Steve Balaban

Office: HH 174A

Phone: 519-888-4567 x48026

Email: sjbalaba@uwaterloo.ca

Web: visit Steve Balaban's website

YouTube channel: Mink Learning with Steve Balaban, CFA (1.5M views)

Video Playlists:

Education and certifications

Bachelor of Mathematics (University of Waterloo)
Bachelor of Business Administration (Wilfrid Laurier University)
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA Institute)

Brief biography

Steve Balaban is the Chief Investment Officer of Mink Capital, Chief Learning Officer of Mink Learning, an award-winning Associate Professor - Teaching Stream at the University of Waterloo and Contributing Author to the CFA Program on the subjects of Private Equity, Private Debt, as well as Alternative Investments overall. Prior to starting Mink Capital, Mink Learning, teaching at the University of Waterloo, and being involved in the CFA Program, Steve was the Chief Investment Officer of a Family Office in Canada, with a focus on Private Equity and Real Estate.

At the University of Waterloo, he is an award-winning Associate Professor - Teaching Stream who has created new courses on private equity, wealth management and the international course, a course that takes students to different areas of the world each year.

His approach to education is unique as he uses innovative technologies and experiential teaching methods to explain concepts to his students. His passion for teaching resulted in him being the only lecturer in the history of the University of Waterloo to win both the Distinguished Teaching Award (Steve Balaban - Distinguished Teaching Award) and the WUSA Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award in the same year.

Details of the three courses he created are as follows:

Private Equity and Venture Capital Course (AFM 377)

Steve created a brand new Private Equity course, based on experience, to share the inner workings of private equity with students. Through his connections, Steve brings in many high-profile guests, including ex-bank CEOs and family offices, as well as works with private companies to donate their data to enable a unique learning opportunity for students that can’t be found elsewhere.

Wealth Management Course (AFM 324)

Steve created a brand new Wealth Management course using a revolutionary Problem Based Learning (PBL) model that was adopted from the original PBL medical school model. Steve worked with medical school professors to perfect the model for finance. When delivered in 2018, feedback was tremendously positive. Since then, Steve has conducted workshops and presentations to teach institutions and individuals the new PBL model for finance.

International Study Course (AFM 334)

Steve created a brand new international course which has brought students to London (to understand the inner workings of Brexit), to Hong Kong (to understand the inner workings of the Belt and Road initiative in China), as well as Germany (to understand the inner workings of the biggest country in the EU). Since 2017, Steve has brought students to the UK, Hong Kong, Germany, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, New York, Switzerland, Korea, Japan, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Background

Steve has been the industry mentor/faculty adviser for the University of Waterloo CFA Institute Investment Research Challenge every year since 2014. In 2016 and 2024, while he was serving as the industry mentor for the University of Waterloo team, the team won the Global Challenge, the first and only Canadian team to win. This is a significant accomplishment considering, over the course of the 2015-2016 competition, there were more than 5,000 students that took part from 1,000 universities across the globe. In fact, the University of Waterloo team has made the global finals four times since 2016 and has made the North and South American finals seven times since 2016.

In an effort to educate his students and the general public about private equity, Steve launched a one-of-a-kind Private Equity YouTube Channel to make the complex world of private equity simple. This channel has received over 1,500,000 views and counting: Steve Balaban - Private Equity YouTube Channel.

He is an inspiring, entertaining speaker on the subjects of private equity, wealth management and family offices.

Steve earned a BBA from Wilfrid Laurier University and a BMATH from the University of Waterloo, where he graduated on the Dean’s List.

Steve has extensive international experience. He has worked, studied and visited over 85 countries on every continent in the world.

Courses Taught

Teach AFM 377 - Private Equity and Venture Capital - focus on Raising Capital, Structuring Deals, Creating Leveraged Buyout (LBO) Models, Negotiating Venture Capital Investments, Creating Value in Private Equity deals, and more.
Teach AFM 334 - International Study Course - focus on better understanding the global financial landscape by taking students to different areas of the world including the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Germany.
Teach AFM 324 - Wealth Management - focus on key areas of wealth management by solving ill-defined, complex, real-world problems in a unique Problem Based Learning (PBL) format.
Taught AFM 204 - Applied Finance - focus on understanding current financial events, using Microsoft Excel to build financial models and developing the ability to describe corporate value.
Taught AFM 121 - Introduction to Global Financial Markets- focus on the role of finance in the modern global economy and introduces some basic principles of financial decision-making.
Taught AFM 272 - Corporate/Managerial Finance 1 - focus on Global Financial Markets, Risk/Return Analysis, Valuation and more.
Teach AFM 372 – (MATH) Corporate/Managerial Finance 2 - focus on Valuation, Capital Structure, Dividend Policy, Options, Long/Short term Financing, and more.
Teach AFM 274 – (ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE) Corporate/Managerial Finance 2 - focus on Valuation, Capital Structure, Dividend Policy, Options, Long/Short term Financing, and more.

Memberships and Awards

2017 - 2020; Board of Directors of the CFA Society Toronto
2019 - Distinguished Teaching Award; University of Waterloo
2019 - WUSA Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award; University of Waterloo
2019 - 2021; Senior Advisor of the CFA Awards and University Relations Committee
2014 – Present; Industry Mentor for CFA Institute Research Challenge (the University of Waterloo team), including Global Champion in 2016
2017 - 2019; Chair of the CFA Awards and University Relations Committee
2014, 2016, 2018, 2019 – Judge for the Investment Research Challenge at the University of Waterloo
2014 – 2017; Member of the CFA Mentorship Committee
2015 – 2017; Act as mentor for CFA Professionals through the CFA Society Toronto Mentorship Program
2015 – 2017; Member of the CFA Awards and University Relations Committee
2015 - 2016; MVP Volunteer Award - CFA Society Toronto
2014 – 2016; Member of the CFA Private Client Committee
2015 - 2016 – Judge for the Ace the Pitch Competition at the University of Waterloo
2015 - Member of the subcommittee to organize the CFA Wealth Conference in Toronto
2014 – Judge for the Integrated Case Exercise (ICE) Competition at Wilfrid Laurier University

Professional Experience

Chief Investment Officer — Mink Capital

May 2011 – Present

Advise, consult and educate family offices on how to invest in private equity.

Chief Learning Officer — Mink Learning

March 2019 - Present

Make the Complex World of Private Equity Simple through workshops and speeches for
- Family Offices
- Finance Professionals
- Lawyers, Accountants and Service Providers with Private Equity Clients

Founder — Wealth Management Canada

January 2014 – 2022

Wealth Management Canada connects investors with top wealth management firms that best suit investors' needs. Successfully sold the company in 2020, and stayed on for the transition until 2022.

Member of Board of Directors — CFA Society Toronto

September 2017 - 2020

Serve as a member of the Board of Directors for the CFA Society Toronto, which strives to achieve our mission and vision through the following strategic objectives:
- Driving Member Value
- Increasing Designation Value
- Increasing Efficiency and Talent Development

President — Billboard/Out of Home Advertising, Stellar Outdoor Advertising

January 2008 – March 2011

Acquired/built billboard/out-of-home advertising companies across Canada, including Hamilton’s only digital billboard network (which was later sold to Pattison Outdoor)

Chief Investment Officer — Private Equity, Dunkley Capital