Omar Aguilar: From Mexico City to Wall Street | SVL

by Jose Posadas May 19, 2013

Omar Aguilar never set out to work in financial services. He found his purpose by following the data — and never looked back.

While doing graduate research in Mexico, Omar stumbled into a small project on time series analysis — statistical modeling for options in the Mexican market. That small research project changed everything.

"I realized it was so fascinating, full of energy and adrenaline," Omar says of his first job trading options in Mexico City in the late 1980s — back when Mexico didn't even have an organized options market yet.

His dissertation focused on building analytical tools for international investing. That work led to a job at Bankers Trust in the early 1990s, where Omar began a career that would take him through some of the biggest names in financial services.

Each company had different philosophies, different clients, different objectives. But Omar found one thing in common across all of them: they valued talent over background.

"They don't make a differentiation between race, heritage, or socioeconomic situation," Omar reflects. "At the end, it's about showing that you can add value."

Throughout his career, Omar says he's never had to navigate barriers because of his heritage. What's made the difference is education, hard work, and consistently applying his values — "and it actually works."

Financial services, Omar says, offers something powerful: a real opportunity to show your talent and have it recognized. That opportunity — and the discipline to seize it — is what's defined his career.

 

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