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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 15, 2027 - 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 15, 2027 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

Hardev Bains head shotPresident and Chief Investment Officer, Lionridge Capital Management Inc., Winnipeg, MB, Canada (January 28, 2027 - Ivey Class Guest Speaker)

Mr. Bains has been a dedicated practitioner of value investing for over 25 years. Prior to founding Lionridge he held the position of Vice-President, U.S. Equities with a major Canadian mutual fund company. Mr. Bains has been a finance professional since 1994, initially working in the areas of corporate finance and merchant banking. He also has previous experience as a corporate lawyer. He earned an undergraduate degree in economics and a law degree from the University of Manitoba, and an MBA from the Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. Mr. Bains has also held the designation of Chartered Financial Analyst since 1999. He currently serves as Chair of the Associates of the Asper School of Business.

For more on Lionridge Capital Management Inc., www.lionridgecapital.com

Francois Rochon head shotFrancois Rochon, President & Portfolio Manager, Giverny Capital, Montreal, QC, Canada (February 25, 2027 - Ivey Class Guest Speaker)

Mr. Rochon was educated as an engineer at the Ecole Polytechnique of Montreal. After graduating with his master's degree (in science), he worked as a researcher and network engineer for INRS-Telecom and Teleglobe Canada. Following his lifelong passion for investing, he decided to focus his career on professional money management. After managing family accounts between 1993 and 1996, he joined Montrusco & Associates as an analyst and was then promoted to Portfolio Manager. In December 1998, Francois founded Giverny Capital in order to offer investment management services to clients based on his investment philosophy of owning outstanding companies for the long term. Francois has written for many years a regular investment column in the newspaper "The Gazette" and in "Les Affaires". He has been interviewed by Value Investor Insight, by Wall-Street Transcript, on many television programs and on many podcasts. A chapter in Andy Kilpatrick's book "Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett" is written about Francois' path to value investing. Finally, in 2023, a book was published on his career titled "The unique journey of an exceptional investor" by the author Andre Gosselin (in French). Francois also sits on various boards of directors.

For more on Giverny Capital https://givernycapital.com/

Past Guest Speakers

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