Research Challenge

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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

CFA Nebraska Hosts Local Research Challenge

CFA Society Nebraska hosted a local Research Challenge in the 2024-2025 academic year.  

Timeline:

Local Competition Date: February 21, 2025 at FNBO Tower 1601 Dodge St. Omaha, NE  68102

Written Reports Due: December 20, 2024

Subject Company:

ConAgra (CAG)

Participating Universities:

Creighton University
University of Nebraska – Lincoln
University of Nebraska - Omaha

2025 Winning Team: Creighton University  

Congratulations to Creighton University, the winner of the local Research Challenge held in the Spring of 2025.  The subject company in the challenge was ConAgra (CAG).  Teams from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and the University of Nebraska - Omaha also participated in the local event. The Creighton team will compete in the Americas Sub-Regional competition, with a chance to advance to additional rounds of the competition. The Global Finals will be the week of May 5 in Chicago at the 2025 Annual Conference. 

Please join us in congratulating the Creighton team! The team included Carson Bengtson, John Cole, Abigail Mann, and Allison Wilcox. Lee Dunham is the Faculty Advisor.




 

Thank You to All of Our Research Challenge Volunteers!


We would like to thank all of our volunteers: faculty advisors, mentors, graders, and judges. None of this would be possible without you.

CFA Society Nebraska
Local Competition Winners: 

2025 Creighton University
2024 Creighton University
2023 Creighton University
2022 University of Nebraska - Lincoln
2021 University of Nebraska - Lincoln-2
2020 Creighton University
2019 Creighton University
2018 Creighton University
2017 Creighton University
2016 Creighton University
2015 Creighton University

Prior to  2015 CFA Society Nebraska ran a joint competition with CFA Society Iowa.
The Local Champions were:

2014 Creighton University
2013 Creighton University
2012 University of Iowa
2011 University of Iowa 

Year

School

Faculty Advisors

Mentors

Graders

Judges
2025

Creighton
UNL
UNO

 Lee Dunham, CFA
Richard DeFusco, CFA
Laura Beal, CFA		 Damian Howard, CFA Joshua Armstrong, CFA
David Craft, CFA
Sarah Murray, CFA		 Philip Boll, CFA
Michael Clinch, CFA
Travis Nordstrom, CFA
Richard Witt, CFA
2024

Creighton
UNK
UNL

 Lee Dunham, CFA
Nam Le, CFA
Richard DeFusco, CFA		 Michael Johnson, CFA
Damian Howard, CFA

 Joshua Armstrong, CFA
David Craft, CFA
Sarah Murray, CFA		 Philip Boll, CFA
Michael Clinch, CFA
Jay Martin, CFA
Richard Witt, CFA
2023 Creighton Lee Dunham, CFA Jake Bleicher, CFA
Damian Howard, CFA
John Philo, CFA
Nicholas Nevole, CFA		 Joshua Armstrong, CFA
David Craft, CFA
Sarah Murray, CFA		 Philip Boll, CFA
Jay Martin, CFA
Sarah Robak, CFA
Richard Witt, CFA
2022 UNL
UNO		 Richard DeFusco, CFA
Laura Beal, CFA		 Nicholas Nevole, CFA
Damian Howard, CFA
Jake Bleicher, CFA

 Joshua Armstrong, CFA
David Craft, CFA
Sarah Murray, CFA		 Philip Boll, CFA
Jay Martin, CFA
J. J. Schenkelberg, CFA
Richard Witt, CFA
2021 Creighton
UNL 1
UNL 2		 Lee Dunham, CFA
Richard DeFusco, CFA

 Jake Bleicher, CFA
Nicholas Nevole, CFA
Dan Walker, CFA


 Joshua Armstrong, CFA
David Craft, CFA
Damian Howard, CFA		 Philip Boll, CFA
Jessie Goodwin, CFA
J. J. Schenkelberg, CFA
Richard Witt, CFA
2020 Creighton
UNO

 Lee Dunham, CFA
Laura Beal, CFA

 Jake Bleicher, CFA
Damian Howard, CFA
Nicholas Nevole, CFA
Rhonda McCarthy, CFA


 Joshua Armstrong, CFA
Spence Byer, CFA
David Craft, CFA
Vincent Miscia, CFA

 Philip Boll, CFA
Jessie Goodwin, CFA
J. J. Schenkelberg, CFA
Richard Witt, CFA
2019 Creighton
UNL

 Lee Dunham, CFA
Richard DeFusco, CFA

 Jake Bleicher, CFA
Nicholas Nevole, CFA


 Jason Ballow, CFA
Shawn Bengtson, CFA
David Craft, CFA
Will Wasserburger, CFA

 Philip Boll, CFA
Johnathan Gibb, CFA
Jessie Goodwin, CFA
J. J. Schenkelberg, CFA
2018 Bellevue
Creighton
UNL
UNO		 Yen-Sheng Lee, CFA
Lee Dunham, CFA
Richard DeFusco, CFA
Laura Beal, CFA		 David Craft, CFA
Richard Witt, CFA
Philip Mead, CFA
Damian Howard, CFA


 Stacy Auman, CFA
Michael Gatliff, CFA
Ryan Johnson, CFA
Nicholas Nevole, CFA

 John Conley, CFA
John Philo, CFA
Paula Wieck, CFA
Mark Wynegar, CFA
2017 Bellevue
Creighton
UNL

 Yen-Sheng Lee, CFA
Lee Dunham, CFA
Richard DeFusco, CFA

 Damian Howard, CFA
David Craft, CFA



 Laura Beal, CFA
Shawn Bengtson, CFA
Yavor Pamukov, CFA
Steven Wruble, CFA		 Daniel Frost, CFA
J. J. Schenkelberg, CFA
Paula Wieck, CFA
Richard Witt, CFA
2016 Creighton
UNL
UNO		 Lee Dunham, CFA
Richard DeFusco, CFA
Laura Beal, CFA

 Mark Wynegar, CFA
Philip Mead, CFA
Damian Howard, CFA

 Stacy Auman, CFA
Ryan Johnson, CFA
Nicholas Nevole, CFA
Yavor Pamukov, CFA

 John Conley, CFA
Andrew Frahm, CFA
Daniel Frost, CFA
Richard Witt, CFA
2015 Bellevue
Creighton
UNL
UNO

Michael Johnson, CFA
Andy Jacobitz, CFA
Philip Mead, CFA
Damian Howard, CFA

 Shawn Bengtson, CFA
Ryan Johnson, CFA
Steven Wruble, CFA

 John Conley, CFA
John Maginn, CFA
Richard Witt, CFA
Mark Wynegar, CFA