Research Challenge

CFA Institute Research Challenge

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition that connects university students with investment professionals from within the CFA Society® network. The competition provides students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis and ethics and tests participants' analytical, valuation, reporting writing, and presentation skills.

Members of our society, along with a faculty advisor and an industry mentor, work with teams of students to value a stock, write a research report, and present their recommendations. Teams then compete with peers from other schools at local-level competitions organized and judged by CFA Society members and volunteers. The winning university team(s) from each local competition then advances to see who will become the sub-regional, regional, and global champions. 

Learn more and read FAQs See the schedule and get involved

Each Research Challenge season leverages the efforts of over:

4,000+

Member Volunteers

 from

150+

CFA
Societies

 and

6,200+

Students

 attending

1,100+

Universities

What it is

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. Each student will be tested on their analytic, valuation, report writing, and presentation skills. They gain real-world experience as they assume the role of a research analyst.


How it Works

Local level competitions are organized and judged by CFA Society® members and volunteers who function as local hosts.

The winning university team from each local competition advances to one of the three regional competitions.

The regional and global competitions are hosted by CFA Institute in the Americas; the Asia Pacific; and the Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions. The winning teams from each regional competition advance to the Global Final, where one team emerges as the global champion.


How to Get Involved

The Research Challenge provides all participants – both individuals and organizations – with incredible opportunities to get involved.

  • Students: Find out if your university participates by asking your professor, our Society, or checking the participating universities list.
  • Universities: Form your team and give students the opportunity to compete against their peers and gain real-world experience.
  • Employers: Become a judge, mentor, grader, speaker, or corporate sponsor.


Questions?


To join the Research Challenge or for more information please contact us using below form:

CFA Institute Research Challenge 2026-2027 Japan Competition

Subject Company

Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.

Schedule

Aug 1 Kick off Meeting

Sep 9 IR Meeting by Subject Company, Q&A session

Sep 18 Follow-up Meeting

Oct 15 Submission of the final report to CFA Japan Evaluation by graders (2 weeks)

Nov 4 Announcement of 12 teams that advance to semi-final competition

Nov 30 Announcement of 6 teams that advance to the final competition

Dec 5 Final Competition and Awards Ceremony

Participating Universities

Akita International University A/B
Aoyama Gakuin University A/B
Hitotsubashi University A/B/C/D
Institute of Science Tokyo
International Christian University
Keio University A/B/C/D/E
Kobe University
Kyoto University A/B/C/D
Kyushu University A /B
Rikkyo Univeristy
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University A/B
Ritsumeikan University
Sophia University A/B

The University of Tokyo A/B/C
Tohoku University
Tokyo Metropolitan University
University of Tsukuba
Waseda University 
Yokohama National University A/B

Sponsors

Platinum Sponsor:

SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.

Factset Pacific Inc.

Gold Sponsor:

Invesco Asset Management (Japan) Limited

Nomura Asset Management Co., Ltd.

T&D Holdings, Inc.

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co., Ltd.

Educational Sponsor:

UWorld LLC

Research Challenge Japan Competition Promotional Video​

（Japanese Subtitles）https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymX3IeK2WAI​

（English Subtitles）　https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMQm_ysBhls