CFA Society Chicago Names IIT Champion in the CFA Institute Research Challenge Local Level

CHICAGO - Feb. 23, 2016 - PRLog -- Chicago, IL – The Illinois Institute of Technology Stuart School of Business (http://stuart.iit.edu/) team was selected as the winner of the CFA Institute Research Challenge Local Level, hosted by CFA Society Chicago on Feb. 5th, 2016. The Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) team had the highest overall score, defeating teams from Loyola University Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Valparaiso University.

The Illinois Institute of Technology Stuart School of Business team will advance to compete in the CFA Institute Americas regional competition the week of April 13 in Chicago, Illinois. The winner of the regional competition will then vie for the global title on April 14 in Chicago, Illinois.

IIT team members, Venkata B. Chintaluri, Samuel Doan, Ming-Tao Lee, Rasinee Pongchairerks and Salonie Sehgal worked with IIT faculty advisor Michael Rybak, CFA, and industry mentor Steve Schwartz, CFA on their winning project.

Five teams were judged on a written equity research report.  These final five teams gave an oral presentation that summarized their research and recommendation of Mead Johnson, a global leader in pediatric nutrition. The company develops, manufactures, markets and distributes more than 70 products in over 50 countries worldwide. The Mead Johnson name has been associated with science-based pediatric nutrition products for over 100 years. The company's "Enfa" family of brands, including Enfamil® infant formula, is the world's leading brand franchise in pediatric nutrition.

A CFA charterholder and CFA Society Chicago member mentored each participating team, and all participants were introduced and held to the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. The teams’ research and conclusions were based on interactions with senior executives at Mead Johnson, investment thesis and risks analysis, financial modeling, valuation, comparable benchmarking and scenario creation.

The IIT team winners along with the second and third place teams received various prizes sponsored by CFA Society Chicago.

This year’s local challenge was hosted by CFA Society Chicago, www.cfachicago.org. Additional information on the Research Challenge and its participants can be found on the CFA Institute website and CFA Society Chicago website.

CFA Society Chicago aims to lead the investment profession by promoting the highest standards of ethics, education, and professional excellence; to shape an investment industry that serves the greater good; and to serve as the premier local resource for Chartered Financial Analyst designees, candidates, other investment professionals and our communities. Founded in 1925, CFA Society Chicago has more than 4,200 members and is the world's oldest investment analysts' society.

CFA Institute, the global association for investment professionals, administers the CFA, CIPM and Claritas curriculum and exam programs worldwide; publishes research; conducts professional development programs; and sets voluntary, ethics-based professional and performance-reporting standards for the investment industry. CFA Institute has over 129,000 members in 145 countries and territories, including more than 123,000 CFA charterholders and 146 member societies. Please visit www.cfainstitute.org for additional information.