CFA Institute held its 10th annual CFA lnstitute Research Challenge in Chicago this past April. For the first time in the history of the competition, a Canadian team took the top prize! CFA Society Toronto would like to congratulate the 2016 CFA Research Challenge champions: the University of Waterloo. Kam Dhaliwal, Adnan Khan, Brent Small, Daniel Zhang, and Rudder Zhang rounded out this five-member team that represented CFA Society Toronto and CFA Society Ottawa. And a special thank you goes to Steve Balaban, CFA, and Craig Geoffrey, CFA, who volunteered their time and expertise as the team’s industry mentor and faculty advisor, respectively.

The CFA Institute Research Challenge has grown significantly since its inception. The first competition, which was hosted by the New York Society of Security Analysts and included just five teams from the New York area, has evolved into a worldwide intercollegiate competition that promotes best practices in equity research. This year alone it included 5,000 students representing 1,000 universities from more than 75 countries. The winner of each local challenge advances to participate in their respective Regional Level Competition in Chicago. The top team from each region—Asia Pacific; Americas A&B; and Europe, Middle East & Asia—is selected to compete at the Global Finals Competition. Each team is allotted 10 minutes for the presentation of their research, highlighted by a buy, sell, or hold recommendation for the stock of their assigned company; the presentation is then followed by a 10-minute Q&A with the judges.

Gerry Ramos, CFA, a long-time volunteer with CFA Society Toronto, was invited to participate in this year’s Research Challenge as a presentation judge. Judging the Americas B Regional Semifinal Round, Ramos was impressed with the quality of the research conducted and the calibre of the presentations. “It was great to see the enthusiasm around you and how great they will be at their jobs,” he said. CFA Institute carefully selected a group of investment professionals with deep technical knowledge as well as industry experience to act as judges. To prepare, each judge received a list of companies whose research presentations they would be judging allowing them to familiarize themselves with the companies, making way for more constructive Q&A periods. Taking on the duty of a judge was an honour and taken very seriously. Ramos noted that throughout the competition there was a real buzz. The energy was contagious, and there was a real air of camaraderie among all the attendees. The depth of investment professionals was impressive and the networking opportunities abundant. “It was a great experience and I would do it again,” he said.

There is no doubt the CFA Institute Research Challenge featured some of the brightest future financial professionals. “It is really encouraging to see our future in this room tonight,” said Paul Smith, CFA, president of CFA Institute. “I feel very confident that the young people in this room are really going to take the finance profession to another level in the next 20 or 30 years.”