Babson College emerged as the winner of the CFA Challenge competition held on February 15 in Boston, but Professor Wayne Durr considers the WNE team "one of the top teams in Massachusetts."
"The team's presentation was perfect and flawless," said Professor Durr. "These gentlemen performed superbly and presented in front of industry experts who asked them very challenging questions."
The CFA Challenge is a prestigious competition that attracts top business schools from around the world. The participating teams are required to analyze a publicly traded company, create a research report, and present their findings to a panel of judges. The judges evaluate the teams on the quality of their research, the clarity of their presentation, and their ability to answer questions from the judges.
"Although we did not win, the comments I received from judges and colleagues from other schools certainly were worth the weight of a trophy," said Durr. "The team's presentation was highly regarded by a Dean from a competing school - saying that it was the best of the competition; and a CFA Mentor from another team asked if our team were all graduate students. This is a testament to the team's hard work who spent countless hours analyzing the company, conducting research, and preparing their presentation. Their efforts paid off in the end, and they were able to impress the judges with their comprehensive analysis and strategic insights."
College of Business Professor Tara Grealis who assisted in advising the student team echoed Dr. Durr's comments. "I couldn't be any prouder of these five students and how they represented themselves and WNE. They put in months of hard work to come up with a final product that impressed not only their professors and CFA Mentor, but also the students, professors and Deans from their competition, and most importantly the CFA industry expert judges. These students are at the top of their field and they showed that to all in attendance."
Overall, the CFA Challenge competition was a great success, and all the participating teams demonstrated their exceptional analytical and presentation skills but one of the best parts of this competition according to Durr is the community that it builds. "Seeing all the students from different schools come together, mingling and talking about finance, complementing and congratulating each other is exciting. It's always great to see the finance community come together and share their knowledge and experiences."
The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and professional ethics. Each student is tested on their analytical, valuation, report writing, and presentation skills. They gain real-world experience as they assume the role of a research analyst.
