On Friday, October 18, 2013, in the Institute of Postgraduate Education, was officially opened the 4th CFA Institute Research Challenge in Ukraine – the most prestigious competition in equity research for students in the world. 

This year in the Challenge participate more than 120 students from 25 Universities in 15 regions of Ukraine. Last year CFA Institute Research Challenge in Ukraine became the biggest competition in EMEA Region and, as a result, two teams took part in the Regional Finals.

The Kick-Off Meeting was opened by welcoming speech of the Founder of CFA Institute Research Challenge in Ukraine - Tatiana Nichosova, CFA, PhD, who motivate students to work hard under the research reports as a basis of strong knowledge and practical skills.

Tatiana introduced to audience the representative of Thompson Reuters, Account Manager, CIS – Oleg Uliev. As a Global Information Sponsor, Thompson Reuters Representative welcomes students on the competition and announced the opportunity to use the demo access to Thompson Reuters Terminal during the Challenge. The opportunity to use demo access to the Terminals bring a great value to students providing them with new knowledge in reliable sources of information as well as increase of report quality.

After opening remarks, students had a chance to hear the key aspect how to start successful career from professional recruiter - Elena Matviychuk, Career Development Committee at CFA Society Ukraine, and experience investment professional – Artem Kost, CFA, Manager, Transaction Services at KPMG.

Elena gave advices how to start the career in investment industry for junior specialist focusing on the most important stages of career development. She told students how to choose the subject company – the employer you want to work for; how to write the CV that attracts an attention of HR –specialist; how to succeed on the interview, and, finally encourage students to be persistent in their job searching.

As a Manager at KMPG, Artem Kost focused the attention of students on importance and value of participation in the Challenge for graduate students. He introduced the opportunity of career development in KPMG as a Premium Sponsor of CFA Institute Research Challenge in Ukraine.
Afterwards, students had an educational session of presentation started by speech on Ukrainian Association of Investment Professionals as a member of global community by Andrey Bespyatov, CFA, PhD, President at CFA Society Ukraine, Managing Director, Head of Research Department at Dragon Capital. Andrey told students about CFA Institute as a world-wide association of investment professionals focusing on importance of ethical behavior in decision-making. The President of the Society encourages students and academics to become a part of the world-wide recognized standard of professional excellence – CFA Program.

The President of CFA Society Ukraine welcomed the visiting speaker – Meir Statman, Glenn Klimek Professor of Finance at Santa Clara University, and Visiting Professor at Tilburg University in the Netherlands. Meir presents his outcomes of the research: “What investors really want: Lessons from Behavior Finance”. Meir Statman made a great presentation on behavior finance with a lot of interesting and brand new information for students.
The Official Opening continued by Subject Company Presentation. This year the role of Subject Company plays SES – the leading satellite operator in the world that owns and operates a fleet of 54 geostationary. SES headquartered in Luxembourg. SES is listed on Euronext Paris and on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange (SESG). SES Representatives – Oleksandr Pelekh, Project Manager, Lars Anderson, Operation Manager, and Mila Filinkova, PR Manager, made an introduction of the company as well as industry overview. The presentation was followed by Q&A session and each team had an opportunity to put one question to SES Representatives. After company presentation Representatives made a lottery for students providing team with presents for correct answers on questions about SES.

This year CFA Institute Research Challenge is supported by Principal Sponsor – FitchLearning, a global financial services training company; Global Information Sponsor - Thomson Reuters, world's leading source of intelligent information; Premium Sponsor – KPMG, one of the largest professional services company.

Representatives from more than 10 leading investment, audit and advisory companies participate in the Challenge as mentors: Dragon Capital, Concorde Capital, KPMG, EY, Deloitte, The Boston Consulting Group, ATKerney, AYA Capital, ADM Capital, Arbis Capital, Activ Solar, SP Advisors, SKIE Advisers, EXIM Consulting, Ogilchyn Capital, Visum Capital, Yakaboo, Huawei etc.

On behalf of CFA Society Ukraine, we wish all team good luck! Each team should work hard to succeed in their written reports! 

CFA Ukraine is Ukrainian Society of Investment Professionals that unites more than 200 representatives of the investment profession within the country. Organization is a part of the worldwide network of CFA Institute 138 member societies.
CFA Ukraine key objectives are to create local investment professional network, to provide comprehensive continuous educational opportunities, to provide career development and job placement opportunities for its members, to increase awareness in Ukraine about CFA Program and CFA designation as the global standard for investment profession, to enhance implementation of CFA Institute principals of ethics, education. For more details, please, visit www.cfaukraine.org.

About Fitch Learning

Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial and risk, legal, tax and accounting, intellectual property and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs approximately 60,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. 
KPMG is one of the largest professional services company in the world and one of the Big Four auditors. KPMG has been working in Ukraine since 1992, and our goal has always been to use the firm's global intellectual potential, combined with the practical experience of our Ukrainian professionals, to help leading companies to achieve their goals.