CFA Society Toronto and CFA Society Ottawa have selected four Ontario university teams as finalists for the annual local CFA Institute Research Challenge, a global equity research competition among student teams from elite business and finance programs.

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is a competition between university-sponsored teams that research a designated publicly traded company, prepare a written report on that selected company, and then present their findings to a panel of judges.

The competition has three levels: local, regional, and global. Winners at the local level advance to compete against teams within their geographic region at the regional level. Winning teams at the regional level advance to compete at the global level. One team is designated the ultimate winning team, or champion, at the global level.

The four Ontario universities are:

  • Ryerson University, Ted Rogers School of Management
  • University of Toronto Mississauga, Institute of Management and Innovation
  • Queen’s University, Smith School of Business
  • University of Waterloo, School of Accounting and Finance

The student teams from each university will present their research and analysis of the subject company, SNC-Lavalin, on Feb. 15.

The local level of the challenge provides students with the unique opportunity to develop and present an equity research report and compete on a global basis. Students learn from leading industry experts and their peers from the world’s top business schools.

“The Research Challenge provides an excellent opportunity for students to immerse themselves in an analyst role and dig deep to really understand a business. The 2018 submissions were well done and each team brought forth their own unique perspectives,” says Marlena Zabielska, Research Challenge report grader and portfolio manager with Toronto-based Sionna Investment Managers.

The local winner will compete in the CFA Institute Research Challenge Americas Regional level in Boston on March 19-20. The winner of the Regional level will then advance to the Global Final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on April 27.