School
of
Accounting
and
Finance
(SAF)
student
teams
have
had
a
strong
showing
in
the
last
four
consecutive
years
at
the
Chartered
Financial
Analyst
(CFA)
Institute
Research
Challenge,
having
won
the
Local
Competition
(provincial
level)
two
years
running
to
compete
at
the
Americas
Regional
Competition
(North
America
level).
The
2013
SAF
team
comprising
of
Arsalan
Hashmani
(Master
of
Accounting
(MAcc)
'13),
Donna
Heng
(Bachelor
of
Accounting
and
Financial
Management
(BAFM)
'13),
Prasanth
Pahirathan
(BAFM
'13),
Anqi
Wang
(Computing
and
Financial
Management
(CFM)
'13),
and
Iang
Weng
(MAcc
'13),
won
a
coveted
spot
in
the
Americas
Regional
Competition
held
in
Toronto
on
March
25th.
Advancing
to
the
semi-finals
and
competing
with
15
other
North
American
universities,
the
team
impressed
their
judges
with
their
polished
presentation
and
professionalism.
"We
are
very
pleased
with
the
performance
of
our
team
at
this
year's
CFA
Investment
Research
Challenge.
Our
team
worked
hard
preparing
for
the
competition.
After
winning
a
tough
Local
Challenge
in
Toronto,
they
advanced
to
the
top
16
in
a
very
competitive
Americas
Regional
finals
that
fielded
45
teams,"
explains
Ranjini
Jha,
the
Associate
Director
of
Finance
for
the
SAF.
"Congratulations
to
the
team
on
their
competence
and
professionalism
throughout
the
competition.
You
made
all
of
us
at
SAF
very
proud!"
Donna
Heng,
speaking
on
behalf
of
the
team
commented
Participating in the 2013 CFA IRC was a tremendous learning opportunity that challenged our intellect and allowed us to flex the skills necessary to be successful in this dynamic industry. Facing tough QA posed by a judging panel that had decades of industry experience was both frightening and exciting, yet it allowed us to experience something that cannot be easily replicated in a classroom.
The
finance
competition,
which
attracted
more
than
3,500
students
from
650
universities
from
55
countries
last
year,
is
designed
to
promote
best
practices
in
equity
research
among
the
next
generation
of
financial
experts
through
hands-on
mentoring
and
intensive
training
in
company
analysis
and
presentation
skills.
"CFA
Society
Toronto's
commitment
to
education
encompasses
both
current
and
future
investment
professionals.
Participation
in
CFA
Institute's
Research
Challenge
is
an
important
step
students
can
take
leading
them
to
future
success."
said
Peter
S.
Jarvis,
CFA,
Executive
Director
of
CFA
Society
Toronto.
We feel extremely honoured to have been able to represent the University of Waterloo in this year's Americas Regional Finals. It was an intense journey; but well worth every hour spent honing our security analysis and presentation skills. We are grateful for the support that everyone has shown us through this journey from our faculty and industry mentors, to the professors and students who sat in on our dry-runs. We would highly recommend this experience to future students.
2013
CFA
Research
Challenge
Team
Arsalan,
Donna,
Prasanth,
Anqi,
Ian