FCBE Finance Students Win in Mid-South CFA Investment Research Challenge

MEMPHIS, TN – February 27, 2019. A team of Finance students from Fogelman College of Business and Economics placed second in the local Mid-South round of the CFA Institute's Global Investment Research Challenge (Global IRC). The team was led and coached by Nap Overton, instructor of Finance, Real Estate, & Insurance. Winning team members included Sejal Purohit, Jerome Lindsey, Tara Shen and Chris Elizonda.

Each year the CFA Society of Arkansas, CFA Society of Memphis, and CFA Society of Mississippi host the Mid-South Equity Research Challenge in Memphis, TN.

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an educational initiative promoting best and ethical practices in securities research to students from the world's top business schools. Over the course of the competition, university teams are mentored by industry professionals and faculty advisors in writing an equity research report on a publicly traded company. Each level of the Research Challenge culminates in a presentation and defense of that research to a panel of investment industry experts, who select the best presentation. The winning teams advance to participate in Regional competitions hosted in Asia Pacific, EMEA, and the Americas.

The Global IRC is followed by the CFA Institute's 128,000 members as well as 144 affiliated professional societies in 69 countries and territories.

"There is no substitute for real world learning," said Nap Overton, "and this competition allows the student to act as a stock analyst and submit their recommendation to potential investors. All factors are there for the student to experience."

"We have continuously made a great showing in this competition," said Dr. PK Jain, interim chair of Finance. "Nap Overton, a resident practitioner has many years of experience as an equities research analyst in the investments industry and his direction of this team was invaluable."

(Pictured from left to right) Nap Overton, Sejal Purohit, Jerome Lindsey, Tara Shen and Chris Elizonda.