The CFA Challenge is a worldwide competition in which leading industry professionals guide business and finance students in researching and reporting on a publicly traded company. Participants assume the role of investment research analysts and compete with peers from top business schools in producing written reports and oral presentations. The LUMS team battled it out with teams from Exeter Business School and the University of Stirling Management School to achieve second place in the UK final on 24 February.

The competing teams were praised by Sayali Panse, Candidate and University Outreach Manager, CFA Society of the UK, for demonstrating their commitment to the profession and for showing great technical competence and an ability to pitch their research with conviction.

The five members of the 2013/14 LUMS team – Pornbhuda Rijiravanich and Natwalai Navanugraha from Thailand, Achsania Ruziqa Suhartono from Indonesia, Tan Huiman from China, and Robert Raepple from Germany – successfully presented an equity report on the technology company, ARM, to a high profile panel of industry experts. The team was mentored by Bernardo Afonso, CFA, as well as by faculty in the Department including Professors , John O’Hanlon and .

Pornbhuda Rijiravanich, team leader, said, “The CFA Challenge provides a great experience as an equity analyst for all of us. It is such a big opportunity to explore and apply the knowledge we have learnt from our MSc courses. We had a wonderful time during the competition. Combining our individual knowledge and strengths, we not only produced quality research, but also developed ourselves by learning from each other, together with support from our mentor and the University.”

Team member Tan added, “The CFA challenge was really a fantastic experience for me. I learnt a lot from my colleagues. We worked for a common goal and shared our specialties. The work we did in the process has made me more interested and confident about a career in finance.”

The LUMS team was congratulated on achieving second place by Professor Steve Young, Head of Accounting and Finance, who said, “The LUMS team did a fantastic job representing our Masters programmes and the department more generally. We are very proud of what they achieved. Balancing tight deadlines and a challenging brief with the regular demands of the MSc programme requires exceptional levels of hard work, commitment, and skill. Congratulations to all team members for performing so well.”