3 мая 2017 г.

After winning the Russian stage of the 2016-2017 CFA Institute Research Challenge, the annual global competition among student teams in financial analysis, the teams from the Moscow State University (MSU) and the Higher School of Economics (HSE) competed at the EMEA Regional Final held in Prague on April 27.

36 teams from all across the EMEA Region were invited to the Czech Republic. The teams were randomly divided into six groups with six teams competing in each. One team advanced from each group to the evening part of the final to figure out which team would represent the EMEA Region at the Global Final that was also held in Prague the next day.

A team from the Higher School of Economics (Moscow) at the EMEA Regional Final in Prague

Following a tough competition between the six group winners, a team from Norway emerged as the winner of the EMEA Region and joined the Americas and the Asia Pacific Regional champions at the Global Final.

Just like last year, a team from the Americas became the best team in the world. According to judges, students from Barna Business School in the Dominican Republic had the best performance, edging their colleagues from Europe and Asia.

CFA Association Russia is proud of every single student from Russia that participated in the EMEA Final. They all demonstrated hard work and dedication, and spent endless hours in preparation to this competition.

"The event and its atmosphere were unforgettable. We had a chance to meet people from all over the world who were as passionate about finance as we are," said Evgenia Bystrova, the captain of the MSU team.

MSU students won the Russian stage of the Research Challenge in March

Evgenia also added that everyone in her team gained the invaluable experience of public speaking by presenting a financial report in front of a large audience. It is worth noting that CFA Association Russia organized three public speaking training sessions for both MSU and HSE teams to polish up their presentation skills before the finals in Prague.

"The Research Challenge was a great opportunity to learn," the young student from Moscow said.

The association also would like to thank all participants and their faculty advisers of the Russian stage of the competition, as well as volunteers, including report graders, industry mentors and university staff who all helped students throughout the entire course of the Research Challenge.

Neil Withers (first on the right), President of CFA Association Russia, with faculty advisers and industry mentors of the two Russian teams in Prague 

And finally, CFA Association Russia expresses gratitude to Wiley, the Moscow Exchange, Thomson-Reuters and Kaplan Schweser, the four companies that sponsored and helped to put together the 2016-2017 local stage of Research Challenge. 

Year after year, the Research Challenge is getting more popular and competitive among Russian universities. What started as a small Moscow-based event with only a handful of teams several years ago has now become a nationwide competition with over 40 teams representing universities from all across Russia.

The CFA Institute Research Challenge gives university students practical mentoring and hands-on training in financial analysis. Students work in teams to research and analyze a publicly traded company, and each team writes a research report on its assigned company with a buy, sell, or hold recommendation.