Research Challenge

CFA Institute Research Challenge

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition that connects university students with investment professionals from within the CFA Society^® network. The competition provides students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and ethics and tests participants' analytical, valuation, reporting writing, and presentation skills.

Members of our society, along with a faculty advisor and an industry mentor, work with teams of students to value a stock, write a research report, and present their recommendations. Teams then compete with peers from other schools at local-level competitions organized and judged by CFA Society members and volunteers. The winning university team(s) from each local competition then advances to see who will become the sub-regional, regional, and global champions.

Learn more and read FAQs See the schedule and get involved

Local Research Challenge

Our 2025 Local Research Challenge was held Thursday, Feb. 20 in Des Moines. A record-breaking ten teams participated, including teams from Augustana College, Cornell College, Dordt University, Grinnell College, Iowa State University, Loras College and the University of Northern Iowa.

The subject company was General Mills.

Our judges were impressed by all of the teams, and the competition was fierce. Ultimately, the team from the University of Iowa was declared the winner! This team will now move on to a Midwest Sub-Regional Competition.

We'd like to acknowledge the great deal of time and work put in by all of the teams and congratulate them all on a job well done! We'd also like to give a special thanks to the faculty advisors and everyone who had a hand in helping the teams prepare for the competition.

CFA Society Iowa's Director of Outreach Cass Page with our 2025 Local Research Challenge Winning Team from the University of Iowa

Previous Winners and Subject Companies:

2024: Dordt University (John Deere)
2023: Iowa State University (Sun Country Airlines)
2022: Iowa State University (Brunswick Corp.)
2021: Iowa State University (American Equity)
2020: University of Iowa (Corteva, Inc.)
2019: University of Iowa (Meredith Corp.)
2018: University of Iowa graduate team (HNI Corp.)
2017: University of Iowa undergraduate team (Rockwell Collins)

Participating Schools in Recent Years:

Augustana College
Cornell College
Dordt University
Drake University
Grinnell College
Iowa State University
Loras College
Mount Mercy University
University of Northern Iowa
University of Iowa