Advisory Board

In the context of its continuous effort to provide high quality educational and research work, the Department of Banking and Financial Management of the University of Piraeus has established an Advisory Board consisting of both senior executives with tenure in executive positions and distinguished academics. The Board, drawing on the rich experience of its members, offers advice on the strategy and further development of the Department, such as the design of the curriculum, its interconnection with the labour market, and its extroversion at a domestic and international level, bringing valuable insights and a fresh perspective to our collaboration with the industry.

The Board is composed of three internal members (Professors of the Department) and nine external members with a renewable three-year term of office.

Composition of the Advisory Board (in Alphabetical order)

External Members

George Chryssikos, CEO Grivalia Hospitality

George Chryssikos has founded Grivalia Hospitality in 2015 to deploy capital in the very attractive high-end hospitality sector in Greece and abroad. The company has already invested in seven hospitality assets with an estimated value of over €1bn. It is internally managed and supported also by Grivalia Management Company.

George founded Grivalia Management Company and has an active leading and managing role. At this moment Grivalia has € 3.2 bn of assets under management and continues capital deployment in the Greek commercial real estate sector.

George served as Chief Executive Officer, Executive BoD member and Chairman of the Investment Committee of the most successful Greek REIT Grivalia Properties. Together with his team, George has completed real estate transactions of over €2 bn in commercial and leisure real estate.

George is currently Vice Chairman, Non-Executive Director of the BoD of Eurobank Group.

In the past George was Managing Director of Corporate Value Partners, CEO of DTZ in Greece, BoD advisor at Iaso Healthcare Group and Senior Associate in McKinsey & Co at the London Office specializing in private equity. He has also experience in the construction industry in Greece, having worked as Project manager for more than 2 years in a specialized construction company.

He was also Board Member in several companies including Mytilineos Group, Lamda Hellix (currently Digital Realty Greece), Praktiker etc.

George holds an MBA in Corporate Finance & Strategy from Columbia Business School (NY), an MSc in Engineering & Construction Management from UC Berkeley (CA) and a MEng in Civil Engineering from National Technical University of Athens. In his younger age, George was a National Champion in sailing and member of the Greek National Sailing Team for many years.

Dimitris Koutsopoulos, CEO Deloitte Greece

Dimitris Koutsopoulos is the CEO of Deloitte Greece and Member of the Deloitte Central Mediterranean Executive Committee.

Dimitris joined Deloitte in 1998 and as the CEO, since 2015, he has contributed significantly to the development of new services, both in terms of scope and number, in the expansion of the company throughout Greece, and in its technological transformation. Under his leadership, Deloitte Greece has reached a headcount of 2,700 people, having quadrupled its workforce in just 6 years.

He is a Chartered Accountant ICAEW, a Fellow Certified Chartered Accountant (FCCA) and holds a BSc in Economics and two post graduate degrees in International Finance and Business & Management. Dimitris is a member of the Supervisory Committee of the Greek Registered Auditors and a Founding Member of the Council of Competitiveness of Greece.

Panagiotis Laskaridis, CEO Laskaridis Shipping Co. Ltd. and Lavinia Corporation

Panos Laskaridis was born in 1947 and has established Laskaridis Shipping Co.Ltd. in 1977 and Lavinia Corporation in 1978 which developed into a vertically integrated Shipping Group controlling a large Reefer, Bulker, Fish Factory and Tanker Fleet, two shipyards in Spain, fishing and fish trading activities, various agencies, shipbroking and shipoperating companies in Europe, the Far East, South America and the USA along with various other shipping related business. He oversees the day to day business of the Group which employs some 3500 people.

He has over 40 years experience in shipping and has been involved variously in other Group related business in Leisure, Gaming and Real Estate. He holds a Mechanical Engineering Degree from Braunschweig University in Germany, a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Kings College and a Master’s Degree in Naval Architecture from University College in London.

He was Chairman of the UK FD+D Club, is since 12 years a member of the Board of the Union of Greek Shipowners, Vice President and President elect of ECSA (European Community Shipowners Associations), a Member of the Committees of all major Clasification Societies in Greece, a Member of several Learned Societies, a Member of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors, a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of RINA, IMechE and SNAME.

Christos Megalou, CEO Piraeus Bank

Mr. Christos Megalou is Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Executive Board Member of the Board of Directors of Piraeus Financial Holdings SA and Piraeus Bank SA.

Since 2022 he is Non-Executive Chairman of Board of Directors of Shnappi S.A. From 2013 to 2015 he was Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Eurobank Ergasias SA.

On 2015 and 2016, he acted as a Senior Advisor of Fairfax Financial Holdings in Toronto and London and from May 2016 was engaged as Senior Advisor of Advent International in London. Mr. Megalou held senior positions at Credit Suisse Investment Banking for over 16 years in London, UK.

Since October 2021 he acts as Board Member of the Hellenic Bank Association in Greece. Since 2016 he is Distinguished Fellow of the Global Federation of Competitiveness Councils (GFCC).

He was elected, for two consecutive runs, Chairman of the Hellenic Bankers Association in the UK (2010-2013), Deputy Chairman of the Hellenic Bank Association in Greece (2013-2015), Deputy Chairman of the British Hellenic Chamber of Commerce in Greece (1993-1997).

He graduated with a BSc of Economics from the University of Athens (1981) and holds an MBA in finance from Aston University in Birmingham, UK (1982).

Georgios Papadimitriou, CEO/Country Managing Partner EY

Georgios Papadimitriou became the Managing Partner in EY Greece effective January 1st 2023. He was born in Athens on December 27, 1975 and is a Partner in EY and the Regional Accounts and Markets Leader of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe & Central Asia (CESA) since January 1st of 2021. In this role he is responsible for leading the EY’s integrated go to market approach for the region, leveraging the power of sectoral expertise, alliances and innovation in executing client service strategies. Before his appointment as CESA Regional Markets Leader, he has been the Financial Services Industry leader in the CESA region and Advisory Leader for EY in Greece and Southeast Europe.

Dimitris Papalexopoulos, Chairman of the Group Executive Committee of Titan Cement International & Chairman of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV)

Dimitri Papalexopoulos is the Chairman of Titan Cement Group, a cement and building materials producer active since 1902. Titan Cement Group directly employs about 5,500 people, operates cement plants in 10 countries and is active in many more.

Mr. Papalexopoulos is Vice-Chair of the European Round Table for Industry (ERT) and chairs the ERT’s Energy Transition & Climate Change Committee.

He is Chairman of the Board of the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV), and a member of the Board of the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (ΙΟΒΕ), the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and of “Endeavor Greece”.

He holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETHZ) and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Prior to joining TITAN, he was a consultant for McKinsey & Company in New York and Munich.

He speaks Greek, English, French and German. He is married and has three children.

Professor Dimitris Papanikolaou, Northwestern University

Dimitris Papanikolaou is the John L. and Helen Kellogg Professor of Finance at the Kellogg School of Management and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. His research has primarily focused on the interaction between technological innovation and financial markets. Recent work has focused on the displacement of human capital, the market for corporate executives, and the causal impact of financial frictions on innovation and employment. His work has been published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Political Economy, the Journal of Finance, the Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Financial Economics and his papers have won several research awards, including the Anundi Smith Breeden prize (twice) for the best paper in the Journal of Finance. He currently serves as a Co-Editor of the Journal of Financial Economics. He previously served as an Associate Editor at Management Science, the Journal of Finance, and the Review of Financial Studies. He received his Ph.D. in Financial Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Professor Nikolaos Tessaromatis, Head of the HELLENIC AUXILIARY PENSIONS DEFINED CONTRIBUTIONS FUND (ΤΕΚΑ) and Professor of Finance at EDHEC Business School

Nikolaos Tessaromatis, PhD, is a Professor of Finance at EDHEC Business School. Prior to joining EDHEC Business School Dr Tessaromatis was CEO and CIO of EDEKT Asset Management, the leading fiduciary manager of Greek pension funds. Before EDEKT, he was Director of Investments at ATE Finance, Principal and Head of Research and Product Development at Gartmore Investment Management, Associate Director at Nat-West Investment Management and Senior Quantitative Analyst at Hermes Investment Management. A financial economist with interest and experience in applying modern portfolio theory to the management of institutional assets, his professional experience includes creation and management of quantitatively driven investment products, index fund management, portfolio risk management and advice on strategic asset allocation. His academic experience includes positions as Associate Professor of Finance at ALBA Graduate Business School and Lecturer in Finance at Warwick Business School. He was also Chairman of the Board of Directors, School of Education of Employees at the Greek Ministry of the Economy.

Dr. Maria Vassalou, Co-CIO, Multi-Asset Solutions, Goldman Sachs

Maria is co-chief investment officer of Multi-Asset Solutions (MAS) within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. MAS provides multi-asset class products and solutions for institutional and individual investors, focusing on customized asset allocation, tactical implementation, risk management and portfolio construction. She is a member of the MAS Investing Core, where she manages group-wide investment policies, research and investment resources. Maria joined Goldman Sachs as a managing director in 2021.

Prior to joining the firm, Maria was the founder, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of Vassalou Capital Management, where she developed and managed global multi-asset class risk mitigating strategies and dynamic asset allocation portfolios for institutional clients. Before that, she was a partner and portfolio manager at Perella Weinberg Partners, where she was responsible for the global macro business.

Before her career in asset management, Maria was an associate professor of finance at Columbia Business School. She also served as president of the European Finance Association. Maria currently serves on the Board of Overseers of the Gennadius Library at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. She previously served on the Board of Directors of Tsakos Energy Navigation and Titan Cement International.

Maria earned a BS in Economics from the University of Athens and a PhD in Financial Economics from London Business School.

Internal Members

Professor Seraina Anagnostopoulou, Head of Department

Seraina C. Anagnostopoulou is Professor of Financial Accounting at the University of Piraeus, Department of Banking and Financial Management. She undertook doctoral studies on a scholarship at the Bayes (formerly Cass) Business School, City University, London, UK, from which she obtained a Ph.D. in Accounting in 2007. She is also a CFA Charterholder. She graduated from AUEB with a B.A. in Economics in 2001, and also holds an M.Sc. in International Securities, Investment and Banking from the ICMA (former ISMA) Centre, University of Reading, UK (2002). Before joining the University of Piraeus in 2019, she held academic positions at the ESCP Business School-London Campus, the Henley Business School – University of Reading, and the Athens University of Economics and Business during years 2007-2019, while she was an academic visitor at the Queen Mary University of London during 2015-2016, and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid in the summer of 2018. She is also a Research affiliate of the Adam Smith Observatory of Corporate Reporting Practices, University of Glasgow, UK. She has extensive teaching experience in financial and management accounting at undergraduate and postgraduate levels since 2005, and she is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) of the UK.

Professor Dimitrios Malliaropulos, Chairman of the Department’s Internal Evaluation Team

Dimitris Malliaropoulos has studied Sociology and Economics at the Freie Universitaet Berlin, where he also received his PhD. He has taught economics and finance at Brunel University, London Guildhall University and Freie Universitaet Berlin and was visiting professor at the New Economic School, Moscow Αcademy of Science. He has worked as an economist for the Deutsche Bundesbank (1991-1993) and as a consultant at INVESCO Asset Management (1994-1997), National Bank of Greece (1997-2005) and Eurobank EFG (2005-2013). He has been a member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Banking Federation (2000-2013). He currently holds a position as a Chief Economist and Director of Research at the Bank of Greece.

Professor George Skiadopoulos, Chairman of the Advisory Committee

George Skiadopoulos is a Professor of Finance at the Department of Banking and Financial Management of the University of Piraeus and at the School of Economics and Finance of Queen Mary University of London. He is the co-Founder and Director of the Institute of Finance and Financial Regulation (IFFR), and an Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow at Bayes Business School, City University of London. He is a member of the Group of Economic Advisers to the European Securities Markets Authority (ESMA), the supra-national supervisor of European financial markets.

His research interests and professional expertise lie in the fields of asset management & asset pricing, climate finance & ESG, commodities and financial derivatives. He has published in leading academic journals, including Management Science, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Business and Economic Statistics, Journal of Banking and Finance, and the Journal of Financial Markets. He serves in the editorial boards of the Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Journal of Commodity Markets, Journal of Derivatives and Multinational Finance Journal.