Global Value Investors Program: Master Capital. Shape Markets. Build Enduring Value.NEWView in:
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- Requirements
- Admission is by invitation or nomination only.
Global Value Investors Program: Master Capital. Shape Markets. Build Enduring Value.
Overview
Capital Allocation Is Strategy.
This program is designed for enterprise leaders to master the capability of deploying capital globally—using the foundational logic of value to transform capital into a strategic engine for long-term growth and decision-making across cycles.
Today, what ultimately determines the fate of a company is no longer just operational excellence, but the ability to allocate capital effectively.
For decades, competitive advantage was driven by products, efficiency, and execution.
But in an era defined by rapid technological disruption, industry and capital are deeply intertwined. Financing, M&A, investment, and exit strategies are redefining the boundaries of growth.
Increasingly, the most critical decisions leaders face are no longer about how to run the business better, but how to allocate resources, deploy capital, and make long-term decisions under uncertainty.
Yet while many entrepreneurs are highly sophisticated operators, they still rely on experience and intuition when it comes to capital allocation.
This is the most underdeveloped—and most consequential—capability gap in modern enterprises.
The Global Value Investors Program, rooted in Columbia Business School’s century-long tradition of value investing, is not designed to train investors.
Its core purpose is to equip top decision-makers with a disciplined framework for capital allocation—and to build the capability to operate capital on a global scale.
This framework does not depend on market sentiment or short-term opportunities.
Instead, it is grounded in a deep understanding of value—enabling leaders to maintain clarity, discipline, and conviction in complex and uncertain environments.
Through the program, participants evolve from operators into capital allocators:
- Reframing companies and industries through an investor’s lens
- Identifying true value and risk across market cycles
- Integrating financing, M&A, and investment decisions into a unified strategic logic
- Building long-term balance across growth, risk, and return
- Engaging deeply with global capital networks to optimize cross-border capital deployment
This program does not offer a set of financial tools.
It builds a foundational logic that informs every major decision a leader makes.
It enables leaders to:
- Remain resilient to short-term market noise
- Make high-quality decisions at critical moments
- Turn capital into a sustained engine of growth
- Build enduring competitive advantage through global capital allocation in a VUCA world
In an era where industry and capital are fully integrated, true strategic advantage no longer comes solely from operational capability—
but from the discipline and judgment to allocate capital effectively.
Only those who understand markets can navigate them.
The Global Value Investors Program is designed for this class of leaders.
It does not train traders.
It develops long-term decision-makers—leaders who take responsibility for both enterprise and capital, and who leverage global capital to build globally competitive organizations.
Because at the highest level of competition:
It is not the best operators who win—but the best capital allocators.
Only those who are not driven by the market can ultimately shape it.
Program Structure
The Global Value Investors Program is a 20-month, multi-city capital allocation journey delivered across leading global financial centers.
The program features nine integrated modules, each hosted in a major capital market hub, with direct institutional engagement across New York, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and San Francisco. Each module builds on a disciplined value-investing framework—progressing from philosophical foundations to implementation, macro interpretation, ownership influence, and private-market execution.
Master Class Event
Dates: June 16-17, 2026
City: Beijing
Module 1: Value Investing and the Evolving Global Capital Landscape
Dates: July 20–24, 2026
City: Hong Kong
Module 2: Wealth Management
Dates: September 2026
City: New York
Module 3: Applied Credit Investing
Dates: January 2027
City: New York
Module 4: Competitive Advantage in the Age of AI
Dates: April 2027
City: London
Module 5: Geopolitical Capital Reality: Value Investing in China
Dates: July 2027
City: Tokyo
Module 6: Shareholder Activism as Value Investing
Dates: September 2027
City: Shanghai
Module 7: Wealth Stewardship and Cross-Border Allocation
Dates: November 2027
City: Singapore
Module 8: Technology, Capital Integration, and Growth Strategy
Dates: Spring 2028
City: San Francisco
Module 9: Family Wealth, Succession, and Industrial Investment
Dates: Spring 2028
City: New York
Key Learnings
- Applying the Value Investing Framework: Develop the discipline to distinguish price from intrinsic value and act with conviction under uncertainty. Participants learn how to estimate intrinsic value using rigorous analytical methods, identify durable competitive advantages, and evaluate opportunities independently of market sentiment—building the judgment required for long-term capital allocation across cycles.
- Allocating Capital Across Markets: Translate investment philosophy into a resilient portfolio strategy. Explore diversified portfolio construction across public, private, and alternative assets while strengthening risk management, liquidity planning, and cross-cycle capital deployment. This learning theme equips leaders to allocate capital with structure, balance, and discipline in dynamic global markets.
- Interpreting Global Economic Forces: Understand the macroeconomic systems that shape capital flows and market opportunity. Examine monetary and fiscal regimes, regulatory dynamics, geopolitical risk, and cross-border complexity—gaining the insight needed to anticipate policy shifts and position portfolios strategically in an interconnected global economy.
- Using Finance as a Strategic Lever: Elevate finance from a function to a driver of enterprise value. Participants learn how to structure financing to support growth, engage capital markets effectively, and align corporate strategy with disciplined capital allocation—ensuring that financial decisions reinforce long-term value creation.
- Preserving and Growing Wealth Across Generations: Integrate investment rigor with governance and legacy planning. Explore family office structures, stewardship frameworks, and succession strategies that protect capital while sustaining growth. This learning theme prepares leaders to institutionalize discipline, align investment decisions with long-term objectives, and steward wealth responsibly across generations.
Participant Profile
The program is designed for senior decision-makers with responsibility for capital allocation and enterprise growth.
Typical participants include:
- Founders, Chairmen, and CEOs
- Family business leaders and next-generation owners
- Family office principals and wealth stewards
- Institutional investors and asset managers
- Private equity, venture capital, and credit professionals
- Senior executives seeking deeper financial sophistication
Participants need not be finance specialists. What matters most is responsibility for capital and the ambition to allocate it more effectively.
Program Content
The Global Value Investors Program unfolds across a 20-month journey of immersive modules delivered in the world’s leading financial centers — including New York, London, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and San Francisco. From the philosophical foundations of value investing to portfolio construction, macroeconomic systems, governance, and private markets execution, each module is designed to strengthen disciplined judgment, refine capital allocation strategy, and expand long-term enterprise impact.
Global market immersion and sustained cohort engagement throughout the program deepen regional insight and cultivate a powerful community of capital stewards—equipping participants to shape markets, preserve capital, and build enduring value across cycles and borders.
Module 1: Value Investing and the Evolving Global Capital Landscape
Developing a practical value investing framework that integrates business economics, accounting-based analysis, and rigorous valuation techniques—while understanding how today's market structure and capital flows create risks and opportunities.
- Modern Value Investing - From idea generation and screening to investment thesis formation, portfolio review, and disciplined decision-making
- Integrated Business Analysis - Connecting industry economics, accounting quality, competitive dynamics, and business model durability to intrinsic value
- Valuation Frameworks for Value and Growth - Applying asset value, earnings power value, franchise value, and return-based frameworks to assess businesses across the growth spectrum
- Competitive Advantage & Strategic Positioning - Identifying durable competitive advantages, barriers to entry, economies of scale, and when technology strengthens—or disrupts—economic moats
- Market Structure & the Trading Ecosystem - Understanding passive investing, ETFs, algorithmic and quantitative strategies, and their impact on market efficiency, mispricing, and opportunity sets
- Management, Capital Allocation & Shareholder Activism - Evaluating management incentives, capital allocation decisions, governance, and the role of shareholder activism
- Risk, Shocks & Structural Change - Distinguishing temporary volatility from permanent impairment, avoiding value traps, and investing through periods of structural change
Dates: July 20–24, 2026 | Hong Kong
Please note: Module dates are subject to change.
Module 2: Wealth Management
Developing the capabilities to build enduring investment organizations—translating wealth objectives (growth, liquidity, legacy, and tax efficiency) into effective governance, portfolio construction, manager selection, and implementation across public and private markets.
- Strategic Asset Allocation - Translating investment objectives and risk tolerance into long-term asset allocation and portfolio policy frameworks
- Investment Models & Objectives - Comparing endowment-style investing and family office approaches, and understanding how spending needs, control, legacy, and philanthropy shape investment strategy
- Manager Selection & Due Diligence - Building a disciplined process for evaluating investment skill, strategic fit, incentives, operational strength, and ongoing oversight
- Private Markets & Direct Investing - Determining when to invest through funds, co-investments, or direct investments, while aligning organizational capabilities, sourcing, and governance
- Innovation & Nontraditional Assets - Evaluating the role of venture capital and alternative assets within a total wealth portfolio
- Implementation & Portfolio Construction - Balancing active and passive strategies, manager concentration, portfolio rebalancing, liquidity, and long-term portfolio resilience
Dates: September 2026 | New York
Please note: Module dates are subject to change.
Module 3: Applied Credit Investing
Developing a disciplined investment framework across public and private markets through applied credit investing, while exploring quantitative and fundamental investment approaches.
- Credit Markets - Understanding high-yield bonds, leveraged loans, private credit, and evolving financing markets
- Credit Analysis - Evaluating business fundamentals, cash flows, capital structures, and credit risk
- Capital Structures & Relative Value - Comparing securities across the capital structure to identify attractive investments
- Distressed & Special Situations - Understanding restructurings, distressed investing, and special situation opportunities
- Quantitative Investing - Exploring factor investing, market anomalies, and systematic investment approaches
- Fundamental Investing Across the Capital Structure - Applying value investing principles across equity and fixed-income markets
Dates: January 2027 | New York
Please note: Module dates are subject to change.
Module 4: Competitive Advantage in the Age of AI
Applying the principles of competitive strategy to identify enduring competitive advantage and evaluate how AI is reshaping value creation, value capture, and intrinsic value across industries.
- Competitive Advantage Fundamentals - Industry structure, positioning, and the sources of durable competitive advantage
- Value Chains, Bargaining Power & Value Capture - Mapping where value is created, who captures it, and how profits shift across industries and ecosystems
- Network Effects and Platform Strategy - Understanding scale advantages, standards, and ecosystem control
- Disruption and Strategic Adaptation - Evaluating technological disruption, innovation, and competitive responses
- The AI Value Chain - Assessing opportunities and bottlenecks across energy, data centers, chips, cloud, models, middleware, and applications
- AI and the Future of Moats - Determining which competitive advantages are strengthened, weakened, or eliminated by AI
- Deployment as Competitive Advantage - Understanding how integration, workflows, regulation, and accountability create defensible positions
- Platforms, Standards, and Agent Ecosystems - Analyzing emerging control points in AI infrastructure and software markets
- Valuation in the Age of AI - Adjusting intrinsic value as competitive advantages evolve and moat lives shorten
Dates: April 2027 | London
Please note: Module dates are subject to change.
Module 5: Geopolitical Capital Reality — Value Investing in China
Allocating capital within policy-driven markets and evolving economic systems.
- Market Structure: Structural characteristics and investment anchors in China
- Valuation Frameworks: Policy-driven pricing mechanisms
- Industrial Policy: Sector prioritization and capital allocation strategies
- Financial Disclosure and Analysis: Interpreting accounting signals under evolving regulation
- Governance Structures: Ownership models and capital behavior differences
- Mispricing Opportunities: Identifying and correcting cyclical valuation distortions
- Cross-Market Valuation: A-shares, Hong Kong equities, and ADR comparisons
- Technology and Supply Chains: Strategic positioning in domestic innovation
- Private Sector Capital: Resilience and adaptation under regulatory transition
Dates: July 2027 | Tokyo
Please note: Module dates are subject to change.
Module 6: Shareholder Activism as Value Investing
Understanding how investors create value through shareholder engagement—identifying unrealized value, influencing corporate strategy, and evaluating activism across global markets.
- Activism as Value Investing - Identifying opportunities where investor engagement can unlock value
- Diagnosing Value Creation - Evaluating strategy, governance, capital allocation, and operating performance
- Campaign Strategy & Execution - From investment thesis and target selection to shareholder engagement and proxy contests
- Boards & Corporate Response - Assessing how companies evaluate and respond to activist investors
- Institutional Investors & Voting - Understanding the role of shareholders, proxy advisers, and voting in campaign outcomes
- Activism Across Asia - Comparing governance, ownership, and activism across major Asian markets
- The Future of Activism - Exploring the convergence of activism, private equity, and corporate control
Dates: September 2027 | Shanghai
Please note: Module dates are subject to change.
Module 7: Wealth Stewardship and Cross-Border Allocation
Integrating investment discipline with legacy, governance, and continuity.
- Regional Capital Networks: Southeast Asia as a hub for global allocation
- Wealth Trends: Emerging wealth creation in Asian entrepreneurial economies
- Liquidity Event Planning: Managing wealth across the full lifecycle
- Family Investment Models: Private banking and family office structures
- Risk Management: Currency, geopolitical, and regional risk hedging
- Asia-Pacific Investments: Digital economy and cross-border opportunities
- Wealth Governance: Compliance-driven global asset management frameworks
- Tax and Succession Planning: Structuring efficient and stable inheritance solutions
- Regional Asset Allocation: Capturing growth in Southeast Asian markets
Dates: November 2027 | Singapore
Please note: Module dates are subject to change.
Module 8: Technology, Capital Integration, and Growth Strategy
Exploring how emerging technologies and capital strategies converge to reshape growth models under uncertainty.
- Value Investing Principles: Strategic anchors for navigating growth uncertainty
- Technology-Driven Growth: AI, big data, cloud computing, blockchain, and advanced manufacturing
- Tech-Capital Integration: Aligning digital infrastructure, capital, and industrial ecosystems
- Commercialization Pathways: Translating frontier technologies into scalable growth
- Global Capital Strategies: Cross-border M&A, digital assets, and industrial funds
- Value Strategy Transformation: Market value management and digital asset operations
- Risk and Growth Balance: Investment decision-making across technology and capital markets
- Applied Strategy Simulation: Designing growth models and capital pathways for tech enterprises
- Intangible Asset Valuation: Assessing patents, data, algorithms, and brand equity
Dates: Spring 2028 | San Francisco
Please note: Module dates are subject to change.
Module 9: Family Wealth, Succession, and Industrial Investment
Creating value through ownership, control and long-term capital deployment.
- Global Wealth Trends: Intergenerational transition and evolving capital needs
- Industrial Investment Portfolios: Building cross-cycle, cross-border portfolios
- Family Investment Strategy: Balancing internal management and external partnerships
- Risk Frameworks: Multi-dimensional risk identification and mitigation
- Succession Planning: Aligning capital, governance, and family values
- Family Office Design: Institutionalizing governance and operations
- Holding Structures: Preserving control through ownership design
- Alternative Investments: Private equity, real estate, and art allocation
- Next-Generation Development: Building investment and governance capabilities
Dates: Spring 2028 | New York
Please note: Module dates are subject to change.
Inside the Program: Faculty Perspectives
Hear directly from the faculty who lead the program as they explore the key ideas behind each module.
Private Equity
Emerging Market Real Estate
Private Debt
Shareholder Activism
Faculty Director
Tano Santos
Robert Heilbrunn Professor of Asset Management and Finance
Finance Division
Director
Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing
“In a world shaped by uncertainty—economic, geopolitical, and structural—disciplined capital allocation becomes essential. The Global Value Investors Program equips leaders to preserve, grow, and transfer wealth across generations through the enduring principles of value investing.”
Tano Santos
Faculty DirectorMeet The Faculty Director
Teaching Faculty
Distinguished guest faculty and thought leaders bring fresh perspectives and cutting-edge insights from diverse fields, enriching your learning with globally recognized expertise. Specialized experts, selected to address key themes and challenges, offer targeted knowledge and practical experience tailored to your needs. Together, this extraordinary team empowers you to develop the skills, mindset, and strategies to lead with confidence and purpose.
Patrick Bolton
Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor Emeritus of Business and Professor Emeritus of Economics
Finance Division
Kent Daniel
Jean-Marie Eveillard/First Eagle Investment Management Professor of Business
Finance Division
Wouter Dessein
Eli Ginzberg Professor of Finance and Economics
Economics Division
Eli Ginzberg Professor of Finance and Economics
Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing
Bruce Greenwald
Robert Heilbrunn Professor Emeritus of Asset Management and Finance
Accounting Division
R. Glenn Hubbard
Dean Emeritus; Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics
Director and Chazen Institute Board at Jerome A. Chazen Institute for Global Business
Michael Johannes
Mario J. Gabelli Professor of Finance; Chair of Finance Division
Finance Division
Stijn G. Van Nieuwerburgh
Earle W. Kazis and Benjamin Schore Professor of Real Estate, Finance Division and Faculty Co-Director, Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate, Columbia Business School
Joseph Stiglitz
Professor at Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing
Executive Director and Co-Founder, Initiative for Policy Dialogue
Paul Tetlock
Alexandra Morgan Ciardi Professor of Finance and Economics
Finance Division
Senior Vice Dean for Curriculum and Programs
Dean's Office
Stephen Zeldes
Frank R. Lautenberg Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Economics Division
Affiliated Faculty
Please Note: Faculty and speakers featured are affiliated with Columbia Business School. Some may not teach in every session of the program. Individuals included may be referenced to reflect the research, thought leadership, or academic perspective that informs the program’s design and content.
Heilbrunn Center Executive Advisory Board
The Heilbrunn Center for Graham and Dodd Investing at Columbia Business School is the intellectual home of value investing and a global leader in advancing its study and practice. Through rigorous research, practitioner dialogue, and world-class education, the Center bridges theory and real-world capital allocation—strengthening Columbia’s role as a premier authority in investment management.
The faculty affiliated with the Heilbrunn Center are distinguished scholars and experienced practitioners whose work continues to shape modern finance and disciplined investing worldwide.
Select Adjunct Faculty Affiliated with the Heilbrunn Center
Please Note: Faculty and speakers featured are affiliated with Columbia Business School. Some may not teach in every session of the program. Individuals included may be referenced to reflect the research, thought leadership, or academic perspective that informs the program’s design and content.
Application Process
Admission to the Global Value Investors Program is selective and designed to ensure a highly accomplished cohort of senior leaders responsible for meaningful capital allocation. We seek founders, family office principals, institutional investors, and executives who demonstrate disciplined judgment, long-term perspective, and a commitment to responsible capital stewardship.
- Application: Submit a detailed application by invitation or recommendation, including a comprehensive resume and company profile outlining your role in capital allocation and strategic decision-making. Applicants may provide a letter of recommendation from an industry peer or senior partner to further demonstrate professional standing and investment experience.
- Interview: Qualified applicants will be invited to participate in a multi-stage interview process. A panel of faculty and industry experts will assess investment philosophy, analytical rigor, leadership capacity, governance mindset, and global perspective.
- Review and Evaluation: Applications and interview performance undergo a rigorous evaluation focused on capital responsibility, strategic impact, market sophistication, and alignment with the program’s long-term value orientation.
- Admission: Successful candidates will receive a formal offer of admission and payment instructions. Enrollment is confirmed upon completion of tuition payment within the designated timeframe.
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