GLOBAL CFA CHALLENGE CHAMPIONS – Shown (from left) are: Faculty Adviser Alfonso Miguel Sevidal, Industry Mentor Mark Canizares, Local Society Representative April-Lee Tan, with Ateneo Management Engineering Seniors Christine Abigail Yu, Carina Monica Chua, Vince Benedict Say, Katreena Dachelle Chang, Gabrielle Marie Tayag. (Photo courtesy of Alfonso Miguel Sevidal)
A team of Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) students was recently declared champion of the 2019 CFA Institute Research Challenge Global Finals held in New York City, marking the university’s first-ever global championship in the competition. The Ateneo team beat over 6,000 students from 1,100 universities around the world. They were awarded a cash price of US$10,000.
The CFA Institute Research Challenge (IRC) is a global investment research competition that provides students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis. The CFA Institute Research Challenge Global Finals were held on April 25.
The winning team is composed of Management Engineering seniors Katreena Dachelle Chang, the team captain; Carina Monica Chua; Vince Benedict Say; Gabrielle Marie Tayag; and Christine Abigail Yu.
They were mentored by faculty adviser Alfonso Miguel Sevidal of the Ateneo Finance and Accounting Department, Mark Alan Canizares of Manulife, and local society representative April Lee-Tan of CFA Society Philippines.
In the Global Finals, the team Ateneo defended their BUY rating on D&L Industries, a Philippine-based specialty chemicals manufacturer, in a 10-minute presentation.
This was followed by a 10-minute question-and-answer portion before a panel of judges composed of Altus Capital Limited Chief Investment Officer Shuk Yee Samantha Ho, CFA; BlackRock Managing Director David Greenberg; Refinative Labs Global Head of Applied Innovation Tim Baker, CFA; and State Street Global Advisors Senior Quant Fixed Income Researcher Jingyan Wang.
Chang, Chua, Say, Tayag, and Yu were awarded $10,000, a trophy, and individual plaques. Their team photo was also flashed in digital billboards in New York's Times Square immediately after the results were announced.
The winning team was flashed on a digital billboard in New York's Times Square.
CFA Institute President and CEO Paul Smith said the competition "not only showcases the knowledge and expertise of these investment professionals of the future, but also their commitment to ethics and principled conduct that is so critical to building a better world for investors."
"It’s inspiring to see the next generation of investment professionals at work and know the future of our industry is in capable hands,” Smith added.
The Ateneo team first won in the local finals and represented the Philippines in the Asia-Pacific Regionals.which they won on March 29. This earned the team the right to represent the region in the Global Finals.
The Ateneo students bested over 6,000 students from around 1,100 universities around the world. It also marks the first Global Championship of Ateneo, which had won back-to-back regional championships in 2015 and 2016, and in 2019.