Seniors in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business competed in the North Carolina finals of the CFA Institute Research Challenge last month.
Elon’s team of Andrea Brooke, Alex Dempsey, Andrew Matz, Brad Schwartz and Greg Speake surpassed teams from Duke University, Wake Forest University and UNC to compete in the finals. Assistant Professor of Finance Neeraj Gupta served as Elon’s faculty mentor.
The CFA Institute Research Challenge is a global competition that tests the analytic, valuation, report writing and presentation skills of university students. The state finals were held at UNC-Greensboro and hosted by the CFA North Carolina Society.
The students were tasked with analyzing RF Micro Devices Inc., an electronics components maker based in Greensboro, N.C. They studied the company in depth, met with the company’s management team, were advised by a finance industry professional, and presented their recommendations for a one-year stock price target.
“It was a great experience doing a very similar job as that of a Wall Street analyst,” said Dempsey, an accounting and finance major. “Working on the analysis gave great insight into the demanding job that being an analyst is.”
Appalachian State University won the event and will compete in the challenge’s Americas Regional in April.
This is Elon’s second year participating in the challenge.