Akbar Poonawala, CFA
Current Board Roles
Director at Traydstream, Ltd.
Director at Cape Analytics
Director at Droit Financial Technologies
Board Observer at Cowbell Cyber
Board Observer at Snapsheet
Board Observer at OpenFinBoard Observer at Earnest Research
Board Observer at OneVest
Former Director at Bold Penguin (2018 - 2021, sold to American Family Insurance)
Former Observer at dv01 (2016 - 2022, sold to Fitch Group)
Investment Banking Advisory Board, Rosenblatt Securities
Independent Non-Executive Director, Jubilee Holdings Limited (Kenya)
Previous Professional Experience
Head of Global Transaction Banking for the Americas at Deutsche Bank
Head of Global Sales and Marketing for Corporate Trust at Bankers Trust Company
Head of Global Equity Services at Deutsche Bank
Executive Committee Member of Deutsche Bank Americas and Global Transaction Bank
Akbar Poonawala has more than 25 years of experience in transaction processing, banking, and related financial services at Deutsche Bank and Bankers Trust Company. He has held a variety of leadership roles including building discrete businesses globally, driving client origination and client management organizations and developing innovative business strategies.
Prior to co-founding Pivot Investment Partners, Akbar was Managing Director and the Regional Head for the Americas of Deutsche Bank Global Transaction Banking. In this capacity, Akbar led the growth of this business to over $1 billion of revenues in Cash Management, Trade Finance, and Trust & Securities Services targeting both Corporate and Financial Institutions clients throughout the Americas.
In addition, he built the Global Equity Services business, which included Depositary Receipts, Registrar and Post-IPO Services, into a market leading business across ten international locations with a more than five-fold increase in revenues and over 900 Corporate and Financial Institutions clients. Akbar was also a member of the Deutsche Bank Americas Regional Executive Committee, the Global Transaction Banking Executive Committee, and the DB Americas Diversity Committee. Akbar also served on the Board of Directors of Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation.
Previously, Akbar had served as the Head of Global Sales and Marketing for Corporate Trust & Agency Services where he was responsible for sales, marketing and relationship management across sixteen locations in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Earlier in his career, Akbar was Head of Asian Business Development for the Corporate Trust business of Bankers Trust and held management positions in the Global Securities Lending Division and the Management Consulting Group.
Akbar is a Chartered Financial Analyst and graduated Beta Gamma Sigma with a Masterof Business Administration in Finance from New York University’s Stern School of Business and top 1% of his class with a Master of Business Administration in Marketing and an undergraduate degree in Advanced Accounting from Poona University in India.
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