Speaker Bios

Below are the bios of current and historical speakers. In alphabetical order (sorted by their first name).

Adamos Hadjiantoniou, StockOpine Ltd (Cyprus)

Adamos Hadjiantoniou is the Co-founder and Senior Equity Analyst at StockOpine Ltd, an investment newsletter providing in-depth fundamental analysis of quality companies. Adamos started his career at Deloitte Cyprus and has over 9 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to co-founding StockOpine, he was the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of Demetra Holdings Plc.  Adamos holds a degree in Accounting and Finance from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and he is an ACA and a CFA Charterholder. 

Adam Siegel, Euclid Investments (U.S.A.)

Adam founded Euclid Investments LP, a family investment partnership focused on credit and special situations, in late 2013.  Prior to founding Euclid, Adam spent 10 years in senior commercial roles both on the commodity trade desk and principal investment team for JP Morgan and Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy. Adam received his undergraduate degree in economics from Johns Hopkins University and his Juris Doctor degree from Boston College School of Law.

Albert Muntane Casanova, Swiss Rockets (Switzerland)

Albert was born and raised in a small city close to Barcelona. His first investing experience was in the dot-com boom, and ended up in a bust. His professional experience has been developed in a variety of business management positions in different industries, with a strong focus in aviation.  He is currently CFO of Swiss Rockets while his previous 2 positions were at MUFG and DVB Bank. He holds degrees in Business from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and by IE Business School. Albert invests in public markets, but also in start-ups as a business angel.

Alex Arapoglou, Kinrock (U.K.)

Alex Arapoglou spent the last ten years at three investment firms based in London analyzing public and private investments across various sectors:  King Street Capital Management, Caius Capital and The Blackstone Group.  Prior to that he worked at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley and completed military service in Greece.  Having left Blackstone last year, he remains an active public market investor while also pursuing private investment opportunities.  He’s a graduate of Harvard College and Insead.  

Alexander Geng, 7B Capital (Switzerland)

Prior to 7B Capital, Alex spent 4 years at Veraison Capital assessing and conducting due diligence of various companies and markets. He began his career at the Boston Consulting Group in Zurich. Thereafter, he gained operational experience as a member of management and as a co-founder of two technology start-ups. Alexander graduated in Business Administration (B.A. HSG) with the additional qualification of Entrepreneurship at the University of St. Gallen and the Singapore Management University.

Alissa Corcoran, Kopernick Global Investors (U.S.A.)

Alissa Corcoran is Deputy CIO, Director of Research, an analyst covering health care, and Co-Portfolio Manager of the Kopernik Global All-Cap and International strategies. She has been in the investment industry since 2012 and joined Kopernik as an analyst in 2013. She became Director of Research in 2019. Earlier in her career, she held positions at Vinik Asset Management, a genetics lab, and various non-profit organizations. Alissa has a Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from Bates College and earned her MBA from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. She has received the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Andre Doerk, bull markets media (Germany)

Andre Doerk is a co-founder of the German publishing house bull markets media GmbH. The company publishes various investment newsletters and research for the German-speaking investor audience. Andre is an active investor himself with 20+ years of experience, focusing on net cash value as well as dividend paying value and commodity investments. Besides investing in the public markets, he is also pursuing private investments in the small-cap space and assists them in the gopublic process.

Andrew Salton, Private Investor (U.K.)

Andrew consults for emerging fund managers on how to break out beyond a “friends and family” investor base and successfully raise capital from outside investors.  He has over 25 years of experience investing in equities and other markets.  He has managed global value, Asian equities, GEMS and multi asset-class portfolios. He worked in London and Hong Kong in various institutional portfolio manager roles before becoming the CIO of a Hong Kong financial group.  He is now based in London.

Antonis Protopapas, Private Investor (Cyprus)

Antonis has over 10 years experience in finance and investment management with previous roles at brokerage and fund management firms. His focus is on public equities in the regions of North America and Europe. He takes an opportunistic private equity approach to the public markets by focusing on the business, for the longer term. Antonis has previously undertaken deep dive macroeconomic research into the economies of Japan, Greece and CEE as part of his research into equity opportunities in those countries. Antonis is an Accounting & Finance graduate.  

Anatoly Fedorov, Signet Capital Management (U.K.)

Anatoly is a Portfolio Manager and the Head of Equities of Signet Group. Anatoly manages Signet’s Global Leaders portfolio and has experience working with Long-Short Equity and Merger Arbitrage strategies. Prior to joining the Investment Manager in February 2018, he worked as a Vice President at J.P. Morgan in EMEA Diversified Industrials Practice. There he conducted financial and valuation analysis, execution, project management and due diligence on large scale IPO and M&A transactions. Prior to his employment at J.P. Morgan, Anatoly was an equity research analyst at Genesis Investment Management. During his time there, he executed financial analysis, valuation and communication with corporate management for emerging markets.

Andrius Jurkonis, Axia Capital Fund (Lithuania)

Andrius is the fund manager of Axia Capital Fund.  He focuses on value-oriented public equities and private investments mostly in the US, Europe, and CEE.  He has been an active manager for over 10 years while previously he held management positions in retail, utilities, commercial and investment banking.  Andrius is a CFA Charterholder while he received his masters and undergraduate degrees from Vilnius University.

Andreas Anastasiou, Ernst & Young (Cyprus)

Andreas holds a UK  BA in Accounting & Finance and is  a qualified Chartered Accountant with the ICAEW (UK).  He has over 20 years of working experience as a financial advisor and in senior management positions in the hospitality & real estate industry. To date Andreas  has led a range of financial advisory engagements to various companies and institutions in different sectors of the economy; from hospitality and real estate, to energy and financial services. The services offered include among others lead advisory, due diligence exercises, corporate restructurings, valuations, capital raising, debt restructuring, and preparation of business plans and feasibility studies.

Andreas Assiotis, Hellenic Bank (Cyprus)

Dr Assiotis is Group Chief Economist of Hellenic Bank.  He is also a visiting scholar at the University of Cyprus and a member of the National Economic and Competitiveness Council of Cyprus.  Dr. Assiotis has held several positions including a professorship and consultancy positions both domestically and internationally.  He also served as the editor in chief for the Journal of World Economic Review as well as a contributing Editor for the Anti-Corruption Research Network, Transparency International.  He received his BA in Management Information Systems, an MA in Economics, and his PhD in Economics from the Southern Illinois University USA.  He has published in several influential journals in the areas of macroeconomics, economic development and growth and financial economics.

Arimatti Alhanko, Banque Havilland (Luxembourg)

Arimatti is a senior investment advisor at Banque Havilland, a family-owned private bank based in Luxembourg, where he advices and manages client’s wealth. Since joining Banque Havilland in May 2018, Arimatti has launched two equity portfolios. Previously he worked as an equity portfolio manager and an equity analyst at Nordea in Luxembourg and Sweden. Arimatti also served as a derivatives trader at Pyne Trading in the UK, and as a summer intern in asset management at OP Financial Group in Finland. Arimatti holds a MSc in Engineering from the Aalto University and a MSc in Finance from the Oulu Business School.

Arko Kadajane, Ambient Sound Investments (Estonia)

Arko is responsible for ASI’s Listed Equity investments, investing ASI’s stock portfolio based on value-investing principles. Investments are made into different sectors except for non-ethical industries. He also plays the key role working out ASI’s overall portfolio and investments strategy. As Arko has been involved in stock markets since 1996 and has previously worked in the fields of private equity as well as listed equity, he has extensive expertise in the qualitative and quantitative business factors.

Arnaud Verougstraete, Belgavia (Belgium)

Arnaud Verougstraete is managing director of Belgavia, a Belgian holding company.  At Belgavia, he is head of private equity investments and portfolio asset allocation.  He is also involved in investment strategy optimization and exit value. Prior to joining the group, he was worked on strategical and digital projects for Accenture and SAS Institute as well as on several restructuring projects for Aviapartner.  Arnaud graduated cum laude from the Université Catholique de Louvain with a degree in business management, a Master’s degree in Marketing and Advertising from the Solvay Business School and he is a SAS certified professional in data management, business intelligence, and application development.

Artem Kalinin, Leon MFO Investments

Artem is the Portfolio Manager in charge of fixed-income strategies at Leon MFO Investment. As a hobby, Artem likes to find beaten-down value stocks.  Artem holds a Master’s degree in Banking and Finance from the Higher School of Economics, Russia. He is a CFA Charterholder.

Arthur van der Linden, Grit Capital (Thailand)

Founder of Grit Capital running 2 investment vehicles; Grit MultiFactor (a multifactor strategy), and Grit VariantView (a frontier/emerging market-focused value strategy). As a
technology enthusiast I also set up Finneir; a syndicated investment vehicle investing in early and mid-stage technology companies. Since 2008, I’ve been heading RMA Group’s mergers and acquisitions in mainly Asian emerging and frontier markets. I started my career in Business Development at Dow Chemical after which I joined entrepreneurial ventures in San Francisco, New York and Amsterdam. I hold a Master of Science (Chemical Engineering) from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University in New York.

Artur Melnyk, Parkview AG (Switzerland)

Artur is an analyst at Parkview AG, an international multi-family office based in Switzerland. He began his career at Deloitte Transaction Advisory, where he specialized in conducting financial and valuation due diligence for M&A transactions. He subsequently held positions as an investment advisor at another multi-family office and as an investment analyst at Quantex AG, a value fund manager. Currently, Artur is responsible for investment analysis and fund selection. As a generalist he researches various businesses and industries looking for undervalued opportunities. Artur is a CFA Charterholder and received his undergraduate degree from The University of British Columbia in Canada. 

Avi Fruchter, Vintra Capital (UK)

Avi is the founder and CIO of Vintra Capital, a London-based investment firm, which seeks to compound investment returns over time through concentrated stock-picking within a universe of good businesses, and with an owner-oriented and independent mindset. Vintra is focused on Identifying such investments at a time when they are shunned by others, offering attractive entry points at dislocated valuations, thereby reducing risk and enhancing prospective returns. Prior to Vintra, Avi was co-founder and portfolio manager of Anavon Capital and prior to that an equity research analyst at Attara Capital and its predecessor, Atticus Capital. He holds an MSc from Cass (now called Bayes) Business School in London and a BA from the Jerusalem College of Technology. Originally from Belgium, Avi currently lives in London with his wife and five children.

Bane Patchev, Prisma Analytics (Germany)

Bane has over 12 years of international experience in fintech innovation, emerging technologies, and leadership. He successfully designed and implemented enterprise-wide expansion strategies that have an ambitious and sustainable long-term impact.  Currently, Bane is Vice President and Global Head of Value Proposition at Prisma Analytics where he is responsible for creating a unique value proposition and the world’s first Natural Language Processing tool that directly improves the investment decision process.  Before his current role, Bane was the Head of Digital Transformation and Customer Success at Thomson Reuters – MENA, where he transformed the way financial professionals use intelligent information while delivering multi-million dollar revenue for the organization.

Barry Pasikov, Hazelton Capital Partners (U.S.A.)

Barry Pasikov is the Managing Member of Hazelton Capital Partners, a concentrated investment fund located in Chicago, Illinois since 2009.  With 35 years of experience in finance, Barry began his journey as a floor trader at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, trading Eurodollar & currency options.  Over his career, Barry has been a Trader, Portfolio Manager, Regional Sales Director, Risk Manager, Chief Dealer, and Partner with Mitsui Trust, Bank of Montreal, Peak 6, and BBR Trading.  Those opportunities allowed him to work in Chicago, London, Singapore, Toronto, and back to Chicago. 

Berna Barshay, Empire Financial Research (U.S.A.)

Berna is an independent equity analyst and investor, a partner in the Wall Street Beats financial media platform, and the author of the Consumer/Culture/Commerce Substack under the handle @HedgeFundGirl. She also conducts primary research in Consumer and TMT stocks as a consultant. Berna has three decades of experience in the capital markets and deep expertise in retail, e-commerce, traditional and digital media, gaming/lodging, and consumer packaged goods. Berna previously worked at Empire Financial Research, and before that was a Senior Analyst and Partner at Sky Zone Capital, a startup long-short equity fund focused on the European consumer sector. Her primary experience is in the U.S. market where she was a portfolio manager at Swiss Re and the Ingleside Select Fund, and a buy-side analyst at several long-short hedge funds – including Metropolitan Capital, Buckingham Capital, and LaGrange Capital. She began her buyside career at Sanford C. Bernstein and her Wall Street career on the equity derivatives desk at Goldman Sachs. She graduated cum laude from Princeton University and earned her MBA from Harvard Business School. She currently lives in New York with her husband, daughter, and three rescue dogs.

Bjorn Beam, Arcano Partners (Spain)

Bjorn Beam served in the CIA and intelligence community for ten years, from running operations to conducting White House briefings. Beyond his intelligence career, he has served as director of innovation for continuing education programs, building courses for MIT, the University of Chicago, and Chicago Booth. He also was the founder of an educational technology startup for children and author of four books on the subject. Currently, Bjorn runs the geopolitical and technology research and consulting teams of Arcano Partners, a Spanish financial advisory and asset management company. Bjorn holds an MBA from IE Business School, a Master’s Degree in Terrorism and Counterterrorism Operations from King’s College London and a BA in Sociology from the University of Michigan.

Bob Robotti, Robotti & Company (U.S.A.)

Robert Robotti is the President and CEO of Robotti & Company. Prior to forming the firm in 1983, Bob was a vice president and shareholder of Gabelli & Company, Inc. He worked in public accounting and is currently an inactive CPA. Bob holds a BS from Bucknell University and an MBA in Accounting from Pace University.  Bob currently serves on the Board of Directors of Panhandle Oil & Gas Company, a NYSE-listed diversified mineral company located in Oklahoma City; as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Pulse Seismic Inc., a seismic data licensing business located in Calgary, Alberta; and was previously on the Board of Directors of BMC Building Materials Holding Corporation, prior to the completion of its merger with Stock Building Supply Holdings, Inc. in 2015. In addition, he serves on the Boards of many non-profit organizations where he generously donates his time and expertise. Previously, Bob was a member of the SEC’s Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies, established to examine the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other aspects of the federal securities law.

Bogumil K. Baranowski, Sicart Associates (U.S.A.)

Bogumil K. Baranowski is a New York City–based investment professional with almost 15 years of experience. He is a founding partner of Sicart Associates, a boutique investment firm catering to families and entrepreneurs on both sides of the Atlantic and the Pacific. He is the author of Outsmarting the Crowd – A Value Investor’s Guide to Starting, Building and Keeping a Family Fortune (2015), and the upcoming Money, Life, Family, My Handbook (2019) – My Complete Collection of Principles on Investing, Finding Work-Life Balance, and Preserving Family Wealth. He is a TEDx Speaker (“The Great Investor in You”). He holds a Master’s degree in Finance and Strategy from Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), and a Master’s in Finance and Banking from Warsaw School of Economics. Bogumil was born in Poland, and currently lives in New York City. In his free time he reads, writes, flies single-engine propeller planes, scuba dives around the globe, and sails.

Brad Lindenbaum, Stone Forest Capital (U.S.A.)

Brad Lindenbaum is the Chief Investment Officer and founder of Stone Forest Capital, LLC.  Prior to founding Stone Forest in September 2014, Mr. Lindenbaum worked for over seven years at Neon Liberty Capital, a global emerging markets equities hedge fund with $1.7 billion in AUM.  At Neon Liberty, Mr.  Lindenbaum was the Portfolio Manager responsible for Greater China, and invested in long and short positions around the world in Neon’s hedge fund and long-only fund.  Mr. Lindenbaum was also the lead Portfolio Manager on the Wei Ji Fund, a global emerging markets equities “net net” fund.  Prior to Neon, Mr. Lindenbaum was a global generalist with a focus on Asia and China at AllianceBernstein L.P.  Before AllianceBernstein, Mr. Lindenbaum was a founding member of BDC Financial, a financial services start-up, an Associate in the Financial Institutions Group of Wasserstein Perella & Co., Inc, and an Investment Analyst at International Finance Corporation (IFC) in the China, Mongolia, Korea, and the Philippines Division.  Mr. Lindenbaum began his professional career as an Emerging Asia equities Analyst at CS First Boston (Hong Kong) Ltd. and taught at the Foreign Affairs College (Beijing).  Mr. Lindenbaum holds a MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of the Arts from Princeton University, where he studied East Asian economic development at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs and earned a Certificate in East Asian Studies.  Mr. Lindenbaum is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.

Chaitanya Dalmia, Renaissance Group (India)

After graduation, Chaitanya did his MBA from Indian affiliate of IMD, Lausanne. Early in his career, he did various stints in group manufacturing concerns. He then undertook courses covering ‘Business Analysis and Valuation’, and ‘Financial Markets’ at the London School of Economics (LSE) before moving onto become the CIO of Renaissance (family office) since 2000. His current role encapsulates macro-economic environment scan, corporate structures, corporate finance, legal and taxation, equity investing, structured debt, asset allocation, and risk optimisation. He writes for Outlook Business and was covered in Forbes (India) “Wealth Wizards: Top 20 investors”.

Charis Charalambous, Active Banking Fund (Cyprus)

Charis Charalambous is currently the fund manager of the Active Banking Sector Fund, an equity fund which invests exclusively in large cap banks in the United States and Western Europe.  Previously he worked for six years for Citigroup in London where he was Vice President of M&A activities in the EMEA region.  At Citigroup, Charis worked on multiple M&A deals with transaction values ranging from $100mn to $6bn. He has also worked in the Treasury Departments of the Bank of Cyprus (London) Ltd and the Cyprus Development Bank Ltd. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Cambridge University, an M.Phil. in Economics from Oxford University and an MBA (with distinction) from London Business School.

Christian Freischütz, Value School (Spain)

Christian is a Project Development Director at Value School which disseminates knowledge about investments to the Spanish community.  He has hosted the Value Spain conference since 2015 and has managed Family money in the value way since 2012.  Previously he worked for over 20 years in senior positions in institutional equity sales (Mirabaud Group, Interdin Holdings, BBVA, etc).  He has a bachelor in economics from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

Christian Ryther, Curreen Capital (U.S.A.)

Christian is the Portfolio Manager of Curreen Capital, which he founded in June 2013. He loves hunting for beautiful and misunderstood businesses. Like many investors, Christian earned his MBA at the Columbia Business School and went through its value investing program. Unlike many investors, Christian was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco. Christian also runs, a lot. He ran the Boston Marathon in under three hours before embracing ultramarathons. It took more than 25 hours through 90-degree heat, but he earned second place in the Black Hills 100 mile race. Christian lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two delightful children.

Christoph Hilfiker, LLB Asset Management (Liechtenstein)

Christoph Hilfiker, born 1970 in Basle, is serving as a senior fund manager with LLB Asset Management AG in Vaduz/Liechtenstein. He’s responsible for the research and the equity management of the Asia Pacific region. After serving as a captain in the Swiss Air Force, he studied business law at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) and completed his education with an MBA at the European Business School.

Christopher Detweiler, Veraison Capital (Switzerland)

Dr. Detweiler is a co-founder of Veraison, a Swiss asset manager that runs a focused portfolio of Swiss companies that are undervalued and misunderstood by the capital markets.  In addition to analyzing Swiss Equities, Christopher has four years of experience engaging with European companies to create value through full-scale transformations, as well as targeted strategic, operational and financial projects.  Previously, he was a Project Leader at The Boston Consulting Group (Switzerland) AG, where he worked from 2011-2015 in the Consumer & Industrial Goods practice areas. Prior to that, he began his career analyzing Swiss Equities and macroeconomic trends at Wellershoff & Partners. Christopher has a PhD in Chinese Studies from Freiburg University. He is married and father of three children.

Christopher Karlin, Aquitania Capital Management (U.S.A.)

Christopher Karlin is the Chief Investment Officer at Aquitania Capital Management in Austin, Texas. Prior to founding Aquitania in 2012, he was a member of the investment teams at First Pacific Advisors, Kestrel Investment Management, Fairview Capital Investment Management, and Farallon Capital Management. Christopher received his BBA from the University of Wisconsin, his MBA from Yale University, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Christopher Swasbrook, Elevation Capital (New Zealand)

Christopher Swasbrook is the Managing Director and Founding Shareholder of Elevation Capital.  He was previously a Partner of Goldman Sachs JBWere Pty Limited, Co-Head of Institutional Equities at Goldman Sachs JBWere (NZ) Limited and a Foundation Broker of the New Zealand Exchange Limited (“NZX”) and prior to that an Individual Full Member of the NZ Stock Exchange (“NZSE”). He is currently a member of the NZX Listing Sub-Committee (since 2008) and a member of the NZ Markets Disciplinary Tribunal (since 2013). He is also Chairman of NZX listed – Bethunes Investments Limited [BIL.NZX]. Mr. Swasbrook is independently recognised as a global value investor. He was most recently referenced in a book published on a number of global value investors – “The Manual of Ideas” by John Mihaljevic.  Mr Swasbrook graduated from the University of Auckland with a BCom (Economics) in 1995.

Christos Kassianides, Eleon Capital Management (Cyprus)

Christos is currently a portfolio manager of an Irish UCITS regulated bond fund and is setting up an AIFM focusing on Alternative Investments. He is also the founder of K Quality homes, a property developer in Cyprus. Previously, Christos was the founder and MD of Wealth Guardian, head treasurer of Kummunalkredit Investment bank, and treasury manager at BOE bank, South Africa. Christos holds a Bachelor of Commerce with Honours degree and an MBA from WITS and Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. He also completed real estate and property courses at the London School of Economics and at the University of Cape Town. Christos is married with four children and resides in Nicosia.

Dr. Christos Patsalides, Bank of Cyprus (Cyprus)

Dr. Patsalides currently serves as Deputy CEO and COO of the Bank of Cyprus and is also an Executive member of the Board of Directors.  From 1989 to 1996, Dr.Patsalides worked for the Central Bank of Cyprus in the Management of Government External Debt and Foreign Exchange Reserves Department. In 1996, Dr. Patsalides joined the Bank of Cyprus where he has held a number of positions in corporate banking, treasury and private banking, among others, and acted as Finance Director from December 2013 to April 2016.  He holds a PhD in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Christopher Reese, Fermont Capital (U.S.A.)

Chris Reese manages a portfolio of public and private investments for Fermont Capital, the single-family office of his immediate family, with a focus on investing for the long-term with talented entrepreneurs.  His prior experience includes acquiring and operating a SaaS business, founding an emerging markets public equities fund, and foundational roles in investment banking and strategic planning. 

Christos Spanos, Eleon Capital Management (Cyprus)

Christos Spanos has been in the investment business since the mid-nineties. He holds a number of board seats at Financial Services companies and funds, as well as acting as an adviser to various private entities and HNWIs. Throughout his career, he founded and managed a number of outfits in the wealth management and fund management sphere. He manages private portfolios primarily following quantitative strategies as well as running a private commercial real estate company.  He holds an MBA and an MSc in Medical Radiation Physics and has a BSc (Hon) in Physics.  He is a CFA Charterholder.

Dr. Clemens Bauer, Private Investor (Germany)

Clemens Bauer currently works in the data analytics department of a leading reinsurance company. In his role, he supports new data-driven business models with analytical expertise and the help of big data technology. Previously, he worked in in the field of Intellectual Property and in IT. In his spare time, Clemens became heavily interested in quantitative finance and scientific, evidence-based approaches to value investing. He is eager to see the effect of big data and machine learning on investment strategies. Clemens obtained his PhD in theoretical physics from University of Regensburg, Germany, and further holds a German diploma in business administration.

Costas Michail, Scordis Papapetrou & Co. (Cyprus)

Costas is Tax Director in Scordis, Papapetrou & Co with over 13 years of experience in the direct tax profession. Costas graduated from the University of Hull after completing his studies in Law (LLB). He is a fellow member of the Association of Chartered and Certified Accountants, and member of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants in Cyprus. He has also obtained his international tax qualification, ADIT, and became an International Tax affiliate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

Daniel Qi, Vita Spes LLC

Daniel Qi is the Founder and Managing Director of Vita Spes LLC, a consulting firm that focuses on clinical development of new medicines in biotech & pharmaceutical industries.  Prior to founding Vita Spes, Daniel served as Medical Director of several pharma companies, including GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, and Johnson & Johnson, responsible for clinical development programs for US market and global markets.  Daniel is a part-time investor managing his own fund, taking a value investment approach to invest in great businesses for the long term. Daniel is a graduate of Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University (Formerly Shanghai Medical university) and Johns Hopkins University.  He also received post graduate training in pharmacokinetics from University of California San Francisco (UCSF), and completed University of Oxford 2022 Economics Summer School in Monetary Economics and International Finance.

Daniel Glaser, River Oak Capital (Sweden)

Daniel Glaser is the Founder and CEO of River Oak Capital AB, a private investment company based in Uppsala, Sweden.  He also manages his own family office since 2013. Both entities use the same approach and have taken inspiration from Allan Mecham, Pat Dorsey, Phil Fisher and of course the usual suspects from Berkshire. Besides investing, Daniel has also been the CEO of a small health app company called Nutris AB in Sweden where he remains as Chairman. He has a Master’s Degree in Engineering Physics from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. In 2005 he did his Master’s Thesis at a startup called ViewRay where he built a software that optimizes radiation treatment plans for cancer patients. ViewRay now offers the world’s first MRI-guided real-time adaptive radiotherapy and was listed on the Nasdaq in 2016.

Daniel Sakellariou, EY Law (Cyprus)

Daniel is a manager in the Regulated Financial Services, Funds and Capital Markets team of EY Law in Cyprus. He is an advocate, dually qualified to practice in Cyprus and Greece, being able to handle both common and civil law related matters. He is experienced in the provision of legal advice relating to M&A and Corporate Law, Banking & Finance Law, Capital Markets and Collective Investment Schemes. He is regularly engaged by EU and third-country corporate and institutional clients such as banks, funds and investment firms as well as their legal advisers, on issues of project development and finance and commercial contract negotiations both from a transactional and regulatory perspective. Daniel gained experience while working in Cyprus, London, Hong Kong, Singapore and Athens. He is an Oxford graduate and scholar of the Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation, Greece and the WSD Louey Foundation, Hong Kong.

Dave Iben, Kopernick (U.S.A.)

David Iben is the Chief Investment Officer, Managing Member, Founder, and Chairman of the Board of Governors of Kopernik Global Investors. Prior to Kopernik, Dave managed the $2.7 billion Global Value Long/Short Equity portfolio at Vinik Asset Management, lead portfolio manager of Tradewinds Global Investors, LLC, a $38 billion (at February 2012) investment firm. He continually sole-managed equity portfolios for Tradewinds from October 1998 through February 2012. He was a co-Founder and Lead Portfolio Manager of Palladian Capital Management. From 1996 through 1998 Dave was a senior portfolio manager at Cramblit & Carney. He began his career with Farmers Group, Inc. where over the course of 14 years, he worked his way up from securities analyst/trader to lead portfolio manager for both equity and fixed income strategies. At the time of his departure in 1996, Dave was acting as Farmers’ chief investment officer responsible for $16 billion of assets. Dave earned his bachelor’s degree from University of California, Davis, and his MBA from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

David Kessler, Robotti & Company (U.S.A.)

David Kessler is a Senior Investment Associate with Robotti & Company Advisors, LLC.  Prior to joining Robotti & Company, David was a Research Analyst Consultant with Aquamarine Capital and held portfolio management roles with Rochdale Investment Management and Morgan Stanley.  David received an MBA from Columbia Business School and was a member of Columbia’s Applied Value Investing Program.  As an MBA student, David co-launched Columbia’s first student-run investment newsletter, “Graham and Doddsville.” He also gained valuable experience as a summer intern with Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb (Sequoia Fund).   David graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in Finance and Marketing.

David Diranko, Private Investor (U.S.A.)

David is a Data Scientist at IBM that has a deep passion for value investing. Even if he is not a professional investor, he considers himself a “serious amateur”. He uses the value investing principles to manage and invest his family’s savings with the goal of growing wealth over the long-term. To gain an edge in the markets, he focuses on smaller companies that are underfollowed or temporarily out of favor. He recently started the blog “Contrarian Cash Flows” to document his research process and share it with like-minded people.

David Lewis, Sisu Investment Holdings (U.S.A.)

Founder of Sisu Investment Holdings, I bring over 15 years of experience in capital allocation and operations. My background includes serving as the former Vice President of Rubicon Technology (Nasdaq: RBCN), where I oversaw day-to-day operations and led a successful consolidation/turnaround strategy. With early career roles in private equity at Loop Capital and accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers, I have developed a strong foundation in financial management. My expertise in supply chain management and logistics was honed during my time at Bed Bath & Beyond and UPS while pursuing my education. Holding certifications as a Turnaround Professional, I specialize in value creation strategy, organizational behavior, restructuring, marketing, revenue enhancements, and cost optimization. I also contribute to the community as a Board member for The Ronald McDonald House Charities and Chicago Hope Academy, where I serve as Chair of the Development and Finance Committees, respectively. My educational background includes an MBA from the University of Chicago (Booth), a JD from Indiana University, and a BS in accounting (cum laude) from Hampton University.

David Pastel, Pastel & Associés (France)

After five years working as an option trader in France and the US (1985-1990), David had his epiphany when, in the spring of 1992, he started to read his first Berkshire Hathaway’s annual report. He then proceeded to learn how to invest by working for a few years in the investment departments of two French insurance companies, while reading everything he could get his hands on with regard to value investing and financial history. In 1997, he co-founded in Paris with one partner, Pastel & Associés, a value-investment boutique with around $170M in AUM (as of 12/31/2016) through two mutual funds, Margin of Safety Fund (Luxembourg) and Valeur Intrinsèque (France).

Demetris Efstathiou, Blue Diagonal Capital (Cyprus)

Demetris is the Chief Investment Officer and co-founder of Blue Diagonal Capital Ltd, a Cyprus based fund manager specialising in emerging markets in fixed income. Demetris has over 20 years of experience working in emerging markets for financial institutions in London – 15 years as a trader and portfolio manager of EM credit, foreign exchange, and interest rates, followed by 5 years as head of EM strategy and research. He was head of the CEEMEA fixed income proprietary trading desk at Morgan Stanley, London before becoming a portfolio manager at Argo Capital, a London based hedge fund. Subsequently, Demetris served as head of cross-asset strategy covering EM/CEEMEA credit, currencies and interest rates at RBS Global Markets, London, and later as head of EM Trading Strategy at ICBC Standard Bank, London. Demetris is also currently serving on the board of directors of Hellenic Bank, Cyprus as an independent, non-executive director.  Demetris is a holder of a B.Eng. in Information Systems Engineering from Imperial College London, and of an MBA with concentration in Finance from London Business School.

Demos Anastassiou, Logicom (Cyprus)

Group Planning and Development Manager

Diego Moreno, Forum Family Office (Germany)

Diego is an Investment Associate at Forum Family Office, an investment company based in Munich, Germany. Forum Family Office manages the wealth of a German industrial family and has returned 17% p.a. since its inception 25 years ago. Forum also advises a fund for institutional investors under the same value investing, long-term oriented philosophy.  Previously, Diego held various management positions in the aerospace and automotive industries. During this period, he also studied and applied the value investing principles in the management of his private wealth before deciding to become a professional investor. He holds a MSc. in Industrial Engineering by the University of Zaragoza (Spain) and a BSc. in Economics and Management by the LSE/UoL (UK). Diego speaks Spanish, English, German and French.

Dominic Fisher, Thistledown Investment Management (U.K.)

Dominic has been investing since 1989. He trained at Hambros Bank, joining Mercury Asset Management in 1992. There he led the charities team which successfully resisted the pressure to invest in a ‘new era’ during the dotcom boom.  He established Thistledown in 2009 and has managed the VT Thistledown Income Fund since its inception in 2010.
He was awarded the OBE in 2015 for his charitable work for armed forces personnel and is currently a mentor for “Supporting Wounded Veterans”. He is a director of Aberforth Split Level Income Trust Plc. and a founder member of the Value Investors Special Interest Group of the CFA Society of the UK.

Evan Tindall, Bireme Capital (U.S.A.)

Evan is the Chief Investment Officer of Bireme Capital, a performance-focused wealth management firm he co-founded in 2016. Previously he was the sole equity analyst at Ballentine Capital, a Connecticut based long-short hedge fund. Before joining Ballentine Capital Evan was a professional poker player, winning a total of more than $1,000,000 and finishing tenth at a European Poker Tour event in 2008 for $104,000. He graduated from MIT with a BS in Mechanical Engineering in 2007.

Evgeny Kuznetsov, Family Office (Switzerland)

Evgeny Kuznetsov runs a single-family office based in Geneva, Switzerland.  The portfolio aims to achieve superior returns over the long term by allocating strategically across asset classes.  Evgeny has more than 20 years of fund management experience.  Between 1996 and 2016 he worked as an analyst, portfolio manager and, eventually, as a partner at London-based Genesis Investment Management LLP, a  long-only Emerging Markets specialist fund management company and a subsidiary of the Boston-based Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. Over the course of his career Evgeny conducted fundamental research and made investments in listed companies in various emerging markets.

Evgenii Mitiukov, FFF Asset Management (Cyprus)

Evgenii joined FFF Asset Management in 2017 where he is responsible for bonds portfolios.  In 2014—2016 Evgenii was an investment analyst at SBD Global Fund where he covered global macro strategies.  He started his career in 2013 at the fixed income desk at Credit Suisse in Moscow.  Evgenii has a BSc in Banking and Finance from the University of London which he attended with a full scholarship and graduated with first-class honours.   Evgenii is a CFA Charterholder.

Evgeny Pundrovskiy, Single Family Office

Evgeny holds a CFA designation and has a broad expertise in public markets valuation, private equity and venture capital investments. He used to work 10+ years in the wealth management industry, including leading Russian multifamily office UFG Wealth Management. He currently works as a Chief Investment Officer at Cyprus-based family office managing 1.3 bn of assets in Fixed Income, Equities, VC and Real Estate.

Florentzos Kassoumis, FAMco (Cyprus)

Florentzos Kassoumis is founder and CEO of FAMco, a financial intermediary firm which puts fundamentals first.  A value investor with over twenty years of experience in asset management and advisory services, Florentzos currently supervises the wealth management and financing activities for private clients.  Previously Florentzos was Head of Wealth and Asset Management at WSFIS Ltd, while he held positions at Sharelink Securities & Financial Services Ltd, as Head of Asset Management, CDB Bank and Hellenic Bank as Analyst, while he was also an advisor to the Government of Cyprus.  He has a BSc and MSc. (Government of Cyprus scholarship) in finance from the University of Cyprus and is a recipient of several awards in Investment Games and Projects.

Gerrard Murray, Private Investor (Ireland)

Gerard is consultant engineer specialising in the energy industry, his background is in subsea oil and gas engineering where he worked with super major oil companies such as Chevron upstream Europe and Aker BP. Gerard is also a technical advisor into the insurance industry where he specialises in renewable energy risk management and the implementation of operational efficiencies.  Gerard has a BEng from Technological University Dublin, a MSc in Oil and Gas Management from Aberdeen University and a Dip in Business Finance from Smurfit Business School, University College Dublin.

Gianluca Ferrari, Clearway Capital (Germany)

Gianluca Ferrari is the Founder and CIO of Clearway Capital, an investment firm focused on impact investing. Clearway adopts an opportunistic value-oriented approach and uses shareholder activism to drive returns and impact. Prior to founding Clearway, Gianluca was a director at Shareholder Value Management, where he led the fund’s activist investments.

Guy Mollet, Private Investor (Netherlands)

Guy Mollet is a private investor. His background is in consulting, oil & gas, and banking. Guy has worked for Mizuho, Dresdner Kleinwort, Enron and Price Waterhouse. He studied physics at Technische Universiteit Delft, did a MSc in finance at the London Business School, and is a CFA charterholder.

Harvey Sawikin, Firebird Management (U.S.A.)

Co-founded Firebird in 1994. He is a lead manager of Firebird’s Eastern Europe and Russia funds. He also serves on the Management Boards of the Amber private equity funds. Before founding Firebird, he was a clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals and an M&A specialist at the prominent law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Harvey is a graduate of Columbia University (Magna Cum Laude) and Harvard Law School (Cum Laude), where he was an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He is a member of the New York State Bar. Harvey serves on the board of PR Foods (Estonia) and is a Trustee of Churchill School and a member of the Visiting Committee of the Department of Photographs of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Hendrik Michels, Valuelize (Germany)

Hendrik is the founder and managing director of Valuelize GmbH & Co. KG, which was founded at the end of 2014 and is a Berlin-based private investment company that focuses on small- and mid-caps from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and, lately also large caps from other regions. Before founding Valuelize, Hendrik studied business administration and engineering and worked as a sales manager for a technology company. In addition, he has finished the Certified European Financial Analyst program.

Ivan Gorshkov, RoboMarkets (Cyprus)

Head of data analysis in RoboMarkets in Cyprus. 10+ years experience in bringing data driven approach to business decision making in different financial institutions. Holds 2 Master’s degrees: Applied Physics/Mathematics and Economics with specialization in Finance and Data analysis.

Ivan Fomenko, Family Office

Ivan is a CIO of a private family office fund with $35m AUM. Previously, he was in charge of a large Russian asset management company with more than $1b AUM. Ivan has more than 15 years of experience in managing different types of investment portfolios. The main priority is asset allocation. Portfolios under management have a skew reflecting the top-down approach under different macroeconomics issues.

Joe Dowling, Invesco Perpetual (U.K.)

Based in Henley-on-Thames, Joe is an Analyst for Invesco Perpetual’s Global Opportunities Strategy. The Fund holds 35-40 stocks across countries, sectors and market caps. All 3 team members are generalist across sectors and geographies. The average holding period since inception is over 3 years.  Prior to joining Invesco, Joe worked in M&A at an accountancy firm. Before becoming an analyst for the Global Opportunities Strategy he was responsible for providing investment research for the Global Income and Global Smaller Companies funds. Joe holds a BSc in Business Administration from the University of Bath and the Investment Management Certificate from the CFA Society of the UK.

Joel Schols, Chess Capital (Belgium)

As a telecommunications engineer, I’ve always worked in the ICT industry. 20 years ago I started my own business. In 2018 I sold my company to one of Belgium’s leading operators and started to read the best investing and psychology books. Value investing is like a  ‘aha erlebnis’ since my company grew mainly by acquiring stressed businesses. Together with Sam Hollanders, I started Chess Capital, a ‘shameless copied’ Zero  Management Fee fund. Today we are a compartment in an existing Umbrella structure. We are in the process of opening a regulated fund in Luxemburg. We also run an educational website (in Dutch). My aim is to learn a lot and to give back as much as possible.

John Zolidis, Quo Vadis Capital (U.S.A.)

John Zolidis is the Founder and President of Quo Vadis Capital, Inc.  Mr. Zolidis formed Quo Vadis in 2017 to provide high-quality research on the restaurant and retail industries for institutional investors as well as consulting services to companies in the industries.  Previous to founding Quo Vadis, Mr. was a sell-side analyst at Buckingham Research covering retail and restaurants.  Mr. Zolidis also served as a buy-side consumer analyst at Buckingham Capital Management, a long-short hedge fund.  He was with Buckingham since 2001.  He was added to the Wall Street Journal’s “Best on the Street” list in 2005 for the Specialty Stores category.  Prior to Buckingham, he got his start on Wall Street at Sidoti & Co. and Morgan Stanley.  His undergraduate studies were at Mansfield College, Oxford and Kenyon College where he graduated with a degree in Philosophy.  Mr. Zolidis currently resides in Paris, France with his wife and two daughters.

Jonathan Tanne, Tangible Investment Management (U.K.)

Jonathan founded Tangible Investment Management in 2012 originally managing a long only listed equity portfolio for a family office. Tangible’s investment strategy is a long-term approach with an emphasis on compounding and capital preservation. It is a highly differentiated global concentrated portfolio of under-valued and under-researched businesses at different stages of their life cycles. Each business is identified by a bottom-up stock selection process and is subjected to a comprehensive 70-point research checklist. The portfolio is benchmark, sector, style, industry & market-cap agnostic. Jonathan was born in South Africa, established in Australia, and lives in London with his wife and three children. He is a CFA Charterholder.

Julio Utrera, Southeastern Asset Management (U.K.)

Julio Utrera, CFA joined Southeastern’s London Office as an Analyst in 2021. He previously held investment research roles in T. Rowe Price International Equities and AnaCap Financial Partners. Prior to that, he was an M&A Analyst at J.P. Morgan’s Investment Banking division in London. Mr. Utrera received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Finance from C.U.N.E.F University and a master’s degree in Value Investing from OMMA Business School. He holds his CFA Level 4 Certificate in ESG Investing.

Kaushal “Ken” Majmudar, Ridgewood Investments (U.S.A.)

Kaushal “Ken” Majmudar, CFA founded Ridgewood Investments in 2002 and serves as its Chief Investment Officer. Ken graduated with honors from the Harvard Law School in 1994 after being an honors graduate of Columbia University in 1991 with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. Prior to founding Ridgewood Investments in late 2002, Ken worked for seven years on Wall Street as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers. He is admitted to the bar in New York and New Jersey though retired from the practice of law. Ken is a member of both the CFA Institute and the New York Society of Securities Analysts.

Kenneth Yap, ASV Fund (Singapore)

Kenneth Yap manages the Always Seek Value VCC Fund, a global public equities fund that focuses on market cycles and mispriced opportunities. His 26-year career in equities has spanned both buy-side and sell-side, Europe and Asia. He graduated with a BA in Economics & Management from the University of Oxford before qualifying as a Chartered Accountant in London. He now spends his time between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. 

Kevin Smith, Crescat Capital LLC (U.S.A.)

Kevin Smith is the founder and CIO of Crescat Capital, a global macro asset management firm. Crescat develops tactical investment themes based on proprietary value-driven models. Kevin has 21 years of portfolio management experience. He is the inventor of Crescat’s firmwide global macro investment process and its systematic equity valuation model. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, Booth School of Business with a specialization in finance and concentration in statistics. Kevin earned his undergraduate degree in economics from Stanford University and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Kiryl Kirychenka, RoboMarkets (Cyprus)

Kiryl is Product Manager within RoboMarkets, Cyprus. Since joining in 2015, his work is concentrated on projects related to international business development, data analysis and software development of B2C stock trading platform. Kiryl is also a portfolio manager at RFund AIFLNP V.C.I.C. Ltd. Previously, he was an analyst at Soft-FX in Minsk. Kiryl is an investor with over 10 years of experience and successfully passed CFA Level I.

Kyle Tuschaus, New West Capital (U.S.A.)

Kyle Tushaus manages New West Capital, which oversees investments in public securities modeled after the original Buffett Partnership structure and focuses on long term quality as well as corporate action investments. Prior to New West Capital, Kyle spent time as an engineer in the energy industry before moving into acquisition roles for private family offices and real estate companies. He lives in Lisbon, Portugal with his wife and daughter.

Lorne Steinberg, Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management (Canada)

Lorne Steinberg founded Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. (LSWM) with the vision of providing investment counsel services to high net worth individuals, based on principles of integrity, transparency, trust, and capital preservation. Prior to founding the firm, he was President and Chief Investment Officer of AGF’s investment counsel business in Montreal, Magna Vista Investment Management Ltd., which he joined in 1999. Before Magna Vista he spent 10 years at Lafferty, Harwood and Partners, where he began as a research analyst and was later responsible for the fixed income desk. Lorne received his MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and his BA from McGill University. He has been a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder since 1996.

Loucas Demetriou, Totalpro (Cyprus)

Loucas is the founder of Totalpro Services Ltd, an Administrative Service Provider licensed by the CySEC.  Totalpro offers incorporation and administration, accounting, legal, and investment firm and fund services.   Loucas spent over 12 years as Executive Director, risk manager, and head of middle and back office of Argo Capital Management, an award-winning London based emerging markets hedge fund.  Previously, he worked as a broker, investment consultant and financial analyst in the brokerage industry.  Loucas is a licensed Insolvency Practitioner, holds an MA degree in Finance from the University of Manchester and a BSc in Economics from Athens University of Economics and Business.

Maikal Kasper, Aquilla Nummus (Cyprus)

Michael is a Syrian / Armenian living in Cyprus since 2012. He started his career three years ago as an intern and now is the assistant portfolio manager at Aquilla Nummus Ltd (a boutique asset management company managing discretionary portfolios for HNW and UHNW individuals with over $200 million in AUM). During his free time, he plays tennis, walks his dog and posts investment ideas on his blog (mbkvalueinvesting.com). He holds a BSc in Finance and Economics from the University of Nicosia, an MSc in Financial Services from the Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM) and is a CFA Level III Candidate.

Mallika Paulraj, Queensguild Investments (U.K.)

Mallika is the founder of Queensguild Investments, a private investor partnership. It aims to bring together entrepreneurial families who think long-term with research-based investing. Mallika is the author of “How the Best Invest, Make Confident Decisions Like the Investing Superstars.” She began her career as a programmer in Silicon Valley and has worked at Lehman Brothers, Trucost (now S&P Trucost), MSCI, and funds in Wall Street and London’s The City. She has a B.A. from Stanford University, an M.Sc. from the London School of Economics, and has completed the Investment Management Programme at London Business School. 

Marcel Gozali, Saray Capital (USA)

Marcel Gozali, CFA, is an analyst at Saray Capital, a value-oriented investment manager. Prior to Saray, Marcel managed investment partnerships in public equity, focusing on exceptional businesses, management, and valuation. Marcel also worked in equity research, credit research, and asset allocation in hedge funds, asset management, and insurance. Marcel graduated from Columbia Business School with a MBA and Carleton College with a BA in Economics. Marcel lives in New Jersey in the United States and is from Singapore and Indonesia.

Mariya Messerli, Private Investor (Switzerland)

Mariya is an investor managing her family private funds, based in Switzerland. Her investment philosophy is global and long-term focused with aim to compound value over years. Prior to turning her investing passion into a profession, Mariya had a decade of experience working in various corporate finance roles in Swiss Re. She holds a MSc degree in Accounting & Finance from Umeå University, Sweden. Mariya is a life-long learner, a cheerful thinker and a mother of two young kids.

Michalis Florentiades, XM (Cyprus)

Michalis Florentiades is the Chief Economist and Head of Investment Research for XM, an online financial services company.  He began his career in London as a Financial Economist before returning to Cyprus and Hellenic Bank where he was Head of Research.  At Hellenic, he wrote the book “Economic Review of 2004-2011”; a collection of research articles on Cyprus and the Global Economy during that period.  Mr. Florentiades has a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE), Master’s degree in Mathematical Trading and Finance from the City University Business School and is a CFA Charterholder.

Mikhail Pavlenko, Family Office (Cyprus)

Currently works as a portfolio manager / Co-CIO for a large single family office. I’m in charge of our whole multi-asset portfolio, covering such asset classes as public equity, equity options, fixed income and PE/VC. Previously led investment function in large life insurance companies and worked for a long/short hedge fund. In my personal investment portfolio, I primarily focus on long-term value equity ideas. I’m also interested in topics such as using option strategies to enhance/defend returns or finding optimal portfolio weights.

Milo Jones, IE Business School

Dr. Milo Jones holds an MBA from London Business School and an MA & Ph.D. in International Relations from the University of Kent.  He currently teaches geopolitics, investing, and intelligence analysis in Madrid, London, and Fontainebleau.  Previously, he worked at Accenture in London, for Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in New York, and served as an officer in the US Marine Corps.  He is the co-author of Constructing Cassandra:  Reframing Intelligence Failure at the CIA, 1947-2001, published by Stanford University Press.  In addition to teaching and investing, Milo serves on the board of several private companies, is a Fellow at the Center for the Study of Digital Life and the Fundacja Instytut Bezpieczeństwa i Strategii, and a member of IISS and AFIO.

Mitchell Hockenbury, 1440 Financial Partners (U.S.A.)

Mitchell Hockenbury (USA) runs a financial planning firm in Warren Buffett’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska and is an author and speaker. Prior to founding 1440 Financial Partners, he served in both the US Marine Corps and US Army where he retired after 20 years of service and multiple combat tours. He received his MBA from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterrey, CA and his undergraduate degree is in Finance and Banking.

Naard Broeckaert, Wealtheon Asset Management (Belgium)

Naard is a partner at Wealtheon Asset Management (AUM EUR 600 Mio). Wealtheon is a wealth manager with offices in Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland. He is responsible for the value investment strategy at the firm since october 2020. Between 2007- 2020 Naard managed a multi-family office business (Torrebos). Torrebos merged with Wealtheon in 2020. Lives in Belgium. Married with 3 children.

Dr. Olaf Hein, Elbstein AG (Germany)

Currently board member at investment firm Elbstein AG. Three decades of experience of public markets investing with a focus on Germany equities. Has held numerous positions within Deutsche Bank (New York, Frankfurt) and various boards in Germany.

Olaf Neugebauer, Instant Group AG (Germany)

Born in 1976 in Germany, Olaf founded an investment company with some fellow students in 1999. After University (Two Degrees in Economics and Production Engineering) he moved around the world. He lived 5 years in Barcelona and another 5 years in Quito, Ecuador. Now he resides in Cyprus. Olaf likes to focus on special situations and has a profound experience in equity analysis. His investment company is a capital market partner of the Düsseldorf Stock Exchange and assists companies in the process to become listed.

Ole Søeberg, Nordic Investment Partners (Denmark)

Ole founded Nordic Investment Partners in 2017 and offers investment advice to family trusts.  A fund run by Ole and with absolute return focus is planned to be launched later in 2018.  He began his career in 1984 when he founded Dansk Aktie Analyse (independent research boutique in Copenhagen).  In 1985 he worked for Privatbanken in international equities.  In the 1990’s he was head of international equities in Denmark for Carnegie and Alfred Berg.  He worked as head of Investor relations for Denmark’s TDC (1999-2005) and Tryg Insurance (2006-2010).  From 2011-17 he was fund manager and Chief Investment Officer in Skagen funds, Norway.  Ole has an MBA from Copenhagen Business School.

Dr. Oleg Obrezkov, Private Investor (Cyprus)

Based in Cyprus, Oleg currently managing his own money. Oleg has an MA in Economics and PhD in Mathematics. Between 2005 and 2020 he worked at a global multi-billion hedge fund focused on special and distressed situations (since 2009 as Senior PM).

Oleg Tsarkov, Bard Worldwide (Russia)

Oleg Tsarkov is investment advisor to Bard worldwide holding, single family office focused on private equity and public markets. He has almost 30 years of experience in the financial markets. Before Oleg run private equity fund with total investment portfolio more $ 500 million. Also he has investment banking background.

Olga Kandinskaia, Cyprus International Institute of Management (Cyprus)

Olga Kandinskaia is Assistant Professor of Finance and MSc Business Management Director at the CIIM, Cyprus International Institute of Management.  Originally from Moscow, Russia, Olga has PhD in Economics (1995) from the prestigious MGIMO-University. Olga’s PhD research was in the area of financial derivatives as risk management tools. At that time, she also had practical experience of working as a futures broker. Olga has 25+ years of experience in teaching undergraduate, MBA and executive courses.  Her current expertise is in the areas of Financial Management, Business Planning, Strategic Investment Decisions, Corporate Finance, and Business Valuation.  Her teaching philosophy is to deliver interactive, customized and practically relevant learning where theory is applied to real-life cases. Olga herself is an experienced case writer and has received two prestigious awards for case writing. In 2017, Olga won the top prize in the international competition by The Case Centre in the category ‘Outstanding New Case Writer’, and in 2018, Olga won the NACRA conference award for the Best Case in Accounting, Finance and Economics. Both awards were first-time wins for Cyprus.

Orestis Hadjipanayi, Crevalon Capital (Cyprus)

Orestis is a deep-value investment manager and advisor. He manages Crevalon Capital, a CySEC regulated fund, and since inception in mid-2018 has posted the highest annual performance among all regulated funds in Greece and Cyprus, 52% compounded annually. The fund invests primarily in equities trading on regulated markets globally. He also serves as an independent investment advisor to local high-net-worth individuals and corporates and has recently launched a new inflation focussed fund Equine Capital Partners. His investment principles are rooted in deep value investing working always with a long-term outlook. He focuses on traditional sectors such as banking, insurance, mining, and energy and avoids technology and consumer stocks. He holds a BSc in Chemistry and an MSc in Finance both from Imperial College London.

Pantelis Charalambous, Alpacha Investments (Cyprus)

Pantelis is the General Manager of Alpacha Investment LTD, a family office established in Cyprus.  He has been with Alpacha since 2018 and has been responsible for the analysis and allocation of investments. Prior to joining the company, he worked in the energy industry as well as a few trading desks for online brokerages.  Pantelis is a CFA Charterholder while he holds an MSc in Oil and Gas Enterprise Management from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

Paolo Veneziani, Vidya Capital (Italy)

Paolo manages a small private family investment company, Vidya Capital.  He started to invest with a value oriented approach (mostly focalizing on high quality companies) in the early 90’s, after he learned about Warren Buffett and Value Investing. He became a full time investor in 2013.  Opportunities are sourced mostly in Europe and the US, and are sector and size agnostic.  Previously Paolo has been an executive in the Pharmaceutical industry in the US, UK and Italy and then a senior partner at Egon Zehnder, one of the largest Executive Search and Management Consulting Firms in the world.  He holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Rome.

Pasi Havia, Helsinki Partners (Finland)

Pasi works for Helsinki Capital Partners (HCP), which is one of the fastest growing asset managers in Finland.  In 2016, HCP received Fund Manager of The Year Finland reward from The European.  Pasi is a Portfolio Manager of the HCP Quant fund, a global small and mid-cap quantitative value fund. It uses systematic, quantitative and statistical methods to identify stocks that are undervalued, by using financial modelling. Pasi’s personal blog was ranked the second most popular economic blog in Finland in 2011 and 2014. He is also a co-author of a best-selling personal finance book in Finland.

Paul McNulty, Veraison Capital (Switzerland)

Prior to joining Veraison, Paul was a Senior Analyst with Sterling Strategic Value in Monaco. Sterling takes an activist approach to investment with the aim to sustainably improve the company and generate value for shareholders. From 2000-2015, Paul held the position of Senior Fund Manager at Setanta Asset Management. Prior to Setanta, he was a consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. Paul is a CFA Charterholder and holds both a BSc and MSc in Finance (with distinction) from Queens University Belfast.

Pavel Begun, 3G Capital Management LLC (Canada)

Pavel co-founded 3G Capital a concentrated value investment fund manager. He has over sixteen years of experience in value investing and is a board member of AlarmForce Industries Inc. (Canadian listed USA residential alarm company) and a director at Grafenia PLC (UK listed short-run on-demand printer). Pavel has an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. He has been a guest speaker at a number of universities and also at various investing conferences since 2001.

Per Granath, Private Investor (Sweden)

Per is an Engineer, PhD, from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, and has been living in Cyprus since 2001, working both in start-ups and international groups with engineering management. He is now managing his own money with a focus on small and microcaps in Sweden, diversified with value investing in the Nordics and North America.

Piet Ysabie, Family Fund (Belgium)

Piet started investing in 1998 and manages family and private client capital. He employs a systematic approach using an optimized mix of value parameters.  He likes the IT side of the investment approach and developed the ICT (Information and Communication Technology) needed to support the approach. He is also the founder and managing director of an ICT consultancy business. Previously he worked as a consultant helping blue chip companies in Europe and the US setup major projects in market settlement and clearing. Mr. Ysabie graduated from the University of Leuven in 1990 with a Master’s degree in engineering.

Raman Minhas, Private Fund (U.K.)

Manages a small private fund which focuses on Growth At Reasonable Price (GARP) and value. Opportunities are sourced from US and UK, and are sector and size agnostic. He is a contributor to SumZero, Gurufocus and Seeking Alpha. Previously an ER doctor and life sciences analyst.

Ratko Jovic, AVLNCH family office (Slovenia)

Investment Manager of AVLNCH family office. Formerly a Principal at Mid Europa Partners, a private equity fund focused on Central and Eastern Europe (2010-2021), working from London, Budapest, Warsaw and Ljubljana. Prior to that, an investment banker in the Restructuring & Special Situations group of Houlihan Lokey in London (2007-2010). Based in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Reimar Scholz, Bavaria Industries (Germany)

CEO and majority owner of BAVARIA Industries Group AG a listed holding with NAV of over EUR 500m, founded in 2003 with EUR 50k. Invested in turnarounds initially and since 2013 mostly in public equities. IRR 15% p.a. since IPO in 1/2006.

Ricardo Naya, Private Investor (Spain)

Ricardo currently manages his own portfolio full-time combined with some writing and teaching. He has more than 20 years of experience as a Management Consultant, mainly in Process Improvement, ERP implementation, and Strategy, working for most of the big consultancy firms. An avid reader and curious, eager to further learning and sharing. He is interested in finding any kind of undervalued stocks with high quality or at least good prospects mainly in developed markets. He holds an MBA and a degree in Industrial Engineering among other specific studies.

Robert Karas, Bank Gutmann (Austria)

Robert Karas is Chief Investment Strategist of Bank Gutmann. He joined Bank Gutmann’s Chief Investment Office in 2019. Previously, Robert served as Chief Investment Officer in an Austrian private bank. Since 2020, he writes a weekly newsletter called “Gutmann Viewpoint”. Robert is a CFA Charterholder.

Samir Mohamed, Family Office (Switzerland)

Samir started with value investing in 1999 and manages a private family fund, full time, for the last few years. He focuses on good businesses with temporary problems and suppressed stock prices.   Samir enjoys collaborating with other value investors regularly via in-person meetings or Skype calls.   Samir was global head of the product management teams of a € 170m industrial business at Siemens.  He worked at Siemens for 13 years.  He has a master’s degree in Management, Technology, and Economics and a bachelor’s degree in material science, both from ETH Zurich.   He recently relocated from Switzerland to Cyprus.

Sanjeet Mavi, Family Office (Canada)

From Toronto, Canada, Sanjeet practices value investing and manages his family’s wealth on a full-time basis.

Simon Caufield, SIM Limited (U.K.)

Simon has been a professional investor since 2007 and manages family capital and has a private client advisory business. He specialises in deep value, cyclical and cheap compounders in the industrial, consumer discretionary and non-bank financial sectors. He is an active member of the value investing special interest group of the CFA in the UK and a regular visitor to value investing events.

Sergey Arinin, Private Investor (Russia)

Sergey manages his own money on a full-time basis.  Previously he worked as an equity analyst for various investment companies with a presence in Russia including J.P.Morgan, UBS and Unicredit from 2001 to 2016.  Sergey graduated from Higher School of Economics (Moscow).

Sophocles Sophocleous, Consultant (Cyprus)

A Fulbright scholar and CFA Charterholder, Sophocles currently works as a consultant. From 2022-24 he was a full-time advisor to Swiss-based activist Veraison Capital AG while during 2019-21, he managed two small funds at S.P.A. Financial Services, successfully outperforming their benchmarks.  Sophocles has experience managing institutional portfolios across multiple geographies and asset classes, while he spent 11 years with London-based Emerging Markets fund manager Argo Capital Management. Sophocles is a visiting lecturer at the European University Nicosia and the Cyprus International Institute of Management. On an annual basis, he organizes the Cyprus Value Investor Conference. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a double major in Economics and Finance.

Stan Gorozhankin, Vita Markets (Cyprus)

Stan is Managing Director of Limassol-based investment firm VM Vita Markets Ltd, which provides investment solutions for professional investors. He started his career as a sell-side equity research analyst at Renaissance Capital and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, then moved to buy-side by joining as the head of research of a single-family office managing a $250mn portfolio. Stan holds a BSc in Economics and an MSc in Finance from National Research University – Higher School of Economics, Moscow, and MBA from HEC Paris.

Stella Eliadou, Aileron Advisors (Cyprus)

Stella is director and co-founding partner of Aileron Advisors, a boutique corporate finance and risk advisory firm. Her expertise includes corporate finance, corporate strategy, assessment of real asset investment projects and capital raising, and she has had considerable exposure to the capital markets, shipping, real estate, and VC/private equity sectors. Prior to that, she held the position of Head of Group Strategy at SFS Group PLC.  She has over 20 years of experience in the finance industry. Stella holds a B.Sc. in International Business and Finance from Old Dominion University, VA, USA on a scholarship from the Cyprus Government, and an M.Sc. in Finance from San Diego State University, CA, USA on a graduate scholarship. She is a CFA Charterholder.

Stephanos Koutsakos, Red Carpet Capital Ltd. (U.K.)

Stefanos currently co-leads the investment team at Red Carpet Capital. He oversees the family’s principal investments in Aviation, helping with business development and financing, and also helps with new investments in Fintech, Virtual Reality, Proptech, and Longevity.  Stefanos started his career as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte before moving to IHS Markit.  There he focused on valuations for illiquid securities, including private equity, distressed debt, and suspended shares, where he built several first-of-their-kind valuation models for complex securities. He subsequently moved into investment banking at EH Global Capital, a subsidiary of Red Carpet Capital, where he advised on transactions with a value in excess of $1.5bn.

Steve Gorelik, Firebird Management (U.S.A.)

Steve is a Portfolio Manager with Firebird Management, a value-oriented asset manager with over 20 years of experience investing in the Eastern European and North American markets. Steve’s investment experience includes both public and private equity investments in Eastern Europe with a particular focus on Baltic Countries, Romania, Georgia and banks across the whole region. Steve is also lead portfolio manager of Firebird U.S. Value Fund. Steve is a graduate of Value Investing Program at Columbia University Graduate School of Business and is a CFA (chartered financial analyst).

Steve Rosenthal, Kopernik Global Investors (U.S.A.)

Steve Rosenthal is an analyst covering the energy sector at Kopernik. He has been in the investment industry since 1992 and joined Kopernik in 2013. Earlier in his career, he held positions at Mt. Eden Investment Advisors, Telegraph Hill Investment Counsel, and Farmers Insurance. Prior to his investment career, Steve was a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps and a naval aviator flying attack helicopters. Steve has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Santa Clara and an MBA from the University of Southern California. He has received the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Steven Towns, Uguisu Research (Japan)

Steven founded Uguisu Research in 2013. He specializes in sourcing Japanese equity investments using Japanese language filings and information. He also provides prospect research for leading private preparatory schools, colleges and hospitals. Between 2008 and 2017, Steven was a director of research at the advancement offices of Trinity College and Yale University. Steven is the author of Investing in Japan: there is no stock market as undervalued or as misunderstood.

Swen Lorenz, Undervalued Shares (Channel Islands)

Swen is a passionate public equity investor and the face of Undervalued-Shares.com. With over 30 years of experience in investing, Swen has a knack of finding exciting investment opportunities in very unexpected places, which he discovers while travelling the globe. His trademarks include extensive, investigative reports which give investors plenty of inspiration and ideas to work with.

Taylor McKenna, Kopernik Global Investors (U.S.A.)

Taylor is an analyst covering materials and real estate sectors at Kopernik. He has been in the investment industry since 2007 and joined Kopernik in 2013. He held positions at QB Asset Management and Bank of America Investments earlier in his career. Taylor has a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Skidmore College. He has received the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Tim Staermose, African Lions Fund

After finishing his studies in Australia, Tim Staermose spent 25 years working in equity research and managing money in Asia, including South Korea, The Philippines, Hong Kong, and Indonesia. After finding inspiration on a 2018 trip back to Tanzania, where he was born, in 2020 Tim launched the African Lions Fund, to invest in sub-Saharan Africa frontier market equities. African Lions Fund has achieved a CAGR of 14%+ since inception, and grown from $3.9mn at its outset to be managing more than $21mn today. Tim is based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania with his wife and two daughters.

Tim Tetlow, Heliosphan (Cayman Islands)

Tim Tetlow’s background includes a physics degree, UK and US actuarial credentials and
significant ILS and reinsurance investing/underwriting, portfolio construction and risk
management experience. He has a demonstrated ability to build and develop businesses from the ground up having been part of the start-up teams of two Bermuda Insurance Linked Securities (ILS) managers, ILS Capital and HSCM Bermuda serving as Chief Operating Officer at both managers. Tim currently manages a consulting company Heliosphan Ltd. that focuses on insurance, reinsurance and ILS investing/underwriting, portfolio construction and risk management issues.

Thomas Roland Hartl, Private Investor (U.K.)

Thomas Hartl has been with Morgan Stanley since 1998. He is a Managing Director based in London and Head of Real Estate Asset Management Europe. Thomas graduated in 1998 in business administration from University of St Gallen, Switzerland.

Tim du Toit, Serendipity Ventures (Germany)

Tim du Toit was born in South Africa in 1967 and moved to Germany in 2001.  In between he completed a B. Com. Hons. and MBA (Indiana USA) degree, worked in banking and asset management in South Africa and Germany for 15 years.  Since 2010 he manages his own money, writes investment newsletters (focus on Europe) and started an investment screening service (www.quant-investing.com).

Urh Krajnc, Stan Ltd (Slovenia, Cyprus) 

After graduating from Illinois State University, Urh started to manage a portfolio of US equities for a wealthy family. With a good track record and the lack of opportunities in Slovenia, he decided to move to Cyprus and to start managing assets for Ston Limited – an investment firm with a concentrated portfolio of small-cap equities. 

Vadim Makhov, Bard Worldwide (Russia)

  • Founder, Bard Worldwide, investment company developing technologies of the future.
  • Professor of business practice Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO and Chairman of the BoD of strategy committee PJSC Chelyabinsk Pipe-Rolling Plant.
  • Ex-Chief Strategic Officer and Deputy CEO of Severstal.
  • Author of Humanity’s Lucky Clover: A History of Discoveries, Technologies, Competition & Wealth.
  • PhD in Economics & MSc in Management from State University of Management, Russia.
  • MBA from the University of Northumbria, Newcastle Business School.

Vasilis Spanos, Compliance Consultant (Cyprus)

Provides regulatory compliance consulting to investment firms and fund managers by identifying weaknesses in their policies and procedures, assessing the risks and impact of these weaknesses, and recommending practical improvements to ensure compliance with the relevant regulatory obligations. He has in-depth knowledge of MIFID II, UCITS Directive, AIFMD, AML and other relevant regulations. Vasilis was the Group Internal Auditor of FxPro Group from 2016 to 2022 and prior to that was at CySEC’s Supervision department for 5 years. Previously, Vasilis had 10 years of experience in investment analysis and portfolio management at various investment firms. Vasilis is a CFA Charterholder, a qualified accountant, and has an MBA from Warwick Business School.

Vassos Kyprianou, Invel Real Estate (Greece)

Vassos is a member of the Board of Directors of Invel Real Estate Partners Greece SAS, a Fund with assets under management in excess of EUR 2.5bn. He is also the Group Finance Manager of Invel Real Estate. Vassos has served as the Group Chief Financial Officer at capital.com, a brokerage business. He also founded and served as Managing Director of Dimacos Capital Ltd, a research-based organisation that develops systematic absolute return and value-based investment strategies as well as the Chief Investment Officer of Dimacos Fund, an alternative investment fund that trades the Dimacos Capital trading strategies.

Vitaliy Katsenelson, IMA (U.S.A.)

Vitaliy is CEO and CIO of IMA which he joined in 1997. He received both his BS and MS degrees in finance from the University of Colorado at Denver. His two books, Active Value Investing and The Little Book of Sideways Markets, were published by John Wiley & Sons and have been translated into eight languages. His articles have appeared in Barron’s, Financial Times, Forbes, Business Insider, CNBC, The Globe & Mail, and MarketWatch, among others. Vitaliy has also been a guest on CNBC, Fox Business, BNN, and Yahoo! Finance. Vitaliy has also taught a graduate investment class at the University of Colorado at Denver. He is a CFA charterholder and has served on the board of the CFA Society of Colorado. Forbes magazine has called him “the new Benjamin Graham”.

Yiannos Petri, Athlos Capital (Cyprus)

Ioannis is the founder and Managing Director of Athlos Capital. His career started in 2007 at the Credit Hybrids and Exotics team of a leading global Investment Bank in London. In 2009 he returned to Cyprus and successfully set up the Investment Services team of a private bank which he headed up until 2016 before deciding to set up Athlos. He has extensive expertise in fixed income trading with a focus on the Cyprus and Greek markets, emerging markets and risk management. Ioannis holds a BA in Industrial Economics from the University of Nottingham and an MSc in Financial Risk Management from the ICMA Centre, University of Reading.

Yoav Zelikovic, Zelikovic Investments (Israel)

After working as a corporate lawyer and at one of the largest investment firms in Israel I decided to set up my own shop 8 years ago and to apply the Value Investing principles I studied.  Today my partner and I manage almost $100 million via two funds – a hedge fund and mutual fund, where we apply mostly a micro-cap value long term strategy. Most of our clients are Israeli.  We also have a weekly podcast in Hebrew about great value investors. I grew up in the U.S. but came to Israel after high school.  I studied law at the Hebrew University, and I have an MBA from Bar Ilan University.  I reside in Ashkelon, Israel and am happily married with 2 kids.

Yuri Mayorov, Private Investor

I’m a full-time solo investor since 2021, managing my own capital with a focus mostly on public equities. Industry-agnostic, trying to learn a little about many things. Previously I worked in investment banking and spent 10 years in private equity (UHNWI family office). I’m residing in Cyprus with my family.