Omar Qureshi is the Managing Partner of Hightower Wealth Advisors | Saint Louis. He balances running the successful wealth management firm, overseeing the firm’s investment strategy, and meeting with and planning for the clients. He utilizes his analytic mindset and passion for technology to deliver sophisticated strategies for clients, while delivering them with simplicity and clarity. Omar graduated from Case Western Reserve University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Information Systems and a minor in Economics. He holds various securities registrations, including the series 4 registered Options Principal. Omar has also earned one of the most rigorous designations in the securities industry, the Certified Investment Management Analyst® (CIMA®) designation. The CIMA® program, conducted through the Wharton School of Business, is a comprehensive study and examination of advanced portfolio management concepts and processes. Omar was a also member of the first class to receive his Certified Private Wealth Advisor designation (CPWA). The CPWA is an advanced designation through the University of Chicago’s Booth Graduate School of Business. Growing up, Omar wanted to be a truck driver…perhaps not what anyone who knows “Now Omar” might have predicted. His desire to drive the highways was likely based on his lack of interest in all things school related. Brilliant Omar was a terrible student; nothing really grabbed his attention. His parents, given frequent reports of Omar’s disruptive tendencies, were not overly panicked — they saw they had a smart cookie, but the subject needed to be on his terms. His mom pointed out if he paid half as much attention to school as to the baseball stats he could recite from start to finish, he’d have been able to build a spaceship to Mars — perhaps using the Legos that covered every surface and were his constant companion. Then computers entered the picture. Finally, here was something that was always ahead of Omar—always changing, impossible to master because something new was happening every day. Omar asked for and received an Apple IIE computer for Christmas and his world changed. He became all things technology; he fondly recalls the scratchy sounds of modems connecting and real-time messaging friends through a DOS prompt. And that opened one more door. Omar was paying attention to the stock market now, following all of the tech stocks attracting his attention. Like computers, the financial markets were ever-changing — perfect for Omar’s never-at-rest mind. He and his dad traded stocks for his father’s retirement account and began a lifelong fascination with the markets. When it came time to take the next steps for his career, Omar and his physician father sat down to determine what path Omar should take; he’d been accepted for a six-year medical program, but after some soul searching and conversations with his dad, Omar decided to pursue a degree in computer science — medicine could still be an option, but not an obligation. Omar graduated and decided he would pursue the markets… Omar is happy where he is…the juxtaposition of markets and technology. In his “down time” (he’s not very good at down time) he’s building crypto currency mining operations; he’s coaching his kids teams; he’s hitting tennis balls; he’s on charitable boards. And he’s a vital part of the ensemble feel of our team.
