CFA Society Sri Lanka kicks off local round of CFA Institute Global Research Challenge 2022

CFA Society Sri Lanka will host the local leg of the CFA Institute Global Research Challenge scheduled to kick off on Thursday, 14 October. 

Chartered Financial Analysts – CFA Society Sri Lanka, a representative of CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals made up of portfolio managers, investment advisors, educators and other financial professionals, will hold the local level of this global competition in February 2022 and applications will close on 8 October. During the local round, teams of three to five students from Sri Lanka’s leading universities in both public and private sector will compete for a place in the sub-regional competition, while the Global Final will be held in New York City in May 2022.

CFA Society Sri Lanka President Dinesh Warusavitharana said, “We are very excited to host this global competition for the 15th consecutive time.” Adding further, CFA Institute Research Challenge is a global competition that tests the equity research and valuation, investment report writing, and presentation skills of university students. This annual educational initiative promotes best practices in equity research among the next generation of financial analysts through hands-on mentoring and intensive training in company analysis and presentation skills and it will be an excellent opportunity for Sri Lankan university students to take part in this global competition.

University Grants Commission Sri Lanka Chairman Professor Sampath Amaratunga thanked CFA Society Sri Lanka for hosting CFA Institute Research Challenge and providing opportunities for undergraduate of Sri Lankan students to take part in a global competition which offers students the unique opportunity to develop and present an equity research report and compete on a global basis and to promote best practices in equity research among the next generation of financial analysts which is required by our country. I congratulate CFA Society Sri Lanka and CFA Institute organising this global competition and encourage all the Universities in Sri Lanka to take part in this competition

CFA Project Chair Samalka Athuraliya added that the competition requires hours of preparation, with participants receiving guidance from an industry mentor and a faculty advisor as they analyse a publicly traded company, write a professional research report, and present their research results and recommendations to a panel of experts. Points are awarded to teams based on their investment case, their poise, and their ability to answer the judges’ questions. The teams are sponsored by local CFA Institute member societies or groups of volunteers.

CFA Society Sri Lanka CEO Aruna Alwis said that the global competition attracted more than 5,000 students from 900 plus universities in 91 countries, 3,000 plus volunteers, 150 plus CFA Societies and 113 local challenges were held during the 2021 competition year. Further, he said that CFA Institute Research Challenge comprised:

• Analysis of a publicly-traded company – Teams research a publicly traded company. The company’s management presents information to the student teams and is available to answer student questions. 
• Guidance from an industry mentor – Each team works with a CFA charterholder who mentors the team during the research process and reviews and critiques its report. 
• Writing a research report – Each team produces an Initiation of Coverage report on its chosen company. The report is reviewed and scored by a group of graders. 
• Presentation of research to a panel of experts – The teams with the highest scores make their final presentations at the local final, evaluated by a panel of experts. Panellists may include heads of research, portfolio managers, chief investment officers and industry experts. The team with the highest combined written report and presentation score is the winner and advances to the sub-regional level of the Research Challenge.
• Advancement to the CFA Institute Research Challenge Global Final – The local challenge winners compete at the sub-regional and regional levels prior to progressing to compete at the Global Final. At the regional and global stages of the Research Challenge, teams are evaluated solely on their presentations. 

To learn how universities can take part in this competition, please email to [email protected] or visit the CFA Institute Research Challenge website www.cfainstitute.org/researchchallenge.