Upcoming Events

12th CFA Central and Eastern Europe Investment Conference 2026, Thursday, 23 April 2026

It is our honor to invite you to the  12 th CFA Central and Eastern Europe Investment Conference 2026 organized by the CFA Society Bulgaria.   Time: Thursday, 23 April 2026, 9:00 – 19:00 Place: Vasil Levski Hall of the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Sofia, Bulgaria Language: English only, no translation Entrance fee: None. The conference is free of charge   We expect more than 600 participants, including representatives of the CFA Institute from the United States and London, as well as leaders of CFA societies across Central and Eastern Europe, including Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus. The conference will bring together distinguished speakers from more than a dozen countries.   Registration will open in the coming weeks, and the registration link will be shared with you shortly. Draft Program as of 4 March 2026 09:00 – 09:05   Opening speech by Mr. Nikolay Vassilev, CFA – President of the Bulgarian CFA Society 09:05 – 09:15   Opening speech by Ms. Tricia Rothschild, CFA – Interim CEO  of the  CFA Institute  –  Charlottesville, V A , U SA; or by another Board Member   09:15 – 09:25    Award Ceremony – The Biggest Reformers of CEE: 1990 – 2026 (The nominees have not been announced yet)   09:25 – 11:15    Panel 1: “The Visionaries’ Panel” – The Future of CEE in the 21 st  Century – Business and Politics Optional: Javier Milei – President of the Republic of Argentina (2023 –), or one of his ministers – invited Mr. Sergei Stanishev (Bulgaria) – Prime Minister of Bulgaria (2005 – 2009); President of the Party of European Socialists (2011 – 2022) Mr. Notis Mitarachis, CFA (Greece) – Member of Parliament in Greece since 2012 ; Minister of Citizen Protection (2023); Minister of Migration & Asylum (2020 – 2023); Deputy Minister of Labour & Social Affairs (2019 – 2020) Other speakers might join Moderator: Nikolay Vassilev, CFA   11:15 – 11:20    The Voice of the New Generation Speech by a young student, possibly accepted at a leading US university in Finance and Economics   11:20 – 1 3 : 0 0    Panel 2: The Future of Cities – Architecture, Challenges, Money – Is CEE on This Planet? Mr. Riken Yamamoto (Japan) – 2024 Pritzker Prize winner, Partner at Riken Yamamoto + Field Shop, Yokohama, Japan – or one of his colleagues Ms. Elizabeth Diller (US) – Partner at Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, New York – to be confirmed Mr. Richard Nelson (US, Japan) – Partner at Kengo Kuma, Tokyo, Japan Mr. Filippo Innocenti (Italy, UK) – Director, Zaha Hadid Architects, London, UK Likely Moderator: Mr. Vasil Terziev (Bulgaria) – Mayor of Sofia   1 3 : 0 0 – 14:00    Lunch Break   14:00 – 15: 4 0    Panel 3: CEE Capital Markets, International Connectivity, Cross-Listings Mr. Ludwik Sobolewski (Poland) – f. CEO Warsaw Stock Exchange and Bucharest Stock Exchange, Manager, Capital Markets Expert, Strategy Advisor, Attorney, Warsaw, Poland Mr. Razvan Pasol, CFA (Romania)  – CEO at Patria Asset Management, Head of Capital Markets and Investor Relations at Patria Bank , Bucharest, Romania Mr. Dimitris Orfanidis (Greece, Bulgaria, Hong Kong) – Head of Overseas Business Development – Da Cheng , Institutional Asset Management, Hong Kong Mr. Renat Bekturov, CFA (Kazakhstan) – Governor of the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC) Other speakers might join   15: 4 0 – 1 7 : 2 0    Panel 4: CEE Private Equity, Venture Capital, Mergers & Acquisitions, Deals Mr. Tommy Erdei, CFA (Hungary, UK, US) – Joint Global Head of Healthcare and Head of European Healthcare Investment Banking, Jefferies , London Mr. Elvin Guri (Albania, Bulgaria) – Managing Partner, CEO at  INVENIO Partners Mr. Pavel Velkov, CFA (Bulgaria) – Managing Partner at Morningside Hill Capital Management , Sofia, Bulgaria Mr. Piotr Polanowski , CFA (Poland) – Managing Partner of Synerga+ S.A. Other speakers might join   1 7 : 2 0 – 1 9 :00    Panel 5: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Finance – CFA Charterholders or Not, Should We Worry? Ms. Didem Ün Ateş ( Türkiye , UK) – Advisor, Goldman Sachs Asset Management & AI; Founder & CEO of LotusAI Mr. Brian Pisaneschi, CFA (US, UK) – Senior Investment Data Scientist, CFA Institute, London, UK Moderator: Mr. Kalin Metodiev, CFA (Board Member, CFA Society Bulgaria)   Notes: With approximately 50 days remaining until the conference, it is very likely that the list of speakers might change. Additional panelists have been invited and may confirm, while some participants may need to withdraw due to scheduling constraints. The remaining panel moderators will be announced at a later stage, potentially including CFA society leaders from across the CEE region.