A team of students from the University of Waterloo’s School of Accounting and Finance became the first ever team from Canada to win the global CFA Institute Research Challenge in Chicago last week.
More than 5,000 students from 1,000 universities around the world participated in the 2016 research challenge, which tests students’ skills in equities research and valuation, investment report writing and presenting. Students work in teams to research and analyze a publicly traded company and each team writes a research report on its assigned company with a buy, sell, or hold recommendation.
The winning team, comprised of Kam Dhaliwal, Adnan Khan, Brent Small, Daniel Zhang and Rudder Zhang, presented and defended a report on Canadian Tire Corp. to a panel of investment industry judges, including:
- Christopher Bloomstran, president and chief investment officer (CIO) with Semper Augustus Investments Group;
- Eleanor Kigen, president of the CFA Society East Africa;
- Derek Mok, head of asset management and CIO at RHB Asset Management; and
- Robert Taylor, partner, portfolio manager and senior international investment analyst with Harris Associates.
The University of Waterloo team worked with two industry mentors through the CFA Society Toronto: Steve Balaban, CIO with Mink Capital, and Craig Geoffrey, lecturer at the University of Waterloo.
“CFA Society Toronto takes great pride in providing mentors for students interested in pursuing a career in finance,” says Sue Lemon, CEO of CFA Society Toronto, in a statement. “By sharing the knowledge and experience of our diverse community of investment professionals we hope to build a stronger future of finance.”
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