CFA INSTITUTE RESEARCH CHALLENGE: ANALYSIS AND FINANCIAL RECOMMENDATION FOR ALLEGHENY TECHNOLOGIES, INCORPORATED

Abstract

The CFA Research Challenge is an annual international competition specialized for university students focusing on degrees in finance, accounting, and other business fields. The challenge aims at providing participants with hands-on experience in equity value analysis and financial modeling, while emphasizing other core skills such as teamwork, presentation competency, and communication. Each participating university is required to form teams of three to five students, who are instructed to conduct independent research and analysis on a publicly traded company of the CFA Institute's choosing. Teams are required to compose a written report based on their findings and may be selected to present before a panel of judges. After the written report and presentation rounds, teams may advance past the local competition and into the regional and global competitions. Each team's written report is evaluated by the CFA Institute based on criterion of the following: a comprehensive description of the business, an overview of the industry and the company's competitive positioning, a summary of the investment decision the team decides upon, financial analysis including discounted cash flow and relative valuation models, investment risks, and environmental, social, and governance ventures.