CFA research challenge 2015: Students get exposure to financial analysis

Since 2006, the CFA Institute runs the annual Research Challenge – a global competition aimed at promoting best practices in research writing and financial analysis among university students. For 2015, more than 137 CFA member societies throughout the world organised the Research Challenge, which saw the participation of more than 865 universities. Four of the local university teams reached the final presentation round which was held on the 13th January 2015 in front of a jury panel consisting of industry experts. The target company was Lux* Islands Resorts Ltd, a major hotel group, and the teams had to analyse the financials, prospects and industry, among other factors, to prepare a research report accompanied with an investment recommendation, which was graded by both local and international graders. During the process, each team was supported by their faculty advisor and an Industry Mentor, and was given the possibility to meet with the management of the target company for a Question/Answer session. The five members of the winning team will be participating in the Regional Research Challenge April 2016 to be held in Chicago, USA. Air tickets and accommodation costs for the whole team, amounting to approximately half a million rupees, will be borne by the CFA Institute through the aegis of the CFA Society Mauritius.

Vidhish Beeharry: “Disappointed for having missed the first place”

The 1st runner up of the competition was the Open University team comprising of Vidhish Beeharry, Teysing Chutturgoon, Ramful Abhishek Kavish, Pooja Tameswar and Vedmaa Thangaraj. Vidhish Beeharry, the team leader, claims that they were initially disappointed for having missed the first place. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"13356","attributes":{"class":"media-image aligncenter wp-image-22023","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"573","height":"276","alt":"CFA-3"}}]] “Our team had limited time to prepare. We are distance learning students and we barely meet on campus. Except for Kavish, everybody else works. It was difficult to meet and prepare adequately for our finals. Nonetheless, we managed to research adequately on Lux*. We had built a model of financial forecasting before applying the various methods to value the shares of Lux*. Given the circumstances, we made use of Skype, Google drive and emails to discuss our ideas. Moreover, we had to manage between our studies, professional commitments, the research challenge, and personal lives over the past months. A great test of time management,” he reveals. Despite all the challenges, the team had a superb experience. “Our mentor provided valuable investment analysis insights. Some of his suggestions will help us define our careers in the future. Such hands-on industry exposure complements our academic studies,” he concludes. Antish Aubeeluck: “It was a great opportunity” The 2nd Runner up team is from the University of Technology which comprised of Antish Aubeeluck, Aleesha Durga, Kooshal Ramsaran, Omrawoo Darvesh and Vedprakash Foolchand. The team leader, Antish Aubeeluck, stated that being the second runner up gives them immense pride. “We never imagined that we will make it to the finals. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"13357","attributes":{"class":"media-image aligncenter wp-image-22024 ","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"550","height":"241","alt":"CFA-2"}}]] At the beginning, it seemed tough, as it was something that we never did before. However, with sheer conviction, determination and patience we were able to achieve this,” he shares. The project required a lot of research from newspapers, magazines, company websites, annual reports and many other sources. “The biggest challenge was to forecast the stock price. Concerning the presentation, it was a real challenge. We never did a presentation of such a level before. Therefore, we had to learn everything, from preparing a presentation to speaking in public. It was a great opportunity to expand the reach of our studies and to do something that was out of our comfort zone. We learned a lot in terms of hard work, patience, team work and time management. It was also a lot of stress because of the new things. Nevertheless, it was a very enriching experience and was worth all the effort,” he says.