UNL’s College of Business Administration had five finance students compete in the CFA Institute Research Challenge in Des Moines, Iowa on Friday, Feb. 7. The team finished second out of seven teams in the Nebraska/Iowa region.
Hosted by the CFA Society of Iowa, the competition included teams from Drake University, Iowa State University, University of Northern Iowa, Creighton University, University of Nebraska at Omaha and Loras College.
“Our undergraduate finance students worked quite hard on both the written report and its presentation to the panel of judges,” said Richard DeFusco, finance professor. “The CFA Research Challenge is quite competitive, and I’m proud of their efforts.”
Team members from CBA included:
• Dylan Aufdenkamp, O’Neill, senior, finance (CFA-Investments)
• Ryan Kim, Lincoln, senior, economics and finance (CFA-Investments)
• Owen Kobes, Elkhorn, senior, finance (CFA-Investments)
• Cole Petersen, Springfield, senior, accounting and finance (CFA-Investments)
• Chris Spanel, Lincoln, senior, finance (CFA-Investments)
The CFA Institute is a global association of investment professionals. The organization offers the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, the Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) designation, as well as the Claritas Investment Certificate. It provides continuing education conferences, seminars, webcasts and publications to allow members and other participants to stay current on developments in the investment industry.
The CFA Institute also oversees the CFA Institute Research Challenge for university students and the Research Foundation of CFA Institute. An annual global competition, the challenge provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis. Students work in teams to research and analyze a publicly traded stock. Each team produces an initiation-of-coverage report on their assigned stock and may be asked to present and defend their decision to a panel of industry veterans.
