UP Presentation on EDC Tops Global Investment Research Challenge Worldwide

 

GIRC 

The best of the best.  L-R: EDC Investor Relations Officer Baby Clemente, CFA Philippines President April Lynn Tan, UP’s Choerleen Solema, Jose Mari Punzalan, Raymund Li, Pamela Li & Rachel Sison, UP faculty & team coach Gavin Lee, EDC Investor Relations Manager Erudito Recio, & CFA Philippines Denis Du & Ernie Francisco.

UP tops them all.  We have reason to be proud again as the Philippine colors shone the brightest in the recently concluded Global Investment Research Challenge (IRC) held in HongKong.  Five business administration and accounting students from the University of the Philippines prove that Filipinos can hold their own against the best of the world when they emerged top winners in the IRC.  Raymund Li, Choerleen Solema, Jose Mari Punzalan, Pamela Li and Rachel Sison of the UP College of Business Administration overcame tough competition against Brigham Young University from the Americas region, Fordham University from New York region, and University of Cape Town from EMEA region before being declared the global winner. Prior to winning the global championship, UP had to hurdle competition from schools in the Philippines and then in Asia-Pacific. For the regional finals, UP bested 15 universities from China, HongKong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Korea, India, Japan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka to earn the right to represent Asia-Pacific in the global finals.  This year’s competition had over 425 universities all over the world participating.

The UP students’ presentation and recommendation on Energy Development Corporation (EDC) as a buy impressed and convinced the panel of judges composed of investment industry experts from all over the world.  In their presentation, they recommended that investors buy shares of the Philippines largest geothermal company citing EDC’s stock price’s upside potential given its industry leadership, the country’s power supply problems, and the Renewable Energy law.

The IRC is a worldwide annual competition organized by the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute (CFAI) to provide university students with unparalleled real world experience in equity research and company analysis. Over 425 universities worldwide sent representatives to the regional competitions held in the Americas, Asia Pacific, EMEA, and New York to determine the four teams that competed in the global final, which was held in Hong Kong.

“Winning the Global IRC is very special for us and we are grateful for all the help and support we received throughout the process. We hope this will help raise recognition of the quality of the financial services talent in the Philippines,” said Raymund Siegfrid O. Li, team member, University of the Philippines. “Participating in the Global IRC was an incredible learning experience for us – especially since we are undergraduate students and the challenge requirements went beyond what is being taught in our current courses. We are grateful for the practical insight we gained through this once-in-a-lifetime experience and are confident it will create new opportunities for us.”

Commenting on the event, John Rogers, CFA, President and CEO of CFA Institute, said: “My congratulations go to the University of the Philippines for winning the fourth annual Global IRC. Since its inception in 2007, the competition has gone from strength to strength, thanks to the determination and commitment of universities, students, industry professionals, and societies from across the world. This year, more than 90 CFA Institute member societies hosted local competitions, with over 425 universities and 2,000 students from many of the world’s top finance schools participating.  I was extremely impressed with the final four teams’ research and presentations and would like to applaud their skill and tenacity. We at CFA Institute hope that the experience has helped to instill ethics and best practices in what may be the next generation of investment professionals.”

For his part, EDC President & COO Richard Tantoco vows to support worthy projects that will help students gain knowledge and acquire hands-on experience in equity research.  “This is a very good exercise in developing future investment and financial analysts.  I am happy that EDC is able to participate in undertakings that would again put the Philippines in a very distinguished position and make every Filipino beam with pride.”   

This is the first time for the Philippines to win this tough contest.  The global winners from the past three years came from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, Hong Kong Baptist University, and Babson College in Boston, USA.