Testimonials

Read what past participants thought of this ground breaking seminar.

"I’ve attended Executive Education courses at Kellogg, Harvard, Wharton, and the Value Investing course at Columbia (twice). None hold a candle to this program. The concepts and process are clearly and logically taught. There is no comparison between this course and the one at Columbia. There were no gaps when I left this course as there were with the other. Many thanks for the education and a great experience."

-Chris Storm, Sable Realty, Inc.
Amarillo, TX, USA

"Fantastic class! By far the best and most concise class in value investing out there. There is not another Value investing class that compares. If you want to know about value investing and put it in practice then this is the class for you."

-Michael Rusinas, LPL Financial
Huntington Beach, CA, USA

“From both a professional and personal perspective, I found George’s seminar to truly be one of the most valuable and useful seminars I have ever attended.”

-Greg Owttrim, Riverwood Capital Group
Mississauga, ON, Canada

“I registered for this course wanting to learn more about investments. What I quickly realized was the seminar was a tremendous investment in itself. This seminar provides the necessary framework to look for undervalued companies, not only from a technical valuation approach, but it also touches on the necessary mental framework to handle the emotional elements of investing. George has constructed a very special seminar and his enthusiasm for value investing was very evident throughout the course. I would highly recommend this course to anyone who is interested in this area.”

-Rahim Murji, Alberta Investment Management Corp.
Edmonton, AB, Canada

"Dr.George Athanassakos engaged and entertained the class through a very challenging week. He provides a systematic approach to Value Investing, a game played using the fundamental rules of economics, real numbers and intelligence. I very much appreciated the humility and personality that George brought to the class, he enjoys what he does! If you're ready to do the work that Value Investing requires, this seminar will be time and money well spent. These 5 days were honestly a thrill for me."

-David Bird, Oak Lake Trading Company Ltd.
Kimberley, BC, Canada

"I thoroughly enjoyed George Athanassakos´ Value Investing Seminar. It was an extraordinary seminar on value investing. It helped me question and revise my own approach, refine my own method, and understand the philosophy and the process more deeply. It was a great occasion to meet, and learn from, like-minded people from the four corners of the world. George´s passion makes you come out feeling almost like the member of a cult..."

-Alvaro Vargas-Llosa, Individual Investor
Washington, D.C., USA

"I found this course of tremendous value - George's teaching style lends itself well to both those with and without a financial background. Further he always made sure that he answered everyone's questions and that we were all across the various concepts before moving on. The course really finds it strength in the group work and case studies as these allowed us to put into practice what we'd been learning and develop a much more robust understanding of the how value a real company works. I'd thoroughly recommend this course to anyone wanting to expand their understanding of value investing and investing more broadly."

-Jason Prowd, Individual Investor
Canberra, ACT, Australia

"This value investing seminar was an invaluable tool in helping me tie together in a quantitative way, all the investing advice provided by some of the great value investors: Ben Graham, Warren Buffet, etc.. Prof. George Athanassakos cuts through all the information to help identify key criteria, critical to company valuation and provides real world examples of how to find, evaluate and purchase companies at a discount to their intrinsic value. I believe this unique Canadian course fills a key educational gap in the value investing field that has not been available since Ben Graham. I highly recommend this course to anyone interested in becoming a true value investor.”

-Mike Kazmaier, Individual Investor
Guelph, ON, Canada

"I was just gushing about how absolutely outstanding the value investing seminar was to a friend of mine. I told him "If you are serious about value investing this is the only place to be. The seminar begins with a gentle slope, quickly progresses to a steep slope and a great summit! You couldn't ask for more."

My objective in attending was to get a mechanism to calculate valuation in a systematic way. The course structure built to a fine crescendo in accomplishing this objective. The combination of small group work sessions and MBA presenters helped to make it a very practical learning experience. This course should be attended by all who have a serious interest in investing.

A piece of advice to those attending in the future: To get the maximum benefit, you must do all of the pre-work prior to attending. And you must come prepared to work during the week. Of equal importance, you also have to leave prepared to do more work. Concepts are (as Buffett says) simple but require discipline and a body of work built over the years. Having said that, for those with the value gene, the work is play.

An unexpected bonus was the opportunity to meet others with a value bent. The diverse backgrounds and experience made for interesting discussion both inside and outside the classroom. Thanks for a first rate experience."

-Bob Stiles, RBC Dominion Securities Inc.
Toronto, ON, Canada

"Simply Great. All the books tell you how to think but don’t actually help you practise valuation all that much. Warren Buffett has said that if he taught a business class all he would spend his time on is teaching how to value companies. Well, George does an excellent job in helping you learn and apply all the concepts taught by showing how it’s done in practise, not just in theory. This course is a life changing experience...

This course was so helpful I am actually thinking of taking it again!”

-Kyle Holmes, Riverside Capital
Saskatoon, SK, Canada

"George’s enthusiasm and passion for investing and teaching made the seminar an extremely enjoyable experience. The seminar was more beneficial than any other course I took during my four years in university.”

-Mark Piotrowski, CAI Capital Management Co.
Toronto, ON, Canada

"I've been through many finance courses, including an MBA in Finance and the CFA program, but I have never seen anything as valuable and practical as George Athanassakos’ Value Investing Course. It provides an excellent investment framework for value investors. I look forward to future courses offered by Dr. Athanassakos."

-Constantin Cosereanu, Bloomberg L.P.
New York, NY, USA

"It was an absolute pleasure to be in George's class for this year’s value investing seminar. His infectious enthusiasm and knowledge was a treat and made the seminar every enjoyable.

After reading the traditional value investing books, I was unsure of how to apply methods to everyday situations. Although an intense week, the seminar gave a step by step process on how evaluate companies and what things to consider when applying the process. The course was fabulous and Dr. Athanassakos did a tremendous job."

-Arif Dostmohamed, Individual Investor
West St. Paul, MB, Canada

"Finally a course that offers investors an approach to calculating intrinsic value in a consistent manner along with the rationale used in coming up with that valuation. I have read many value investing books, but this course does what all the books don’t – It gives you details on how to approach valuations with real world examples.”

-Enrico Visentini, Muccone Holdings Inc.
Toronto, ON, Canada

"Thanks for being my professor/mentor for the Value Investing Seminar at Ivey Business School at UWO this summer. The course was very intense and a wonderful learning experience. One of the most difficult parts of value investing is determining the value of a particular company at a point in time. The only way to learn is by actually doing the valuation which is exactly what we did with your help and guidance. No book or CD could replace the valuable feedback we received as we worked through the process multiple times. Given the confidence I now have in my valuation skills, I would say that this course has turned out to be a great value! Thanks for your patience and guidance. Thanks for introducing me to so many great people with like-minded goals. My advice to would-be attendees: this course is not a light-hearted romp through value investing. It is a serious and rigorous seminar on determining company value and using a margin of safety to profit from a mismatch between calculated value and Mr. Market's opinion. If that's what you want to learn, I can't imagine a better course from a better professor."

-Dr. Frank Fornasier, Individual Investor
St. Catharines, ON, Canada

"I thoroughly enjoyed the seminar. I have read Security Analysis, Value Investing and the Intelligent Investor. George very clearly tied together the concepts of NAV, EPV and the valuation of growth. An added bonus is that I have come away with ideas that will take me years to farm and harvest.

I now feel that I have a very sound foundation to be able to value any stock on any market anywhere in the world. What I need now is practice, practice, practice.

George has given me a sustainable competitive advantage. If only he would stop teaching the course..."

-David Odaguchi, Business Advisors Inc.
Toronto, ON, Canada

"This course added a new level of sophistication for me as a value investor. George's academic theory furthered my understanding and opened new doors. It is my firm belief that individuals coming into the seminar with an entrenched value philosophy, backgrounds in accounting, finance, and industry will benefit the most. For others, you might just become a convert! Be prepared to dedicate 12-13 hours a day to value investing once the case studies start. My day included 6 hours for class and the entire evening to discuss and prepare for the following day's case in a group. It's no cake walk. Those with the drive will draw the most benefit."

-Garrett Chan, Individual Investor
Edmonton, AB, Canada

"To any potential student of value investing, I would attest to the great value that George’s seminar offers."

-Corrado Geloso, Dr. C. Geloso Medicine Professional Corp.
Peterborough, ON, Canada

"Thanks again for a fascinating week, a great course indeed. I have been applying the concepts with success already."

-Kieran Clarke, Individual Investor
Beamsville, ON, Canada

"The seminar was excellent! What I was looking for, and I obtained from the course, was a proper step-by-step methodology for the valuation of stocks. I had read a number of books about the topic, but none of them provided a well defined process which could be put in to practice. The seminar was thus very useful and practical in this respect and filled this gap perfectly!"

-Jimmy Desai, Individual Investor
Ottawa, ON, Canada

“This is the way investing should be done–period. Thank you George for your valuable seminar.”

-Nicole Crawford, Summerhill Capital Management
Toronto, ON, Canada

"A key element to implement "Value Investing" successfully, is to have a sound valuation method.

George's seminar provides a step by step and thorough valuation approach consistent with the "Value Investing" premises.”

-Dante Albertini, MDS Funds
Lima, Peru

"George’s Value Investing Seminar helped me develop a greater appreciation of the hard work and discipline that portfolio managers need to use in valuing securities. The seminar participants were a very interesting and diverse group of investors. The breakout groups were well put together and the whole Seminar was very professional. I would recommend the Seminar to any serious investor and would emphasize that there is a lot of work to be done in preparation for and during the Seminar.”

-Patrick O'Neill, CIBC Wood Gundy Inc.
London, ON, Canada

"It is often overlooked that the key to success in investing is not to loose money. How not to loose money is a function of an investor's ability to evaluate downside risk. The Graham-Dodds body of knowledge is the best intellectual framework to protect investors against downside risk. Serious investors need to master these notions, and George's five day seminar is a great format to start us off in this journey. We can see George is passionate about teaching, he is highly competent and dedicated to his students. I have no hesitation in recommending this seminar.”

-Stéphane Préfontaine, Prefontaine Capital Inc.
Montreal, QC, Canada

"Warren Buffett’s partner, Charlie Munger: “The key is to not be seduced by crazy ideas, but instead just to stick to the fundamentals year after year. Academia doesn’t get too interested in us – we’re too simple. What would the professors do? A great many of the formulas they use to analyze securities and markets are dead wrong. They exist purely to give the intellectual class something to do. We don’t do anything just to exercise our intellectual proclivity for mathematical formulas.”

I’m here to tell you that Dr. Athanassakos is one professor who knows exactly what to do. His seminar will take you step by step through a value investing process that goes far beyond the naïve first step of simply finding cheap stocks. You will learn how to implement a robust valuation methodology firmly grounded in the Benjamin Graham tradition of security analysis. Once the value of a security is known, the rest becomes primarily a matter of patience. The intrinsic value of this seminar is orders of magnitude greater than its cost.”

-Lou Bielmann, Individual Investor
Panama City, Panama

“I've read many articles and books on the theory behind Value Investing, but none of them showed me the quantitative, and deeper qualitative analysis needed for proper valuation. George did just that! By giving me a solid framework, not only can I apply the principles behind the value discipline, I can also calculate the numbers, all while understanding how they both tie in together. As an added plus to the seminar, you will also meet some great people. Everyone at the seminar, including George, his MBA students, and fellow classmates, were extremely helpful and pleasant in and out of class. I highly recommend participating in this seminar!”

-Alberto Alderete, Individual Investor
Laredo, TX, USA

“As an investment professional, I find one of the most challenging aspects of valuation is estimating the cost of capital. As any financial professional can attest to, the cost of capital can drastically impact any valuation. Finance academics use “beta” from the Capital Asset Pricing Model (“CAPM”), but this method has many problems. ….. I have read countless books on investing and valuation and the ones that try to offer an alternative to CAPM suggest methods akin to licking your thumb and raising it above your head into the air. With no satisfactory alternative, I have used up to three different types of betas in my relentless pursuit in finding a holy grail. Sometimes, my CAPM results provide me with laughably low estimates and, other times, eye brow raising high estimates.

George instead provided us with an intuitive and empirical framework in estimating the cost of capital. What I learned in George’s seminar has provided me with a more sensible method which I am confident will improve my valuation work going forward.”

-Howard Ma, Raymond James Ltd.
Victoria, BC, Canada

“Professor Athanassakos’ Value Investing Seminar is the best course an inspiring investor can take regardless one's investment skills. The course reviews the value investing philosophy. It gives a logical and theoretical framework for one to synthesize value investing methodologies practiced by successful value investors into one's own investment methodology. Furthermore, the course provides a rigorous methodology for security valuation which one can adopt and modify to specific investment analysis within one's own circle of competency. In addition to the excellent course, the participants also bonded through the case project analysis and discussions. It was definitely an exciting five day experience.

I highly recommend the Value Investing Seminar for everyone who wants to improve his/her investment results.”

-Wancheng Zhao, Altria Group
Glen Allen, VA, USA

"Dr. Athanassakos puts a lot of work, energy and enthusiasm into teaching his seminars. I know we all learned a tremendous amount and many of us are diligently working on applying our new learning. I personally found the course very helpful and motivational. Dr. Athanassakos truly helped me put a structural and analytical approach behind my philosophical understanding of value investing. My sincerest thanks for that."

-Russ Anderson
Chapel Hill, NC, USA

"A great value investing seminar - It was definitely worth it!"

-Caroline Allard, Allard, Allard & Associés
Montréal, QC, Canada

"A thought provoking excellent seminar."

-Stephen Lieff, Royal York Capital
Ottawa, ON, Canada

"The seminar was both enjoyable and inspirational. It was a wonderful experience. Professor George Athanassakos taught the concept of value investing and valuation approaches with passion. His lectures were very detailed and informative. I definitely recommend this course to anyone who commits to be a successful value investor."

-Pornchai Rattananontachaisook, Individual Investor
Bangkhen, Thailand

"I really enjoyed the class and I thought it was a great learning experience. I am beginning to use the technique of evaluation that George presented in class..."

-William deGroot, KPMG LLP
North York, ON, Canada

"Dr. Athanassakos delivered the material in an organized and enthusiastic manner. I would (and have) recommended this seminar to others in the asset management industry."

-Greg Dowdall, Burgandy Asset Management
Toronto, ON, Canada

"Reading through many value investing books gave me a good concept. But after the seminar, I learned the process and was given the tools to apply my valuation approach to companies. I also met others who share the same interest and intensity on value investing. Overall, a great ROI seminar."

-Arthur Mui, Individual Investor
Newton, MA, USA

“A great course.”

-Scott Semple, Amber Holdings Inc.
Canmore, AB, Canada