Apply by Sept. 19 for stock analysis challenge

Students who are interested in stock investing or who would like to learn more about it, should consider joining the Augustana 2022-23 team for the CFA Institute Research Challenge.

Those who want to participate should email Dr. Lina Zhou by Sept. 19.  

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition on stock analysis among university-sponsored teams. The teams research a designated publicly traded company, prepare a written report on that selected company, and then present their findings to judges. The competition has four levels. The winning teams in each level advance to compete at the next level till the Global Final.

Augustana College has been participating in the local competition hosted by the CFA Society Chicago since 2018. The 2019 team won second place (the first place winner advanced to compete in NYC at the North American regional level.) All the team members ranked the competition as the peak of their experience at Augustana. Every student grew significantly in their analytical, valuation, report writing, and presentation skills. They were connected with the professional network of the CFA Society Chicago and potential employers.

Augustana now is recruiting five students to form the team for the 2022-23 competition. The team will be supervised by Dr. Lina Zhou and an assigned industry mentor by the CFA Society Chicago.

There are no specific requirements on students’ academic background. Applicants should be passionate about stock analysis and seriously commit themselves to the competition if selected. The program kicks off on Sept. 23 with the written report due in mid-January 2023 and final in-person presentation on March 3, 2023.

There are three mandatory events that students are required to attend: the kickoff webinar on Sept. 23, the feature company presentation on Oct. 7 via Zoom, and the oral presentation in person on March 3. The college and CFA Society Chicago cover the expenses for the trip to Chicago.

Please contact students Caleb Stone, Bao Tran, and Alex Herrera for first-hand experience information.