Malaysia CFA Institute Research Challenge 2017/2018

From left: Chairperson of CFA Institute Research Challenge Malaysia Phua Yee Boon with winners Lee, Soo, Tan, Lew and Saw

UTAR’s Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) students earned another impressive accolade by winning second prize in the Malaysia CFA Institute Research Challenge 2017/2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia after competing in a battle of analytical wits with a total of 15 local teams. The final Malaysia CFA Institute’s Research Challenge 2017/2018 was held on 10 March 2018.

The team comprised of Year Two Finance and Banking students, namely Tan Zheng Zhi, Soo Zhi Cheng, Lee Kok Long, Saw Teong Yew and Lew Jiang Liang. They walked away with a challenge trophy, USD500 worth of Wiley book voucher and certificates of participation verified by CFA Institute and CFA Society Malaysia. The team was supervised by UTAR FBF lecturer Woo Kok Hoong.

The challenge was organised by the CFA Institute and hosted by CFA Society Malaysia. It is an annual, local, regional and global competition that provides university students hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis. Each research challenge season leverages the effort of over 140 CFA Member Societies, 3,500 member volunteers and more than 5,000 students from over 1,000 universities. The local competition organised by CFA Society Malaysia leads up to regional finals; regional champions then convene for the global final.

The Malaysia CFA Institute Research Challenge 2017/2018 kick-started on 25 October 2017 and saw participation from a total of 15 public and private universities all around Malaysia. All the participating teams were subjected to carry out equity research on Westports Holdings Berhad, the port operator that dominates Port Klang, the busiest port in Malaysia.

All teams were given three months to conduct a thorough analysis on the company, and issue investment recommendation as a sell-side analyst. Throughout the period, the teams were arranged to visit the subject company and attend a report writing workshop conducted by CFA Society Malaysia, hosted by the Chairperson for this Research Challenge and the veterans in the industry.

On behalf of the team, Tan enthused, “We earned a lot of opportunities to put knowledge learnt in the classroom into practice and realised that it was two different things altogether. Despite not being the champion, we realise that we have improved throughout this three-month period competing with peers from other universities. Most importantly, we had the chance to interact closely with the experts in the industry and received tailored mentoring and guidance for our future career development. We appreciate UTAR for selecting us as the representatives. We hope they will continue to promote this healthy culture, aiding students to shape their path towards career development and contribute to the society and country.”

Throughout the Asia Pacific, more than 1,100 students from 280 universities participated in country-level contests. Holding the Research Challenge for the ninth year, CFA Society Malaysia fielded more than 55 students from 15 universities across the country. Sunway University which emerged as the champion in the local research challenge now advances to the Asia Pacific regional Research Challenge competition and will compete against 100 students representing 24 teams, with one regional winner advancing to the global competition. The regional and global competitions will be held from 25 to 26 April 2018 in Kuala Lumpur. Worldwide, more than 5,000 students representing over 1,000 teams from universities in more than 80 countries have been part of the 2018 competition.