Dean’s Update, January 24, 2012

Global Investment Research Challenge Organized by Chartered Financial Analyst Institute

CBA students are participating for the second year in a row in the CFA Institute Global Investment Research Competition which offers our MBAs (and seniors) a unique opportunity to learn from leading industry experts and compete with peers from the world’s top finance programs. This annual educational initiative promotes best practices in equity research. Finance students will 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.

CFA-Orange County and CFA-Los Angeles have joined together to support nine teams this year:

• California State University, Long Beach (CSULB)
• University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
• University of California, Irvine (UCI)
• University of Southern California (USC)
• California State University, Fullerton (CSUF)
• Chapman University
• Pepperdine University
• Loyola Marymount University
• Claremont McKenna College

As part of the program, the Faculty Advisor (Finance Professor and Department Chair Steven Le) and an Industry Mentor (a member of CFA) are meeting with our team to advise them on financial analysis and company research. The Industry Mentor for the 2012 Cal State Long Beach team is Cathy Lloyd of Popla Forest Capital. Her bio can be found on the company website.