In the 2nd round of the Competition, a new company to analyze and value is given to each finalist team in early April. This company will be the same for all finalists. Each finalist team is required to submit a PowerPoint presentation of no more than 20 slides (plus necessary appendices) to the competition managers a week later. Each finalist team is invited to Toronto, Canada to deliver a 20 minute presentation (plus 20 minutes for Q&A) of their respective analyses to the following 2nd round judges who are all distinguished global value investors:
Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst, Robotti & Company Advisors, New York, NY, USA
Mr. Kessler serves as a Portfolio Manager and Research Analyst at Robotti & Company Advisors in New York City. He joined Robotti in 2009, building on his experience as a Research Analyst Consultant at Aquamarine Capital and his previous roles in portfolio management at Rochdale Investment Management and Morgan Stanley. David holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, where he was a member of the Applied Value Investing Program and co-founded Graham and Doddsville, the school’s first student-run investment newsletter. He also earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Marketing from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Chief Investment Officer, Allianz European Reliance, President of the Board of Directors, Allianz AEDAK, Athens, Greece
Mr. Konstantinidis currently serves as the Chief Investment Officer of Allianz European Reliance and holds the position of President of the Board of Directors at Allianz AEDAK. Until November 2023, he held the role of CEO at European Reliance Asset Management, a subsidiary of the European Reliance Insurance Group, concurrently serving as the President of its investment committee. Mr. Konstantinidis has experience in various capacities within the financial sector in Greece and internationally. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors for European Reliance, Alter Ego Facilities Management Company, and European Reliance Asset Management. Furthermore, Mr. Konstantinidis holds membership on the Advisory Board of the Greek Centre for Value Investing and the postgraduate program "Applied Risk Management" at the Department of Economics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Mr. Konstantinidis earned his B.Sc in Business Administration from Boston University School of Management, graduating Magna Laude. His academic achievements also include an M.Sc in Finance from Boston College, Carroll Graduate School of Management, and the completion of an Executive MBA program at London Business School.
Principal, Chief Investment Officer, Peters MacGregor Capital Management, Sydney, Australia
Mr. Peters is Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Peters MacGregor Capital Management, a Sydney based International Equities value manager. He has 30 plus years of business and investment experience having built and operated various retail and manufacturing businesses in Australia prior to establishing Peters MacGregor in 1999. The firm has achieved a compound 15% per annum gross return for investors since inception and is currently ranked 5 stars by Morningstar over the past 1, 3, 5 year periods. Wayne holds an MBA from Bond University, Australia and studied Company Valuation at Harvard University, Cambridge. Wayne is also a non executive director of the Australian jewelry retails Secrets Shhh Ltd.
Founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer, Sionna Investment Managers, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Ms. Shannon founded Sionna in 2002 and has more than 35 years of industry experience. She is the Founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer at Sionna, and was previously chief investment officer and senior vice president at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers Canada. Kim serves as a board member with the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance and is the Chair of its Governance Committee. She is also on the board for the Brandes Institute, the Ontario Arts Foundation, United Corporation (a listed closed-end fund), a member of the C.D. Howe Institute’s National Council and the CFA Institute Board of Regents (she previously served as its chair). Kim is also a past president of the CFA Society Toronto. She was awarded Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year (2005), the RBC Canadian Woman Entrepreneur Award, the Women’s Executive Network’s Canada’s Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award (2007, 2017), continuously listed as one of Profit Magazine’s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs over the last several years and a recipient of the 2015 Rotman Women in Management Association Top 10 Awards (Entrepreneur Category).
Portfolio Manager, Bristol Gate Capital Partners, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Mr. Taxildaris earned a BA in Economics from Democritus University of Thrace in Greece. After his graduation he fulfilled his one-year military obligations at the Hellenic Air force. Then he moved to Germany to work at Lingohr & Partner Asset Management GmbH in Düsseldorf for 2 years as an Assistant Portfolio Manager. Afterwards, having heard about the Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing, he decided to pursue an MBA at the Ivey Business School. Upon graduation, he was involved as an Analyst with the Ivey Value fund and in 2013 joined Morningstar, Inc. as Manager Research Analyst. Achilleas joined Bristol Gate Capital Partners in 2017 as an Investment Analyst and in 2018 was promoted to Portfolio Manager. Through this time he remained involved with the Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing. He is a CFA charterholder and speaks fluently Greek, English and German.