This profile was originally published in the June 2023 edition of the Emerging Manager Monthly, a subscription-based monthly newsletter from Financial Investment News, and reprinted here with permission. The June issue explores the experiences of LGBTQ+ asset managers. 

Adrian Ohmer wasn’t always interested in investing.

Now an investment director for The Kresge Foundation’s more than $4 billion endowment, Ohmer spent his undergraduate studies at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service in Latin American & African Comparative Studies, which “challenged me to think critically about economics, development, and what democratic norms mean outside of the United States,” he said.

While at Georgetown, Ohmer became chairman of Students of Georgetown, Inc., the largest student-run nonprofit responsible for running coffee shops, groceries and other services on campus, he said.

“Here I was exposed to both incredibly talented fellow students and the ability to explore the power of capital, capitalism and the markets while serving the campus,” he continued. “And it was in this role that a fellow alum asked me to interview when Goldman [Sachs] came to campus, despite not taking a single undergraduate course in business or finance up to that point.”

Ohmer went through a three-year analyst program at the firm and eventually earned an associate promotion. From there, he pursued a law degree at the University of Michigan Law School, returned to Goldman Sachs as a summer associate and then served in the same position at law firm Morrison & Foerster.

After his time at the law firm, he decided to return to finance, specifically to do early-stage venture capital at Detroit-based ID Ventures, according to Ohmer, who noted that “I loved the early-stage ecosystem and the energy of dealmaking during my four years there.”

During his stint with the venture capital firm, he learned about an “under-the-radar” allocator, the United Auto Workers Retiree Medical Benefits Trust, and he would join the “phenomenal program” led by CIO Hershel Harper and Senior Managing Director Thomas Henley, who was Ohmer’s boss and is now with Bernhard Capital Partners.

“At the trust, I had the opportunity to expand my finance skillset and help build the diverse and emerging manager program,” Ohmer said. “I also helped develop core strategic relationships and eventually became the ‘No. 2’ on the private equity team.”

Ohmer was eventually drawn to Kresge when the foundation was recruiting for a director.

“I was drawn to the foundation’s reputation in the marketplace and the opportunity to take on a senior role covering public markets,” he explained. “So, I’ve seen finance from a multitude of angles and really have found the career to be incredibly fulfilling.”

He joined the Troy, Mich.-based foundation in 2020 to work primarily across public markets in helping set Kresge’s overall investment strategy, enhance asset class construction and recommend external asset managers.

Not being out as gay was “a non-starter” for Ohmer, who came out to himself when he was 15 and was out to his family and friends by 16.

“Being in the closet or having to hide was never an option for me and I credit this to my parents who taught me to never devalue myself. My parents are an interracial couple who reared me and my brothers in Indiana, so not the most welcoming place on paper,” he said. “But they insisted that we find what makes us uniquely happy and pursue that, wherever it might lead us. For me, it meant owning that I was gay when all of my peers were owning their own sexualities. It also meant going to college away from home and pursuing my interests wherever they led me.”

The encouragement and support of his parents also carried him to his professional career, although he acknowledges that he has never made being out “the central part of my narrative either, which I was fortunate to learn at a place like Goldman.”

“What I really took away from the experience of joining that kind of institution is that you have to work hard and you will be measured against your contributions. On top of that, it was wonderful to make deeply meaningful connections and friendships that last to this day with other LGBTQ+ professionals through Goldman’s own internal network. All of my Goldman colleagues were incredibly smart and passionate, and some just so happened to be gay,” he added.

Ohmer noted many peers, bosses and mentors he garnered along his journey “who poured their smarts and strength on me and I, in turn, looked up to.”

These included former bosses and mentors like Mary Pang, most recently head of private client services at Cambridge Associates; Ellis Whipple, currently cfo at Viking Global Investors; and Matthew Moore, currently senior v.p. and head of the enterprise compliance programs at MetLife, among others.

Ohmer also mentioned peers who “I’ve been lucky to learn with and alongside,” including Chris Vinciguerra, managing director with Nautic Partners; Neil Morgan, coo at Filson; and Kendra Jackson, v.p. of customer experience at The Flex Company.

As Ohmer has learned and gained insights from his own set of mentors and peers, he also hopes to inspire and encourage the next generation of LGBTQ+ investment leaders.

“I hope my example encourages people to be authentic, but don’t forget to do your job well,” he said. “I happen to believe, for me, that being authentic allows me to do my job incredibly well.”