22 April 2021

Congratulations to University of Bern for the great presentation delivered at the CFA Institute Research Challenge EMEA Regional Final on 20 April. 

 

Read more about their experience here . 

 

19 February 2021

Congratulations to winners of CFA Institute Research Challenge 2020/2021 in Switzerland

 

🏆 Institute for Financial Management, University of Bern

🏆 University of Zurich - Department of Banking and Finance

🏆 Master in Finance, USI Università della Svizzera italiana

 

Read the press release (D)

Read the press release (F)

 

About 2020/2021 Season:

After a very successful 2019/2020 season, with the team from HEC Lausanne representing CFA Society Switzerland at the EMEA Regional Final (Winner) and the Global Final, we are pleased to officially launch the 2020/2021 season -  the 12th CFA Institute Research Challenge in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. 

The Research Challenge is an annual competition between teams of students in preparing an investment case consisting of a detailed research report and a presentation of a listed Swiss company. The important dates are listed below.

We are delighted to welcome Temenos (as a subject company) and Takis Spiliopoulos, Chief Financial Officer, Temenos who will present at the kick off meeting on 1 October 2020 and again at the conf call on 12 November.

Students will be supported by industry mentors and must present their results in front of a panel of senior investment professionals. The challenge provides students with a unique opportunity to gain first-hand experience in the investment world and to interact intensively with investment professionals and CFA charterholders.

 

Important updates for the upcoming competition: 

1)    The format for EMEA Regional and Global Final will be virtual. This reflects the ongoing uncertainties around COVID-19 and the requirement of planning certainty. The EMEA Regional Semi-Final will take place on 13-14 April, the EMEA Regional Final on 20 April and the Global Final on 22 April 2021. 

2)    As a permanent change, there will be a Sub-Regional between the Swiss Local Final and the EMEA Regional Semi-Final and the format will be virtual. Switzerland is in the Western Europe Sub-Regional group together with Germany, France, Austria and Benelux. That EMEA Sub-Regional will take place during the course of March 2021. 

3)    ESG will be a new requirement for both report and presentation and the scoresheets for the report and presentation have been amended accordingly, as well as the rules . 

In setting up the challenge, the CFA Society Switzerland is trying to promote best practices in equity research and company analysis. CFA Society Switzerland is a member society of CFA Institute, the largest global association of investment professionals with more than 170,000 members and 157 member societies. CFA Institute awards the CFA Charter, the CIPM designation and runs the Investment Foundations Program. In Switzerland, the society has more than 3,000 investment professionals as members. We are committed to leading the investment profession by setting the highest standards of ethics, education and professional excellence.  Further updates from CFA Institute

  

Important dates

 

• 5 August 2020: Official announcement of the Research Challenge

• 14 September 2020: Announcement of the subject company

• 1 October 2020: Kick-Off (afternoon) in Zurich (in-person, live streaming). Dial in numbers are sent to all students, faculties and volunteers. 

• 5 October 2020: Students contact their mentor (confirmation)

• 6 October 2020, 10:30–12:00, CET: Identifying ESG Risks in Tech (Zoom meeting for students). Dial in numbers are sent to all students.

• 26 October 2020, 10:00–11:00, CET: Insights from a Chief Information Officer: what type of software are banks looking for? (Zoom meeting for students).

• 10 November 2020, 16:00–17:00, CET: Growing and scaling a software business - the early investor perspective. 

• 12 November 2020, 14:30–16:00, CET: Conference call with Temenos. (Zoom meeting for students). Students must submit one question/team to research.challenge@cfasocietyswitzerland.org  by 5 November.

• 30 November 2020, 10:00–11:30, CET: Virtual presentation skills. (Zoom meeting for students). 

• November/December 2020: Students work on reports

• December 2020: Presentations within the university

• 3 January 2021, 24:00, CET: Report hand in for Swiss finalists

• 26, 27 and 28 January 2021: Presentation Skills Bootcamp for Swiss Finalists, virtual

• 14 February 2021, 24:00, CET: Presentation hand in for finalists

• 17 February 2021, afternoon: Swiss local semi-finals (Zoom)

• 18 February 2021, 14:00–19:30, CET: Swiss local final and Award Ceremony (Zoom)

• March 2021: Western Europe Sub-Regional round (virtual)

• April 2021: EMEA Regional Semi-Final (13-14 April, virtual); EMEA Regional Final (20 April, virtual):  and Global Final (22 April, virtual)

 

 

Participating Universities

Student resources

Students - get involved (CFA Institute)

Students - preparation page (CFA Institute)

Past Global Winners’ reports and slides

Webinars

CFA® Program discount  (for finalist teams only)