A five-member students team from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) has won the inaugural CFA Institute Research Challenge — a global competition that tests equity research, valuation, investment report writing, and presentation skills of the university students.
Five students from CMU-Q — Alfred Godwin, Fizza Aamir, Shahryar Nayyer, Badis Glaied and Anthony Lo — were adjudged the winning team and will now represent Qatar at the regional competition of the CFA Institute Research Challenge on April 4-5 in Ireland.
A four-student team from the Qatar University was declared the runners up and will compete in a Middle East competition, organised by the regional CFA societies.
This year’s challenge had seen a total of four teams — two from CMU-Q and one each from Georgetown University Qatar and Qatar University.
Each team was required to write an equity research report on the subject company Ooredoo with an investment recommendation.
At the finale, the teams presented their equity research to an independent panel of judges from the financial sector in Qatar.
Each team had a faculty adviser and an industry mentor from local institutions such as Al Rayan Investment, Qatar Investment Authority, QInvest and QNB Financial Services.
The students were also supported by dedicated faculty advisers from their respective universities.
The CFA Society Doha arranged financial modelling and communications workshops for all the teams.
As part of this competition, students conducted in-depth analysis on a listed company’s stock and produced a comprehensive equity research report.
The winning team was chosen based on the thoroughness of the analysis rather than their forecast of the stock price movement.
The finale was attended by Nasser Ahmed al-Shaibi, chief executive of Qatar Financial Market Authority; Yousuf Mohamed al-Jaida, chief executive of Qatar Financial Centre Authority and other dignitaries and industry professionals.
Hailing the enthusiasm of students from universities in Qatar and professionals from local institutions to come together to drive the nation’s financial sector, al-Shaibi said “this reflects upon Qatar’s future steps toward building a sound and resilient financial sector that will promote sustainable economic growth.”
“The CFA Institute Research Challenge gives students the opportunity to experience practical aspects of the investment discipline. This competition also brings together the professional and academic world and serves as a platform for development of the local investment community,” said Bogdan Bilaus, president of the CFA Society Doha.
The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis.
Each research challenge season leverages the efforts of over 140 CFA member societies, 3,500 member volunteers, and more than 5,000 students from over 1,000 universities globally.
Local competitions (organised by CFA societies) lead up to regional finals; regional champions then convene for the global final.