Students advance to the next level of the world's leading investement research competition
A team of students representing BI Norwegian Business School won the local round of the 2023 CFA Institute Research Challenge and will advance to the regional final of the competition where they will face other universities from across .
Winning team members, including Rayan Sayyah, Christian Manthey and Nicola Martini presented their analysis and buy/sell/hold recommendation on SimCorp to a panel of distinguished judges from the investment community.
The winning team was mentored by Mazen Younes, Analyst at Connectum Capital Management AS and had guidance from their faculty advisor Janis Berzins, Associate Professor at BI Norwegian Business School.
The presentation was the culmination of months of research, interviews with company management, competitors, and clients, as well as presentation training. All participating teams received hands-on mentoring, and intensive training in financial analysis and professional ethics.
“The research challenge is an excellent way for talented students in finance to get a taste of what it is like to be a practicing professional. This year’s participants demonstrated that they have both the skills and knowledge to succeed in their future career,” says Erlend Fredriksen, President of CFA Society Norway and Portfolio Manager in DNB Asset Management.
“Thanks to students, mentors, faculty advisors and sponsors for making this a great event. Best of luck to BI in the next round of the competition,” he adds.
The following universities also participated in the Danish-Norwegian Local Final:
Aalborg University
Oslo Metropplian University
This year’s CFA Institute Research Challenge was hosted by CFA Society Norway Finansforeningen/CFA Society Denmark and sponsored by DNB and KaplanSchweser.
About the CFA Institute Research Challenge
The CFA Institute Research Challenge gathers students, investment industry professionals, publicly traded companies, and corporate sponsors together locally, regionally, and globally for an annual competition. In order to promote best practices in equity research and company analysis, students research, analyze, and report on a company as if they are practicing analysts. Local CFA member societies and other affiliated groups host local level competitions of the Research Challenge in conjunction with the participating universities. The universities assemble teams of three to five business and finance students who work directly with a company in researching and preparing a company analysis. The team’s final presentations are locally evaluated by high-profile panels of heads of research, portfolio managers, and chief investment officers from the world’s top firms. The local champions advance to regional competitions for the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and then to the Global Final. Additional information on the Research Challenge is available on the CFA Institute website, www.cfainstitute.org/researchchallenge.
About CFA Society Norway
CFA Society Norway consists of 119 members in Norway with various roles in reputable international and Norwegian companies. CFA Institute is the global association of investment professionals that sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials. The organization is a champion of ethical behavior in investment markets and a respected source of knowledge in the global financial community. Our aim is to create an environment where investors’ interests come first, markets function at their best, and economies grow. There are more than 190,000 CFA charterholders worldwide in 160 markets. CFA Institute has nine offices worldwide and there are 160 local member societies. For more information, visit www.cfainstitute.org.