Stephen Espel, Alex Glockner, Matt Hansen, Curt LaChappelle, and Luke Stone competed against fifteen other teams from four states with the final round between LSBE, North Dakota State University, University of Minnesota Carlson School Graduate, University of Minnesota Carlson School Undergraduate and the University of St. Thomas.
Teams conducted an extensive financial analysis on the subject company, Vascular Solutions Inc., which was selected by the Twin Cities’ CFA Society. Vascular Solutions is a leading medical device company in Minneapolis, MN, and was recently acquired by Teleflex Company of Wayne, PA. Teleflex trades under the ticker symbol “TFX.”
The top five teams, judged accordingly by their written report, were invited to present their findings to a panel of CFA charter-holding industry judges. LSBE earned the right to advance to the Americas Regional round, as the team accumulated the highest aggregate score the oral presentation and defense of their analysis. The team from LSBE will compete in the Americas Regional in Seattle, WA, on April 6 and 7 along with over 52 other teams from universities in North and South America that have won their local CFA Research Challenge.
“I am very happy for our team and their accomplishment,” said Joe Artim, Director of the LSBE Financial Markets Program and the team’s faculty mentor. “Since the beginning of our local competition in 2011, we have had excellent teams each year and now, it’s extremely gratifying to have captured the local title again and be able to represent the Upper Midwest local, our Financial Markets Program, LSBE, and UMD at the Americas Regional.”
"As a graduate of UMD and mentor of Bulldog students since the CFA Global Research Investment Challenge's inception in Minnesota, I couldn't be more proud," said Josh Hill (UMD ‘2002), Senior Portfolio Manager and Co-Director of Equities at Windsor Financial Group, LLC in Minneapolis, MN and the team’s industry mentor.
Teams from LSBE have advanced to the local final each year and have now captured the title twice, finished runner’s up four times in the event’s seven year history. “We seem to always have strong teams competing in this type of challenge and competition,” added Artim. “This year’s team did an excellent job with the project and excelled in delivering their results at the presentation event. The purpose of the CFA Research Challenge is really to help develop best practices for future investment professionals and provide an opportunity for experienced practitioners to give back to the next generation. Overall, this year’s Challenge was a tremendous success!”