Story

Five years and counting: UBC Sauder’s streak of success in the CFA Institute Research Challenge

Research Excellence | Strategy 8: Student Research
Theme: Collaboration
The UBC Sauder team for the 2022 CFA Institute Research Challenge (left to right): Ashvin Bilga, Nicole Eastman, Sally Jiao, and James Chen.

Sally Jiao and her teammates figured out a magic formula that propelled them all the way to the global finals of the CFA Institute Research Challenge last year. It was the first time ever that a team from the UBC Sauder School of Business had advanced so far in the annual global equity research competition. The secret to their success? Storytelling.

“We had all the numbers, but the majority of that content was in our appendix,” says Jiao, a fourth-year UBC Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) student specializing in finance. “We wanted to communicate our thesis, focus less on the numbers, and try and convince the investment professionals and the public that our presentation was the best.”

Painting a picture for the audience and building a compelling narrative was a lesson in presenting and public speaking that Jiao and her team had learned over the course of the intensive, six-month competition process.

The 2022 team presented at the local round on February 25, 2022, alongside faculty advisor Caren Lombard.

Please visit the Sauder School of Business website to read the full story.

Through Strategy 8: Student Research, UBC is committed to supporting engagement in research, to help students build the ability to apply their learning, create new knowledge and utilize research skills.