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Three teams each from Singapore Management University (SMU), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS) emerged as winners of the NUS-SGX Stock Pitch Competition finals held last night in Singapore Exchange’s (SGX) auditorium.
A record 85 teams participated in the competition, originating from SMU, NTU, NUS, Singapore Institute of Management as well as Singapore University of Technology and Design which participated in the competition for the first time.
This annual tertiary-wide stock pitch competition, currently in its 4th year, serves as a platform for tertiary students to showcase equity research skills and have their stock pitch ideas critiqued and validated by a panel of professional judges, comprising equity research analysts, finance professionals and academics.
The top winner was an SMU team of four accountancy, business management and economics undergraduates who made a pitch on SingTel. The first runner-up was an NTU team of four accountancy and business undergraduates who picked Sheng Shiong, while the second runner-up was an NUS team of four business undergraduates who pitched for Best World.
This year’s judges included Beng Hooi Th’ng, Managing Director, AB Maximus; Stuart Hau, Director and Head of Futures Execution Sales & Client Strategy, Asia Pacific, Barclays; Daryl Liew, Co-Chair, Advocacy Committee, CFA Singapore; Mervin Song, Vice President, Equity Research, DBS Group Research; Clement Chen, Executive Director, Global Investment Research, Goldman Sachs; Vikas Gupta, Managing Director and Head of South-East Asia in Currency and Emerging Markets Trading, J.P. Morgan; Professor Hon Sing Lee, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head of Finance Department, NUS Business School.
To simulate the hectic schedule and dynamic environment which investment analysts and asset managers commonly face, the participants had five days to submit a research report setting out a “buy/sell/hold” recommendation on a single stock over a one-year investment time horizon. Based on the report submission, eight finalist teams were selected, and given just 48 hours to prepare the final presentation. The judging criteria included quality of the analysis, presentation delivery and responses during the question and answer session.
Lynn Gaspar, Senior Vice President for Client Development & Relationship, SGX, said, “This year’s finalists had stock recommendations that reflect a bullish outlook for the year ahead. During the competition, the students demonstrated breadth of valuation techniques and fundamental financial analysis, and did a good job of defending their assumptions and understanding of the companies’ business during the pitch. As the competition continues to rack up record participation, we hope it inspires our students to pursue fast-paced careers in investments or trading, and gives them confidence to start investing early.”
