The BIBF Team Wins Second Place at the MENA CFA Research Challenge

The Bahrain Institute of Banking & Finance (BIBF) was announced the second place winner of this year’s MENA CFA Research Challenge that took place in Dubai, beating eight different universities from the MENA region: Bahrain, UAE, KSA, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan and Cyprus.

Initially, the second place winning team (Fatema Al Marzooq, Rawan Al Mansoor, Razan Al Mansoor, and Abdulla Naeem), competed in the Research Challenge Competition in Bahrain against six other local universities in a close competition. The competition was hosted by the CFA Society Bahrain, the Kingdom’s pre-eminent association for local investment professionals.

The competing teams analysed the financial performance of Aluminum Bahrain (Alba), which were then judged by CFA Society Bahrain and representatives from different financial institutions based on accuracy, insight and thorough analysis. After that, the teams were presented to a panel of judges an equity research report on Alba, followed by a Q&A session led by the judges.

The teams were closely mentored by a professional research analyst and CFA Charterholder during the initial research process. After drafting the report and receiving feedback from the designated mentor, each team writes a final research report that is presented to a panel of experts from top financial institutions.

Congratulating the winning team, The BIBF Director Dr. Ahmed Abdulhameed Al Shaikh said, “We are extremely proud of our students who have displayed their great efforts in winning this important competition. This achievement is testament to the excellence in quality of education and training provided at the BIBF. We thank the CFA Society and the distinguished mentors for their efforts in supporting the students and we look forward to participating in the next purposeful competition.”