Finance Meet-Up Series
Empowering finance minds in Calgary since 2024. A community where bankers and credit professionals, CFOs and controllers, consultants and advisors, investors, business owners and others across finance meet as peers: to share what they are seeing in the market, learn from people who do the work every day, and build the relationships that make deals happen. Many sides of the table, one room.
Sponsor or speakReal people, real questions, no sales pitch.
The Finance Meet-Up Series started in the summer of 2024 as an informal gathering of a few friends at a bar. It has since grown into a regular series with keynote speakers, host partners and 60 people at our largest session. The idea has not changed: real people, real questions, no sales pitch.
The rooms bring together relationship managers and credit professionals from Canada’s major banks, development lenders and credit unions, advisors from accounting and corporate finance firms, investors, CFOs and business owners. All united under the finance umbrella :)
Originally founded by
Oleg Kostyuchok, CMC
Samir (Sam) Musayev, PhD, CITF
Now operated by Strategic Growth Leadership
- 2024Running since
- 9Sessions so far
- 280Registrations
- 60At our largest session
Lunch, a keynote and good conversation.
Each session runs over lunch: networking, a keynote from an expert in their field, open Q&A, and then more networking.
The purpose is simple: bring Calgary’s finance community together. Lenders hear first-hand what owners and CFOs are dealing with, advisors and investors compare notes across the table, and people new to the city find a place to belong. Many of the conversations that start over lunch carry on long after the session ends, as introductions, partnerships and friendships.
Speakers, sponsors and what was discussed
Jamieson Place
Financing international transactions
- Host
- The Finance Meet-Up Series, in collaboration with the American Chamber of Commerce in Canada West
- Sponsor
- Accord Financial Corp.
- Panel
- Ahmed Khalil (RBC), Samir Musayev (EDC) and William Nurnberger (Accord Financial), moderated by Oleg Kostyuchok
- Attendance
- More than 50 people
A conversation about cross-border financing, asked from the borrower’s side of the table. What actually gets a file approved? Where do deals die? What should a company have ready twelve months before it needs the money?
MNP, The Ampersand
Selling a business: the operator’s view
- Speaker
- Nick Olynyk, Founder and CEO, Saddle Horn Equity
- Sponsor
- MNP Corporate Finance, venue and lunch, made possible by Yuriy Shved and Saurabh Parkhi
For most owners it is the first and only sale of their life, and much of what they go through is rarely seen by buyers and financiers: the weight of letting go of something they spent decades building, worries about their people and their legacy, and a process full of unfamiliar language. Terms that are everyday words for bankers and buyers, like quality of earnings, normalized EBITDA, working capital targets or earn-outs, are often brand new to the owner across the table.
A good reminder for everyone in the room: the better buyers and lenders understand the founder’s side of the deal, the smoother the transaction, and the stronger the business that comes out of it.
“A business sale is not only about valuation, multiples, or deal structure. It is also about whether the business can explain itself clearly.” Oleg Kostyuchok
Family edition
- Registered
- 45, families included
This one was different! To close the year we went back to the roots of our gatherings and brought our partners and kids along for an afternoon of bowling. A great reminder that strong networks are built when life is welcome at the table.
Jamieson Place
What is driving investment into Alberta
- Speaker
- Shane M. Jaffer, Director of Global Partnerships, Invest Alberta
- Sponsor
- KPMG Canada, lunch, made possible by Aleksei Dremov, Partner, Transaction Services
Shane walked us through what is driving new investment into Alberta and what it means for the local business environment, drawing on his work with Invest Alberta, Calgary Economic Development and Alberta’s office in Singapore.
240FOURTH
Private M&A, valuation and debt
- Speaker
- Othello Tuason, Principal, Nautilus Endeavours
- Sponsor
- TAHIL Group Canada, lunch, made possible by Elnar Mammadli and Tural Gasimli
With 25+ years in M&A, capital raising and corporate development, and dozens of deals worth over $8 billion, Othello covered North American and Canadian private M&A, how private companies are valued, and the use of debt in transactions. It was our last session before Stampede, and it marked one year of the series!
Jamieson Place
Oil, the Alberta economy and US tariffs
- Speaker
- Charles St-Arnaud, Chief Economist, Alberta Central
- Sponsor
- PKF Antares, lunch, made possible by Erkin Atakhanov
Our first session with a keynote speaker. Charles gave an economic update and forecast for the year ahead, and talked about the changing role of oil in the Alberta economy and what is happening with US tariffs.
“Uncertainty can be a slow killer.” The line that stuck with many of us
Back where it started
A relaxed season opener, moved from a pre-holiday date in December, back at the bar where the series began. This is where we announced the switch to a speaker-led format.
Opening the room to everyone
An open discussion on interest rates, FX, cash flow lending and M&A activity, market and bank appetite, and export markets. A milestone for us: after many messages from Canadian colleagues who wanted to join, this was the first session held in English, and the series opened up to the wider Calgary finance community.
From get-together to series
Our first more structured session: networking and an open discussion on market trends and what everyone was seeing across the industry. A big thanks to Olga Kunitsa for the pizza!
Where it all started
Just a gathering of a few friends in a bar, and the idea that Calgary’s finance community should meet more often.
A big thank you to everyone who has hosted and supported the series. We are truly grateful: every venue, every lunch, every speaker and every person who showed up made this possible. Without you, the series simply would not exist.
Sponsor a session, or speak at one.
Each session needs a venue and lunch, and a speaker with something real to say about finance in practice. If that could be you or your firm, apply below and we will be in touch.
Sponsor application received. Thank you! We will be in touch soon.
Speaker application received. Thank you! We will be in touch soon.
Want to hear about the next session, speak, or host one?
Get in touch