Indian Americans are raising to be on the right side of the political spectrum as the General Elections are drawing near. During a fundraiser organized by Indian American Raj Fernando, Hillary Clinton raised at least $450,000 July 21 at the Chicago home of Raj.
(Rajiv) Fernando, a longtime donor, owns Chopper Trading that specializes in high-frequency transactions and was recently purchased by Chicago-based competitor DRW. Fernando personally gave the family charity between $500,001 and $1 million according to the foundation’s contributor list, and his company donated between $100,001 and $250,000, according to media reports.
Fernando has helped raise money in the past, raising more than $500,000 for the President Barack Obama reelection campaign, as well as his firm matching donations made by employees to more than 100 charities. He was appointed to a security advisory board by Obama but later resigned from his post.
The Indian American previously worked in trading positions at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade. Fernando, a graduate of Beloit College in Beloit, Wis., is active in nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, serving on the Foreign Policy Program Leadership Committee at the Brookings Institution and the board of directors for the American Security Project. He is a member of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and serves on the boards of Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Paws Chicago.
About a dozen of Clinton’s top campaign bundlers — donors who have raised at least $100,000 for her presidential bid — work in finance and investing, such as private equity investors Imaad Zuberi and Deven Parekh, and hedge fund managers Marc Lasry and Orin Kramer. Morgan Stanley vice chairman Tom Nides, who worked for Clinton at the State Department, said the new policies haven’t caused any waves on Wall Street and predicted they’re unlikely to hamper Clinton’s fundraising.
Meanwhile, in related news, an Associated Press analysis shows that donors increasing their stakes in the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation during the first six months of this year included veteran Democratic fundraisers Haim Saban, S. Daniel Abraham and Barbara Streisand, either personally or through their charitable arms. Others include Frank Giustra, a Canadian mining magnate who is one of the top donors to the foundation at more than $25 million, and data entrepreneur Vinod Gupta.
