Sandra Betton, PhD, CFA
Department: Finance
Course taught: Quantitative Techniques
Expert faculty
Our accessible and engaged faculty members are committed to academic excellence and foster a welcoming and collegial classroom experience.
The majority of our faculty are CFA charter holders, and many also hold PhDs. They are active in industry, have connections to major employers and bring practical cases to their classrooms.
"The MBA in Investment Management program teaches you what you need to know about the investment industry. The CFA charter provides you with countless career opportunities."
Sandra Betton, PhD, CFA
Professor and Associate Dean, Professional Graduate Programs
Meet our faculty
Michel Deslauriers, CPA
Department: Finance
Course Taught: Real Estate
Michel Deslauriers is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Finance at Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business, specializing in commercial real estate. Mr. Deslauriers also acts as Strategic Advisor to several real estate development companies in Montreal. Before joining Concordia in 2019, he spent ten years as Executive Vice-president and Chief Financial Officer at Otéra Capital Inc., a commercial real estate financing subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Prior to his appointment to Otéra he successively held the positions of Director, Finance and Treasury and Vice-president, Finance at Ivanhoe Cambridge. Mr. Deslauriers has also held various positions at Asea Brown Boveri and KPMG. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Concordia University and a Graduate Diploma in Public Accountancy from the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research of McGill University. Mr. Deslauriers is a member of the Ordre des comptables professionnels agréés du Québec.
Maya Kabbara, MBA, CFA
Course taught: Asset Pricing and Portfolio Management I
Maya Kabbara is an Investment counsellor and portfolio manager at RBC Wealth Management, where she is responsible for managing assets and providing comprehensive investment strategies for high-net-worth individuals, families and foundations.
Before wealth management, Maya had close to a decade of experience in capital markets through various roles she held at different financial institutions, including debt capital markets, sales and trading and ESG investing. Maya has been a lecturer at the John Molson Business School since 2015. She also held various teaching assignments at McGill university in portfolio strategies.
She holds an MBA and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation (CFA). She also completed the CFA certificate in ESG investing. Being a graduate of the John Molson School of Business MBA in Investment Management, she is passionate about connecting the dots between the classroom with its applications in real life.
Adel Raphaël, Eng., MBA
Course taught: Organizational Behaviour
Adel Raphaël completed his undergraduate studies in Engineering. He is also an aluminous of the Executive MBA program of the John Molson School of Business of Concordia University.
Adel started his career in Cairo- Egypt before moving to Canada where he spent numerous years in the Telecommunications Business. Throughout these years, he held several senior positions within Nortel and Bell Canada. During that time he was also appointed on two International Assignments for Bell Canada International, one in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the other in Morocco.
During the 3 years in KSA, Adel acted as a consultant to his Saudi counterparts in the Management roles they were holding in Saudi Telecom. And during the 3 years in Morocco, Adel was leading the Operations of Bell Canada International throughout the country. The client was the Morocco PTT.
Adel served as a Vice-President on the Board of the French School in KSA. He also headed the Parents/School committee of the St-Exupéry French School in Rabat-Morocco. In 2004, Adel started signing private contracts in consulting and operations/management. He contracted with firms like WSP (GENIVAR), Universalia, SR Telecom, SNC-Lavalin, etc…
In 2008, Adel started teaching in the JMSB Management Department of Concordia University. He presently teaches undergraduate, graduate and executive courses in the Management, the Executive MBA and the Goodman Institute of Investment Management departments. Adel also lectures at McGill University and the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston.
Denis Schweizer, PhD
Department: Finance
Course taught: Advanced Technologies in Investment Management - FINTECH
Robert Szokup, MBA
Course taught: Marketing Management
Robert Szokup is an executive with Peace+ Facilities Management, as VP Operations leading their CAN and USA offices. Formerly, Robert spent 31 years at TD Bank with expertise across three key segments: Retail Branch Banking, Business Banking and TD. His experiences are in business development, critical analysis, operations and strategic people. Robert holds a BComm in Finance/Marketing and an MBA, both from the John Molson School of Business.
Robert is Vice-Chair of John Molson School of Business’ advisory board and is also an Associate professor in the Goodman Institute, teaching marketing management since 2020.
Jason Taylor, CFA, MBA
Course taught: Socially Responsable & Sustainable Investment
Jason Taylor is a capital markets professional with over 20 years of experience. He is the founder of "Climate Finance Advisors" a boutique sustainable investing and environmental finance firm. In recent years he led the development of the sustainable finance strategy for two Canadian banks working in close collaboration with groups across the bank and capital markets to design sustainable finance solutions for investors, corporates and governments.
A frequent panelist and public speaker covering topics ranging from transition finance, taxonomies, sustainable finance regulation, Jason has also participated in a number industry standard setting work streams to accelerate the mainstreaming of sustainable finance in Canada. He is an advocate for using the power of capital to influence systemic change and contribute to building just, fair, and resilient communities.Experienced in ESG integration, impact investing, and sustainable investing, his work focuses on crowding-in capital to shrink the funding gap in a financially efficient manner.
He completed an MBA focused in sustainability, collaboration, and innovation management at McGill/HEC Montreal, where he was named to the "Poets & Quants 2019 100 best & Brightest" list. He has completed certificate programs on topics ranging from ESG reporting, ESG integration, climate finance, GHG accounting, and energy innovation. He is a CFA and CAIA charterholder.
His recent volunteering experience relates to mentoring student-athletes in the Parcours Leadership Carabins program at the University of Montreal, founded by Robert Dutton, and as a board and investment committee member of the Foundation of Greater Montreal.
Samuel Vallières, CFA
Course taught: Seminar in Investment Analysis and Management
Samuel Vallières is a seasoned expert in wealth and investment management. He currently holds the role of private wealth manager at Desjardins Private Wealth Management, specializing with high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
With extensive experience garnered from previous positions in wealth management at Citi Private Bank, IG Wealth Management and TD Wealth in Montreal, he brings a depth of practical expertise to his teaching endeavors.
Holder of a master's degree in taxation from Université de Sherbrooke, Samuel earned magna cum laude distinction in a swift two-year completion of a bachelor’s degree in business administration in finance from Davis & Elkins College, where he also played tennis in the NCAA.
As a distinguished professional, he holds the prestigious designations of Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Financial Planner (F. Pl.) and Chartered Investment Manager (CIM). Samuel's unique blend of practical experience and academic excellence positions him as a valuable resource and mentor for aspiring investment professionals within the MBA program.
