George Athanassakos
George Athanassakos
George Athanassakos is the Ben Graham Chair in Value Investing and Director of The Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing at Ivey Business School. As a Professor of Finance, his work has been published widely in academic journals.
He is the author of Derivatives Fundamentals, Equity Valuation: A Guide to Discounted Cash Flow and Relative Valuation Methods, as well as Value Investing: From Theory to Practice. Additionally, he writes a guest column for The Globe and Mail – Canada’s leading daily newspaper – on economic and financial topics.
Early Life and Education
George has achieved great success despite being a self-described budget nerd. A veteran educator, he holds multiple degrees from top colleges and universities around the country. At home he’s established himself as one of Canada’s premier investment experts due to his excellent team supporting him on-the-go. However, George’s most prestigious role remains that of Senior Executive; responsible for coordinating investment and research initiatives both nationally and internationally.
Professional Career
George Athanassakos is Professor of Finance and Ben Graham Chair in Value Investing at Ivey Business School, having joined them in July 2004. Additionally, he founded and manages The Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing as well as The Center for the Advancement of Value Investing Education.
He has authored books and published articles in a range of academic journals, such as Journal of Banking and Finance, Applied Financial Economics, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Financial Research, Financial Analysts’ Journal, Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, Multinational Finance Journal and Review of Financial Economics. His research interests include institutional attributes of Canada’s capital markets; the effect of institutional trading and analysts’ forecasts on stock market performance; stock and bond market anomalies; as well as equity valuation issues.
Achievements and Honors
George Athanassakos is a Professor of Finance at Ivey Business School and holds the Ben Graham Chair in Value Investing. He joined Ivey in July 2004 and holds a BA in Economics and Business Administration from The University of Macedonia in Thessalonica, Greece; additionally he earned an MA, MBA, and PhD in Finance from York University in Toronto.
He is the author of Value Investing: From Theory to Practice – A Guide to the Value Investing Process, written with students in mind and praised by fellow value investors such as billionaire Prem Watsa. Recently he spoke at MOI Global’s Meet-the-Author Forum 2022 and received recognition with FP Canada ™ Fellow distinction for his outstanding contribution towards furthering FP Canada ™ Council mission and elevating financial planning profession.
Personal Life
George is an enthusiastic value investor, emphasizing the concept of forgoing short-term pleasures for long-term gains. He has an expert eye for financial trends and an eye for finding good companies at low prices – but isn’t afraid to take risks when necessary.
He’s the author of the best-selling book The Big Book of Value Investing and an expert on investing fundamentals. He also writes regularly for The Globe and Mail, Canada’s leading daily newspaper. Additionally, he was named FP Canada Fellow – an honor bestowed upon those who have made exceptional contributions to developing financial planning practice worldwide. Furthermore, among many accolades he received, he invented the world’s first value investing model which continues to be utilized today by many Canadian investors.
Net Worth
George Athanassakos is an author, professor of finance and Ben Graham Chair in Value Investing at Richard Ivey School of Business. He joined Ivey in July 2004 and founded the Ben Graham Centre for Value Investing six years later. Additionally, Athanassakos serves on the boards of several companies and belongs to the Financial Planning Standards Council (FPSC).
He has authored over 100 articles, which have been featured in such publications as The Financial Post, Canadian Investment Review and The Globe and Mail. Additionally, he has presented seminars on traditional valuation and value investing to valuation societies around Canada, the US, Europe and Australia. In recognition of his research and teaching achievements he was awarded with the Ivey’s Teaching Innovation Award in 2022. Additionally he is the author of Value Investing: From Theory to Practice which will be released in 2022 and discussed during MOI Global’s Meet-the-Author Forum 2022.