AUT team wins the 2012 CFA Institute Research Challenge

AUT Media Release
Friday 19 October, 2012

AUT Finance team wins the 2012 CFA Institute Research Challenge

AUT Finance students secured top prize last week at the 2012 CFA Institute Research Challenge, hosted by the CFA Society of New Zealand.

The five students from AUT Business School will now go on to represent New Zealand in the Asia Pacific Challenge in Kuala Lumpur in February 2013. Victoria University of Wellington and the University of Canterbury took second and third place respectively, among the seven participating universities.

Representing AUT were MBA students Elva Feng and Yury Kizima, and Bachelor of Business students Kurt Millar, Veran Patel and Zac Wu. For the third year running the team was mentored by AUT Senior Lecturer Dr Katrin Gottschalk, CFA and Jeremy Simpson, CFA, Director Research at Forsyth Barr.

The Challenge involved researching, analysing and reporting on a target company - this year, NZX-listed heavyweight Fletcher Building (FBU) - as if the students were practising equity analysts. Between July and October the teams attended several conference calls hosted by Philip King, General Manager Investor and Media Relations at FBU, while writing up their research, financial analysis and valuation in an initiation of coverage report.

At the grand final in Auckland on 12 October, the teams presented their recommendation to a panel of top fund managers from AMP Capital Investors, Brook Asset Management, and Kiwibank. The judges, all CFA charter holders, were highly impressed by the quality of the student research showcased. The AUT team received special accolades for their valuation and financial analysis, all delivered in a punchy presentation.

As the team’s faculty advisor, Dr Gottschalk says this is an invaluable learning experience for students seeking a career in the finance industry.

“Not only do they get hands-on experience as financial analysts and mentoring from both academics and investment professionals, they also enhance their team management and presentation skills and learn to negotiate tight deadlines. Last but not least, the benefits from networking with high-profile industry leaders and finance students from other universities are huge.”

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