Huntsman Students Celebrate Third Consecutive CFA Win

Students from the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University are celebrating their third consecutive win at the state-level competition of the CFA Institute Research Challenge in Salt Lake City.

Collin Butterfield, Peyton Knight, Callin Christensen, and Chris Haddock won first place at the annual event, with their fellow Aggie teammates Grant Brinkerhoff, Lincoln Archibald, Poorya Mehrabinia, and JD Thorn, winning second place. Westminster’s team took home third place, and the University of Utah and Southern Utah University tied for fourth

 “This is our third year in a row winning the state level. We are so very proud of both teams, these incredible students and what they have accomplished,” said Paul B. Fjeldsted, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Economics and Finance.

TJ Bond, Pedram Jahangiry, Michael Hendricks, and Fjeldsted, from the Department of Economics and Finance, were the team’s advisors.

Butterfield, who was captain of the first-place team, said the group’s unique talents and perspectives helped them tackle the research and valuation.

“Each of us worked so hard and put in several hours of work both individually and as a group,” Butterfield said. “The fact that we were all on the same page and had the same vision from the start gave us the motivation to push through the hard and slow times.”

"The students represented themselves and the Huntsman School with a high level of rigor, competence and professionalism,” Fjeldstead said. “The strong support of our mentor team TJ Bond, Pedram Jahangiry, and Michael Hendricks was crucial to the successful outcome," he added. 

After the winners were announced, Butterfield said it was quite the feeling knowing their hard work and late nights paid off. “I think I can speak for the whole team and say that when we were announced as the winners, there was a rush of excitement, pride and relief.”

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and professional ethics. Teams research and analyze a designated publicly traded company and then prepare a written report on that company that supports a buy, sell, or hold recommendation. Students receive advice and support from a faculty advisor and an industry mentor and then present and defend their findings to a panel of industry experts.

The USU teams will be heading to the Americas Regional Competition in New York City in April, joining the top 50 teams from North and South America to compete.