Financial investments

Hello dear fellow members,

When Sotiris proposed to me to write about financial investments to our Members, I felt both honored and really excited. I always like to share my experiences, especially in this case when it is about the fellow members of Superbrain.

Over the next months, I will try to share numerous ideas, principles, facts, wins and mistakes that have been useful to me over my journey as an investor in (mainly) financial markets. I will try to keep things as simple as possible, because I am also a simple person, especially when it is about investments. I will NOT be providing ANY investment recommendations. It will be about my principles on investing that led me from almost nothing to something.

For our first “meeting” allow me to start with a few disclaimers and some history. Starting next month, we will explore together fundamental principles of investing that helped me find my way in a complex maze that investing can become. And my first rule still is: keep it simple.

So, the first time that I invested in the stock market, I lost all my money. It was the infamous stock market bubble of 1999-2000 in the Athens Stock Market (fun fact: Sotiris told me that he had bought a car with his profits😊, in the same crash).

The second time that I invested in the Stock Market was in 2004 in Bucharest and I have been very happy to do that. Since 2020 (hint: COVID19 pandemic) I started also investing in the International Markets. With all the ups and downs, I have managed to buy real estate through the profits and multiply my remaining proceeds. Starting with an initial investment with 1000 euros in 2004 I have a 7 digit portfolio (in euros) at this moment (I am not trying to brag, I am just trying to show that it can actually happen, just by being… present)

Nowadays, financial investing is still a side hustle but I take it seriously. It could / should be the same for more people in this world. These days (and for the previous 20+ years): I would consider myself as an investor – entrepreneur. My main focus is on Real Estate, Real Estate Development, FinTech, Manufacturing and investments in Financial Markets.

At this moment I own shares in a factory that produces synthetic yarns in Greece and exports all over Europe, and I’m a shareholder to a Romanian FinTech that is a market leader in online consumer lending in Romania and has expanded in the Czech Republic and Spain. In terms of Real Estate, I own companies that have built buildings in Bucharest and Athens, and I also own apartments to rent in Bucharest and Greece. I sit on the board of all companies mentioned.

At the same time, I also invest in public markets (meaning stocks, bonds etc), either through regulated brokerage accounts in Romania or Internationally. This actually started as a frontier thing for me but has largely contributed to my financial independence and stability. Plus I really enjoy doing it, because it involves reading (which I truly love) and discussing with very interesting people to exchange ideas. In 2025-2026, I will also start investing in Private Markets shortly (mainly so as to balance my portfolio) through a regulated private equity fund.