CFA Ireland have a separate association with the National College of Ireland as they provide the space for the revision and tuition courses run by FT Kaplan for CFA candidates. They also kindly provide the Society with facilities for the CFA Practice Exams, which we organise for candidates and which takes place on a Saturday, a few weeks in advance of the June Exams. Details for the Practice exam for June 2009 Candidates will be posted to the CFA Preparation page from March 2009.

We would  like to acknowledge the support of the NCI to the CFA Program, especially through their course, the Masters in Finance, which covers approx. 70% of the CFA curriculum

CFA Ireland hosted the Final of the Irish Global Investment Research Challenge (GIRC) 2009/10 on 17th February 2010. This is the second Irish GIRC, building on the success of the inaugural Challenge in 2008/9. Five universities took part; NUI Galway, University College Cork, University College Dublin, University of Ulster and Trinity College Dublin.

The Investment Research Challenge is an educational initiative in which leading industry professionals guide business and finance students on how to research and report on a publicly traded company. The Irish IRC spanned four months from November to Febuary, consisting of analysing a public company, mentoring by a professional research analyst, writing a research report, and presenting research results and recommendations to a high-profile panel of experts. The subject company for this year's competition is CRH.  

Marks were awarded to teams on the basis of their written report (50%) and their presentation to the panel of judges (50%). They were  scored on their investment case, their poise, and their ability to answer the judges’ questions.  The winners of the Irish IRC will go on to compete in the European IRC in Istanbul on 24th and 25th March and the winners of that competition will compete in the Global IRC in Hong Kong in April.

The Investment Research Challenge was introduced in 2002 by the New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA) – a member society of CFA Institute – as a means to promote best practices in research among the next generation of analysts. Enthusiasm for the event spread, resulting in the introduction of the CFA Institute Global Investment Research Challenge in 2007.

  “The Challenge brings universities, students, and investment professionals together in a unique fashion that advances the principles of ethics and professional excellence and the value of a career in the finance industry,” said Jeff Diermeier, CFA, CFA Institute past president and CEO.

The 2009/10 Investment Research Challenge is being sponsored by Paragon Executive Intelligence and DAVY

The Academic Mentors for 2009/2010 Global Investment Research Challenge

Cian Twomey, NUIG
http://www.nuigalway.ie/ecn/personnel/peoplepage.php?person_id=16

Prof Louis Murray, UCD http://bit.ly/19ejtE

Dr Jenny Berrill, Trinty College Dublin

Dr Ray Donnelly, UCC http://www.ucc.ie/en/accfin/Staff/Academic/DrRayDonnelly/

Prof Philip Hamill, University of Ulster  http://www.business.ulster.ac.uk/courses/Research/p.hamill.html

The Timetable of the 2009/10 Global Investment Research Challenge

For more information about the Global Investment Research Challenge, click here 
For more information about the Irish Investment Research Challenge, email info@cfaireland.ie