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(L-R) Dharshan Imbiraj, Karah Lee, David Hatcher, Christian Thomas, Kelly Hawa

Five Rowe School students won first place in the Atlantic Canada round of the CFA Institute Research Challenge, which took place February 17, hosted by CFA Society Atlantic Canada. The annual global competition provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis. Students work in teams to research and analyze a publicly traded company. Each team writes a research report on their assigned company with a buy, sell or hold recommendation and then presents and defends their analysis to a panel of industry professionals.

The Rowe School team will advance to the Americas Regional competition to be held March 19-20 in Boston where they will compete among 54 teams from North and South America to go to the World Finals in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Rowe team consists of captain Kelly Hawa (BComm), Karah Lee (MBA), David Hatcher (MBA), Dharshan Imbiraj (BComm) and Christian Thomas (BComm).

"The CFA Institute Research Challenge has been an amazing opportunity for all of us,” says Hawa. “The first-hand experience, coaching and industry exposure we’ve gained have been invaluable. The rewards of participating in the competition have been well worth the effort."

The team was coached by industry mentor Matthew Towns, Vice President of SeaFort Capital, and faculty advisor Jun Zhou. Dr. Zhou notes that this is the first time a Dalhousie team has won the Atlantic Canada competition. "It provides an invaluable experiential learning opportunity for our students,” she says. “The team has worked very hard over the past four months. Their win and further advancement to the Americas Regional is a well-deserved outcome of their effort, extensive preparation and strong commitment. Winning this competition is an incredible honour for our students and our school, and we're very proud. "

The Americas Regional final will be livestreamed on March 20 at 4:30 pm EDT on the CFA Institute website. Please join in and virtually cheer for Team Rowe!