On Tuesday March 3, 2015, Point Loma Nazarene University business students Matt Herskowitz, Chad Krause, Blair Messner, Sam Sadler, and Trevor Shaw led their team in victory over SDSU, USD, and UCSD teams, winning the San Diego CFA Institute Research Challenge for 2015. PLNU faculty advisor, Dan Bothe, Dean of the Fermanian School of Business, supported their countless hours of preparation and accompanied them to the competition, returning with an impressive team trophy, now on display at the Fermanian School of Business!
As a result of this victory, the PLNU student team will be traveling to Atlanta, Georgia on April 15, all expenses paid by the CFA Institute, to compete in the Americas Regional event against universities from across North America. The winner from each regional competition - the Americas; the Asia Pacific; and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions - will advance to the Global Final, where one team will be declared global champion of the CFA Institute Research Challenge.
About the CFA Research Challenge:
As stated on their website, The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition that 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 - sometimes even meeting face-to-face with company management. Each team writes a research report on their assigned company with a buy, sell, or hold recommendation and may be asked to present and defend their analysis to a panel of industry professionals.
About the Winning PLNU Team:
Matt Herskowitz is a senior majoring in Finance and he currently holds the position of Director of Finance for ASB. He has accepted a position this summer at Stratford Partners Real Estate Investments. Chad Krause is a senior majoring in Finance, having spent a summer internship at Lloyds of London in Great Britain. Blair Messner is a senior with an Accounting and Finance double major in addition to being a Student Accounting Society officer. She has accepted a full time position with Deloitte in their tax division. Sam Sadler is a senior with an Accounting and Finance double major; he serves as president of PLNU's entrepreneur club in addition to playing baseball for the PLNU team. Sam has accepted a full time position in public accounting with Ernst & Young. Trevor Shaw is a senior majoring in Finance, while serving as PLNU's Finance & Investments Club president.
