[April 12, 2012]

Thammasat University Crowned Winner of Sixth Annual CFA Institute Research Challenge

A team of future investment professionals from Thammasat University (Bangkok, Thailand) has been named the winner of the sixth annual CFA Institute Research Challenge, an annual competition of more than 3,000 students and 650 universities. Hosted by CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals, the competition is designed to promote ethics and best practices in equity research among the next generation of analysts, through hands-on mentoring and intensive training in company analysis and presentation skills.

2012 CFA Institute Research Challenge Global Final and Asia Pacific Regional Final Champions: Thammasat University (Photo: Business Wire)

Regional competitions were held in the Americas, Asia Pacific, EMEA, and New York to determine the four teams that competed in the Global Final, which was held in New York City. The winning team overcame competition from the Illinois Institute of Technology (Chicago) from the Americas region, Rutgers University from the New York region, and Stockholm School of Economics (Stockholm, Sweden) from the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region. (Read more)

"I congratulate Thammasat University for capturing the CFA Institute Research Challenge Global Final title," said Stephen Horan, FA, CIPM, head, university relations and private wealth at CFA Institute. "This year, students in 55 countries took part, including Vietnam, Kenya and Colombia for the first time. Students around the world have worked long and hard to be part of this contest, which is testament to the very high caliber of investment professionals entering the industry in the coming years. These students hold such promise for restoring trust in the markets and bringing investor protection back to the forefront of the industry."

The CFA Institute Research Challenge offers students the unique opportunity to learn from leading industry experts and their peers from the world's top business schools. The competition spans one academic year, and consists of analyzing a public company, mentoring by a professional research analyst, writing a research report, and presenting research results and recommendations to a high-profile panel of experts. Marks are awarded to teams on the basis of their investment case, their poise, and their ability to answer the judges' questions. The teams are sponsored by local CFA Institute member societies, each of which previously hosted country heats of the Challenge. (Read more)

The winning Thammasat University team presented and defended a report on CP ALL (SET: CPALL) to a panel of investment industry experts that comprised:

• Daniel S. Meader, CFA, chair, CFA Institute Board of Governors, founder and managing partner of Trinity Private Equity Group, LP.
• Margaret E. Franklin, CFA, immediate past chair, CFA Institute Board of Governors, president and CEO of Kinsale Private Wealth Inc.
• Aaron H.W. Low, CFA, member, CFA Institute Board of Governors, Principal & Strategist at Lumen Advisors
• Attila Koksal, CFA, member, CFA Institute Board of Governors, managing partner of Standard Ünlü Securities

This year, Bloomberg (News - Alert) LP was the host for the global final. The global winners from the past three years came from Politecnico di Milano (Milan, Italy) who won in 2011; the University of the Phillippines - Diliman who won in 2010; and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, who took the crown in 2009.

A recording of the global final will be posted to the Research Challenge Facebook (News - Alert) page www.facebook.com/globalirc.

About CFA Institute

CFA Institute is the global association for investment professionals. It administers the CFA and CIPM curriculum and exam programs worldwide; publishes research; conducts professional development programs; and sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards for the investment industry. CFA Institute has more than 107,000 members, who include the world's 98,000 CFA charterholders, in 133 countries and territories, as well as 135 affiliated professional societies in 58 countries and territories. More information may be found at www.cfainstitute.org.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50236679&lang=en

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