities pertaining to a loan account from the inception to its closure
- (Commercial loans, Retails loans, Participated & Syndicated Loans, Letter of Credits)
- Collaborating with Relationship Manager and participating in Client Call to outline the work flow from operations stand point
- Participated Loans - Issuance/Renewals of loans that are C&IS participated would require the establishment of New Accounts and maintenance of existing deals
- Participated FX Deals - The team cater to the requirements of our participated deals in the issuance of foreign exchange loans
- Northern Trust as a participant Bank disburse new funds, processes rollovers and re-allocation as well as receiving payments on foreign currency loans
- Syndicated Loans - Northern act as an Agent Bank
- Participant banks collaborates in the deal which is administered by Northern
- Completing funding requests for the clients
- Obtaining the portion of the funding from the participants
- Collecting payments/fee and distributing payments to the participant banks
- Bilateral Loans – Disburse funds directly to the client, pricing rates and options are provided at the time of pricing expiration
- Manual Fee Billing - A list of Bilateral Loans require detailed fee bill for accruing commitment and facility fees
- This detailed billing is through FIS system and its created manually
- Enterprise Relationship Management (eRM) – Fee cases involve making fee payments by debiting an internal Deposit Account or through other modes as preferred by the client
- Commitment cases would involve; Increase/Decrease of loan amount provided to the client
- Wire Transfer cases are originated by the front end to process the outgoing wire for the loan advances
- Check Request cases processed for payment overaged via check
- Identify Opportunities for improvement within Existing Technology applications while acting as a liaison with Partner areas to drive resolution
- Enhancing the automation by continuously working on the static data to reduce the manual work
- Application migration (ERM)- Enterprise Relation Management – (DSM) Digital Service Management, FileOnQ 6.1 version to 7.1 version, (FIS) – Fidelity National Information Services, Inc – (ACBS) – Advance Commercial Banking System prototype testing, NorthernImage to EDM – Enterprise Data Management and various other projects for the development of the process
Banking Operations Manager
Northern Trust Operating Services Pvt. Ltd.
, India
11.2013 - 01.2017
- Banking Operations provides services for wealth Management clients
- It is responsible for account set up and maintenance activities such as interest fee charge, Fee reversal, Service Charge, Mass Officer charge, Automated Transfer adjustments etc
- The Documentation team is responsible for the review of documents needed for new accounts and its maintenance
- Client Data Indexing is a process of tagging the documents in system, to be encrypted with accurate specific information for the client’s accounts for actionable and non-actionable purpose
- It provides service to both Wealth Management and C&IS clients
- Retained Assets (RAS) provides services to C&IS clients’ and its responsible for account set up, services Insurance companies by opening beneficiary accounts on behalf of our client
- In the event of death of the insurer, the claims are processed to these beneficiary accounts
- Corporate Liquidity Programme (CLP) provides services to C&IS clients and it’s offered to public and employed on behalf of corporate clients
- This programme offers investments and redemption options on the accounts
Data Management - Team Leader - Officer
Northern Trust Operating Services Pvt. Ltd.
, India
07.2007 - 08.2013
- Reference Data-Asset Coding is crux of all the activities in the bank
- In order to enable to be clearly identified during transaction processing and asset servicing each security is given its own unique reference identifier
- (ISIN, SEDOL, CUSIP and TICKER)
- Pricing is responsible for pricing all the securities in clients’ portfolios on a regular basis, by obtaining our prices from established pricing vendors (Bloomberg, Interactive Data, Euro Clear, FTS/FTS interactive, Telekurs & Reuters) in the market place
- We select an appropriate price available for each security held by our clients in accordance with applicable regulations as well funds pricing policy and governance documents
- Fund Board Reporting involves identifying assets which are price sensitive and reporting them to the fund’s Board of Directors
- There is certain amount of risk involved with assets like (Single Vendor, Non Vendor, Priced at Cost, Over the Counter Derivatives and Stale price) so the client should know how much risk they hold in these assets
- Fund Accounting Pricing reviews all the non-derivatives assets which have appeared as exceptions in system thus providing the correct prices to evaluate the client’s portfolio
- It involves investigating of tolerance level accuracy of prices projected by various vendors, if movement is valid sufficing with market news
- Anti-Money Laundering Have worked in project for AML – Anti Money Laundering by providing oversight to the operational team, which acts as the first line monitors and investigators of suspicious activity, ensure consistent and timely feedback on cases that have been escalated and manage the resolution of cases through internal and external communications
Finance Executive
SHA Constructions and Consortium Pvt. Ltd.
, India
08.2005 - 07.2006
- Company Overview: It’s one of the leading construction companies in Bangalore with the credit of having built both Commercial and residential complexes ranging from small to multimillion properties
- Manage full-sets of accounts
- Ensure Accurate and Timely reporting and assisting with MIS reporting to Management Team
- Ensure financial records are maintained in compliance with accepted Policies and procedures
- Prepare financial audit and co-ordinate Audit process
- Analyse expenses and Reconciliation of intercompany
- Prepare and ensure all companies are set-up with proper Accounting Records
- Coordinating and guiding the team with respect to accounting treatment
- Responsible for the functioning of the revenue function – Invoicing, collections, provisioning, credit memos
- It’s one of the leading construction companies in Bangalore with the credit of having built both Commercial and residential complexes ranging from small to multimillion properties
Customer Care Officer
Convergys India Services Pvt. Ltd.
, India
08.2004 - 08.2005
- Company Overview: It enables organizations worldwide to improve their business performance through relationship management, fostering improvement, solutions that optimize the everyday interactions between customers and employees
- Have been awarded the ‘Sprit Award’ for excellent ‘Customer Service’
- I have been part of the core team, who Successfully Completed pilot phase of the project
- Provided customer support for ‘HSBC Chase Manhattan’ - Credit Card Application Division and solve their queries on application
- Complete the Online Submission of the credit card applications, with the concurrence of the customer
- Up-Selling, Down-Selling and Cross-Selling of the products to the customers
- Achieved more than 80% sales with 100% Quality
- Well versed in US Accent, Linguistics, Phonetics, Intonation & ‘Program training’
- It enables organizations worldwide to improve their business performance through relationship management, fostering improvement, solutions that optimize the everyday interactions between customers and employees
Education
Project Management Professional (PMP) -
11.2024
Post-Graduation - Business Administration and Finance
Wigan and Leigh College
01.2007
Bachelor of Commerce -
Baldwin Methodist College
01.2004
Certificate - Information Technology
NIIT
Skills
- Operations Leadership
- Process Transitions
- Project Management
- Account Management
- Process Reengineering
- Client Engagement
- Scaling and Managing Service
- Risk and Controls
Positions
- Custody Service Manager, Northern Trust, Chicago, IL, 08/01/22, Present
- Loan Operations Manager, Northern Trust, Chicago, IL, 06/01/17, 07/31/22
- Banking Operations Manager, Northern Trust Operating Services Pvt. Ltd., India, 11/01/13, 12/31/17
- Data Management - Team Leader - Officer, Northern Trust Operating Services Pvt. Ltd., India, 07/01/07, 08/31/13
- Finance Executive, SHA Constructions and Consortium Pvt. Ltd., India, 08/01/05, 07/31/06
- Customer Care Officer, Convergys India Services Pvt. Ltd., India, 08/01/04, 08/31/05
Roles And Responsibilities
- Operations Management, BAU, SLA Delivery and enhancing on Process Expertise.
- Risk Management and Controls are maintained in compliance with accepted Policies and Procedures.
- Reduced Operational risk incidents by 20% year over year through improved risk assessment protocols.
- Migration and Training for the team. Ensure Accurate and Timely reporting.
- Partner with technology on the development and Enhancement of process and system.
- Demonstrated success at identifying processes and complex systems, work with clients to streamline operations, establish goals and implement strategies to achieve those goals.
- Have worked closely with various departments like Asset Coding, Asset Pricing, Corporate Action, IMLG, Security Lending, Fund Accounting, Trade & Settlements, Entitlements, Trade Order Entry and Reconciliation.
- Have analysed business trends to effectively utilize resources and manage productivity to achieve agreed business SLA’s.
- Relationship Management with offsite Consultants and Business Heads for smooth process efficiency.
- Performance Management by conducting timely performance reviews and providing Performance Feedback.
- Defining performance standards, conduct performance reviews, and handle salary administration for individuals and Managers.
- Build professional relationship with business units to manage Day-to-Day business issues and future growth.
- People Management and Recruitment. Effectively handle the cross training of team members in sub-processes to reduce the Non-Production hours and to increase the ‘FTE utilization’.
- Develop team and individuals, focusing on development and Skill Sets of direct reports.
- To mentor, coach and guide the team, play an active role in managing Career Development on an individual basis.
- Have always been People-Centric, willing to listen to concerns, inspire and motivate the team members by appreciating their work in daily devotionals and through rewards and recognition.
- Controlled attrition levels with effective leave/absence management, employee motivation and retention.
Timeline
Custody Service Manager
Northern Trust
08.2022 - Current
Loan Operations Manager
Northern Trust
06.2017 - 07.2022
Banking Operations Manager
Northern Trust Operating Services Pvt. Ltd.
11.2013 - 01.2017
Data Management - Team Leader - Officer
Northern Trust Operating Services Pvt. Ltd.
07.2007 - 08.2013
Vice President/Manager
Northern Trust
06.2007 - Current
Finance Executive
SHA Constructions and Consortium Pvt. Ltd.
08.2005 - 07.2006
Customer Care Officer
Convergys India Services Pvt. Ltd.
08.2004 - 08.2005
Project Management Professional (PMP) -
Post-Graduation - Business Administration and Finance
Wigan and Leigh College
Bachelor of Commerce -
Baldwin Methodist College
Certificate - Information Technology
NIIT
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