NEWS

On Saturday, December 3, 2022, the CFA Institute Research Challenge Japan 2022-2023 final was held in Tokyo. At the high-prestige global financial competition in Japan, undergraduate and graduate students compete by preparing a comprehensive sell-side initiating coverage report on designated company and presenting it in front of CFA qualified judges. In the end, APU’s B Team won alongside a team from the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

A total of 26 teams from 7 Japanese universities participated in the preliminary rounds of the competition, each conducting research on the designated company, Daikin Industries, Ltd., before submitting reports in English. The top 8 teams of the written portion proceeded to the finals of the Japan tournament, where presentations and Q&A sessions were held again in English. The two winning teams will advance to the Asia-Pacific Sub-Region held in March.

The winning APU B team consisted of TRAN Binh Giang (College of International Management, Viet Nam), CLAUDY Putri Rusmawati (College of International Management, Indonesia), NGUYEN Kieu Chi (College of International Management, Viet Nam), and NIE Liuqing (College of International Management, China). The team was coached by Prof. LEE Geunhee (College of International Management), and supported by their mentor, Shohei Ura of Amundi Japan Co., Ltd..

Regarding the preparation for the competition, team leader, Giang-san said “I divided roles after considering each of my teammates’ strengths. We thought time management was the key to our win, so we created and stuck to a strict schedule.” Chi-san added, “During the two months between the announcement of this year’s case and the deadline for our written report, we gathered data and looked at precedent cases. The month prior to the finals, we put much effort into the Q&A session so that we could thoroughly answer any question.” In this regard, NIE added, “The kind guidance from our professor and mentor was a big help. Our mentor helped us preparing for questions, thanks to which, we deepened our team’s argument and performed well in the final Q&A.” Lastly, CLAUDY urged other students studying business to join saying, “From the time of preparation to the final presentations, it was a wonderful experience. I hope more students join in this kind of challenge. It was definitely worth it.”