Top marks: The winning team of (from left), Nomsa Kachingwe, Mark Pomroy, lecturer Dr Francois Toerien, Michael Vermeulen, Brendan Meehan and Claire Mas.

A team from the School of Management Studies in the Faculty of Commerce has won the Europe, Middle East, and Africa regional final of the CFA Institute Global Investment Research Challenge, the worldwide university competition for financial analysts of the future.

This took place in Istanbul on 25 March, attracting more than 1 500 students from more than 425 universities worldwide.

The team of five BBusSci students trumped the competition from Bahrain, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom. They now proceed to the global finals in Hong Kong on 17 April.

The team of Mark Pomroy, Michael Vermeulen, Nomsa Kachingwe, Brendan Meehan, and Claire Mas, presented and defended a report on independent sugar company Tongaat Hulett to a panel of investment industry experts.

Management Studies head Dr Shannon Kendal said: "This speaks to the quality of our students and the first-class teaching that they received during their BBusSci degree."

He also paid tribute to the staff who supported the student team, in particular to Dr Francois Toerien, Ashwin Prayag and Claudia Kalil.

Nitin Mehta, the CFA Institute's managing director, said: "My congratulations go to [the] University of Cape Town for their well-deserved triumph in this tough competition. It is a great achievement to have our first African team competing in the global finale, in this the year of the football World Cup.

"UCT won by demonstrating the virtues important for success in the investment profession: ethics, analytics, rigour and tenacity– Now [the] University of Cape Town will carry the hopes of the EMEA region as they enter the global final."

The challenge is an educational initiative in which leading industry professionals guide business and finance students on how to research and report on a publicly-traded company. This event spanned one academic year. Teams had to analyse a public company, write a research report, and present research results and recommendations to a high-profile panel of experts. They were also mentored by a professional research analyst.

Arthur Thompson, president of CFA South Africa (who sponsored the students), said: "I am very pleased to congratulate UCT on winning the regional final of the Challenge. CFA South Africa is proud to have sponsored the team on their journey through this competition, and I wish the team all the best for the next stage of the challenge, the global finale, at which they will represent our country."