Dr. David Krause, AIM program director stated that, "For the 9th time in the past 11 years, Marquette University will again be headed to the Americas round of the CFA Investment Research Challenge."
Universities and colleges that participated in the local two Wisconsin CFA Research Challenges included:
Carthage College
Marquette University (2 teams)
Milwaukee School of Engineering
UW-Eau Claire
UW-Madison
UW-Milwaukee
UW-Oshkosh
UW-Whitewater (2 teams)
UW-Madison is also advancing to the next round.
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| Marquette's 2019 CFA Research Challenge "Gold" and "Blue" Teams |
According to Dr. Krause, “This marks the 11th year of AIM’s participation in the CFA Investment Research Challenge. Our past teams have enjoyed great success, and each former team member echoes the value of their experience. We hosted two teams who were both excellent representatives of the AIM program - and, in fact, they tied for 1st place with the outcome being determined by a tie-breaker." More information about the CFA Challenge can be found at this web site: http://www.cfainstitute.org/community/challenge/.
Marquette's two teams from the AIM program in the 2018-2019 CFA Institute Research Challenge included the following:
Marquette Gold Team – Industry Mentor Joe Hodes
Will McMahon
Jack Senft
Louisa Steinhafel
Matt Tully
Elizabeth Wolfe
Marquette Blue Team – Mentor Drew North
Andrea Blomquist
Tommy Borin
Gregory Glaab
Michael Healy
Stephen Lane
The Blue team is advancing to the 2019 Americas Challenge in NYC.
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| Marquette's AIM "Blue" CFA Research Challenge Team Advances to Americas Competition in NYC in April |
Objective of the Challenge: The CFA Challenges provides a solid learning experience and exposure to the real world of investments through an investment research “competition” managed by investment professionals (i.e. the Milwaukee and Madison CFA Societies). Preparation for this competition introduces the students to the multiple steps that comprise the investment process, such as investment thesis development, company valuation, competitive analysis, and “selling” of investment thesis to a demanding audience.
Structure/Timeframe: The structure of the competition is identical to that used by the New York Society of Financial Analysts in their competitions. Teams at the local competitions will evaluate a company selected by the local CFA society; meet with management of that company for questions and discussion; and prepare a written analysis (initiation report) of 10 pages maximum plus exhibits and appendix. The papers will be evaluated and scored by a group of investment professionals as judges. The teams will then present their analysis to another panel of judges, who will then select the winning team at the local level. Here is the time line for this year's challenge:
a. October 2018: Two teams of 5 students were selected. Dr. Krause is the faculty adviser and Joe Hodes and Andrew North served as the teams' industry mentors.
b. November 2018: The kickoff meeting was held where the teams met with the company’s executives. In mid-December the students visited the company (Duluth Trading) where management made a presentation similar to a typical “road show” for its investors.
c. December 2018: The teams submitted the first draft of their paper to their mentor and faculty advisor for critique.
d. January 2019: The two teams incorporated end of year data into their analysis, continued their financial modeling and wrote their final paper. Each team submited their final research paper to the local CFA society for judging.
e. February, 2019: Local competition was held with each team making a 10 minute oral presentation to a panel of judges followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. The panel selected the Gold team as the winner, who will now represent the local CFA society at the next level of competition (Americas level in NYC).
f. April 2019: The winning local teams compete at the Americas (against nearly 60 North and South American teams) with the competition being held in New York.
g. April 2019: Global Finals will also be held in New York. The Global Finals consist of the winners of the three regional finals from Asia-Pacific, EMEA, and the Americas.
The first ever CFA Institute Research Challenge competition was hosted by the New York Society of Security Analysts in 2002 and involved just five teams from the New York area. Since then, the competition has grown to involve thousands of students from over 800 universities in more than 55 countries.
The Challenge gathers students, investment industry professionals, executives from publicly traded companies, and corporate sponsors together locally, regionally, and globally for a real world competition. Participation in the Challenge promotes best practices in equity research and company analysis, as students research, analyze, and report on a company as if they are practicing analysts. Additionally, all participants are introduced to and held to the standard of the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.
How the Challenge Works: Local CFA Societies, CFA Institute, and other organizations host and launch a local Research Challenge in conjunction with their participating universities. The universities assemble teams of 3-5 business and finance students who work directly with a company in researching and preparing a company analysis. The team’s final presentations are locally evaluated by high-profile panels of heads of research, portfolio managers, and chief investment officers from the world’s top firms. The local champions advance to regional competitions in the Americas, Asia, and Europe and then to the Global Finale.
Dr. David Krause, who serves as the faculty advisor of the two Marquette CFA teams stated, "I'm very proud of the students who are participating in the CFA Challenge. Like past teams, they worked hard and delivered a quality product. This experience and the friendships established will stay with them throughout their careers. I can't say enough good things about the CFA Challenge - it is one of the very best experiential programs in academia. Best of luck to all of the teams in the Challenge."
