Meet Our People

Ricardo has over 25 years of financial and investment management experience. He led Callard, Madden & Associates through the creation of their asset management firm, which ultimately became Ativo Capital Management, LLC. He oversees all investment management activities at Ativo. Ricardo is responsible for establishing processes and procedures for stock valuation, financial modeling, and portfolio construction. Prior to founding Ativo, Ricardo held positions for financial institutions in Brazil and the United States, including Credit Lyonnais, Dorchester Capital and our predecessor firm, Callard, Madden & Associates. He serves on the Boards of Directors of New America Alliance, Inc. and NewbergerHillel Center at the University of Chicago and holds a bachelor’s degree in Business from the FundacaoGetulioVargas in Brazil and an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago.

Ram is a deputy CIO at Ativo. He joined the firm in 2005. Ram is also our director of research, working to continuously enhance the firm’s proprietary alpha model. Ram is involved in quantitative modeling, factor research, and overseeing our risk management framework. He holds a master’s degree in Financial Markets from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science & Engineering from JNTU, India. Ram is on the Board of Advisors of the investment club at IIT’s Stuart School of Business and co-chairs the school’s alumni organization.

Adan is a senior portfolio manager at Ativo. He joined the firm in 2006.  In addition, Adan is our head trader and, as such, has responsibility for all trading activity for the firm. Adan is a member of the CFA Society of Chicago’s Social Advisory Group. He has an undergraduate degree in Psychology from Rice University and an MBA in Finance from Loyola University.  Adan is a CFA^® charter holder and Certified FRM^®.

Athang supports the investment team by ensuring the accuracy of worldwide company financial data received from multiple data vendors. He is also responsible for creating and updating portfolio attribution reports. Athang holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Management, as well as an MBA from Dominican University. He was hired by Ativo as an intern in 2013, while completing his master’s degree, and became a full-time employee after two years.

Jeremy is responsible for supporting and producing reports for the investment team. He also manages strategy-specific information within pitchbooks, factsheets and RFPs. Prior to joining Ativo in 2017, he worked as a Google Street View trusted account manager at LCP360. Jeremy holds a bachelor’s degree in Information and Decision Sciences with a concentration in Management Information Systems and a minor in Business Analytics from University of Illinois at Chicago. He also passed Level I of the CFA ®program.

Michael is responsible for all institutional business development and client relations for the firm. Prior to joining Ativo in September 2005, he was Assistant Vice President at Bank of Ireland Asset Management and responsible for institutional client service. From 2000 to 2003 he was a Portfolio Analyst at Concord Asset Management and responsible for AIMR Performance and Presentation Standards compliance. From 1990 to 2000 he worked at Northern Trust and held a number of positions within their Large Corporate and Institutional Services division. He is Vice President of the Chicago chapter of the National Association of Securities Professionals (NASP) and he holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Loyola University and an MBA and a master’s in Finance from St. Xavier University – Chicago.

Shirley has been with Ativo since 2014, she oversees all aspects of the firm’s accounting operations, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, bank reconciliation, budgeting, financial statements, annual audit, and tax returns. She has more than 20 years of accounting and finance experience within the banking, investment, and education industries. Shirley earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Xiamen University, China and a master’s degree in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She received her CPA designation in 1997.

Jonathan joined Ativo in 2019. He oversees all aspects of operations at Ativo, including account reconciliation, reporting and performance measurement. Prior to joining Ativo, Jonathan worked at Milliman in their financial risk management department as an Operations Analyst, where he processed daily client money movements as well as reconciling intraday trades. Prior to Milliman, he worked at Northern Trust Company as a Senior Analyst and was responsible for executing mutual fund trades and trading support. Jonathan graduated from Chicago State University with a bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems.

Ram is a deputy CIO at Ativo. He joined the firm in 2005. Ram is also our director of research, working to continuously enhance the firm’s proprietary alpha model. Ram is involved in quantitative modeling, factor research, and overseeing our risk management framework. He holds a master’s degree in Financial Markets from the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science & Engineering from JNTU, India. Ram is on the Board of Advisors of the investment club at IIT’s Stuart School of Business and co-chairs the school’s alumni organization.

Kiat joined Ativo in 2005. He develops and maintains Ativo’s business applications based on the securities research methodologies developed by the investment team. He is also responsible for company-wide computer maintenance. Kiat holdsa bachelor’s degreein Computer Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology. After graduation, he  joined a process automation company as a software developer. He worked with pharmaceutical industry clients to design control system software used for the automation of their production plants. In 2018, Kiat received his MCSA on SQL Server.