Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Trade Univerity named winner of local CFA Institute Research Challenge in Vietnam CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, and CFA Volunteer Community Vietnam, has announced that Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Trade University has won the local competition of the CFA Institute Research Challenge in Vietnam and now advances to the Asia Pacific Regional Final where it will compete against universities from the region. Hosted by CFA Institute and CFA Volunteer Community Vietnam, the sixth CFA Institute Research Challenge in Vietnam provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis to promote best practices in equity research amongst the next generation of financial professionals. The students from the winning team will represent Vietnam at the Asia Pacific Regional Final in Bangkok, Thailand on March 14-15, 2017 and get a chance to advance towards the Global Final which will be held in Prague, Czech Republic on April 28, 2017. “The students from Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Trade University have demonstrated that they have the important skills and attributes to become professional research analysts. The financial industry is a challenging environment, and we need young people like them who possess the skills, technical knowledge, persistence, as well as commitment to upholding the highest ethical stanards,” said Vo Sang Xuan Vinh, CFA, representing CFA Institute members in Vietnam who organised the competition. “We wish them all the best in the Asia Pacific Regional Final in Bangkok.” Competing in the qualifying round were students from 17 universities, and only four advanced to final. The four finalist teams came from Ho Chi Minh City Foreign Trade University, RMIT University Ho Chi Minh City, Hoa Sen University of Ho Chi Minh City, and Banking Academy Hanoi. Their challenge was to provide investment research recommendations for the stock of Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint Stock Company, which produces, retails, trades in, imports, and exports gold, silver, jewelry, gemstones, fashion products, and arts and crafts products in Vietnam. The four finalist teams presented their analysis and proposals to a panel of judges comprised of investment expert. “We witnessed this remarkable professional judgment and a high level of enthusiasm from the finalist teams. This bodes well for the future of the financial industry in Vietnam and the rest of Asia Pacific,” said Biharilal Deora, CFA, “CFA Institute believes in the benefits of working with the academic community through the Research Challenge to help prepare the best and brightest students in each country for the rigor and responsibility of the finance profession.” Entering its 11th year now, the CFA Institute Research Challenge offers students with the unique opportunity to learn from leading industry experts and their peers from the world’s top business schools. Ethics and professional standards are essential components of this challenge. Through the course of the competition, which requires hundreds of hours of preparation, participants receive mentoring from a professional research analyst as they analyse a publicly traded company, write a professional research report, and present their research results and recommendations to a high-profile panel of experts. The first Research Challenge competition was hosted by the New York Society of Security Analysts in 2002 and involved just five teams from the New York area. Since then, the competition has grown to involve tens of thousands of students from over 900 universities in more than 75 countries. Meanwhile, a ceremony for new CFA charter holders was held following the Research Challenge final. This year, 51 individuals in Vietnam earned their Chartered Financial Analyst® charter designation in a ceremony in Hanoi. To earn the CFA designation, candidates must pass three levels of rigorous exams, fulfill four years of work experience, and abide by the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. There are about 137,000 CFA charter holders in global community, and 171 of them are in Vietnam. “I would like to congratulate all the new charter holders who join us in our pursuit to build professionalism, raise standards, and prove the value of the investment profession,” said Paul Smith, CFA, president and CEO at CFA Institute. “The financial market in Vietnam is growing rapidly, and it requires world-class financial talents for its sustainable growth. We will continue to collaborate closely with Vietnamese financial authorities and industry professionals to nurture a culture of ethical behavior, investor protection and market integrity.” CFA Institute is the global association of investment professionals that sets the standard for professional excellence and credentials. The organisation is a champion for ethical behavior in investment markets and a respected source of knowledge in the global financial community. The end goal: to create an environment where investors’ interests come first, markets function at their best, and economies grow. CFA Institute has more than 143,000 members in 159 countries and territories, including 137,000 charter holders, and 147 member societies. The CFA Institute Research Challenge gathers students, investment industry professionals, publicly traded companies, and corporate sponsors together locally, regionally, and globally for an annual competition. In order to promote best practices in equity research and company analysis, students research, analyse, and report on a company as if they are practicing analysts. Local CFA member societies and other affiliated groups host local level competitions of the Research Challenge in conjunction with the participating universities. The universities assemble teams of three to five business and finance students who work directly with a company in researching and preparing a company analysis. The team’s final presentations are locally evaluated by high-profile panels of heads of research, portfolio managers, and chief investment officers from the world’s top firms. The local champions advance to regional competitions for the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and then to the Global Final, which will all take place in the same location this year. Additional information on the Research Challenge is available on the CFA Institute website,cfainstitute.org/researchchallenge. By Ngoc Huyen, VIR