Five students from the University of Waterloo are the first Canadians to win the prestigious CFA Institute Research Challenge
Five students from the University of Waterloo are the first Canadians to win the prestigious CFA Institute Research Challenge. The global competition requires university students to work in teams to research and analyze a publicly traded company, providing them with mentoring and hands-on training in financial analysis.
The team from Waterloo’s School of Accounting and Finance advanced through several rounds of competition to reach the Global Finals in Chicago. Rudder Zhang, Adnan Khan, Kam Dhaliwal, Brent Small, and Daniel Zhang beat out University of Georgia, Ateneo de Manila University and Politecnico di Milano to capture the championship and a $10,000 prize on Friday. Their mentors are Steve Balaban, CFA, and Craig Geoffrey, CFA.
The students analyzed Canadian Tire Corporation, submitted a written report, and presented their buy, sell, or hold recommendation of the company’s stock. The corporation also owns the Forzani Group, FGL Sports, Canadian Tire Financial Services and CT REIT.
"CFA Society Toronto is pleased to congratulate the University of Waterloo on winning the Global level of the 2016 CFA Institute Research Challenge. We are extremely proud of the students from University of Waterloo. This is the first time a Canadian team has won the Global competition. This is a great accomplishment for both the student team members, Rudder Zhang, Adnan Khan, Kam Dhaliwal, Brent Small, and Daniel Zhang, and their mentors, Steve Balaban, CFA, and Craig Geoffrey, CFA, in helping shape the future of finance in Canada, as they competed against 106 teams from across the globe," said Sue Lemon, CFA, CEO, CFA Society Toronto.
The competition, which spans one academic year, requires student teams to analyze a publicly traded company, submit a written report and present their buy, sell, or hold recommendation of the company’s stock. The assigned company for the Waterloo team was Canadian Tire Corporation, a public corporation who also owns the Forzani Group, FGL Sports, Canadian Tire Financial Services and CT REIT.
Craig Geoffrey, CFA, a finance lecturer at Waterloo and the team’s faculty mentor, along with the team’s industry mentor, Steven Balaban, CFA, CIO of Mink Capital, prepared the students for the competition.
“Our students performed a complex valuation analysis that was based on the sum-of-the-parts method, whereby students used an array of valuation techniques to value each segment of the company,” said Balaban. “The students put in countless hours of preparation through research, store visits, calls and in-person meetings. This was a big differentiating factor between our team’s presentation and the other competing teams."
The University of Waterloo’s accounting and finance programs, coupled with experiential learning through co-operative education, and a range of extra- and co-curricular activities provide 1,850 students in the School of Accounting and Finance with hands-on intensive training in two key fields in business.
“From a teaching perspective it is inspiring to see students pour such passion into their work,” said Geoffrey. “The lessons learned from the experience, regardless of the outcome, will set them apart on their career paths.”
The annual financial analysis competition draws more than 4,000 students from more than 865 universities in 70 countries.
