GeorgePangalos

Finance and real estate at Wharton. Athens and Philadelphia.

George Pangalos is a Joseph Wharton Scholar at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, concentrating in Finance and Real Estate. He works in equity research at Calamos Investments, where he covers growth equities and convertibles, and spent the summer of 2025 with the founder's family office. Before Wharton he worked in real estate investment at CP Investments in Athens and in shipping at Star Bulk Carriers, where his research on how shipowners finance their fleets began. That work was published in 2023 and is now his senior honors thesis. He grew up in Athens, divides his time between Philadelphia and New York, and outside work sails, plays squash, and takes photographs.

George Pangalos
Calamos Investments Star Bulk Carriers CP Investments Group The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania Benjamin Franklin Scholars The Hellenic Initiative Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce The Penn Club of New York Journal of Risk and Financial Management

Work

Equity research at Calamos, real estate investment in Athens, and shipping, where the research began.

Calamos Investments
Equity Research Associate
Chicago and New York, 2025 to present

Calamos is a global investment firm known for its work in US growth equity, convertible securities, multi-asset portfolios and alternatives. George leads growth equity coverage in the space and semiconductor sectors: three-statement models with sum-of-the-parts, DCF and scenario valuation, backlog analysis, and full investment write-ups presented to the investment committee. He started the firm's thematic work on orbital data centers and the defense procurement pipeline, advises the portfolio managers on using convertibles to express equity views, and wrote the proposal for a new fund across private equity, secondaries, co-investments and fund-of-funds allocations, which the founder endorsed.

Calamos Family Partners
Summer Associate
Chicago, summer 2025

The founder's family office. George underwrote private equity and real estate investments, originated deal flow, and built the models and variance analyses behind portfolio decisions. He screened convertible bonds and equity options for the portfolio managers, built Python tools mapping rent growth across US markets, and advised senior management by memo on deal structures and capital allocation.

CP Investments
Analyst and member of the Investment Committee
Athens, 2023 to 2025

George managed live deals and projects, negotiated with the sell side, and worked directly with clients on their financing needs. He built the acquisition and development models for real estate transactions in Greece, the UK, Kuwait and the United States, prepared the pitch materials that put those deals in front of investors, and presented bottom-up new product analysis and market research to senior management and the CEO.

Star Bulk Carriers
Rotational Intern, Finance and Market Research
Athens and New York, 2021 to 2023

At the world's largest listed dry bulk owner, George evaluated newbuilding vessel acquisitions and strategic initiatives through the Covid years. He built buy-side models for dry bulk and container vessel transactions, analyzed freight rates, sell-side research and fleet supply to read the market, and presented findings to senior leadership each week. This is where the shipping finance research began.

InterGenetics
Finance Intern
Athens, summer 2020

Statistical analysis of ten years of mergers and acquisitions among small and mid-cap medical firms in Greece, to estimate the odds of a successful deal, and research on how their shares behaved through the pandemic. George also introduced the firm to private clinics and hospitals as prospective partners.

Research

George is the sole author of "Financing for a Sustainable Dry Bulk Shipping Industry," peer-reviewed and published in the Journal of Risk and Financial Management in 2023, in its special issue on climate risk and sustainability. The paper grew out of a six-month research mentorship at the Cambridge Centre for International Research, where he was selected by a Judge Business School faculty member and awarded the CCIR Economics and Finance Scholarship. He presented it as a guest speaker and panelist at ICABE 2022 at the University of Malta, where it received the Best Research Article award. His senior honors thesis now tests the paper's framework empirically: whether a dry bulk company's ESG profile changes which financing routes are open to it, and on what terms.

Education

The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. B.S. in Economics, concentrations in Finance and Real Estate, Class of 2027. Joseph Wharton Scholar and Benjamin Franklin Scholar. Wharton Global Youth Program, Essentials of Finance, 2021.

Campion School, Athens. IB Diploma, 2023, with academic excellence awards in every IB subject, the Economics Achievement Prize, and a gold medal in the Senior Mathematical Challenge.

Certifications and honors

Certifications
Bloomberg Market Concepts. Financial Markets. Investment Banking Virtual Experience.
Honors
Best Research Article, ICABE 2022. CCIR Economics and Finance Scholarship. Best Impact Analysis, Wharton Investment Competition. National Commendation. Honourable Mention. International Student Ambassador, Oxford Royale Academy.
Languages
Greek and English, native. French, full professional. Russian, elementary.
Tools
Excel, Python, Bloomberg, Capital IQ, FactSet
Away from work
Travel, sailing, squash, tennis, golf, art. Marathon finisher.
George Pangalos at Calamos Investments
Calamos Investments, Naperville.
George Pangalos with John Calamos Sr.
With John Calamos Sr., founder of Calamos Investments.
George Pangalos on the trading floor
On the floor.

Writing and news

One peer-reviewed paper, the newsletter that grew out of it, and a record of talks and appearances.

Financing for a Sustainable Dry Bulk Shipping Industry

Journal of Risk and Financial Management, vol. 16, 2023. Special issue on climate risk and sustainability. Best Research Article, ICABE 2022, University of Malta.

A framework for how environmental and regulatory pressure changes the way dry bulk companies raise money, and which of the bank, bond and equity routes stay open to them as the rules tighten. Presented in Malta in 2022 and published the following year.

Read the paper
George Pangalos presenting at ICABE 2022 in Malta
Presenting at ICABE, University of Malta, 2022.

Essays

New essays land here as they are published on Substack.

Subscribe on Substack

News

  • Oct 2026Launched a newsletter on Substack with a first essay on nuclear power and shipping.
  • 2023Paper published in the Journal of Risk and Financial Management.
  • 2022Guest speaker and panelist at the 18th International Conference on Applied Business and Economics, University of Malta, in Valletta. Best Research Article award.
  • 2022Six-month research mentorship at the Cambridge Centre for International Research; awarded the CCIR Economics and Finance Scholarship.
  • 2023Led the team that won Best Impact Analysis in the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition.
George Pangalos on a conference panel
On the panel at ICABE 2022.

Organizations

At Penn, in New York, and in the Greek community on both sides of the Atlantic.

Penn

Joseph Wharton Scholars
The Wharton School

Wharton's research honors program. George's senior honors thesis on ESG and financing in shipping is written within it.

Benjamin Franklin Scholars
University of Pennsylvania

Penn's university-wide honors program, run by the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.

Wharton Undergraduate Real Estate Club
Treasurer, 2024 to 2026. Treks Committee, 2023 to 2024.

George organized and led treks to New York, Boston, Miami, Baltimore and Dubai, giving members direct access to developers, investors and trophy assets, and managed the club's treasury, budget and sponsor relationships.

Wharton Undergraduate Finance Club
Case Team Committee, 2023 to 2025

George also belongs to the Wharton Undergraduate Energy Group, and at Campion founded and led the school's investment club.

New York and the Greek community

The Hellenic Initiative
New York

A global nonprofit founded in 2012 by the Greek diaspora to invest in Greece's future through crisis relief, entrepreneurship and economic development. George attends its annual gala in New York and its events through the year.

Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce
New York

The chamber that works on trade and investment between Greece and the United States, and the business side of the diaspora in New York.

National Hellenic Museum
Chicago

The museum of Greek history and the Greek-American experience, in Chicago's Greektown. George attends its annual gala, which brings together the Greek-American community from across the country.

The Penn Club of New York
Member

The university's private club on West 44th Street, a few steps from Fifth Avenue. Much of George's New York runs through it.

Consulate General of Greece in New York
Community events

Receptions and cultural events the consulate hosts for the Greek community in New York.

Oxford Royale Academy
International Student Ambassador, 2018 to 2022

Represented the academy's international students for four years, from secondary school into university.

DeMolay Greece
First Master Councilor

George led the first DeMolay chapter in Greece from its founding.

Philanthropy and events

A good part of George's life outside school runs through the Greek-American community and the galas that fund the work it does, from the Hellenic Initiative and the National Hellenic Museum to the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation.

George Pangalos at the National Hellenic Museum gala
National Hellenic Museum Gala, Chicago.
George Pangalos at The Hellenic Initiative gala
The Hellenic Initiative Gala, New York.
George Pangalos with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis
With Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister of Greece.
George Pangalos at the Blue Dream Summer Gala
Blue Dream Summer Gala, for the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation and Project Purple.
George Pangalos at a gala dinner
Gala dinner, New York.
Reception
Reception, New York.
George Pangalos at a reception
Reception.
Wharton real estate trek, Dubai
Wharton real estate trek, over the Palm, Dubai.
Wharton Undergraduate Real Estate Club trek
Wharton Undergraduate Real Estate Club trek.