Meet Kam Dhaliwal, Adnan Khan, Brent Small, Daniel Zhang, and Rudder Zhang. These extraordinary young men competed with the best—and won. They represented the University of Waterloo’s School of Accounting and Finance competing in the 2016 CFA Institute Research Challenge. I highly recommend watching their final presentation. Their knowledge and understanding of equity research tools and their application are impressive. Even more remarkable is their poise under pressure, as they communicated their research clearly and answered some tough questions from the judges.

The story begins with the University of Waterloo’s Student-run Investment Fund. It was through their involvement in the club that these five young men heard about CFA Institute’s Research Challenge. However, it’s their diverse educational backgrounds, along with their unique experiences, that resulted in a well-rounded team.

Kam Dhaliwal is studying computing and financial management, a joint major in computer science and finance. He was the team’s coding wizard and helped to simplify their primary research by automating tasks to produce data they needed. Dhaliwal has had a chance to work in Charlotte, N.C., New York City, Toronto, and Ottawa through his co-op positions and, following graduation, would like to work for a market maker doing software development or data science.

Adnan Khan chose to study accounting and financial management at Waterloo because of its reputation, co-op program, and entrepreneurial culture. “I recently launched a not-for-profit organization called EduGate, which is dedicated to improving the education system in Latin America through technology-enabled classroom transformations. At the end of this summer, I’ll be going on my fourth trip to Latin America.”

Brent Small is also enrolled in the accounting and financial management program. This summer, he did a co-op placement with a hedge fund in Toronto as an equity investment analyst, work he really enjoys as this was similar to the type of research he did for CFA Institute’s Research Challenge. Small also has a keen interest in Canadian and international politics and in public policy creation.

Daniel Zhang is pursuing a biotechnology/chartered professional accountancy degree. He was interested in a career in the healthcare space but subsequently fell in love with capital markets and hopes one day to integrate the two. To date, he’s had the opportunity to work in both fields: in healthcare as a research student studying Parkinson’s disease, and in capital markets, where he spent his summer work term in investment banking. He’s also an ex-competitive chess player.

Rudder Zhang, the team’s captain, completed his degree in mathematics/business administration. He became interested in finance after taking his first finance course and spending countless hours learning about the history of finance and capital markets. Furthermore, his experience on the Student-run Investment Fund gave him a hands-on opportunity to learn about finance, capital markets, and investing.

How did it feel to hear your team announced as the global winners?

KD: I couldn’t really believe we had actually won. We only saw the one presentation after ours and thought they did an amazing job. So to say I was surprised when we won might be an understatement, and now it’s still a little crazy to think that happened.

DZ: Elated beyond belief. I believe for most of us, it wasn’t our expectation that we would ever make it this far, not because we weren’t capable of doing so, but more because of the statistical improbability—one in a thousand teams. Who would have ever expected the small town of Waterloo, Ont., to take the championship?

RZ: It was a very proud moment. Winning was a great reward for us, but a greater reward for the students, faculty, and mentors who supported us through the nearly year-long commitment.

What did you find most challenging, and how did you deal with these challenges, individually and as a team?

AK: For me, the most challenging part of the competition was juggling all of my other commitments. At the time, I was completing my final co-op term with Deloitte Consulting and was working on some exciting projects that ate up the bulk of my time. Luckily, my colleagues were extremely supportive, and they always made sure I could attend team meetings.

Moreover, many of the skills I learned on the job, such as data visualization, helped me conduct insightful analysis throughout the competition. Between co-op, EduGate, two other competitions, sports, and my social life, I didn’t have much white space in my calendar. I had to manage my schedule carefully and be as efficient as possible (e.g., by taking calls on the train). As a team, we were transparent with one another and managed our workload on a weekly basis.

BS: The most challenging aspect of the competition was managing distance issues across team members, as we were generally scattered about different cities throughout the competition. We overcame this by using social media and communication tools (Skype, Facebook, Dropbox, Slack) and by sticking to the schedule for team meetings and catch-ups.

What is your most memorable moment of the whole experience?

AK: While waiting in the green room before the global final, we formed a team huddle to share some laughs before our presentation. Shortly after, our entrance song, “Tom Sawyer” by Rush, came on and we stepped onto the stage for one last run-through.

Another major highlight was connecting with all the international teams. From brushing up on my Hindi while chatting with the team from India to jamming to Sean Paul with the Kenyans, to planning my trip to Machu Picchu with the Peruvian team, there was never a dull moment!

DZ: Too many, but here are two:

The day before the global finals, I remember looking at the work we put in to be ready to present. I put into perspective some of the last-minute problems we were running into: Kam was worried about whether his tie was too long; Rudder was worried about whether the deep-dish we ate for lunch would impact his performance; I was worried about whether the cameras would pick up the newfound zit on my face. In retrospect, if these were the most pressing problems we were facing at that point, they were a testament to the work we had collectively put in to get us ready.

The evening after we won the competition, while everybody else was celebrating, Rudder and I had to prepare for an exam the next day. (We took a 4 a.m. flight and were in the exam hall seven hours later.) The celebration event in Chicago was live and upbeat, and everybody was having a great time, but nobody could find us. We were the two guys sitting in the corner of the dance hall, eating hot dogs to stock up on energy before studying late into that evening.

What’s the best advice you received?

AK: Don’t ever settle for anything short of changing the world.

DZ: Stay humble, stay hungry. The world is such a big place and only getting bigger. There’s always an opportunity for us to grow and develop, but we should be incredibly grateful for what we have because the landscape will only become more and more competitive, going forward.

BS: Capital markets/finance in Canada is a very small world, and your reputation as a professional and individual is as important as any other feature or trait. Warren Buffett is credited with saying, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

CFA Society Toronto was abuzz with excitement and pride in the days and weeks following the team’s win. These five young men are the future, and we can be honoured that we will have them as our colleagues in just a few short years. They’re the next generation of finance.