UNYP students as winners of the national round of the CFA Research Challenge represented the Czech Republic in London

As winners of the national round of the CFA Research Challenge, five UNYP  BA students got an amazing opportunity to represent the Czech Republic in the regional final organized this April in London. However, they knew that competing against the very best teams from other EMEA countries would require much deeper understanding of the financial industry in order to succeed. Our students left nothing to chance and discussed their equity research with professionals from the biggest Czech financial firms. Visits to companies such as Raiffeisenbank, Ernst & Young, Wood & Co., BXR, or PPF provided them with invaluable feedback and an insight into the real world of finance. Equipped with a polished presentation, our students set out for London.

The competition was held at the Church House Conference Centre Westminster in the heart of the city. The 26 teams from the EMEA region were divided into five groups, with one winning team from each group advancing to the final round, held immediately the same day.  The competitors of our UNYP students in the semi-final group were Lappeeranta University of Technology (Finland), the University of Mannheim (Germany), Lomonosov Moscow State University (Russia), and Universitatea Alexandru loan Cuza lasi (Romania).The winner of the entire EMEA group progressed to the world final, which took place the next day. The winning teams from other regions were already known and waiting for one of the teams from the EMEA region: the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies representing India, Fordham University from New York and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

After presenting their case as the first team on the schedule, our students were satisfied with their performance and eager to hear the results. It was, however, Lomonosov Moscow State University who advanced from their group. This news was very disappointing at first, but our BA students soon realized that even advancing to London was a tremendous success, given the fact that the vast majority of their competitors were students of Master’s and MBA programs. In the end, it was Wroclaw University of Economics from Poland that won the EMEA final and subsequently the world  final the next day. Their victory was well–deserved.

The students would like to thank all the people who found time in their busy lives to help them. Their success would not have been possible without the guidance of their mentors Karel Tregler and Tanweer Ali, invaluable advice from Tomas Kubica, insights from numerous industry professionals, and the complete support of the University of New York in Prague.