On February 25, 2024, the South China finals of the 2023-2024 CFA Institute Research Challenge were held at the Great China International Financial Center in the Futian District, Shenzhen. A total of 35 teams from 19 universities in southern China participated in the competition, including teams from Shenzhen University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-Shenzhen), Sun Yat-sen University, South China University of Technology, Southern University of Science and Technology, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, etc. With written reports from participating teams reviewed by the industry expert panel, a total of 8 teams made it to the South China finals, two of which were teams from Shenzhen University, a history-making breakthrough.

The Team Symmetry composed of Yao Yuehan (SWIFT) and Huang Renchao (SAFTI) majoring in Fintech and Wu Donghong, Wu Xintong, and Yang Qiawen from the CFA class specializing in finance at the College of Economics, stood out among many outstanding peers. With their professional and rigorous analysis reports, unique and innovative propositions, and convincing presentations, Team Symmetry won the second prize in the South China region. As one of the representative teams of the South China region, Team Symmetry from Shenzhen University will compete with teams from the Southern University of Science and Technology, China Foreign Affairs University, Fudan University, and Guizhou University in the Eastern Asia finals, which will be a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of students from Shenzhen University.

The inspiring performance of the team in the competition shows the strength of the faculty and students from the SAFTI. As an industrial college characterized by cooperation between Shenzhen University and a leading business and a Sino-foreign cooperative educational institution with an international vision, the SAFTI is known for its innovative efforts in promoting learning experiences through widely recognized certificates, leading learning through competitions, guiding learning through the faculty, and driving learning through research. The excellent performance of the students from the SAFTI in the competition also reflects the compelling academic expertise, innovative thinking, and teamwork spirit of students. All students at the SAFTI are encouraged to follow their example by developing a can-do spirit and innovation-driven mindset to shine more.


CFA Institute Research Challenge

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and professional ethics. Each student will be tested on their analytical, valuation, report writing, and presentation skills. They gain real-world experience as they assume the role of a research analyst. Nearly 6,000 students from more than 1,000 universities around the world participated in the competitions last year. The competitions mainly involve knowledge in economics, financial accounting, financial investment, and mathematical statistics. Such knowledge plays a significant role as a tool in analyzing corporate value and it is also a key part of the knowledge system of the CFA exam. The competitions provide an opportunity for students to gain a better understanding of the CFA exam, how to apply the knowledge better, and cutting-edge practical financial knowledge.


Experience gained from the competition

Huang Renchao from SAFTI

My journey in the CFA Institute Research Challenge competition started in October 2023. From the university-wide qualification trials to teaming up with schoolmates, we spent more than one month on research and analysis and submitted our report in December. At the end of January 2024, we received the notice that we had made it to the South China finals and then we started to prepare our presentation. On February 25, Team Symmetry completed an offline roadshow and made it to the Eastern Asia finals!

The Information Board section of the Intranet of the University released news and information about the qualification trials for the competition from time to time back then, and I learned about the CFA Research Challenge from the information released there by the College of Economics. I knew something about the CFA exams before, so I decided to take a shot.

The CFA Institute Research Challenge lasts for a long time. The past four months have been very hard for every team member. The communication and mutual understanding among team members got us this far. We don’t study at the same campus, so we could only communicate through online meetings in the early stages of the competitions. In the later stage, it became routine for us to travel between the two campuses for face-to-face communication and collaboration. The final presentation we submitted was a result of dozens of revised versions. Every word and every chart in it were finalized after repeated revisions and adjustments.

In this process, we did many things from scratch and learned a lot. I was responsible for relative valuation, Tencent Cloud business research, chart production, etc. I honed my skills by reading research notes and learning from online tutorials, and finally got the hang of those skills and research methods. So I don’t think you should worry too much about the skill gap when you decide to participate in the competition. What is more important is that you should persist in learning, work with the team, straighten out and reflect on current tasks promptly, and make solid progress on every task.


Yao Yuehan from SWIFT

The competition has a long duration, and it has been a semester since the beginning of our preparation. As a sophomore, I have gained complete knowledge of corporate valuation and financial analysis and found ways to apply fintech ideas to corporate valuation to further improve the valuation model. This is my biggest gain from this experience. My advice to younger schoolmates is that they can try to participate in fintech-related competitions which help expand their horizons quickly and apply their expertise to other fields. In a nutshell, do not be overwhelmed by the fear of challenges. Just brace up and do it!

This experience was unforgettable for sure. I met so many talented partners, experienced challenges, and also enjoyed great joy when our work was recognized. I believe that if you have the courage and seize every opportunity and keep doing what you are committed to, you will shine eventually! In the future, we hope to “see more investments empowered by fintech and make traceable valuation assumptions.”