Firas is a portfolio manager at Qwest Investment Fund Management overseeing a series of short-duration investment portfolios. He has an extensive background in institutional investment management with a particular focus on the mining industry.
Firas spent more than a decade working for the BC Investment Management Corporation. There, he was responsible for the materials sector within the internally managed active Canadian equities portfolio. He also provided tactical and strategic sector investment strategies for multiple portfolios totaling around $11 billion.
In 2018, he started his portfolio management consultancy practice, where he advised discretionary portfolio managers with around $300mm in AUM on asset allocation and fundamental investment processes.
Prior to joining QIFM, Firas worked in business development within the NGO sector, partnering with UNEP, UNIDO and the National Resource Defense Council to develop sustainable small-scale gold mining projects in nine countries as part of the planetGOLD program funded by the Global Environment Facility.
Firas also volunteers as the chair of the board and the investment committee for the BC Scholarship Society.
Experience
Firas has worked as a portfolio manager at Qwest Investment Fund Management since 2021. Prior to this, he was a business and investment specialist at the Artisanal Gold Council.
Firas is also a portfolio management consultant at Valdivian Capital Inc., a position he has held since July 2018, alongside his commitment as an associate faculty member at Royal Roads.
Firas' earlier career includes a tenure at BC Investment Management Corp. (BCI), where he worked as a corporate analyst from January 2008 to February 2009, followed by a role as an associate portfolio manager from March 2009 to February 2018.
Firas has experience in technology infrastructure within commercial and corporate banking operations at Citigroup, where he worked from June 2003 to September 2007.
Education
2011
CFA Charter
CFA Institution
2008
MBA
Saunder School of Business, UBC