With the win in the financial analysis and professional ethics competition, the team will now compete at the U.S. regional level.
A five-student team from Elon University recently won the state title in the CFA Institute Research Challenge, a global competition that provides students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and professional ethics.
One of the largest finance competitions for university students, the challenge sees participation by more than 6,400 students from more than 1,000 universities around the world. With the win, the Elon team now moves to compete at the U.S. Southeastern regional level with other statewide winners.
Under the mentorship of Professor of Finance Raj Gupta, team members Riley Corvin ’23, Hudson Haas ’23, Gus Haglund ’23, Eric Levine ’23 and Ava Rosen ’23 made it to the North Carolina state finals based upon the strength of their written report which focused on Greensboro-based Kontoor Brands, the maker of Wrangler, Lee and Rock & Republic brands.
“Winning the state title in this prestigious competition is validation for all the skills they have honed during the past four months, and just reward for the hard work they’ve put in,” Gupta said.
Since October, the team has been analyzing Kontoor to compile a comprehensive report resulting in a buy, hold or sell recommendation that was supported by data and driven by a narrative. Corvin said that she was excited to “dive into the deep end” as a finance major by participating as a member of the team. She has used the experience to learn from each of his teammates, such as how to use Excel to leverage data from Levine and how to guide a team from Rosen, who was team lead.
“Seeing the coordination skills, resilience, and continual drive for excellence from my team members allowed me to obtain a well-rounded culmination of skills from all areas of this process, from technical to public speaking skills,” Corvin said. “While there is not one specific skill that comes to mind as being ‘mastered.’ this team and competition has been the largest learning curve in my academic career at Elon, and by far the most rewarding.”
Rosen said that working as a team has taught her a new perspective on leadership and teamwork. “Utilizing real-time data and critical problem-solving skills, this team taught me the importance of collaboration, analytical thinking, and communication in a dynamic environment,” Rosen said. “I am so fortunate that each team member was equally dedicated and motivated to provide a stellar report and delivered in all areas of our in-person presentation. The work was truly a team effort, pioneered by driven mindsets and intellectual thinking.”
On Saturday, Feb. 25, the team presented to a panel of four buy-side CFA Charterholder judges and won the statewide competition for a second time. CFA Charterholders are investment professionals who have undertaken extensive training and assessment to achieve certification of their advanced investment analysis and real-world portfolio management skills.
“To win in front of a panel of experienced industry professionals, the team has to both exhibit exceptional writing skills and demonstrate strong presentation skills, all while applying the real-world finance and business tools they learn in the Love School of Business,” Gupta said.
Levine was drawn to compete in the challenge by the desire to further his technical analysis skills. “The opportunity to completely dive into the financials of a North Carolina-based company excited me, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to apply what I have learned in the classroom,” he said. “Winning the state level of this competition is tremendously significant to this team. It demonstrates that our months of preparation and long tedious nights have paid off, validating our knowledge and bringing us confidence as we enter the beginning of our careers.”
After she graduates in May, Rosen will be pursuing a career with Goldman Sachs, and she believes her work on the CFA competition has helped advance personal capabilities she will use in her role. “I feel confident that I will be able to deliver on group projects in my career and am looking forward to working on debt & equity reports that are even more data-driven and narrative-focused,” Rosen said.
With the statewide win, the team will be competing against other statewide winners from around the Southeastern U.S. later this month. Following global regional semifinals and finals in April, the top teams will compete in the global final on May 3.