Sunday, February 21, 2016

Both Marquette AIM Teams in the CFA Challenge were Strong Performers

Two Marquette AIM Program Teams competed in the Local CFA Challenge this year

February 2016– The CFA Society of Madison hosted the local round of the CFA Institute’s Investment Research Challenge.  For the first time, Marquette University’s Applied Investment Management (AIM) program hosted two teams in the 2016 competition. The CFA Institute is the global association of investment professionals made up of portfolio managers, investment advisors, educators and other financial professionals.

During the local CFA Investment Research Challenge, which was held at the Milwaukee Athletic Club in Milwaukee, the two Marquette teams competed against each other and two other teams of students from UW-Whitewater and the UW-Madison. As previously reported, one of the Marquette teams won the Local Challenge and will be headed to Chicago in April for the Americas Regional round of the competition.

Conor Muth, Brendan O’Malley, Patrick Schulz, and Colin Canfield

Dr. David Krause, AIM program director said, “I m proud of the performance of both AIM teams. The team of Brendan O’Malley, Conor Muth, Colin Canfield, and Patrick Schulz did an outstanding job. Their written presentation was excellent – and was one of the best I have read in the past eight years since we’ve been competing in the Challenge.  This was a very talented group and I believe they would have likely won the local event if the other AIM team had not been in the Challenge. All of these students have been exemplary members of the Applied Investment Management program. They will be graduating in May 2016 and each has an excellent job waiting for them. I truly enjoyed working with this group --- they’re champions in my world and I couldn’t be prouder of them.”
Image result for cfa research challenge
The CFA Institute Research Challenge offers students the unique opportunity to develop and present an equity research report and compete on a global basis. Students will learn from leading industry experts and their mentors and peers from the world’s top business schools. This annual educational initiative is designed to promote best practices in equity research among the next generation of analysts through hands-on mentoring and intensive training in company analysis and presentation skills.


Dr. David Krause added: “This year’s competition was a very challenging event for the students taking part. All of the teams did an excellent job presenting their recommendations and we wish to thank the CFA Societies of Madison and Milwaukee for hosting the Challenge. It gives students the chance to meet some of the finest investment professionals in the state and to interact with students from other schools.  The CFA Challenge supports our educational efforts and helps groom the investment professionals of tomorrow.”