UNYP students have strong results in the CFA Research Challenge 2016

UNYP students took part in the CFA Research Challenge, a prestigious global investment competition, which every year attracts students from all over the world. The competition was organized by the CFA Institute, a global professional association of financial analysts which runs the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exam program. 

UNYP students took part in the CFA Research Challenge, a prestigious global investment competition, which every year attracts students from all over the world. The competition was organized by the CFA Institute, a global professional association of financial analysts which runs the CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) exam program. 

A total of 13 competing teams from the Czech Republic and Slovakia entered the competition and had to prepare an investment recommendation on Unipetrol and based on these reports only four teams were selected to present in front of a panel of judges. UNYP was represented by a team of five Business Administration students; Linda Čeligová, Kateřina Huyen Nguyen, Matouš Janda, Pavel Jiránek, and Jakub Malota. The UNYP team was amongst the four selected to give presentations to the judges, along with teams from the Charles University, the Prague University of Economics and the Comenius University in Bratislava. Each participating university had a faculty advisor, and teams were also allocated a mentor from the financial community in Prague to providing coaching in financial analysis. The faculty advisor for the UNYP team was Tanweer Ali, one of two CFA charter holders in the UNYP faculty together with Aaron Johnson.

The final four teams presented their recommendations on Wednesday, February 3rd at the University of Economics and UNYP was awarded with the highest score for the presentation. Unfortunately for our team, the overall score which includes the points for the written report determined the winning team. The final victory of the competition for 2016 went to the Charles University team which won by a slim margin of 0,8 of a point. UNYP’s second place achievement in such a challenging and competitive contest is definitely a great success and more importantly, students get the tremendous learning experience.

When asked about the competition and their experience, the UNYP team shared the following:

What was the biggest challenge in participating in the CFA Competition?

We knew from the very beginning that participating will be very time-consuming and that throughout these four months we will have to acquire a deep understanding of equity valuation concepts along with extensive knowledge of the company, its industry and current macroeconomic trends. At the same time, due to current volatile prices of crude oil, which are fundamental for the refining and petrochemical industry we analyzed, it was quite challenging for us to forecast future stock price development. What was the most challenging, however, was the fact that UNYP won the research challenge three times in a row and we did not want to disappoint and felt the pressure to live up to the UNYP expectations. On one hand, it pushed us to new limits. On the other, we felt disappointed ending up second considering the great amount of work we put into this project. 

What support did you get from UNYP?

UNYP was incredibly supportive during the competition by providing us with premises to work and rehearse in.

What was your best experience from the competition?

The entire competition was a very pleasant experience. We particularly enjoyed the presentation of our final results in front of the panel of judges comprised of CFA charter holders and industry professionals whose opinions and inputs were truly valuable. Apart from other universities, we were able to utilize our presentation and language skills, which other schools lacked and gave us a great advantage.

What would you recommend to students participating next year?

We think it is fundamental to choose a good team of people who you will be working with. As previously mentioned the competition is time-consuming and requires a great deal of effort and individual input from each member. This year, we not only managed to create a strong collaboration and synchronized team of motivated individuals but also built a great bond and friendship amongst us. 

About the contest

The Research Challenge, organized globally by the 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 analysis with an investment recommendation whether to buy, sell or hold shares of Unipetrol which are traded on the Prague Stock Exchange. The teams were mentored by experienced, CFA certified professionals with many years of experience of investment analysis.

UNYP has had a really successful history in the CFA competition. UNYP teams have participated in the competition every year since 2011 and won three times in the row in years 2013, 2014 and 2015.