Business Science students crack CFA competition
Nomsa Kachingwe, Mark Pomroy, Dr Francis Toerien, Michael Vermeulen, Brendan Meehan and Claire Mas at the finals in Johannesburg.
A team of five final year UCT Business Science students have beaten other universities from around the country to win the inaugural CFA Investment Research Challenge. The team won top honours for their analysis of Tongaat-Hulett shares by producing an investment report and conducting a presentation on their findings in Johannesburg on October 12. The team consisted of Nomsa Kachingwe, Mark Pomroy, Michael Vermeulen, Brendan Meehan and Claire Mas.
They are now in the running for regional finals (competing against countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa) in Istanbul in March next year. The global finals are in Hong Kong in April 2010.
Dean of Commerce, Professor John Simpson, said: “We are delighted that our team won as it illustrates powerfully that the Business Science degree not only gave them tools to win a Finance competition, but the breadth of the degree gave them a rich palette of insights to enable them to understand the complexities of the sugar industry”.
The team had an internal advisor – head of the Finance section in Management Studies, Dr Francois Toerien, as well as an external mentor, Gavin Joubert, an equity investment analyst from Coronation Asset Managers. They also benefited from support from Claudia Kalil, acting head of the Professional Communication Unit, whose insights during a rehearsal played a key role in the quality and interpretive focus of their final presentation.
The team is made of strong stuff – three of them wrote a test at 7am on the morning of the competition, then flew to Johannesburg where they presented their valuation at a CFA function. The five-person presentation had to be delivered within a taut 10 minutes, followed by a gruelling 10 minutes of questions from a panel of industry experts. The great learning opportunity was largely thanks to the initiative of Finance Section staff members Dr Toerien and Ashwin Prayag, who initiated and developed a strong relationship with the international CFA Institute.
Brendan Meehan, who is planning on studying honours in Economics at UCT next year reflected on the team’s win: “I believe that as a team we understood what needed to be done in terms of the work load. I know that as a team we literally could understand everything about the sugar industry. Right now, I know that we could tell you about everything from the sugar yields in Brazil and India in the next few years to the Czarnikow Sugar Futures price. Our knowledge of Finance was also better than the other universities, thanks mostly to our team of dedicated lecturers. We felt very privileged to come from UCT and fly our banner at an inter-varsity competition.”
Another student, Claire Mas, said : “I think our team won because we are five determined individuals with strengths in complementary areas. Under pressure we worked well together and fed off each others’ opinions. Feedback from the judges was that we focused on the key drivers.” Next year she goes to Rome to study Italian, before starting her job with Procter and Gamble at their Geneva headquarters.
Mr Elbe Louw, A Board Member of CFA South Africa, remarked on the high standard of the competition: “The Inaugural CFA South Africa Investment Research Challenge is a fantastic way for university students to develop the real-life skills they will need in the financial services industry. CFA South Africa will be supporting the University of Cape Town team as they progress to the next level of the competition. It is encouraging to see the high level of diligence and skill that South Africa's students demonstrate - the University of Cape Town should be proud of its team's accomplishment."
More on the CFA Institute's Global Investment Research Challenge:
The CFA Institute Global Investment Research Challenge offers students the unique opportunity to learn from leading industry experts and compete with peers from the world's top universities. This annual educational initiative is designed to promote best practices in equity research among the next generation of analysts through hands-on mentoring and intensive training in company analysis and presentation skills.
Over the course of the competition, university teams of 3-5 students each are mentored by industry professionals in writing an equity research report on a publicly traded company. The teams then present their findings to a distinguished panel of experts.
The Challenge consists of the following components:
- Analysis of a Public Company: Teams research a publicly traded company. Company management presents to the teams and participates in a Q&A session.
- Mentoring By a Professional Research Analyst: Each team works with an investment professional, who mentors the team on research process and reviews and critiques their report.
- Writing a Research Report: Students produce an initiation of coverage report on the chosen company. The report is reviewed and scored by a group of judges.
- Presentation of Research to a High-Profile Panel of Experts: Teams present their research to a panel of experts from top financial institutions. The team with the highest combined report and presentation score is the winner.
- Advancement to CFA Institute's Global Challenge: The winners of the local competitions will advance to compete against teams within their geographic region, culminating in a global finale on 17 April 2010, in Hong Kong.
Posted 30/10/2009 by Carolyn McGibbon
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