New York, March 21, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Five finance students from Marist College were crowned local champions at the CFA Institute Research Challenge, the first such Research Challenge title since the school entered the competition three years ago. The team—made up of seniors Jon Blake, Steve Morrison, Maura Sullivan, Dietrich Mosel and Cory Lang, as well as faculty advisor Brian Haughey, CFA, FRM, CAIA and mentor Matt Epstein, CFA—will be representing CFA Society New York (CFANY) at the Americas Regional Championship in Boston.
“We’re excited that our hard work paid off at this stage of the competition and we look forward to continue on and represent Marist in the Americas Regional Championship,” Blake said.
CFANY extends its gratitude and appreciation to this year’s sponsors—CFA Institute, Kaplan Schweser, and S&P Market Intelligence—for their tireless support of CFANY’s initiative to reach out to the next generation of financial professionals. The sponsors provided materials for students to begin preparing for the CFA exam, as well as research and analytical tools used to prepare the report for the competition.
This year’s competition began in October 2017 with a field of 22 Universities and Colleges, all located within the Tri-State area, representing: Binghamton University, College of Staten Island, Columbia University, Fairfield University, Fordham University, Hofstra University, Iona College, Ithaca College, Macaulay Honors College, Marist College, Mercy College, Molloy College, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Quinnipiac University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Rutgers University, Saint Peter’s University, Seton Hall University, St. John’s University, Stony Brook University, The College of New Jersey, and The University at Albany.
At the kickoff in October, each school was assigned an industry mentor from a pool of CFANY volunteers. While the students worked on their equity research, CFANY provided them with educational seminars on best practices for writing an equity research report, how to use the internet for research, and how to make a presentation to a panel of judges.
Special thanks to Madhavi Venkatesan, PhD, John Longo, CFA, and CFANY Toastmasters for taking the lead in these seminars. Included in these seminars was a CFA Institute produced online course on ethical guidelines for finance professionals.
In January 2017, each team presented a written research report on subject company Domino’s Pizza, which was then graded by a group of CFANY volunteers and proceeded by a team presentation in front of a group of judges in February. The presentation lasted 10 minutes, with an additional 10 minutes dedicated to Q&A. On March 2, the four teams with the highest combined score (written report and presentation)—Binghamton University, Fordham University, Marist College and Seton Hall University—which presented their equity research to a group of judges. Marist College was the winner from this group of finalists.
CFANY appreciates all the CFANY volunteers that mentored, graded and judged in this year’s competition: Alex Kosoglyadov, CFA, Alex Pekler, CFA, Allison Poliniak, CFA, Ana Lai, CFA, Anna Toshach, CFA, Andrea Urban, CFA, CAIA, Caitlin Kaldany, CFA, Carol McDermott, CAIA, Charles Gregoro, CFA, Cindy Motz, CFA, Daniel Barile, CFA, CAIA, David Dineen, CFA, Ed Maguire, Eric Fernandez, CFA, Gordon Faux, CFA, Henrik Jeppesen, CFA, CAIA, Isaac Tak, CFA, James Brace, CFA, John Barr, CFA, John Cusick, CFA, John Wong, CFA, Juan Bayuelo, Karl Mergenthaler, CFA, CAIA, Leo Schmidt, CFA, Leslie Lammers, CFA, Marya Savola, CFA, Matt Epstein, CFA, Michael Sicari, CFA, Mike Choi, CFA, Peter Nesvold, CFA, Rafay Khalid, CFA, Rahul Pande, CFA, Ravi Aekambaram, CFA, Rick Konrad, CFA, CFP, Rick Seto, CFA, Rob King, CFA, Ryan Sterling, CFA, Suzana Zayed, CFA, Tim Parker, CFA, Vikas Chelluka, CFA, and Vishal Mishra.
CFANY is continuously looking for volunteers to participate in this enriching and rewarding initiative, as part of the University Outreach Program. If you are interested in helping, please contact Mario Carias at mcarias@cfany.org or at 646 871 3407.
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CFA Society New York
Since 1937, CFANY has sought to raise the standards of the investment industry through global insight, a dynamic community of local investment management professionals, and thought leadership. CFANY’s mission is to raise the bar in investment management wherever possible and help establish the course for where the investment industry is headed.
CFANY is a leading voice within a network of CFA Societies in 150 countries, representing over 145,000 CFA Institute members world-wide. CFANY works in conjunction with CFA Institute to develop the industry’s future professionals and to raise the standards of professionalism in the investment management industry.
With close to 11,000 members, CFA Society New York is the largest CFA Institute member society in the world.
Visit WWW.CFANY.ORG for more upcoming events and additional information.