About the Research Challenge

More than 3,000 students from over 650 universities, 89 businesses, and 106 societies in 55 countries and territories participated in the 2011-2012 CFA Institute Research Challenge.

The CFA Institute Research Challenge was introduced to a global audience in 2006 and is considered, “the investment Olympics” for university students.

In only six years, almost 10,000 students have participated in the competition and learned best practices in equity analysis, report writing, and presentation skills.

How it Works

  • Local: Local hosts (usually CFA Institute member societies) host and launch local competitions involving teams of three to five students from nearby universities. Local competitions are held from July through March each year.
  • Professional Conduct: All participants are held to the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct (PDF).
  • Analysis: Teams research and analyze a publicly traded company, its competitors, and industry.
  • Mentoring: Financial professionals and university faculty mentors work with the teams during the research process and guide them through the company analysis.
  • Research Report: Each team writes a research report on the subject company which is then critiqued and evaluated by experienced financial experts.
  • Presentations: Teams present their analysis to high-profile panels of experts from top financial institutions.
  • Advancement: The team with the highest combined report and presentation score is deemed the local winner and progresses to one of the regional competitions: New York (NYSSA only), Asia Pacific, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), or the Americas. Each regional winner then advances to the global final, where one champion is ultimately crowned. Regional competitions take place between February and April, with the global final held in April each year.

2011-2012 Student and University Involvement

  • 720 students from more than 150 universities across the Asia Pacific region
  • 775 students from more than 170 universities across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
  • 1400 students from more than 320 universities in North and South America (Americas)
  • 108 students from 23 university teams in the New York region