IIM Bangalore, IIFT Delhi and NMIMS Mumbai win the coveted CFA Institute Research Challenge India Finals

52 premier business schools from 30 cities participated in the 10th Indian edition of the global competition

by Suman Gupta 

Mumbai,  2017: CFA Society India (Indian Association of Investment Professionals) announced Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi (IIFT) and Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai (NMIMS) as winners of the national final of its CFA Institute Research Challenge India. 

Eight teams – Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIM B), Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies Mumbai  (NMIMS), Indian Institute of Foreign Trade Delhi (IIFT), Indian School of Business Hyderabad (ISB), Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies (JBIMS), Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Indian Institute of Management Ranchi and Xavier School of Management (XLRI) – participated in the national final.

The panel of judges included Varun Gupta, Managing Director, Duff & Phelps in India, Vikas Khemani, President & CEO, Edelweiss Securities Limited, Mahesh Patil, Co-Chief Investment Officer, Equity Investments at Birla Sun Life Asset Management and Bhavesh Shah, Managing Director, JM Financial Group. The teams pitched their equity research on four companies - Havells, Page Industries, Thyrocare and PVR - in a brief, time-bound presentation followed by a rapid-fire round of grilling questions. 

“Over the past 10 years, the CFA Institute Research Challenge India has evolved into the most aspirational equity research competition of its kind, with live environment equity research almost akin to the practical world. The rigour of research supported by quality professional mentors, the rigour of presenting to a fund manager, and undergoing the same grilling, is unmatched. The Research Challenge India also provides international exposure to a higher number of students since three teams advance to the Asia Pacific regionals,” said Kishor Bagri, CFA, Director, CFA Institute Research Challenge India.

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is a global educational initiative. Introduced in 2006, the annual competition – also considered as “the Investment Olympics” for students – aims to provide university students with an unparalleled experience of working with investment industry professionals and publicly traded companies to produce an equity research report, as well as to promote the best practices in research among the next generation of analysts. 

IIMB, IIFT Delhi and NMIMS Mumbai will represent India at the Asia Pacific regional final from 14-15 March in Bangkok, Thailand. NMIMS will be hoping to repeat their 2013 run when they were crowned Asia Pacific regional final champions.     

Reminiscing their experience the winning teams said -   

IIFT Delhi:"How do you describe the journey in words that has already given you much more than you could ask for? The learning has just kept on increasing and so has been the determination to work hard and win it all. The way CFA Society India organised this event in a smooth manner, supporting us whenever we had a query is also commendable. With an unadulterated exposure to the life of an equity analyst, this is the best opportunity to try and understand what the career entails. "

IIM Bangalore:“Thank you to CFA Society India for hosting the CFA Institute Research Challenge India which is an exciting and highly practical competition for any finance student. The constant guidance provided by the team in the form of assignment of veteran mentors and the faculty mentors proved very useful in preparing our report and presentation. We would especially like to thank the team for giving us an opportunity to interact with the veterans in the finance industry in the form of judges whose valuable feedback helped us improvise a lot in the finals and was one of the major reasons for our victory in the finals.”

NMIMS:The CFA Institute Research Challenge provided us with a unique learning opportunity which imparted exposure to the industry practices in the investment research domain. The guidance that we got from industry mentor, interaction with the subject company’s management and access to Bloomberg database helped us immensely in the research process. The challenge is one of the most sought after competitions amongst the B-School finance students and we are privileged to be a part of it. The memories, experience and knowledge that we got will stay with us forever.

About CFA Institute 

CFA Institute is the global association of investment professionals that sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials. The organisation is a champion for ethical behaviour in investment markets and a respected source of knowledge in the global financial community. The end goal: to create an environment where investors’ interests come first, markets function at their best, and economies grow. CFA Institute has over 147,000 members in 158 countries and territories, including 140,000 CFA charterholders, and 147 member societies. For more information, visit www.cfainstitute.org.

About CFA Society India

CFA Society India, (previously known as the Indian Association of Investment Professionals / IAIP), was established in April 2005 as an association of local investment professionals consisting of portfolio managers, security analysts, investment advisors and other financial professionals. As one of the 147 CFA Institute member societies, CFA Society India connects local members to a global network of investment professionals. For more information, visit www.cfasociety.org/india. 

About CFA Institute Research Challenge

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis. Students work in teams to research and analyse a publicly traded company — sometimes even meeting face-to-face with company management. Each team writes a research report on their assigned company with a buy, sell, or hold recommendation and may be asked to present and defend their analysis to a panel of industry professionals.The first Research Challenge competition was hosted by the New York Society of Security Analysts in 2002 and involved just five teams from the New York area. Since then, the competition has grown to involve tens of thousands of students from over 900 universities in more than 75 countries.