CFA Society Toronto Ethics Challenge

The Ethics Challenge is a Canada-wide competition between student teams from undergraduate and graduate finance or economics programs. Each team analyzes a case study created by CFA Institute that is released in January. Four weeks later, teams present their findings at a local-level competition, highlighting the ethical dilemmas and solutions based on their case study. The winners from each local competition move forward to compete at the national level of the competition, co-ordinated by CFA Societies Canada.

This year’s CFA Society Toronto Ethics Challenge local competition-winning students were from the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management. Nabih El Masri, Neil Keohane, Denesia Nichols, Mourad Ben Rejeb, and Nicolas Tosi eloquently covered each ethical infraction in the case study during their presentation and the judges’ Q&A.

CFA Institute Research Challenge

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an equity research competition among student teams from the world’s top university business and finance programs. Students write an equity research report on a publicly traded company and present their findings to an expert panel. Teams that take first place at the local-level competition advance to the regional competition. The top teams from each of the regional competitions advance to the global competition where one team will be crowned champion.

This year’s CFA Society Toronto and CFA Society Ottawa Research Challenge local competition winners were from the University of Waterloo’s School of Accounting and Finance. Sharad Gopal, Shahzad Aziz Hussain, Sruthi Nair, Yacine Drissi Qeytoni, and Romel Sabat delivered a comprehensive presentation on this year’s subject company—BCE Bell Canada—with confidence and clarity that held the judges’ attention.

CFA Society Toronto & Hillsdale Canadian Investment Research Award

Congratulations to the winners of the 2019 CFA Society Toronto & Hillsdale Canadian Investment Research Award. This year’s award-winning paper is “Does Sub-advising Abroad Improve the Performance of International Mutual Funds?” by Dr. Pauline Shum-Nolan and Mr. Michael Densmore of York University and Dr. Markus Broman of Syracuse University. A panel of judges appointed by CFA Society Toronto determined the winning paper and the authors received a C$10,000 prize.

“This year’s winning paper is especially satisfying as the authors empirically demonstrate that managers with a foreign presence do not have an information edge in international investing. This is especially important for Canadian managers competing for global equity mandates, as it suggests that they are not disadvantaged by being in Canada,” said Chris Guthrie, CFA, president and CEO of Hillsdale Investment Management.

“Be local and think global is an important strategic takeaway for the Canadian money management industry from this year’s award-winning paper,” said Harry Marmer, CFA, executive vice-president of Hillsdale Investment Management. “This paper is representative of the numerous high-quality submissions that were received this year, and we are very proud to be working with CFA Society Toronto.”

“My co-authors and I are delighted to be selected for the 2019 CFA Society Toronto & Hillsdale Canadian Investment Research Award. As researchers, we strive to balance practical relevance and academic rigour in our work,” said Densmore. “We are extremely proud of the recognition from such well-respected organizations.”

L-R: Michael Densmore, Dr. Pauline Shum-Nolan, Chris Guthrie

Undergraduate Finance & Economics Scholarship Awards

In our continuing efforts to promote the high standards of the CFA designation to our next generation of financial professionals, CFA Society Toronto was pleased to host the Undergraduate Finance & Economics Scholarship Awards. Third-year finance or economics students from universities across Ontario submitted their applications, along with their résumés and 500-word essays, outlining why they should be selected for the award. Their submissions were reviewed by a panel of investment practitioners and CFA Society Toronto volunteers. This year’s scholarship winners are as follows:

First Place (C$3,000): 
Mitchell Ho, University of Waterloo

Second Place (C$2,000):
Reid Kilburn, Queen’s University

Third Place (C$1,000): 
Mark Nerland, Queen’s University