Farooq Tirmizi

Farooq has worked for the past 12 years in financial services and financial journalism, both in Pakistan and the United States. He has worked in asset management in Pakistan, learning the ropes of the mutual fund industry, including its failure to market itself and provide adequate services to its prospective clientele. He then became the youngest chief financial correspondent of any major Pakistani publication when, aged 24, he led and shaped the team at The Express Tribune, the Pakistani affiliate of The New York Times global edition, building a reputation for credibility and becoming an essential voice trusted to analyze and comment on Pakistani capital markets for the last decade.

In the United States, he worked at a large alternative asset manager ($35B in total AUM, $5B in emerging and frontier markets), serving as their analyst on Pakistan and Bangladesh equities. He moved to a consulting firm, advising private equity clients such as TPG, Carlyle, Welsh Carson, and KKR on over 80 transactions valued at over $35 billion. In the process, he helped triple the size of the PE advisory business over three years, demonstrating intracompany entrepreneurial ability.

Farooq holds a BSFS degree from Georgetown University and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame.