NEW ALBANY, IN, (Feb. 27, 2012) – A team of Indiana University Southeast students took home second place honors at the annual CFA Institute Global Investment Research Challenge this month.
While placing second overall, the IU Southeast team had the highest score for the presentation portion of the competition. In the past four years, IU Southeast has won the competition twice and placed second the other two years.
Six universities from Kentucky and Indiana participated in this year’s challenge including IU Southeast, IU Kelley School of Business, University of Louisville, University of Kentucky, Western Kentucky University, and Butler University.
Each university sent a team of three to five students to participate in the challenge, which is hosted by the CFA Institute, the global association for investment professionals. Members of the 2012 IU Southeast team were Clarksville graduate student Tim Crockett, Louisville graduate student Greg Darnell, Louisville graduate student Erica Lange, Louisville graduate student Jim Magill, and Louisville graduate student Matt Yost.
The faculty advisor was Kevin Ragland and the CFA mentor was Ben Thomas of Waycross Partners, LLC. Both Ragland and Thomas are CFA charter holders, and Ragland is also an analyst at Waycross.
The students completed an analysis and buy/sell/hold recommendations on Brown-Forman. Their presentation at the Louisville finale was the culmination of three months of research, interviews with company management, competitors, and clients; presentation training; and evaluation.
About the Global Investment Research Challenge
The Global IRC gathers students, investment industry professionals, publicly traded companies and corporate sponsors together locally, regionally, and globally for a world competition.
In order to promote best practices in equity research and company analysis, students research, analyze, and report on a company as if they are practicing analysts. Local CFA societies host and launch an Investment Research Challenge in conjunction with the participating universities. The universities assemble teams of three to five business and finance students who work directly with a company in researching and preparing a company analysis.
The team’s final presentations are locally evaluated by high-profile panels of heads of research, portfolio managers, and chief investment officers from the world’s top firms. The local champions advance to regional competitions in the Americas, Asia, and Europe and then to the global finale.
About CFA Institute
CFA Institute is the global association for investment professionals. It administers the CFA and CIPM curriculum and exam programs worldwide; publishes research; conducts professional development programs; and sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards for the investment industry. CFA Institute has more than 102,000 members, who include the world’s 92,000 CFA charter holders, as well as 135 affiliated professional societies in 58 countries and territories. More information may be found at www.cfainstitute.org.