Mumbai– Indian Institute of Management Shillong advanced to the Asia Pacific regional final of the 2011 Global Investment Research Challenge (Global IRC), hosted by the CFA Institute, the global association of investment professionals. The university was one of six selected out of 16 teams from across Asia Pacific.

From around the world, more than 500 universities have participated this year in local competitions, culminating to the final of Global IRC. They include more than 600 students from 142 universities from Asia Pacific.

The grand finale of Global IRC will be held in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States, where investment guru Warren Buffet will be the guest of honor at the event.

In the Asia Pacific challenge held in Indonesia last week, 16 student teams, the winners of local competitions in Japan, South Korea, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia and New Zealand, took part. The event was sponsored by the Indonesia Stock Exchange, Bank Mandiri and Telkom Indonesia.

Six teams were selected to the Asia Pacific final, including:

• National University of Science and Technology – Pakistan
• University of the Philippines, Diliman – the Philippines
• Thammasat University – Thailand
• Indian Institute of Management, Shillong – India
• University of Sri Jayawardenepura – Sri Lanka
• Massey University – New Zealand

Dr Ashvin Vibhakar, managing director of Asia Pacific Operations, CFA Institute commented, “The mission of CFA Institute is to prepare future leaders in the investment profession. Through the Global IRC, the future generation of investment professionals comes to know the rigor and high ethical standards required of investment management.”

“Business and finance schools from top universities across Asia Pacific have increasingly recognized the value and benefits of participating in the Global IRC, with the number of teams growing dramatically from 29 in 2008 to 142 this year. It is worth noting that eight of the 16 Asia Pacific teams are from universities who are CFA Program Partners, which means the universities teach the CFA curriculum in specific academic programs,” he said.

In the Global IRC, students evaluate a listed company for detailed analysis and are mentored by a CFA charterholder. At the final presentation stage, the teams present to and face questions from an international panel of judges comprising of leading finance professionals, who hold the students to real world professional standards in analysis and ethics.

Judging panelists in the Asia Pacific final included: Poltak Hotradero from the Indonesian Stock Exchange; Keisuke Ito, CFA, from Japan; Aaron Low, CFA, from Singapore; Jane Shao, CFA, from China and Peter Wilmshurst, CFA, from Australia. They commented that the quality of presentations was outstanding, and all finalist teams performed extremely well.

The 16 teams in the Asia Pacific semi final of the Global IRC include:

	Country/ Territory	University	Company analyzed
	Beijing, China	Peking University*	Beijing Ufsoft Company Limited
	Shanghai, China	China Europe International Business School	SAIC Motor Corporation Limited
	Hong Kong, China	The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology*	Dynasty Fine Wines Group Limited
	India	Indian Institute of Management, Shillong	Exide Industries
	Indonesia	Universitas Indonesia	London Sumatra Plantation
	Japan	University of Tsukuba	COOKPAD Inc.
	South Korea	Yonsei University*	Shinsung Delta Tech
	Malaysia	Sunway University College	Axiata Group Berhad
	Melbourne, Australia	La Trobe University*	JB Hi-Fi Limited
	New Zealand	Massey University*	Cavalier Corporation Limited
	Pakistan	National University of Science and Technology	Hub Power Company Limited
	Philippines	University of the Philippines, Diliman	Metro Pacific Investments Corporation
	Singapore	National University of Singapore*	Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Holdings Limited
	Sri Lanka	University of Sri Jayawardenepura	Asian Hotels & Properties PLC
	Taiwan	National Chengchi University*	Synnex Corporation
	Thailand	Thammasat University*	Home Product Centre Public Company
*CFA Program Partners