The CFA Institute Global Investment Research Challenge offers students the unique opportunity to learn from leading industry experts and compete with peers from the world’s top business schools. This annual educational initiative is designed to promote best practices in equity research among the next generation of analysts through hands‐on mentoring and intensive training in company analysis and presentation skills.
Over the course of the competition, university teams of 3‐5 students each are mentored by industry professionals in writing an equity research report on a publicly traded company. The teams then present their findings to a distinguished panel of experts. Past panelists included directors of research, chief strategists and CIOs from Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley.
This year, CFA Institute member societies held local competitions with more than 1,000 students from over 240 universities worldwide. Local winners from Thailand will advance to regional competition (Asia Pacific) on March 6, 2010, in Manila, Philippines and four regional winners’ teams will compete in this year’s global finale on April 17, 2010, in Hong Kong.
The Global Investment Research Challenge is a three‐tier competition:
1. CFA Thailand Investment Research Challenge
2. Regional IRC : Americas, Asia Pacific, EMEA and New York
3. Global IRC
The Challenge consists of the following components:
I. Analysis of a Public Company: Teams research a publicly traded company. Company management presents to the teams and participates in a Q&A session.
II. Mentoring By a Professional Research Analyst: Each team works with an investment professional, who mentors the team on research process and reviews and critiques their report.
III. Writing a Research Report: Students produce an initiation of coverage report on the chosen company. The report is reviewed and scored by a group of judges.
IV. Presentation of Research to a High‐Profile Panel of Experts: Teams present their research to a panel of experts from top financial institutions. The team with the highest combined report and presentation score is the winner.
V. Advancement to CFA Institute’s Global Challenge: The winners of the local competitions will advance to compete against teams within their geographic region, culminating in a global finale on April 17, 2010, in Hong Kong.
For more information on GIRC, please visit http://girc.membersocieties.org/