Ancient Capital appointed Imran Ahmed as Chief Investment Officer and Sonya Li as Managing Director as the firm continues building out its asset management platform.
Both executives will report to Erich Schram, Chief Executive Officer of Ancient Financial and Ancient Capital.
Ahmed and Li are Ancient Capital’s most senior investment hires to date and will lead the expansion of the firm’s investment team.
As Chief Investment Officer, Ahmed will oversee investments and portfolio construction across the asset management business.
His responsibilities will also include management and allocation of the platform’s insurance balance sheet assets.
Li will focus on direct investments, including strategic investments and platform partnerships intended to support the growth of Ancient Capital.
The appointments follow several senior hires made since Ancient Financial formally launched in March 2026.
Those additions include Shannon O’Grady as Head of Capital Formation, Derrick Chin as Head of Operations, Steve Ruggeri as Head of Finance, and Peter Celebucki as Vice President.
Ancient Capital said the broader team is being assembled to build an institutional-scale investment platform from the ground up.
Ahmed joins Ancient Capital from Silver Rock Capital Partners.
At Silver Rock, he was responsible for portfolio construction, risk management, and sourcing and underwriting investments across corporate, structured, and asset-backed credit.
Before Silver Rock, Ahmed served as a Managing Director at Blackstone, where he worked with the Strategic Opportunities Fund.
Li joins Ancient Capital from Blue Owl Capital, where she was a Managing Director within the Office of the Co-CEOs.
During her time at Blue Owl, she led strategic acquisitions including the firm’s purchases of IPI Partners, Atalaya Capital Management, and Prima Capital Advisors.
Li brings nearly two decades of experience spanning alternative credit, strategic transactions, and platform growth.
Schram previously served as Head of Blackstone’s Insurance Portfolios within Blackstone Credit and was an original partner of Blackstone Insurance Solutions.
Before Blackstone, he served as Chief Investment Officer of Guggenheim Life and Annuity Company.
Ancient Capital is the wholly owned asset management subsidiary of Ancient Financial and is responsible for investments across the company’s insurance and third-party capital strategies.
Ancient Financial focuses on life and annuity reinsurance and asset management, combining insurance earnings with fee-based investment management operations.
KEY QUOTES:
“Ancient Capital is a rare opportunity to build an investment platform without legacy constraints, with the discipline of an institutional balance sheet behind it. Imran and Sonya are exactly the caliber of investor we set out to attract when we formed this business. Between them, they bring decades of experience underwriting investments, constructing portfolios, and driving strategic transactions at some of the most respected institutions in our industry.”
Erich Schram, Chief Executive Officer of Ancient Financial and Ancient Capital
“When we created Ancient Financial, we set out to build a platform with the institutional rigor and expertise to manage capital across insurance and asset management, and asked Erich to lead that vision. Imran and Sonya’s track records speak for themselves, and I’m confident they’ll play a central role in Ancient Capital’s growth in the years ahead.”
Alexander Klabin, Chairman of Ancient Financial
