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Carthage participated in the CFA Research Challenge on Feb. 15 in Madison. The event culminated in a team presentation to a panel of judges. This year’s team included Andy Seymour, Nate Rodriguez, Linda Muita, Charlie Hilt, and Danny Denka. They scored highest on team involvement and ability to answer questions, highlighting our curriculum’s emphasis on soft as well as hard skills.

The Research Challenge is a competition in which student teams from area business schools prepare an equity research report on an assigned company and present their findings to a panel of investment industry experts. This annual educational initiative is designed to promote best practices in research among the next generation of analysts through hands-on mentoring and intensive training in company analysis. It is intended to complement university curriculum by simulating the real world experience of an equity analyst.

An exciting added feature this year was access to a Bloomberg terminal, one of the most widely used sources for real time financial data, for the duration of the competition. To prepare, the team invited a Bloomberg representative to campus to explain the features to interested students. Additionally, a terminal was installed in the library so that as many interested students as possible, even those not participating in the Challenge, could avail themselves of this amazing opportunity. (Thank you to Chris Grugel for helping with this!) A few students in Professor Greg Barron’s Senior Seminar class leveraged Bloomberg’s capabilities to enhance their theses. Other students used the terminal to gain Bloomberg certification, completing the eLearning course, Bloomberg Market Concepts, which contains modules on economics, equities, fixed income and currencies.

All students involved found the experience rewarding and skill enhancing. We hope to be able to compete in the Challenge and gain access to Bloomberg resources in the future.