Steve Balaban, CFA

Steve Balaban, CFA, is a thought leader on private equity with experiences as an investor, advisor and award-winning lecturer. He is the Chief Investment Officer of Mink Capital where he advises, consults and educates family offices on how to invest in private equity. Due to the rising demand from family offices, financial institutions and service providers in private equity, he launched Mink Learning, a private equity education company that offers videos, resources and training to make the complex world of private equity simple. Steve is also an award-winning lecturer at the University of Waterloo where he 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 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. 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 950,000 views and counting: Steve Balaban – Private Equity YouTube Channel. Steve is also a contributing author on the subject of private equity for the CFA Institute and he served on the Board of Directors for the CFA Society Toronto. Prior to Mink Capital and the University of Waterloo, Steve worked at Dunkley Capital where he invested in private equity, including a consolidation of billboard companies throughout Canada where he served as President of Stellar Outdoor Advertising. Steve received a Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, where he graduated on the Dean’s List, and received an Honours Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University. He has also earned his Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Steve has extensive international experience. He has worked, studied and visited over 85 countries in every continent in the world.