University of Moratuwa- Department of Mathematics wins the 2009 CFA Financial Analyst Competition

The team from the Department of Mathematics-University of Moratuwa won the 2009 CFA Financial Analyst Competition.The University of Moratuwa team comprised of Ruwini Randeniya (as Team Leader), Gayan K. P. Deliwala, J.N.M.Mallagala, Sachithra Heshinie, Ruberu Santhushti Liyanawadu. The teams from University of Colombo and University of Sri Jayawardenapura were First Runners Up and Second Runners Up respectively.

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STANDING: Gayan K. P. Deliwala, Santhushti Liyanawadu, Ruwini Randeniya (as Team Leader),Sachithra Heshinie, J.N.M.Mallagala, T.M.J.A Cooray,Lecturer in charge (Head of Department of Mathematics)

SEATED:Alastair Corera,Murtaza Jafferjee (President- CFA), A.S Jayawardena (Former Governor Central Bank of Sri lanka), Channe De Silva, Dr.Mahesha Ranasoma.

The CFA - Financial Analyst Competition, held for the third consecutive year now, originated with the aim of aligning academic knowledge with real world application.  It is designed to help students compliment their academic knowledge with experience in a dynamic real world setting, and develop interest in securities analysis. The competition provides an opportunity for CFA members currently working in the industry to interact and share their knowledge with aspiring investment professionals.

The competition was endorsed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka. 

The local competition is part of the global investment challenge organized by the CFA Institute. The international competition is held among student teams from the world's top universities, business schools and finance programmes.  In brief students write an equity research report on a public traded company and present their findings to a panel of judges.  The teams were judged on a written report they produced as well as the presentation made. 

Research reports were assessed on a specified scoring criteria giving weightage to areas such as investment summary, valuation, business description, industry overview, competitive positioning, financial analysis and investment risks.

The scoring criteria for the presentations were based on the material presented, argument made, data presented in support of recommendations, and ability to defend recommendation during the Q & A session. 

The focus of the competition was on learning best practices in equity research and formulating a convincing argument to defend conclusions.  Each team was mentored by a CFA member to conduct in-depth analysis on the selected company. The winning team was selected based on the thoroughness of its analysis and knowledge of the company rather than their predictions on the stock price.

This year's competition saw the participation of 10 teams with 05 members per team inclusive of the team leader. Apart from the CFA mentor assigned to each team the participating universities/business schools were required to nominate a faculty member as a resource person who could spend a designated amount of time with the team guiding them.