Last month, the BJU School of Business entered the Chartered Financial Analyst Institute Research Challenge for the first time in the history of the school. This marks an important step in BJU’s plans to expand its financial programs available for students.

The CFA Research Challenge is a global competition that involves over 1,000 universities from close to 100 different countries. Teams of students work over multiple months to develop a financial analysis based on a real-world company situation. After creating an analysis, complete with a buy, sell, or hold stock assessment, teams file an initial report to a local board of judges.

Local teams that pass the first stage of the challenge will advance to the sub-regionals in Atlanta, then to regionals in New York, and, if they are successful, to the global finals.

Representing the School of Business in the 2025 competition are students Gabe Unger, Samuel Xiang, Marshall Hill, Reid Schoeffler and Karis Saldivar, who together represent both accounting and business administration majors. Mr. Jeremy Weaver serves as faculty advisor.

Work on the challenge began in October 2024, with students spending months gathering and evaluating data.

“Sources used by the team include public company data from research databases, annual SEC filings, multiple analyst reports, and even an online Zoom presentation with Carter’s management team,” Mr. Weaver said.

The team submitted the final report on Jan. 27 and is currently awaiting the results of the local stage.

The school plans to continue the challenge into the foreseeable future, with lessons learned benefiting the students in next year’s team. Participating in the challenge is part of a series of long-term goals the School of Business has for becoming a CFA affiliated university and introducing a new Certified Financial Planner track.

Students interested in joining future teams should be prepared for an intensive but worthwhile learning experience.

“While it’s not like a ‘second job’ so to speak, it is work and you have to work within a team and their schedule,” Mr. Weaver explained. “It is a great thing to add to a finance or accounting resume, but we don’t ‘give it’ away.  If you want a challenge and you are a hard worker with ambition, it’s second to none to get experience.”

For more information on the CFA Research Challenge, visit Research Challenge | CFA Institute.