(left to right) Chris Wakefield (team advisor and coach), Jack Skerman, Caitlin Hendren, Jonathan Manickam (Captain), Nicholas Steyn and Nicolas Adams.
The University of Canterbury’s (UC) top finance students have won the biggest finance competition in the country to secure their place representing New Zealand in South Korea.
The CFA Society of New Zealand hosted the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Institute’s Research Challenge in Auckland on 11 October where eight New Zealand universities competed against each other to win the right to represent New Zealand in South Korea.
UC took the top spot at the local finals and the team will represent New Zealand in March 2020 at the Asia Pacific Regional Finals in Seoul, South Korea.
For the competition, the team of five students spent 11 weeks preparing a professional valuation report on New Zealand stock exchange listed company Z Energy followed by a presentation in Auckland. The team had access to Z Energy’s investor relations team, could submit questions to Z Energy management and use the support, resources and advice from their assigned faculty and industry advisors.
Team captain Jonathan Manickam, a third year Bachelor of Commerce student in Finance and Economics, hopes that the business school will increase its support of the competition given the team’s accomplishment this year.
“The success of our team is due to the unique and diverse skillset that each member possessed.”
“We learnt so many new skills and techniques during this competition and have enjoyed the opportunities to question company staff and receive guidance. The choice of company proved very topical, given the recent Saudi Arabia oil attacks that caused supply shocks and the Commerce Commission inquiry into the profitability of downstream fuel retailers” Manickam says.
Team coach and advisor Chris Wakefield said “this experience provides the students incredible exposure to potential future employers in the financial industry and we are looking forward to representing New Zealand in South Korea next year.”
Representing UC were Jonathan Manickam (BCom Finance and Economics), Nicolas Adams (MCom Economics), Caitlin Hendren (BCom Accounting and Finance), Jack Skerman (BSc Honours Mathematics), and Nicholas Steyn (BSc Honours Applied Mathematics). Chris Wakefield (4th year Masters Applied Finance and Economics) coached the team with industry advice from Nick Webb who is a credit trader with Westpac and UC alumnus.
This year the global competition has involved 6200 students and 4000 volunteers (coaches, advisors, judges) from over 1100 universities representing over 90 countries.
For more information contact:
Aleisha Blake, Senior Communications Advisor, University of Canterbury, phone: 03 369 4375 email: aleisha.blake@canterbury.ac.nz
