A team of Orfalea College of Business students won the Northern California Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Investment Research Challenge sponsored by the CFA Society of San Francisco.
The students competed against teams from 12 Bay Area universities, including graduate and undergraduate programs from Santa Clara, St. Mary’s, San Jose State, Hult International Business School and UC Santa Cruz. The competitors were charged with analyzing and making buy/sell/hold recommendations for Salesforce.com, a cloud computing company headquartered in San Francisco. A panel of industry professionals and CFA charter holders judged the presentations.
Finance students Benjamin Consoli of Redwood City, Adam Pasco of Burbank, Kian Ramezani of San Luis Obispo, Coby Snyder and economics major Mason McCloskey of San Luis Obispo represented Cal Poly. Finance Professor Cyrus Ramezani and finance alumnus Scott B. Kirk served as team advisors.
Cal Poly alumni David Dudek, Aaron Hay, Dario Buechi, Joey Guerra, Stephen Marotto, Alyssa Gustafson and Paul Boortz supported the team by critiquing its presentation prior to the final competition and made time to cheer on Cal Poly.
The Cal Poly team will advance to the Americas Regional competition in Boston on March 19 and 20, where they will compete against 55 universities from the U.S., Canada and Latin America.
More than 5,000 students representing over 1,000 teams from universities in more than 80 countries have been a part of the 2018 competition. It provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis. Students work in teams to research and analyze a publicly traded company. Each team writes a research report on their assigned company with a buy, sell or hold recommendation and then presents and defends their analysis to a panel of industry professionals.
For more information about the competition, visit http://cfa-sf.org/page/EventsIRC.
Cal Poly Business Students Finish Second in Annual Finance Competition
A team of Cal Poly business and economics students took second place in the local Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute Research Challenge in Los Angeles.
Cal Poly students competed against teams from USC, Loyola Marymount University, Pepperdine University and Claremont McKenna College on March 3. The teams had to create a valuation report and make investment recommendations on retailer Bed Bath & Beyond. A panel of industry professionals and CFA charter holders judged the presentations.
Cal Poly’s team lost to USC by half a point in the final round. Cal Poly teams have won the past three local CFA Institute Research Challenge competitions.
This year’s team included economics student Brandon Becker (Las Vegas, Nev.); and finance students: Dario Buechi (Berkley, Calif.); Jessica Kramer (Westlake Village, Calif.); Jordan Smith (Palo Alto, Calif.); and Greg Benedikt (Bend. Ore.). Finance Professor Cyrus Ramezani, who also serves as interim Agribusiness Department chair, advised the students. Scott B. Kirk, a 2005 business administration alumnus and partner at City Capital Management, acted as an industry mentor to the students.
The CFA Institute Research Challenge provides an opportunity for students to learn from industry experts and compete with other top finance programs. The event promotes best practices in equity research among the next generation of analysts through hands-on mentoring and intensive training in company analysis and presentation skills. Participants are introduced to and held to the standard of the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.
For more information about the CFA Institute Research Challenge, visit: https://www.cfainstitute.org/community/challenge/Pages/index.aspx.
Cal Poly Students Win Third Consecutive Local CFA Institute Research Challenge
An interdisciplinary team of Cal Poly students has won the local CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Institute Research Challenge for the third year in a row.
This year, students from the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences also competed with those from the Orfalea College of Business. Agribusiness seniors Jordan Goldie (Riverside, Calif.), Brian Pocock (Roseville, Calif.) and Paul Boortz (Coarsegold, Calif.) collaborated with finance seniors Robert Surane (Newbury Park, Calif.) and Miles Wix (Simi Valley, Calif.) at the event in Los Angeles.
The Cal Poly students competed against teams from USC, Loyola Marymount University, UC Santa Barbara, and Claremont Graduate University. The teams were charged with analyzing and making buy/sell/hold recommendations for video game publisher Activision. After visiting Activision in the fall, the team prepared an extensive written report and presentation. A panel of eight industry professionals and CFA charter holders judged the presentations.
Cal Poly’s team will advance to the Americas Regional competition in April in Chicago, where it will compete against universities from the U.S., Canada, Central America and South America. The winners of the three regional competitions (Americas; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and Asia Pacific) will compete in the Global Final.
Cyrus Ramezani, finance professor and interim Agribusiness Department chair, advised the students. San Luis Obispo financial advisor Phillip Cohl and Scott B. Kirk, a 2005 business administration graduate, served as industry mentors. David Larsen, a 2014 business administration graduate who led Cal Poly’s CFA team in 2014, also consulted with the team.
“I’m proud of the success and collaborative efforts of our team. Each student contributed more than 300 hours of preparation ahead of this competition,” Ramezani said. “With our third win, Cal Poly has built a tradition of excellence, which is a tribute to our faculty who believe in preparing career-ready graduates. We’re proud to represent Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing philosophy on the global stage.”
The CFA Institute Research Challenge provides an opportunity for students to learn from industry experts and compete with other top finance programs. The event promotes best practices in equity research among the next generation of analysts through hands-on mentoring and intensive training in company analysis and presentation skills. Participants are introduced to and held to the standard of the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.
For more information about the CFA Institute Research Challenge, go to: cfainstitute.org/community/challenge/Pages/index.aspx.
L to R in the photo: Jordan Goldie, Brian Pocock, Miles Wix, Cal Poly alumnus Scott B. Kirk, advisor Phil Cohl, Cal Poly alumnus David Larsen, Paul Boortz and Robert Surane.
Senior Spotlight: Nate Fisher
Finance area Chair Cyrus Ramezani (L) and Nate Fisher (R).
Nate Fisher is graduating Cal Poly with a degree in business administration and a concentration in finance. The Thousand Oaks, Calif. native chose Cal Poly because of all the opportunities Learn by Doing presented him. One of those opportunities came to life with the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute Research Challenge, a global competition that invites university teams to make buy/sell/hold recommendations for real companies. The experience requires months of intensive research in financial analysis and hands-on mentoring from faculty, alumni and industry experts from the subject company.
Fisher competed on Cal Poly’s CFA Challenge team in 2015, working with subject company Disney. With guidance from Finance area Chair Professor Cyrus Ramezani and industry mentor Scott Kirk, Cal Poly’s team won the Los Angeles regional and advanced to the Americas competition in Atlanta where the group finished as semi-finalists. At each event, the team presented and defended their analysis to panels of CFA chart holders and Disney executives.
Disney’s team took notice of Fisher’s leadership throughout the competition and invited him to interview for a position within the company. After several successful meetings, Fisher was offered a job. Following graduation, he will begin his career as a corporate financial planning analyst for the Walt Disney Company, dealing with company operations, capital planning, quarterly and annual earnings and cash flow forecasting and five-year plans. Fisher’s team will also help construct presentations for corporate senior management and the board of directors regarding financial performance.
“I couldn’t be more thrilled for the opportunity to work for a company as amazing as Disney,” said Fisher. “I think this opportunity speaks volumes for the quality of the Cal Poly Finance area. Without the opportunity and guidance provided by Professor Ramezani, I would likely not be in the position that I am in.”
Aside from the competition, Fisher also participated in the Student Managed Portfolio in the Orfalea College of Business, which empowers students to invest $500,000 of Cal Poly funds. Fisher encourages all finance students to enroll in this senior project to gain Learn by Doing experience and valuable insight into the financial markets.
Cal Poly Student Team Wins Second Consecutive Local CFA Institute Research Challenge
From left to right: Scott Kirk (mentor), David Larsen (mentor), Phil Cohl (mentor), Erin Averill, Robert Ricci, Finance area Chair Cyrus Ramezani, Divyan Waland, Aaron Hay, and Nate Fisher.
A team of Cal Poly Orfalea College of Business students has won the local CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Institute Research Challenge for the second consecutive year.
Finance seniors Erin Averill, Robert Ricci, Divyan Waland, Aaron Hay and Nate Fisher represented Cal Poly at the event in Los Angeles. The students were advised by Finance Area Chair Cyrus Ramezani, San Luis Obispo financial advisor Phillip Cohl, and 2005 Cal Poly finance alumnus and CFA charter holder Scott B. Kirk. David Larsen, 2014 information systems alumnus and captain of last year’s winning team, also advised the group.
The Cal Poly students competed against teams from the College of the Canyons, Claremont Graduate University, UC Santa Barbara, and USC. The competing teams were charged with analyzing and making buy/sell/hold recommendations for The Walt Disney Company.
Cal Poly’s team now advances to the Americas Regional competition in April in Atlanta, where it will compete against universities from the U.S., Canada and Latin America. The winners of the three regional competitions (Americas; Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; and Asia Pacific) will compete in the Global Final.
“This was a true team effort – our success is the result of more than 300 hours of focused research and analysis from our students,” said Ramezani. “I feel our second consecutive win is a tribute to our finance faculty who provide the educational challenges that enable our students to shine in this competition. We’re proud to represent Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing philosophy in Atlanta.”
The CFA Institute Research Challenge provides an opportunity for students to learn from industry experts and compete with other top finance programs. The event promotes best practices in equity research among the next generation of analysts through hands-on mentoring and intensive training in company analysis and presentation skills. All participants are introduced to and held to the standard of the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.
Watch a video of team members Ricci and Hay discuss the competition here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFP53KuL0vg.
For more information about the CFA Institute Research Challenge, go to cfainstitute.org/community/challenge/Pages/index.aspx.