Finance students researched KEO PLC’s business model and equity – winners will represent Cyprus in the international competition

The University of Cyprus team won the CFA Research Challenge Competition organised for the fourth consecutive year by CFA Society Cyprus.

Taking part in the competition were student teams from the University of Cyprus, the University of Nicosia and UCLAN Cyprus, who were asked to research the business model and equity of Cypriot brewers KEO PLC. After being briefed by the company and participating in a seminar on company presentations organised by CFA Society Cyprus, they carried out a study on KEO PLC. The students had to submit a 10-page research report on the subject company, and then made official presentations to a judge/graders committee where they presented its business profile,conclusions and recommendation on the valuation of the company’s equity at a special event held at the International Conference Centre Philoxenia on 23 February.

The research report and presentations were graded by an expert team of CFA charterholders which named the University of Cyprus team as winners in the Cyprus competition. They will represent Cyprus at the European CFA Research Challenge which will be carried out in Dublin in April to select the team that will represent Europe at the global competition to be held in the capital of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, on 27 April. The UCLAN Cyprus team took second place and will participate in the Runner Up CFA Challenge to be held in Dubai in March.

The annual CFA Research Challenge Competition has become established as a highly-reputable competition which offers finance students the unique opportunity, as financial analysts, to come into contact with the professional environment and needs of the market. More than 5,000 students from 1,000 universities from all over the world take part each year. The CFA Research Challenge Cyprus is sponsored by XM.

“By organising the CFA Research Challenge for the fourth consecutive year, CFA Society Cyprus is giving students at Cypriot universities the opportunity to become financial analysts for a few months and to research a public company here in Cyprus. In this way, they can acquire practical financial knowledge and network with professionals in the sector. This differs from the theoretical knowledge they acquire during their studies at university as they deal with real world and present their findings through an official investment approval process. We wish the winning team the best. The standard this year was very high and we hope that the winning team will represent us well abroad,” said the president of CFA Society Cyprus, Panayiotis Chrysostomou.

CFA Society Cyprus is the local society of the CFA Institute, based in Virginia, USA. With more than 140,000 members worldwide, the CFA Institute offers the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation; the most respected and recognized professional qualification in the world of finance and investments, after a stringent examination process. CFA Society Cyprus was founded in 2003 and currently numbers 124 members. All holders of the CFA qualification, they work at all major banks and investment firms in Cyprus. As Chartered Financial Analysts, they are best-trained at both a theoretical and practical level for advanced financial and investment analysis and work.