Uni. of Sri Jayewardenepura Team A champions at CFA Institute Research Challenge Finals 2020/21

•  University of Sri Jayewardenepura Team A will represent Sri Lanka at the Asia Pacific Sub regional competition on 19 March 

CFA Society Sri Lanka hosted the CFA Institute Research Challenge local round in Colombo for the 14th consecutive year. The competition was conducted on a virtual platform this year for the very first time given the prevailing health and safety conditions. University of Sri Jayewardenepura Team A emerged champions at the CFA Institute Research Challenge 2020/21 local finals held on 24 February and will advance to the Asia Pacific Sub-Regional round. 

The winning team from University of Sri Jayawardenepura Team A comprised of Vindula Perera (Team Leader), Hirza Careem, Ishanika Seneviratne, Winura Wijekulasooriya and Chamini Apeksha. The team was supported by University of Sri Jayewardenepura lecturer Piumi Abeyrathne and mentored by CFA Charterholder Daham Hettiarachchi. 

The subject company for this year’s local competition was Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC (OSEA). Teams from six state universities participated including University of Sri Jayawardenepura, University of Colombo, University of Wayamba, University of Kelaniya, Uva Wellassa University and University of Peradeniya. A second team from the University of Sri Jayawardenepura emerged runners-up. The local finals was judged by an eminent panel including Dr. Andrew Stotz, CFA, CEO of A. Stotz Investment Research in Thailand, Kanishka Perera, CFA, Principal at NDB Zephyr Partners and Deshan Pushparajah, CFA, Managing Director-Global Markets and Investment Banking at Capital Alliance.

University of Sri Jayewardenepura Team A will compete with five other local Research Challenge South Asian sub regional teams in March 2021, the winners will qualify for the Asia Pacific Regional Champion in April 2021. The Asia Pacific Regional champion will advance to the Global Finals to compete with five other local research challenge South Asian sub regional teams in March 2021 the winning teams of which will qualify for the semi-finals in April 2021 against the winning teams from the Europe, Middle East and Africa as well as Americas regions. This year’s CFA Institute Research Challenge brings together over 6,400 students representing, 1,100 universities from 98 countries. 

What is 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 carry out an initiation of coverage (Equity research report) on a publicly traded company with the aim of arriving at an investment recommendation to buy, sell or hold the company’s stock. Teams that progress to local, regional and global finals must present and defend their analysis to a panel of industry professionals. 

CFA Institute Research Challenge 2020/21

This year’s competition began in November 2020. Each participating team was assigned an industry mentor from a pool of Sri Lankan CFA Charterholders. While the students worked on their equity research report, CFA Society Sri Lanka and Acuity Knowledge Partners armed them with necessary skills and best practices. During the preliminary local round, the participant teams submitted written research reports based on their analysis of Overseas Realty (Ceylon) PLC which was graded by a group of CFA Charterholders. 

The four highest scoring teams advanced to the presentation round of the local competition during which each team presented their research findings to a panel of judges and faced a 10-minute Q&A session. The presentations were the culmination of months of research; discussions with OSEA management, competitors and clients, investment research and presentation training. The combined scores of the research report and presentation determined the winner. 

The team leader of University of Sri Jayewardenepura Vindula Perera stated, “The CFA Institute Research Challenge not only exposed us to the world of equity research, but it also pushed us to uncover the best versions of ourselves. The bumpy rollercoaster ride towards the finish line demanded teamwork and endless hours of hard labour. However, the experience was fully worth it! We thank CFA Society Sri Lanka for providing us the platform, our industry and academic mentors for their guidance and support, and the colleagues from our university for their steadfast assistance.”

The team’s mentor Daham Hettiarachchi added in saying, “It was a great pleasure to be a part of the CFA Institute Research Challenge and to mentor an exceptionally talented and enthusiastic group of students from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. Further, it was an extreme delight to win the contest given the remarkable efforts put together by the other participating universities. With the same spirit, we are looking forward to representing Sri Lanka at the regional finals.”