MANILA, Philippines—The decision of five college students to rest all their hopes of winning on the Lopez-led Energy Development Corp. proved to be a wise one.
Raymund Li, Choerleen Solema, Jose Mari Punzalan, Pamela Li and Rachel Sison of the University of the Philippines College of Business Administration won the fourth Global Investment Research Challenge held recently in Hong Kong, for their presentation on EDC, the country’s largest producer of geothermal energy.
The Philippine group bested all other prestigious universities worldwide in the competition—a proof that Filipinos can hold their own against the best schools in the world.
In particular, the UP students managed to overcome tough competition from Brigham Young University from the Americas region; Fordham University from the New York region; and University of Cape Town from Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region before being declared the global winner.
This was the first time that the Philippine team won the Global IRC. Winners from the past three competition came from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Hong Kong Baptist University, and Babson College in Boston, USA.
The Investment Research Challenge (IRC) is a worldwide annual competition organized by the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute to provide university students with “unparalleled real world experience in equity research and company analysis.”
This year, more than 90 CFA Institute member societies hosted local competitions, with over 425 universities and 2,000 students from many of the world’s top finance schools participating. Regional competitions were held in the Americas, Asia Pacific, EMEA and New York to determine the four teams that competed in the global final challenge.
Prior to winning the global championship, UP had to also hurdle competition from schools in the Philippines and then in Asia-Pacific.
For the regional finals, UP bested 15 other universities from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Korea, India, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka to earn the right to represent Asia-Pacific in the global finals.
EDC a ‘good buy’
The UP students’ presentation and recommendation on EDC as a “good buy” had impressed and convinced the panel of judges, composed of investment industry experts worldwide.
In their presentation, they recommended that investors buy shares of the geothermal company—which is also the world’s second largest producer of geothermal energy next to Chevron.
The group cited EDC’s stock price’s upside potential given its industry leadership, the country’s power supply shortage problems and the incentives that the company can avail under the Renewable Energy law.
“Winning the Global IRC is very special for us and we are grateful for all the help and support we received throughout the process. We hope this will help raise recognition of the quality of the financial services talent in the Philippines,” says Raymund Siegfrid O. Li, a UP team member.
“Participating in the Global IRC was an incredible learning experience for us—especially since we are undergraduate students and the challenge requirements went beyond what is being taught in our current courses. We are grateful for the practical insight we gained through this once-in-a-lifetime experience and are confident it will create new opportunities for us,” Li adds.
For his part, EDC president and COO Richard Tantoco vowed to further support worthy projects that will help students gain knowledge and acquire hands-on experience in equity research.
“This is a very good exercise in developing future investment and financial analysts. I am happy that EDC is able to participate in undertakings that would again put the Philippines in a very distinguished position and make every Filipino beam with pride,” Tantoco adds.
Meanwhile, John Rogers, president and CEO of CFA Institute, also congratulated the UP team for winning the Global IRC.
“I was extremely impressed with the final four teams’ research and presentations and would like to applaud their skill and tenacity. We at CFA Institute hope that the experience has helped to instill ethics and best practices in what may be the next generation of investment professionals,” Rogers says.
Rogers further said that since its inception in 2007, the competition has gone from “strength to strength, thanks to the determination and commitment of universities, students, industry professionals, and societies from across the world.”
In honor of this achievement, the students also received $10,000 for their university.
Source: http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20100424-266218/UP-wins-best-of-the-best
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