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:
President and Portfolio Manager, Aegis Financial Corporation, McLean, Virginia, USA
Mr. Barbee has been Portfolio Manager of the Aegis Value Fund since its inception in 1998 and is the controlling shareholder of Aegis Financial Corporation. Prior to Aegis, Mr. Barbee worked as an analyst covering oilfield services at Simmons & Company, and later as a generalist with deep value advisor Donald Smith & Company. Mr. Barbee received his M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and holds a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering and a B.A. degree in Economics from Rice University.
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.
Founder and CIO, Robotti & Company Advisors LLC., New York, New York, USA
Mr. Robotti is the founder and CIO of Robotti & Company Advisors LLC, a registered investment adviser, and president of Robotti & Company LLC, a registered broker-dealer. He started his career as an accountant and CPA, and served as CFO of Gabelli & Company. Building on his exposure to other prominent value investors, Bob founded Robotti & Company in 1983. The firm’s success over time has been due to his and his team’s ability to identify companies trading at a significant discount to intrinsic value. While investing across a wide range of industries, Bob has been particularly active in the energy industry for his entire career. Bob currently serves on the boards of Panhandle Oil & Gas Inc. (NYSE:PHX) and Pulse Seismic Inc. (TSX:PSD). He was a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Advisory Committee on Smaller Public Companies, established to examine the impact of Sarbanes-Oxley Act and other aspects of the federal securities law. Bob graduated from Bucknell University and holds an MBA from Pace University.
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.