Mr. Ram V. Kelkar
B. Tech., 1980, Electrical Engineering

Mr. Kelkar is Principal, Managing Director and Global Head of the Capital Markets Group at Milliman in Chicago, Illinois. He has a rich experience of over 25 years on Wall Street and in the global Capital Markets as Managing Director in Capital Markets and Derivatives at Citigroup and at Merrill Lynch, in New York and in London, including a role as Global Head of Public Structured Bonds.

For more than two decades, Mr. Kelkar has been providing trading and risk management advisory services to major global corporations, in the area of financial derivatives. He has moreover, been giving advice in the area of financial risk management and capital markets, including helping structure and underwrite a major portion of bonds issued in global markets for the World Bank to provide funding for its development and lending activities. He has in addition, designed a chip at Amdahl Corporation in Sunnyvale, California, and was a member of the Amdahl 580 team that designed the world’s fastest mainframe computer in 1985. He is a Board Member of the Indo-American Center, a Chicago-based non-profit organization as well, whose mission is to promote the well-being of South Asian immigrants through a range of services that facilitate their adjustment, integration, and friendship with the wider society.

After graduating from IIT Bombay in Electrical Engineering in 1980, Mr. Kelkar did an M.S. in Computer Science from University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin, US in 1982 and an MBA (Finance) from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US in 1987. Even after so many years, he has maintained a strong connect with IIT Bombay. He is the Co-founder, current Trustee Emeritus and Former President of the IIT Bombay Heritage Foundation (IITBHF) in the US. He worked with IIT Bombay and distinguished alumni in helping CBS News produce the seminal ’60 Minutes’ segment about the IITs in 2003 titled ‘Imported from India’ which proved to be a tipping point in establishing the global brand of the IITs in the US and around the world. For his notable contributions to his alma mater, Mr. Kelkar was felicitated by the Institute with the ‘IIT Bombay Distinguished Service Award’ in the year 1999.

Mr. Kelkar started his professional career in finance sector with Citigroup/ Salomon Smith Barney way back in 1987, which was followed by stints at Merrill Lynch, Marsh Inc. and Allstate Insurance. In 2008, he joined Milliman. Presently, as the Global Head of Capital Markets Group at Milliman, Mr. Kelkar is responsible for the management and oversight of derivatives trading for hedging programs for life insurance company liabilities, funds, pensions and endowments. He manages trading teams located in Sydney, London and Chicago, that execute risk management strategies for over $80 Billion in assets globally, as one of the largest derivatives portfolio fund managers in the world.

Mr. Kelkar’s interests lie in hiking, mountaineering and travelling. He is a Columnist for rediff.com and India Abroad, the weekly newspaper of record for the Indian-American community.