Berks students made it to final four in CFA Certified Financial Challenge

Four Penn State Berks Business majors comprised one of the four teams with the highest scores in the regional Certified Financial Challenge (CFA) competition for 2013-2014. The team includes seniors Lewis Colon of Reading, Vincent Coppa of Birdsboro, Richard Ellenberger of Reinholds, and Clinton Faust of Mohrsville. The Penn State Berks team will join Temple University, Villanova University, and the University of Scranton and move on to the Finals event on February 19, 2014, at 5 p.m. at the Union League of Philadelphia.

The CFA Institute Research Challenge offers students the unique opportunity to learn from leading industry experts and compete with 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. Additionally, all participants are introduced to and held to the standard of the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct.

Over the course of the competition, teams of 3-5 students each are mentored by industry professionals in writing an equity research report on a publicly traded company. The teams then present their findings to a distinguished panel of experts.

The Challenge consists of the following components:
? Analysis of a Public Company: Teams research a publicly traded company. Company management presents to the teams
and participates in a Q&A session.
? Mentoring By a Professional Research Analyst: Each team works with an investment professional, who mentors the team
  on research process and reviews and critiques their report.
? Writing a Research Report: Students produce an initiation of coverage report on the chosen company. The report is reviewed
  and scored by a group of judges.
? Presentation of Research to a High-Profile Panel of Experts: Teams present their research to a panel of experts from top
  financial institutions. The team with the highest combined report and presentation score is the winner.
? Advancement to CFA Institute's Global Challenge: The winners of the local competitions will advance to compete against
   teams within their geographic region, culminating in a global finale competition.


For more information, contact Dr. Sudip Ghosh, Associate Professor of Business at Penn State Berks, at 610-396-6346 or via e-mail at [email protected].