Investments Built for the Storm

Salem Abraham is the President of Abraham Trading. Salem graduated cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in December 1987 with a bachelor's degree in finance. He began his investing career as a futures trader while still in college, using quantitative models to trade global futures markets beginning in 1987. Throughout his career, Salem has managed investments in stocks, bonds, options, derivatives, and private equity. He has held full membership seats at both the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade. His first investment experiences were shared with his grandfather, who employed him to buy and sell distressed minerals and ranches in the Texas Panhandle in the late 80s. In total, Salem has bought and sold more than 200,000 acres of land and resources. He manages investments in oil and gas properties, wind rights and residential, commercial, and agricultural real estate properties.

Salem has served on nonprofit investment boards for over 25 years. From 1995 to 2014, he served on the Amarillo Area Foundation Investment Committee. From 2004 to 2021, he served on the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Investment Committee. He assists with both large and small nonprofit endowments, with portfolios ranging from $1 million to over $4 billion in assets. His experiences with large and small institutional investors have provided insights into the unique mandates and challenges of managing foundation and endowment portfolios of all sizes. Salem started the Pickens-Abraham Foundation with T. Boone Pickens in 2008. The foundation provided college scholarships to accomplished graduating seniors in the Texas Panhandle. The investment strategy that Salem used for his part of the foundation was the inspiration for the Abraham Fortress Fund strategy. After Pickens' death, the Pickens-Abraham Foundation dissolved, and Salem's portion of the money became the Salem and Ruth Ann Abraham Foundation. The foundation provides education scholarships and donates to universities, family services, children's causes, and health services.

Salem has been featured in Michael Covel's books The Complete TurtleTrader and Trend Following. He has also appeared in Bloomberg Markets, Absolute Return, Barron's, Institutional Investor, and The New York Times.

Salem continues to lead the research efforts at Abraham Trading Company.

Check the background of our firm and our investment professionals on FINRA’s BrokerCheck : https://brokercheck.finra.org/

Ryan Barrett, Ph.D., serves as the Co-Portfolio Manager at Abraham Trading Company, bringing a unique blend of statistical expertise and innovative financial modeling skills to the team. Ryan earned his Ph.D. in Mathematical Sociology at Yale University, where cutting-edge research in machine learning and advanced statistical methods is at the forefront of his academic pursuits. This rigorous academic background is complemented by a Master of Arts in Statistics from Yale University and a Master of Science in Psychology from the University of Limerick. Ryan is also a registered Graduate Statistician (GStat) accredited by the American Statistical Association.

Before joining Abraham Trading, Ryan honed his skills as a quantitative analyst at a prominent asset allocator in Greenwich, CT. In this role, Ryan excelled in developing robust risk management strategies for a diverse range of investment portfolios, from individual stocks to complex funds of funds. This experience has equipped Ryan with a deep understanding of the intricacies and challenges inherent in diverse investment landscapes.

At Yale, Ryan has been at the forefront of integrating state-of-the-art statistical techniques with elements of financial theory to ground models in appropriate assumptions. This innovative approach has led to significant advancements in understanding market trends by avoiding overfitting. Instead, Ryan forces complex models to obey common sense, and any deviation is punished.

Whether working on time-series analysis, predictive modeling, or algorithmic trading strategies, Ryan combines traditional financial acumen with modern statistical methodologies to deliver comprehensive and forward-thinking investment solutions. At Abraham Trading, Ryan continues to apply this diverse skill set, developing and implementing quantitative strategies that align with the company's goals and investment philosophy. In using his unique skill set, Ryan plays a pivotal role in driving the firm's research initiatives and product strategy development, ensuring that Abraham Trading remains at the cutting edge of the quantitative investment landscape.

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