HSE ICEF Team Placed First in CFA Institute Research Challenge

© ICEF

Guided by Dmitry Kachalov and Kirill Chuiko as mentors, HSE 2 / ICEF team won  the Local stage of CFA Institute Research Challenge, the international financial modeling competition that competed on February 28.

In the Local stage of the 2021/2022 CFA Institute Research Challenge, HSE was represented by two teams of its campus in Moscow, HSE University 1 and HSE University, the latter consisting entirely of the undergraduate and graduate students of ICEF. For finance and economics students all over the world, CFA Institute Research Challenge is an intensive training in investment analysis and a way to showcase their financial analyst skills. 

Acting as the Faculty Advisor for the team was, as in previous years, Dmitry Kachalov, ICEF faculty staff member, while the role of Industry Mentor was assumed by Kirill Chuiko, head of Analytical Department at BCS Global Markets and alumnus of ICEF.

As a result, HSE 2/ICEF team became the absolute winner of the 2022 CFA Research Challenge Local stage, followed by the team of MSU, which, like ICEF’s team, is now eligible for the regional EMEA finals (Europe, Middle East, Africa), and NES.

HSE 2/ ICEF team had as members:

• Alex Akopyan (MSc first year)
• Daniil Boev (BSc fourth year)
• Ivan Vedomenko (BSc fourth year)
• Aslan Radjabov (BSc fourth year)
• Madina Tkhakushinova (BSc fourth year)

HSE 2/ ICEF team (the competition was held online)

© ICEF

In 2020, two HSE ICEF teams competed in the CFA Research Challenge EMEA finals after winning the 1st and 2nd places in the Local stage. Then, as now, HSE 2/ ICEF team placed first place in the Local stage. In 2021, the 2nd went to HSE 1 team.

Every year, CFA Institute Research Challenge identifies investment market leaders among the next generation of analysts. Students are assigned a publically traded company to research and analyze during several months. Each university team should come up with a financial report to be presented to the panel of experts in English. The subject company assigned to the Russian teams this year was healthcare group Mat’ I Ditya (Mother and Child). Our team will be competing in the CFA IRC EMEA as early as March. The winners from each EMEA region will advance to the global stage.

Aslan Radjabov, HSE 2/ ICEF team member

The preparation for the CFA Institute Research Challenge proved an extremely time-consuming process. It involved setting of appropriate tasks and distributing them among team members. But, thanks to our experienced mentors, Dmitry Kachalov and Kirill Chuiko, we figured it out pretty fast how we were supposed to work. We stayed in touch to see if we were on the right track.

The first thing the competition looks at is the quality of the investment report, but the evaluation is based also on its presentation. We think our elaborate approach to company analysis and evaluation was duly noted by the panel, given the long time we spent writing the report. As for the presentation, the key success factors were data structuring and ability to give clear answers during Q&A session.

As the face of ICEF and entire HSE, we were doing our best to win and we succeeded. That certainly was an invaluable experience for us. With challenging, complex and time-consuming tasks, the competition proved a great way for us to hone corporate investment analysis skills and become a close-knit team! ICEF students have always been known for strong commitment and solid teamwork, which boosts their chances of success in the CFA competition. We are glad to have been given the opportunity to participate and have set about preparing for the regional stage.