UTAR Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF) Bachelor of Finance (Honours) alumnus Jeff Tan Heng Siang won second place in the global virtual competition CFI Financial Modeling Case Competition & World Championships (FinMo) 2020 held from 18 October to 26 October 2020. Tan was the only Malaysian/Asian among the Top Three winners in the global virtual competition. He walked away with a cash prize worth USD2,000.

The theme of the competition was ‘Financial Modelling’, one of the most essential skills in the financial and investment industry as well as the business world. The participants were given one week to complete the cases. The competition required participants to build models for financial analysis, loan sizing, debt restructuring, valuation and many more.

According to Tan, he participated in the competition to test his modelling skills and challenge himself to learn something new. Tan also expressed his gratitude and said, “I was filled with happiness and pride when I was announced as the second-place winner with a Jalur Gemilang flag next to my name. I never thought that I would achieve this remarkable win. Although I won second place in this competition, I will take this as a motivation to try harder and continue learning. I would also like to thank my mentor and my team for their unending support and guidance.” Tan also said that logical thinking and critical thinking played a significant role in building a good, comprehensive and complete financial model.

Tan’s case study required him to understand the role of an Investment Banking Analyst to advise Coca-Cola with a pitching recommendation on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) transactions. Besides, his case study model and recommendation were selected by the graders for the strong ideas and comprehensive investment rationale strategy. Quoting Benjamin Franklin, Tan said, “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” He then encouraged his juniors to take learning as an active and ongoing process to improve themselves.

Tan is currently a Corporate Finance Consultant in Baker Tilly, one of the biggest accounting and business advisory firms in Malaysia. He has vast experience in Corporate Finance and various types of engagements, namely Business and Company Valuations, Financial Due Diligence, Financial Modelling, Independent Advisory, and Business Strategy Projects for both public and private sector companies. He graduated with a Bachelor of Finance (Honours) from Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR). He currently holds a Capital Market Services Representative License as advisor to Corporate Finance exercise. He was awarded the Financial Modeling and Valuation Analyst (FMVA)® Certification and Advanced Financial Modeller (AFM) designation which were issued by the Corporate Finance Institute and Financial Modelling Institute respectively. He has passed both level 1 and 2 of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) exam.

He was the founding chairperson for the Finance & Investment Society in UTAR Kampar Campus and he played significant roles in over 50 events/projects from 2015 to 2017. He was an active committee in many events organised by CFA Society Malaysia, including CFA Ethics Challenge, CFA Career Day, and CFA Charter Award Ceremony. He was also one of the local finalist mentors in the CFA Institute Research Challenge 2019-2020.

Organised by Corporate Finance Institute (CFI), FinMo is an annual global case competition that tests an analyst’s financial modelling, valuation, strategic analysis and presentation skills. The competition attracts thousands of finance professionals and students across the world. More than just Excel tricks, FinMo’s cases are based on real-world scenarios and focuses on business problem-solving approach and methodology.