Two teams from HSE take part in the regional competition of the CFA Institute Research Challenge

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is held annually in more than 80 countries among representatives of more than a thousand universities, and it is considered the “Investment Olympiad” for students of economic and financial fields around the world. Competitions are organized alternately at the local, regional and global levels.

From each university can be represented maximum two teams, each of which is from three to five people. This year our university has been represented by the HSE University Team and the ICEF Team at the competition.

The HSE University Team has been formed by the students from four master's and one bachelor's programs: "Strategic Financial Management of a Firm", "Financial Analyst", "Financial Markets and Financial Institutions", "Financial Economics" and "Economics & Statistics". This year CFA, Vice President of Proxima Capital Group (Asset Management) Olga Zagvozdkina as an Industry Mentor and Associate Professor at Department of Educational Programs, ISES Veronika Belousova train the team.

Undergraduate students (HSE and London University's double-degree program in Economics) and master students (the "Financial Economics" program) from the International Institute of Economics and Finance make up the ICEF Team. They are trained by the Head of the Analytical Department of BCS Global Markets Kirill Chuyko as an Industry Mentor and ICEF Lecturer Dmitriy Kachalov.

The participants of the CFA Institute Research Challenge local round were faced with the task of conducting a detailed investment analysis of the "Alrosa" company. At the qualifying stage, the teams wrote draft reports and prepared a video presentation, and already in the final stage of the local stage, a face-to-face performance was organized before the jury of the competition - certified CFA specialists. As a result, the ICEF Team became the local round winner from 32 teams initially participated. The HSE University Team took a second place with a gap of 3 points.

Both teams will go to the EMEA Regional competition, which will be held in Jordan, in early April. In case of success, HSE students will go to New York for the Global Final.

Alexander Tashchyan,
1st year student of the master program "Financial Economics".
HSE University Team

CFA IRC is a great test for anyone who wants to try their hand at the Equity Research. This competition not only helps to expand your horizons, to develop financial analysis and presentation skills, but also to decide for yourself whether you are ready to continue working in this area.

First of all, you need to understand that the competition is a team competition, and that the key to victory is not the individual knowledge of each of the participants, but coordinated and intensive teamwork, the ability to overcome difficult moments and disagreements and to achieve the desired result. I can say that during our participation in this competition we learned a lot from each other.

I would also like to express my deep gratitude to our mentors who helped us prepare for the competition, explained many subtle points from the industry and evaluation analysis, and also supported the team at all stages. I would like to say special thanks to the guys from last year's HSE University Team who supported us.

I would like to wish success to a next year team, to achieve even greater results. But you need to understand that the competition will require a lot of time, and therefore soberly evaluate your strength. You will succeed!

Fedor Pavlovich,
4th year undergraduate student of ICEF
The ICEF Team

We had three months to prepare the assignment, and this year the "Alrosa" diamond mining company was chosen as a company for the analysis. The most difficult thing for us was the preparation of a public speech - the experience of studying was not enough. We spent a lot of time and effort preparing a report and a speech, and we even better understood how important it is to develop soft skills.

We did a research on the assignment guided by the financial reports of the largest banks, the knowledge gained at ICEF, and the support of our mentors. The jury liked that we focused on trends, industry and consumer demands and that analyzed the possibilities of a real market environment.

At the presentation of the results, the teams are not allowed to attend each other's speech, so when you stand behind the scene and see then the satisfied faces of the previous speakers, you constantly doubt your success. It was surprising when the jury announced us as winners.

Now we have a month left, until on April 1 we will fly to Jordan, where we will compete with 43 teams who won in their countries in the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). The selection procedure will be similar to the UEFA Champions League in football. The preparation of the upcoming public speech will be even more intensive and responsible, the CFA Society will provide us with the assistance. In the local round we stood out in that, although our presentation was technical, we used images from popular culture and made the audience get involved emotionally.

In preparation for the CFA IRC, we were assisted by an Industry mentor - the head of the analytical department of BCS, Kirill Chuyko. According to CFA IRC regulations, we could address him only at hours predetermined in advance. Kirill helped us a lot, and, being a graduate of ICEF, he really cheered for us. We are also grateful to Dmitriy Kachalov, our professor at the "Financial Intermediation" course and the official mentor from the ICEF.