CFA Institute Research Challenge 2026/2027

August 2026

We are pleased to announce the official launch of the 2026/2027 season of the CFA Institute Research Challenge in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Now entering its 18th edition, the competition has become a well‑established academic initiative, and we are delighted to welcome back the many universities that have participated in recent years. We also extend a warm welcome to all other universities and universities of applied sciences in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.  

The Research Challenge is an annual competition in which student teams prepare a full investment case, consisting of a detailed research report and a presentation on a listed Swiss company. As in previous years, the subject company will be announced at the beginning of the fall semester. We are pleased to confirm that we have again secured a highly interesting Swiss company - this year from the Materials sector - whose CFO has agreed to support the competition.  

Throughout the process, students will be guided by experienced industry mentors and will present their findings to a panel of senior investment professionals. The challenge offers participants a unique opportunity to gain first‑hand exposure to the investment industry, strengthen their analytical and soft skills, and engage directly with senior practitioners, CFA charterholders, sponsors, and our media partner.  

By organizing the challenge, CFA Society Switzerland promotes best practices in equity research and company analysis. CFA Society Switzerland is a member society of CFA Institute, the world’s largest association of investment professionals with more than 200,000 members and over 160 member societies. CFA Institute awards the CFA Charter, the CIPM designation and the Sustainbale Investing Certificate and several other certificates (e.g. Private Markets and Alternative Investments, Private Equity).

CFA Society Switzerland, the country’s largest professional association for investment practitioners, counts more than 3'700 members and is the second‑largest CFA society in Europe.  The structure and setup of the CFA Institute Research Challenge remain essentially unchanged from last year, albeit an adjusted mentor framework. The number of mentors remains the same as in 2024, as already communicated this spring. 

CFA Institute

CFA Society Switzerland

We plan to hold the challenge as an in‑person competition and will continue to support students both centrally through digital resources and non‑centrally through in‑person guidance. We already anticipate providing a comprehensive set of materials to help students deepen their sector knowledge and understand key industry drivers. The Swiss local finals will again follow a semifinal and final format, with awards for the top three teams, and the two highest‑ranked teams will advance to the EMEA rounds.

We will also again organize a Bootcamp for semifinalists early 2027.  Further, have we prepared an educational note titled “Best Practices in the CFA Institute Research Challenge - Writing the Research Report and Delivering the Presentation”, published on SSRN, which you may wish to include in your course materials.  

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at research.challenge@cfasocietyswitzerland.org. 

Updates from CFA Institute

The rules of the CFA Institute Research Challenge are unchanged compared to last year.