HSE Team Makes It to CFA Institute Research Challenge European Finals

On March 5, 2019, a team from HSE successfully competed in the finals of the regional stage of the 2018-2019 CFA Institute Research Challenge and is now going to Europe for the next round of the completion which will take place in Zurich on April 10. The winners of the European stage will then go on to the Global Finals in New York.

The students’ task was to carry out a detailed analysis of the Norilsk Nickel Company and provide a potential investor with recommendations on whether to buy the company stock or not. During the selection stage, the teams prepared draft reports and video presentations, and during the finals, they made a personal presentation before the competition jury.

A total of six teams took part in the competition, and these were selected in February from 31 applicant teams. Teams from Moscow State University and HSE will now represent CFA Russia at the European stage.

The HSE team prepared for the event with the help of the following mentors and teachers: Viktor Shemanaev, Managing Director in the Office of Project and Infrastructure Investment at VTB Bank, and Veronika Belousova, Associate Professor at HSE ISSEK Department of Educational Programmes.

 

Vasily Solodkov, Professor, Director of the HSE Banking Institute

This competition is held annually for university students across the globe. In Russia, the competition is in its ninth year, and the HSE team has taken part in it for the last 7 years with the support of the HSE Banking Institute. Our team has repeatedly won the regional stage, and this year they have shown a great result! Now, they will represent Russia at the European finals in Zurich next month. We wish them every success!

Yulia Bocharnikova, Captain of the HSE Team, student of the Master’s programme in Strategic Corporate Finance

The competition gave me a great opportunity to play the role of an equity research analyst who builds an investment history relying on complex corporate analysis. During the working process, we had many applied questions concerning evaluation, financial analysis, and industrial specifics, which we discussed with each other and our mentors. This helped us better understand the reasoning behind various investment analysis tools.

Probably the main skill that this competition teaches is the ability to communicate your idea to others: your team, mentors and judges. Working in a team for four months develops your ability to listen and hear other people, find compromises, on one hand, and defend your opinions, on the other.

Vladimir Zazvonov, student of the Master’s programme in Strategic Corporate Finance

In-depth analysis and good teamwork has been our motto in this competition. For several months, we were studying the company’s operations, its position in the industry, strategy, financial indicators and many other aspects. We were also comparing it with its competitors, which is essential for a good analytical report. Such work demands not only hard work from each team member, but coordinated work as part of a team. Each of us had to do a lot of independent work to study certain issues within our area of responsibility, but thanks to heartfelt discussions in a friendly atmosphere, some ‘collective knowledge’ was born.

Thanks to such close teamwork and mutual understanding, we managed to overcome any complicated and stressful moments in the competition, as well as maintaining our motivation and productivity.

Pavel Manukhin, student of the Master’ programme ‘Financial Analyst’ (CFA Institute University Affiliation Programme)

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is not an individual competition and not a contest for outstanding students. This is, primarily, a team competition, and in order to win, you need a strong team and effort from each participant. Be ready to spend a lot of time on the competition, and this will add to your final result. Our team has traveled a long and, at the same time, satisfying way from the meeting at the selection stage, to celebrating our admission to the European finals; from studying the company’s operations, to changing the financial model an hour before the presentation. I am grateful to my team and the mentors for this journey, which will hopefully continue in Zurich.

I believe that HSE has a lot of talented people who can represent the university at a high level, so I believe next year’s team can be united and achieve incredible success!

The CFA Institute is a global association of investment professionals that offers the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. It provides continuing education conferences, seminars and publications, all of  which allow members and other participants to stay up-to-date on developments in the investment industry. CFA Institute also oversees the CFA Institute Research Challenge for university students and the Research Foundation of the CFA Institute.