Abraham Thomas

Sabbatical at Personal

Toronto, Ontario

Overview

Abraham Thomas is an accomplished angel investor, advisor, and mentor, known for founding Quandl, which was acquired by Nasdaq. With a background in data expertise, he serves as a board member and newsletter writer, offering insights on data, investing, and startups. Highlights of Abraham's career include founding Quandl, a successful startup acquired by Nasdaq, and his role as an expert consultant on data, investments, and startups, showcasing a strong track record in the industry.

Work Experience

Private

Angel Investor
2015 - Current
I'm an active angel investor in technology startups. As of March 2025, my portfolio has nearly 50 companies, with a blended IRR of 22% and meaningful DPI. I invest at pre-seed and seed stage. My focus areas include data, AI/ML (mostly app layer), B2B fintech, future-of-work, systems-of-record, B2B marketplaces, vertical saas, platforms and infrastructure, and anything involving network effects or data moats. I'm also an LP in multiple VC and PE funds, across the USA, Canada, and India. Learn more: https://abrahamthomas.info/investing/

Various

Board Director, Observer, Advisor
2021
I serve as a board director, observer, or advisor for multiple private companies, ranging from pre-seed to Series B. I bring a combination of broad operating experience as a founder; deep subject matter expertise especially in the areas of data and capital markets; an aligned, empathetic, independent point of view; and a keen appreciation for what excellence looks like. I pride myself on being "the first phone call in a crisis" for all the founders on whose boards I serve. Learn more: https://abrahamthomas.info/advisory/

Quandl

Founder and Chief Data Officer
2011 - 2021
Quandl is the world's leading alternative data company. Alternative data is data that has not traditionally been used by financial markets but holds untapped value for investors and analysts. From social media to satellite imagery, from transaction receipts to traffic patterns, from aircraft transponders to inter-company credit: there's valuable intelligence everywhere. Quandl pioneered the category of alternative data. Our data products are used by the world's leading hedge funds, asset managers, investment banks, fintech firms, and data-driven corporations. Quandl was the first Canadian firm ever to be listed in the Forbes Fintech 50; Inside Market Data recognized Quandl as "Alternative Data Provider of the Year" in 2018. As Quandl's Chief Data Officer, I built the team, processes and technology that Quandl uses to identify, evaluate, productize and deploy information advantages, drawing on my years of experience as an expert quantitative investor. I am also the co-founder of the company, and wear many hats in that role: strategy, product, marketing, sales, finance, legal, recruiting, and perhaps most importantly, vision and culture. Updates: Quandl was acquired by Nasdaq in 2018 in a successful and substantial exit. I moved on to the next chapter of my life in 2021.

Personal

Sabbatical
2007 - 2011
After leaving Simplex, I took an extended sabbatical. During this time, I travelled, spent time with my family, managed my personal investments, and advised a few hedge fund clients on quantitative investment strategy.

Simplex Asset Management

Portfolio Manager, Director & Head of US Trading
2003 - 2006
Simplex is a multi-billion-dollar asset manager and one of Asia’s oldest hedge funds. I joined Simplex as employee #7 in 1998, and rose up through the ranks as an analyst, trader, portfolio manager and director. I managed an absolute-return quant portfolio at Simplex from 1999 to 2006, generating a Sharpe ratio above 2 with no losing years. I was responsible for 100-250M of risk capital, typically leveraged 10-20x. As the head of US operations for Simplex, I also co-led the firm’s transition from a traditional “discretionary relative-value” approach to a modern “systematic statistical” approach, from concept to implementation to use.
Vice President, Rates Trading
2002 - 2002
I am an experienced quantitative investor, with a deep and intuitive understanding of capital markets, risk dynamics, macroeconomics, equity and bond pricing, market micro-structure, and modern data-driven investing. I became an expert bond trader in the post-LTCM, pre-GCF era. I also expanded my trading to encompass a wider variety of asset classes, markets and investment styles: model-driven alpha, statistical arbitrage, relative value, global macro, factor and premium capture, and more.
Associate, Rates Trading
1999 - 2002
I began my trading career in the Japanese fixed income market: JGBs, futures, swaps and interest rate options. I quickly moved over to US Treasuries, then as now one of the most heavily-traded and closely-watched markets in the world. If you can find an edge trading Treasuries, you can find an edge anywhere!
Quant Engineer
1998 - 1999
I built many of the systems used by the firm for analytics, pricing, execution and risk management, primarily in C++. I coded state-of-the-art models for interest rate, option and futures arbitrage; end-to-end data pipelines, from raw prices to trader-facing execution screens; and complex mark-to-market, risk exposure and liquidity management infrastructure.

Abraham Thomas

My Life in Bullet Points
1977 - 1998
• Born in a small town in south India. Lived for a time in Kuwait as part of the Indian diaspora. • At age 13, escaped the Iraqi invasion via desert caravan, cargo ferry and airlift. • Studied Engineering Physics at IIT Bombay. Graduated with a B.Tech. in 1998. • Joined a Japanese hedge fund. Spent 4 years in Tokyo as a programmer, analyst and trader. • Moved to Princeton as portfolio manager and head of US trading for the same fund. • Exited positions and returned capital to investors at high water mark in 2007. • Sabbatical: travelling, parenthood, personal investing, and consulting. • Moved to Toronto and founded a financial data tech startup: Quandl. • Grew Quandl from inception (2 founders in a basement) to exit (acquisition by Nasdaq). • Today: investing, advising, consulting, writing and exploring, prior to my next adventure!