After winning the recent CFA Institute Research Challenge Sydney Regional Competition organised by the CFA Societies Sydney Chapter, four students from The Australian National University (ANU) College of Business and Economics (CBE) will compete in the upcoming Oceania Final.
An initiative of the CFA Institute, the CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in equity analysis. The team is assessed on their analytical, valuation, report-writing, and presentation skills by a panel of industry experts. They gain real-world experience as they assume the role of a research analyst.
In preparation for the Sydney round, Alexander Norman, Chen Huan Liu, Hugo Heanly and Liam Newport worked closely with their industry mentor, Michelle Wigglesworth from Australian Ethical Investment.
The competition began with the submission of an investment-recommendation report and modelling spreadsheet.
"These were assessed by CFA judges, with four semi-finalist teams, including ours, selected to compete in the Sydney presentation semi-finals," says Alexander.
This was a significant hurdle, because no ANU team has made it to the semi-finals in recent memory.
For the semi-final – an in-person presentation – the team practiced extensively, and provided each other with rigorous feedback, which Alexander believes led to their victory.
“Constantly (constructively) criticising each other’s presentation style, arguments and assumptions was the real key to delivering a robust report, valuation model and presentation,” he says.
As well as their hard work in the lead up to the competition, Hugo shares that his time with the ANU Student Managed Fund (SMF) also assisted in securing their win.
"The dividends of my SMF experience were realised in a myriad of ways throughout the CFA Challenge. The most obvious instance was in our valuation of Scentre Group (the case company), where the technical skills learnt during my tenure in the SMF became invaluable," says Hugo.
Three of the four team members are SMF alumni, with the fourth heavily involved in other CBE initiatives. According to Hugo, the CFA Challenge is particularly well-suited to students who have taken part in SMF.
A dedicated team comprised of an SMF contingent would reap serious benefits on both the micro and macro scale. The CFA Challenge is a learning opportunity that undoubtedly furthers the financial expertise of its participants, posing real-life industry problems to students.
Chen expresses that, though challenging, the highlight so far has been successfully working together as a team.
"We came in with different skills and experiences, so we were able to learn a lot from each other. There were many challenges in preparing our report and presentation — formatting frustrations, confusing theses, and even motion sickness — but the team support and humour made everything a lot more enjoyable and amusing," says Chen.
"Teamwork makes the dream work!"
As the team prepares for the Oceania Final, Liam reflects on what's next.
“What started as four friends just wanting to have fun, has now blossomed into a remarkable adventure that we are eager to take to an international scale," he says.
We're looking forward to expanding our success to the wider continent, showcasing our team's capabilities and the outstanding education we've received at CBE. This is our opportunity to rightfully establish ANU as a top choice for finance studies in Australia.
Interested in representing ANU in the next round of the CFA Institute Research Challenge? Search 'CFA' in your Wattle account and enrol yourself to the dedicated Wattle site for the CFA Institute University Affiliation Program to find out more and access resources helping you develop your career in investment management.
Find out more about the ANU Student Managed Fund, open for application in Week 5 for Semester 2 entry.
The ANU College of Business and Economics offers an extensive range of specialised programs. Click here for more details.