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Guest Speakers

Presentations from leading value investors enhance the value investing skills that are taught in both the Ivey’s Value Investing program as well as the Value Investing and the Search for Value Seminars. Our speaker series allow students the opportunity to see value investors in action.

Practitioners’ involvement in the program is organized in two parts: First, practitioners present their basic approach to value investing and discuss their style; second, they take students through actual investment decisions. This includes decisions to purchase securities, and how large a position to take, or decisions not to purchase securities. Time is allowed at the end for open-ended student questions.

This page also features presentations from the keynote speakers at the Centre's Value Investing Conferences that cover broad areas of interest to the value investing community and to our students.

Upcoming Guest Speakers

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., Toronto, ON, Canada (April 16, 2026 - Fairfax Annual Meeting of Shareholders)

Mr. Watsa, Chairman and CEO, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. has invited Dr. Athanassakos and a group of his Value Investing MBA and HBA students to attend the Fairfax annual meeting of shareholders on April 16, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. After the annual meeting, students will have an opportunity to meet Mr. Watsa and his team. Mr. Watsa is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., a financial services holding company, which he took over in 1985. The company, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance, as well as investment management. Mr. Watsa is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a graduate of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology with a degree in Chemical Engineering and a holder of an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business of the University of Western Ontario. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Hospital for Sick Children, a member of the Advisory Board for the Richard Ivey School of Business and a member of the Board of Directors of the Royal Ontario Museum Foundation, as well as Chairman of the Investment Committee of St. Paul’s Anglican Church.  Fairfax has been one of the few companies to escape the ravages of the great recession of 2008 as Mr. Watsa and his team had anticipated the credit crisis and had taken the necessary steps to protect Fairfax. Mr. Watsa, also known as the Buffett of the North, had discussed his fears about the markets in a key note speech he gave to The Ben Graham Center of Value Investing First Annual Symposium on Value Investing on May 25, 2007. His key note speech can be viewed here.

For more on Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., see www.fairfax.ca

President, Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd., Toronto, ON, Canada (January 29, 2026 - Ivey Class Guest Speaker) 

Mr. Ruparelia has been in the investment industry since 1994. He started at Richardson Greenshields in the mutual fund area before moving over to their money management arm as a Trader and Research Associate. Rupel left the firm in 1999 to become a portfolio manager and partner and Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd., joining the firm shortly after it started. Heathbridge manages funds for high net worth and institutional clients. He graduated from Queen's University in 1993 with a B.A. in Economics. He has completed various industry courses, including the CFA program in 1999 and the Ivey Executive Program at the University of Western Ontario in 2005. He was appointed President of Heathbridge in 2014. Rupel currently serves as a Trustee for the Foundation at Lakefield College School. He is a member of the Ticker Club and of YPO (The International Young Presidents' Organization). Past volunteer activities include the Dean's Advisory Council for Queen's University, the Continuing Education/Professional Development committee for the Toronto CFA Society, as well as coaching baseball and soccer.  He is married with two children. 

For more on Heathbridge Capital Management Ltd., see https://heathbridge.com/

Partner, Director of Quantitative Research & Europe Portfolio Manager, Verdad Advisers, Boston, MA, USA (February 26, 2026 - Ivey Class Guest Speaker) 

Before joining Verdad, Mr. Chingono worked at Dimensional Fund Advisors and Credit Suisse. He earned an MBA with honours from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business where he concentrated in finance, statistics, and econometrics. As a graduate student, he co-authored two research papers related to Verdad's Investment strategy: Leveraged Small Value Equities and Forecasting Debt Paydown Among Leveraged Equities. He earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard, where he concentrated in government with economics as a secondary field. Brian grew up in Harare, Zimbabwe and he lives with his wife and two children in New York.

For more on Verdad Advisers, see https://verdadcap.com/

LaceChairman, Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel Ltd., Toronto, ON, Canada (May 26, 2026 - Seminar on Value Investing and the Search for Value)

Mr. Lace is currently Chairman of Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, a publicly listed insurance holding company. In this capacity, he and his team are responsible for managing Fairfax’s global investment assets. He leads the equity management group in uncovering investment opportunities worldwide using the value investing approach. He has served in the investment industry since 1975, initially receiving his training as a research analyst at Confederation Life under the tutelage of value investing specialist John H. Watson (cofounder of Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.) He subsequently worked in portfolio management at Scotia McLeod and has been a portfolio manager and principal at Hamblin Watsa since 1986. He received his SB in management from the Alfred P. Sloan School, MIT in 1973, his MBA from Ivey in 1975, and CFA in 1979.

For more on Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, see https://www.fairfax.ca/

Founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer, Sionna Investment Managers, Toronto, ON, Canada (May 29, 2026 - Seminar on Value Investing and the Search for Value)

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).

For more on Sionna Investment Managers, see www.sionna.ca

Past Guest Speakers

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