On February 25, 2021, CFA Society Toronto held a virtual Awards Ceremony to celebrate the winners and participants of this year’s Ethics Challenge, Research Challenge, and Scholarship Awards. The event highlighted key learnings designed for the next generation of financial professionals.

2021 CFA Society Toronto Local Ethics Challenge 
This year’s Local Competition for the Ethics Challenge was based on a complex case outlining multiple ethical issues at a fictitious investment fund company. The case was written by the CFA Society United Kingdom Ethics Committee and Michael G. McMillan, CFA, CCEP, CPA, PhD, the director of ethics education and professional standards at CFA Institute.

The challenge gave participants an opportunity to network with other competitors and judges and to receive detailed feedback from the judges on their approach to the case. It also helped them think about the CFA designation in a different light, as a designation that aims to build a strong ethical foundation to guide the judgement and behaviour of participants in capital markets for the ultimate benefit of society.

Panel judge Longfei Gao, CFA, FCSI, MFin, shared some advice: “All the teams have done a great job; it’s a tough decision for our judges to pick the winner. There are still areas for improvement: pay attention to the details and be familiar with the material. Don’t let your guard down—there is a bigger arena ahead of you. The result is secondary; [what is] truly valuable is the journey you took to be on the stage today [through] friendship and teamwork. Take advantage of the knowledge learned for this competition to establish a strong ethics culture and build a brighter future for our industry.”

The winning team included Shubhankar Bhatt, Dhanusha Sathiyaseelan, Parshv Shah, and Zhuoran (Johanna) Wu from the School of Accounting and Finance at University of Waterloo. The team was mentored by faculty advisor Krista Fiolleau, CPA, CA, PhD.
The University of Waterloo local champions reflected that some their biggest learnings from the experience were mastering the art of time management, navigating a steep learning curve in a relatively short period of time, and applying ethics principles in the real world.

Their top tip for future participants is to take a top-down approach:
• List all issues
• Complete a prioritization exercise
• Leverage material from the CFA ethics curriculum for guidance
• Develop specific recommendations and next steps based on findings
• Collaborate with team members to complete a comprehensive review and analysis

Local champions Bhatt, Sathiyaseelan, Shah, and Wu advanced to compete in the 2021 CFA Societies Canada Ethics Challenge National Round on May 7, 2021.

CFA Society Toronto and CFA Society Ottawa Research Challenge
The 2021 CFA Institute Research Challenge consisted of an investment analysis of Empire Company Limited. The winning team was again from the University of Waterloo and included students Brendan Mick, Anna Shen, and Noah Yabrov, who were mentored by their faculty advisors Steve Balaban, CFA, and Jeannine LiChong, CFA, CPA, CA.

The winners found the experience both challenging and rewarding. They shared that their two biggest challenges were time management and the sheer amount of work. The detailed research they conducted gave them a peek into the daily life of a CFA charterholder, and they were excited by the possibilities offered by the profession. When asked what they learned, Shen cited the importance of communication and teamwork, Yabrov highlighted the importance of perseverance, consistency, and not peaking too early, and Mick emphasized being concise while still covering a thorough depth of analysis. The team felt that this was a project they otherwise would not have had the chance to experience until a few years into their career, and they valued the opportunity to do the work and receive feedback at this stage in their education. 

The team advanced to the next stage of the CFA Institute Research Challenge, the sub-regional round in March, and the winners of the sub-regional round advanced to the regional semifinals for the Americas in April 2021.

Scholarship Awards
CFA Institute scholarships support high-performing students and future charterholders. Craig Geoffrey, CFA, chair of the Awards and University Relations Committee, announced the 2021 Scholarship Awards for third- and fourth-year students as follows: 

Third-year students:
First place – Anuja Weerasinghe, Western University
Second place – Muhammad Wadee Shahid, University of Toronto
Third place – Jennie Lin, University of Waterloo

Fourth-year students:
First place – Bronwyn Ferris, Queen’s University
Second place – Kelly Yang, University of Toronto
Third place – Jennifer Zhao, Queen’s University

Conclusion
All teams in both challenges did a fantastic job, and we congratulate them for their commitment and abilities. We especially commend them for their achievements in light of the unique challenges posed by online-only education and the other unexpected changes that have occurred over the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As Craig Geoffrey highlighted, the challenges “give the participants an opportunity to exercise their analytical skills, work through problems independently, engage in creative problem solving, and deliver and defend their results. This prepares them for the real world, where they will have to present and defend their ideas in the workplace.”

The Awards and University Relations Committee also extends its deep appreciation and gratitude to the volunteers in the Awards Ceremony and Challenges events. 

2021 CFA SOCIETY TORONTO UNDERGRADUATE FINANCE & ECONOMIC SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS
Judges:
• Madiha Javed, CFA
• Michael Porto, CFA, CAIA
• Wanting Zhao, CFA

2021 CFA SOCIETY TORONTO LOCAL ETHICS CHALLENGE
Preliminary case writer:
• Kevin Veenstra, CFA, CPA, PhD

Graders:
• Madiha Javed, CFA
• Daniel Nieto, CFA
• Nicholas Smith, CFA, CAIA, CPA, CMA
• Wincy Wong, CFA

Judges:
• Longfei Gao, CFA, FCSI, MFin
• Shazia Naik, CFA, MBA
• Kevin Veenstra, CFA, CPA, PhD 

Faculty advisors:
• Sumit Bose, CFP, CIWM, FCSI, FMA, MBA
• Sean Cleary, CFA, ICD.D, PhD
• Krista Fiolleau, CPA, CA, PhD
• Gregory Pau, MBA
• Pouya Safi, MBA
• Thomas Schneider, CPA, CMA, MBA, PhD
• Edward Stephenson, CFA, CFP

Schools:
• George Brown College, School of Accounting and Finance – Finalist
• McMaster University, DeGroote School of Business
• Queen’s University, Smith School of Business – Finalist
• Ryerson University, Ted Rogers School of Management
• University of Ottawa, Telfer School of Management
• University of Waterloo, School of Accounting and Finance – Winner
• York University, Schulich School of Business – Finalist

2021 CFA SOCIETY TORONTO AND CFA SOCIETY OTTAWA RESEARCH CHALLENGE
Subject Company: Empire Company Limited

Judges, preliminary round:
• Daniella Auerbach, CFA
• Graham Edwards, CFA, MBA
• Ariel Liang, CFA, GPLLM, MMF
• Daniel Nieto, CFA

Graders:
• Madiha Javed, CFA
• Ariel Liang, CFA, GPLLM, MMF
• Guneet Sahni, CFA 
• Otto Yung, CFA, MBA, MFin

Judges:
• Alicia Damley, CFA, CPA
• Sunny Guo, CFA
• Stephanie Poon, CFA
• Lynn Wang, CFA, CFP, FRM

Industry mentors:
• Jackie Au, CFA
• Andrew Cox, CFA
• Andy Huynh, CFA
• Jeannine LiChong, CFA, CPA, CA
• Greg Limburg, CFA, MBA, MFin
• Tejvinder Mondair, CFA
• Stuart Morrow, CFA
• Hasan Naqvi, CFA, CPA, CA
• Andrew Pryor, CFA

Faculty advisors:
• Steve Balaban, CFA
• Ernest Biktimirov, CFA, MBA, PhD
• Bill Chau, CFA, CAIA, FRM
• Sean Cleary, CFA, ICD.D, PhD
• Gregory Pau, MBA
• Laleh Samarbakhsh, PhD
• Kevin Veenstra, CFA, CPA, PhD 

Schools:
• Brock University, Goodman School of Business – Finalist
• Carleton University, Sprott School of Business – Finalist
• McMaster University DeGroote School of Business
• Queen’s University, Smith School of Business
• Ryerson University, School of Accounting and Finance
• University of Toronto School of Accounting and Finance
• University of Toronto, UTSC Management
• University of Waterloo, School of Accounting and Finance – Winner
• York University, Schulich School of Business – Finalist