The CFA Society Washington, DC (CFAW) is proud to partner with the CFA Society Baltimore (CFAB) to jointly host the the CFA Institute Research Challenge. This competition gathers students, investment industry professionals, publicly traded companies, and corporate sponsors together for a real world sell-side analysis competition. Students from local universities form teams and are mentored by a faculty advisor and a professional research analyst to produce a research report covering the chosen company. Student teams also make a live presentation of their analysis to a panel of expert judges from top financial institutions. The winners of the local challenge go on to a regional and global competition.

We rely on our CFA charterholders and other financial professionals to serve as industry mentors, graders, and judges at the local, regional, and global levels of competition. If you are a regular member who is interested in being a judge, grader, or industry mentor, and would like to learn more about available volunteer opportunities with the Research Challenge, please contact Maria O'Hara at mohara@cfawashington.org

Please Note: One additional benefit of becoming a volunteer is the opportunity to earn CFA CE credits. The credits are processed at the end of each season in May and are distributed as follows:

• Industry Mentors: 1 CFA CE credit / 1 SER credit
• Graders: 4 CFA CE credits
• Judges: 4 CFA CE credits

How It Works
Local Level Competitions

Local level competitions are organized and judged by Local Hosts (CFA Institute member societies and volunteers).
Local Hosts are responsible for:

• Securing subject companies,
• Recruiting volunteers (such as mentors and judges), and
• Inviting universities in their geographic region to participate.

Regional and Global Level Competitions

The regional and global competitions are hosted by CFA Institute. The winner from each local competition advances to one of the three regional competitions: in the Americas; the Asia Pacific; and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions.

The winners from each regional competition advance to the Global Final, where one team emerges as the global champion of the CFA Institute Research Challenge.