Research Challenge

CFA Institute Research Challenge

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition that connects university students with investment professionals from within the CFA Society^® network. The competition provides students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and ethics and tests participants' analytical, valuation, reporting writing, and presentation skills.

Members of our society, along with a faculty advisor and an industry mentor, work with teams of students to value a stock, write a research report, and present their recommendations. Teams then compete with peers from other schools at local-level competitions organized and judged by CFA Society members and volunteers. The winning university team(s) from each local competition then advances to see who will become the sub-regional, regional, and global champions.

Learn more and read FAQs See the schedule and get involved

CFA Society South Africa Local University Research Challenge

CFA Society South Africa is delighted to host the 16th annual local University Research Challenge.

Excited to be part of this initiative that offers students the unique opportunity to learn from leading industry experts and compete with peers from the world's top finance programs.

The local University Research Challenge has now kicked off.

2024 Subject Company

What it is

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and professional ethics. Each student will be tested on their analytic, valuation, report writing, and presentation skills. They gain real-world experience as they assume the role of a research analyst.

How it Works

Local-level competitions are organized and judged by CFA Society^® members and volunteers who function as local hosts.

The winning university team from each local competition advances to one of the three regional competitions.

The regional and global competitions are hosted by CFA Institute in the Americas; the Asia Pacific; and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions. The winning teams from each regional competition advance to the Global Final, where one team emerges as the global champion.

How to Get Involved

The Research Challenge provides all participants – both individuals and organizations – with incredible opportunities to get involved.

Students: Find out if your university participates by asking your professor, our Society, or checking the participating universities list.
Universities: Form your team and give students the opportunity to compete against their peers and gain real-world experience.
Employers: Become a judge, mentor, grader, speaker, or corporate sponsor.

To join the Research Challenge or for more information, contact Lucille Smit info@cfa.ac.za

2024 Participating Universities:

Botswana Accountancy College
Copperbelt University - Zambia
University of Fort Hare (2 teams)
Malawi University of Business Science
Nelson Mandela University
Northwest University
Stellenbosch University (2 teams)
Tshwane University of Technology
University of Cape Town
University of the Free State
University of Johannesburg
University of South Africa
University of Botswana
University of Lusaka
University of Zambia (2 Teams)
University of Pretoria
University of the Western Cape
University of the Witwatersrand
University of Zululand (2 Teams)