Accounting and Finance

CFA Ireland is proud to announce that the winners of its inaugural annual Irish Investment Research Challenge beat off competition from six other European universities to win the European Investment Research Challenge held in London on April 1^st and earned the right to represent Europe in the World Final in London on April 2^nd. The team of UCC students overcame competition from six other national winning teams: Université Lille II (France), Bocconi University (Italy), University of Amsterdam (Netherlands), Instituto de Empresa Business School (Spain), Koç University (Turkey), and University of Warwick (UK) to advance to the Global Final where they finished runners up to eventual winners Nanyang Technological University, Singapore along with Yale University, USA, and Fungação Getulio Vargas School of Business, Brazil.

The team, Godfrey Akileng, Domenico Campa, Ciara Connolly and Gillian O'Carroll, presented and defended an investment research report on Kerry Group to a panel of global investment industry experts.  Ciara and Gillian are students on the Masters in Corporate Finance and Accounting degree and both Domenico from Italy and Godfrey from Uganda are undertaking PhD studies in Accounting at UCC. They reached the European Regional Final by contesting an Irish Final organized by CFA Ireland where UCC overcame stiff competition from UCD, NUIG, TCD and University of Ulster.  The UCC team was advised by Mark Mulcahy CFA and Dr Ray Donnelly, both lecturers in Accounting and Finance in the College of Business and Law, UCC and mentored by Oliver McClure from PI Investment Management.

“The Challenge brings universities, students, and investment professionals together in a unique fashion that advances the principles of ethics and professional excellence and the value of a career in the finance industry,” said Jeff Diermeier, CFA, CFA Institute past president and CEO. In congratulating the UCC student team on their success in reaching the global final from 240 of the world’s best business schools, Nitin Mehta, Managing Director (Europe, Middle East and Africa) for CFA Institute, said: "This event was a reminder that investment research and analysis lies at the heart of modern economic systems; the efficient use of society's wealth is critically dependent upon it. Those who took part in the Challenge learned the importance of ethics, analytics, rigour and tenacity — the attributes needed for professional success."

 The panel of judges for the European final was:

1.       Richard N. Gommo, Investment Director, Hase Osborne Asset Management Ltd.

2.       John D. Rogers, CFA, President And CEO, CFA Institute

3.       Paul Smiddy, Head of Retail Research, HSBC

4.       Roger Urwin, Global Head Of Investment Content, Watson Wyatt Worldwide

The award for the European final was an engraved Crystal Trophy for the winning team and a set of the CFA Institute Investment Series books, published by Wiley, for each student, the university, and their investment professional mentor (Oliver McClure, CFA, an equity manager in PI Investment Management Limited).

Notes:

CFA Ireland is the representative body for CFA Institute in Ireland, with over 250 members and supporting over 400 CFA candidates each year. For more information: www.cfaireland.ie

CFA Institute is the global association for investment professionals.  It administers the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) curriculum and exam programs worldwide; publishes research; conducts professional development programs; and sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards for the investment industry. CFA Institute has more than 100,000 members, who include the world’s 82,000 CFA charterholders, in 134 countries and territories, as well as 136 affiliated professional societies in 57 countries and territories. More information may be found at www.cfainstitute.org. (Bloomberg users can find CFA Institute at 497458Z).

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