Sharmila (Shar) Kassam has joined the newly formed Nasdaq Asset Owner Solutions as Chief Operating Officer (COO). In this position, she will be responsible for connecting with institutional investors around the world to grow the solution’s client base and further pursue Nasdaq’s mission of helping institutional investors achieve their investment objectives through innovative technology and insights.
Nasdaq Asset Owner Solutions combines institutional data from eVestment with multi-asset class portfolio analytics from Solovis to provide the insights, support and transparency asset owners need to meet their investment objectives. Kassam joins at an important growth phase of the solution suite and she will be reporting to Ron Pruitt, Solovis President and CEO.
“Nasdaq Asset Owner Solutions provides a single platform that delivers pre- and post-investment data, portfolio analytics and true multi-asset class portfolio reporting,” says Lauren Dillard, Executive Vice President and Head of Investment Intelligence, Nasdaq. “Nasdaq is committed to serving asset owner community with data and technology. We are excited to bring Shar on board as we continue to listen to our clients and evolve the suite of solutions.”
Kassam joins with a wealth of experience in institutional investing and a unique asset owner perspective garnered from years of leadership positions at institutional investors, investment business think tanks and on investment firm board seats. Most recently, she served as executive director of the AIF Institute, an independent economic think tank focusing on institutional investment policy. Kassam also served as the Deputy Chief Investment Officer for the Employees Retirement System of Texas. There she led investment planning and strategy by co-managing a nearly USD30 billion multi-asset class portfolio. She served that organisation for more than 11 years in positions of increasing responsibility, including serving on the investment committees and conducting due diligence for manager recommendations in public equity, private equity and hedge funds.
“The launch of Nasdaq Asset Owner Solutions creates tremendous opportunity for investors to have better insights, technology and more transparency across asset classes, ESG and DEI as they work to make the best decisions for their stakeholders,” says Kassam. “I am excited to join the team and continue to expand on the solutions that were uniquely designed for the asset owner community.”
Kassam holds a BBA in accounting with honours from the University of Texas at Austin and a JD from the University of Texas Law School.
