6th Annual
Investment Research Challenge:
Rutgers University Wins

© Copyright 2008, The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Click here for more photos from the April 16, 2008 Nasdaq Stock Market closing.

The Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick team was selected as the winner of the 6th Annual Investment Research Challenge (IRC), held on April 9th at the Westin Hotel in Times Square. The team closed the NASDAQ Stock Market on April 16th and will compete in the 2nd Annual Global Investment Research Challenge.

“It was a privilege for Rutgers Business School to participate in the NYSSA IRC. The students obtained invaluable skills and prepared a research report that was on par or better than those completed by professional security analysts” said John Longo, Rutgers faculty advisor. “They also had the opportunity to present their findings to a distinguished panel of Wall Street experts. Winning the challenge was an incredible moment that the entire Rutgers team will never forget. Thank you NYSSA for a wonderful opportunity and event!”

Jesse Cohen, Jorge Barreiro, Elizabeth Moore, Sylvie Nappey, and Benjamin Schmid led Rutgers to the title. They were followed by Pace University’s Lubin School of Business in second place, the Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University in third place, and Fordham University’s Graduate School of Business in fourth place.

Each team had ten minutes to convince the expert panel of judges of its recommendations on W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC). Martin S. Fridson, CFA, president of FridsonVision LLC and publisher of Leverage World, was the panel chair. The other panelists consisted of John J. Apruzzese, CFA, managing director at U.S. Trust; Steven Kent, CFA, managing director at Goldman, Sachs & Co.; Jack L. Rivkin, chief investment officer of Neuberger Berman; and Christina Rizopoulos Valauri, managing director and director of equity research at Broadpoint Capital, Inc.

Jesse Cohen, captain of the Rutgers team said, “What an incredible and rewarding opportunity! In addition to the inherent challenges of executing investment research analysis, our team faced the even more daunting task of effectively melding the business and interpersonal skills of Baby Boomer, Gen-X and Gen-Y’ers. Overcoming these obstacles to produce a comprehensive report judged superior by experienced Wall Street professionals, while representing our school, wonderful faculty and mentors, was truly a gratifying experience and one that won’t soon be forgotten!”

The Rutgers team will now advance to the Global Investment Research Challenge to face teams from Asia-Pacific, Europe, and other North American teams on May 1st at Thomson Financial. This year, the Global Challenge featured local competitions with more than 300 student participants from over 80 countries worldwide.

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The IRC spans one academic year, and consists of the following components:

Training in Research and Report Writing: Students receive training by attending NYSSA-sponsored seminars on Internet Research, Report Writing, and Ethics. Seminars are taught by NYSSA members and are held on campus at participating universities.
Analysis of a Public Company: Teams research the same public company, selected by NYSSA, including a question and answer session with company management.
Mentoring by a Professional Research Analyst: Each team is mentored by a professional research analyst who reviews and critiques the team’s report.
Assessment of Written Reports: A group of volunteer graders selected from NYSSA’s membership assesses the written research reports and chooses four finalist teams to present to a panel of experts. (Click here to view reports from: Fordham Report; Pace Report; Rutgers Report; Seton Hall Report)
Presentation of Research to a High-Profile Panel of Wall Street Experts: The four finalist teams will present their research to a panel of respected Wall Street experts. The winning team will be selected based on the combined scores for the written report and the presentation and move on to the Global Finals.
Presentation of Research at the Global Finals: The winning team from New York will travel to the Global Finals to compete against teams from across the globe. The Global Finals competition began in 2007 and consists of winning teams from Europe, Asia, and other teams from North America. The location for the 2008 Global Finals is set for New York City and will take place on May 1, 2008 at Reuters. Click here for more information on the Global Finals.