UNYP Students won the CFA Institute Research Challenge 2014

A team of five UNYP students won the prestigious CFA Research Challenge 2014 for the second year in a row. Namely students Renata Ďurčová (team leader), Filip Kunčar, Sophia Khaydari, Martina Tamchynová and Martin Kotchera competed against teams from Charles University, Tomáš Baťa University in Zlín and VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava.

UNYP’s winning team will represent Czech Republic in the Regional European Finale in Italy in April.

The winners were honored at the 12th Annual CFA Society FORECASTING DINNER 2014 and you can find the video from the event here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQUKbkg88OI

On behalf of UNYP’s Management and faculty we would like to congratulate them and wish them to have even more successes in the future.

CFA Press Release:

University of New York in Prague defends victory in prestigious contest

Their team will represent the Czech Republic in the European round in Milan

Prague, 30 January 2014 – For the fourth time students from Czech universities competed in an national round of the international competition CFA Institute Research Challenge 2014. The winning university was again the University of New York in Prague (UNYP) defending its victory from last year. Four teams from renowned Czech universities participated this year. Contestants had to prepare for a difficult task – make a financial analysis with an investment recommendation for the shares of Komerční banka. In the final round the analysis had to be presented in front of a panel of experts from the investment industry. These experts with many years of experience evaluated not only the analysis itself, but also the level of professionalism it was presented at. The winning team will represent the CR in the regional European finale in April which will be held in Milan, Italy. The worldwide finale will take place in Bangkok, Thailand.

The student contest in the Czech Republic is organized by the CFA Society Czech Republic which associates holders and candidates of the CFA designation (Chartered Financial Analyst®) in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

“The level of presented analyses was again very high this year. The final score of all teams, especially between the Charles University and UNYP, was very tight but in the end the winning team from UNYP convinced by their excellent presentation skills”, said Matěj Turek, CFA, Member of the Board of the CFA Society Czech Republic and main coordinator of the contest. “All teams asked relevant questions and did a good job in preparing their reports. I believe the winning team stands a good chance of succeeding in the European round in Milan and, even more importantly, in their future careers. ”, stated Jakub Černý, Head of Investor Relations at Komerční banka.

Renáta Ďurčová, leader of the winning team of UNYP, shared her thoughts: “CFA Institute Research Challenge was remarkable but very demanding experience. Through this experience we gained not only a great deal of new knowledge and practical experiences which we would hardly get at school but also a unique opportunity for our future careers in the financial world” and added „it cost us lots of time, effort and determination but it was absolutely worth it.“

About the contest

The Research Challenge, organised globally by CFA Institute, is an annual global competition that provides university students with intensive training in financial analysis. Students gain real-world experience as they assume the role of a research analyst and are tested on their ability to value a stock, write an initiation-of-coverage report, and present their recommendations. In the Czech round of this competition participants had to make their own financial analyses with an investment recommendation whether to buy, sell or hold shares of Komerční banka which are traded on the Prague Stock Exchange. The teams were mentored by experienced, CFA certified professionals with many years of experience from investment analysis. Last year more than 3 500 students from 775 universities participated.  2013’s winner team was from the Wrocław University of Economics from Poland.

More information can be found here http://www.cfasociety.org/CZECHREPUBLIC/Pages/ResearchChallenge.aspx

This year’s participating universities:

•             Charles University in Prague

•             University of New York in Prague

•             Tomáš Baťa University in Zlín

•             VŠB – Technical University of Ostrava

Members of the winning team:

Renata Ďurčová (team leader)

Filip Kunčar

Sophia Khaydari

Martina Tamchynová

Martin Kotchera

About the CFA Society Czech Republic

The CFA Society Czech Republic (www.czechcfa.cz) is an association of financial and investment professionals from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, founded in April 2002. It is one of 138 member societies of the CFA Institute (www.cfainstitute.org), and its mission is to promote the highest standards of ethics, education, professional excellence in the Czech and Slovak financial community. Currently, the association has more than 130 members, mostly CFA charterholders, and nearly 900 CFA Program candidates from the Czech Republic and Slovakia who typically hold the following positions: portfolio manager, financial analyst, investment banking or corporate finance analyst, consultant, financial advisor, risk manager, relationship manager and top management executive.

Sponsors of the CFA Society Czech Republic are: EY, ČSOB Asset Management and ING Investment Management. The Research Challenge sponsor is J&T Bank; the event’s partner is Thomson Reuters and the event’s media partners are: Ekonom and iHNed.cz.