UP wins global investment analysis competition

Krista Garcia

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UP wins global investment analysis competition
5 University of the Philippines, Diliman students beat older MBA students in the 2013 CFA Institute Research Challenge. Here's their story
 

MANILA, Philippines – They belonged to the top 40 of their class at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. They all graduated magna cum laude last April. They were handpicked by their professors to represent the Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business in a contest dubbed as “Investment Olympics” for accounting and finance students.

Five BS Business Administration and Accountancy seniors outperformed MBA students from around the world in the 2013 CFA Institute Research Challenge, a global competition that allows students to learn from industry experts as they assume the role of research analysts.

Online stockbroker firm COL Financial hosted an intimate lunch to congratulate the young team and introduce them to Rappler. We sat down with Nigel Lee, Miguel Solidum, Diego de Ocampo, Corinne Reyes, and Geoff Bautista, and asked them about their experience in Singapore, where the championship round took place last April. (READ: UP Diliman named winner of 8th Annual CFA Institute Research Challenge)

BUILDING THE FUTURE. The winning team with their mentors. L-R: COL Financial's President and CEO Dino Bate, Dr. Daniel Borja, Nigel Williamson Lee , Geoffrey Archangel Bautista, Corrine Francesca Reyes, Diego Mikhail de Ocampo, Miguel Alfonso Solidum, COL Financial's April Lee Tan, Dr. Arthur Cayanan, and Raymond Abara. Rappler file photo

The team acknowledged that their accounting background played a key role in winning the competition. “The advantage of knowing accounting is that you know the deeper story behind the numbers rather than just computing or knowing the formulas,” Corinne said. “They always wanted us to substantiate our numbers, so eventually we looked into financial statements of power plants and power companies. We really learned how to compute for things like the cost of fuel. You can’t just do drag and drop,” said Miguel.

Teamwork was also key. In front of the panel, they answered questions spontaneously, without sidelong glances or cues from each other. This gave them the edge over other teams, as the style of presentation carried a huge score.

The final task was to craft a full-scale research analysis of a local company. Using documents available to the public, the group assessed the company’s market performance and profitability, and presented their report to a panel as if they were presenting to investors and stakeholders.

Armed with theories learned in the classroom, they analyzed financial statements, investor reports, online articles, and government data. They conducted interviews, did phone calls, and had an industry mentor assess their presentation.

“Technically, our competition could have been far superior to what we did,” Diego said. “But what really carried us through was hard work, and our ability to simplify the story from what was initially a really complicated industry.”

During the finals, “faking” confidence helped – even when they were not sure of their answers. “But fortunately, we knew everything and anticipated most of the questions,” said Corinne.

Good was never good enough for them. “With ourselves being the primary critics of our own work, it was really difficult to not settle,” Nigel said. “There’s always something that you can do better, even if you think you’ve gone way beyond and over what everyone else is doing,” added Geoff.

The 5 students took the “don’t settle” mentality to heart. In Singapore, they met CEOs, stockbrokers, and business educators who exposed them to a different way of thinking about their future careers. “When you listen to how the foreigners talk on jobs and the industry, it’s very entrepreneurial, it opens up a lot of possibilities,” said Diego.

Right now, all of them are reviewing for the CPA board exams to be conducted late this year. But rather than pursuing a career in accounting, they’re considering joining industries like marketing, corporate finance, and banking. They also want to open businesses and start investing in the stock market. During the competition, they gained a better understanding of how investing works, and now they’re eager to start doing it.

“When we met Mr. Edward Lee, COL Financial’s chairman, he strongly advised us to start saving and investing early. Keeping it in a bank will not maximize your money’s potential, but if you invest it in stocks at a young age, you can build genuine wealth overtime,” Miguel said.

“I think that I can also do it on the side,” said Geoff. He said he’s planning to invest some of his earnings into a COL online account. “Investing is really known to take many hours. But this way, we can invest and have more time to invest and pursue entrepreneurship at the same time,” he added.

As the country’s leading online stockbroker firm, COL continues to grow with its 95,000 customers by consistently providing available online tools, services and learning opportunities, all to emphasize that building wealth can be easy with dedication. The company believes that the stock market can be for everyone. “There’s no reason not to maximize the opportunities around you,” said Dino Bate, COL’s President and CEO.

“One of the biggest hindrances of young people not investing is lack of urgency, because they live with their parents and are dependent on them for a lot of things – so planning for the future is not really top priority in their minds,” Nigel said. “There’s a lot of fear especially if you don’t understand what you’re getting into. But it’s not as complicated as people think.”

Age is never an issue in success. What’s important is to have a goal and pursue it. If these young kids can do it, so can anyone else. – Rappler.com


COL Financial congratulates the winners of the 8th annual CFA Institute Research Challenge Global Final. Being the only country in the world to win the global championship twice since it started is indeed a remarkable feat!

As the trusted leader in the online stockbrokerage industry, COL has consistently advocated the value of continued education. It has remained consistent in supporting various opportunities to help nurture the learning of those who want to be in the financial industry. To know more, visit their website to learn more about their products and services. You may also register to their free seminars here.

For market updates and event announcements, follow them on Facebook at http://facebook.com/colfinancial. To view previous seminars and other tutorials,  subscribe to their Youtube account at http://youtube.com/colfinancial

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