News

Rutgers Business School Team Wins the 6th Annual NYSSA Investment Research Challenge

April 11, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEWARK AND NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — On Wednesday night (April 9), a team of students from Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick won the sixth annual New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA) Investment Research Challenge, held at The Westin Hotel at Times Square in New York City.

In reaching their victory, the Rutgers Business School students bested teams from seven other top business schools.

The Rutgers team was awarded $5,000 in scholarship funds for Rutgers Business School, and will ring the NASDAQ Stock Market’s closing bell on April 16 at the NASDAQ MarketSite at Times Square.

Afterwards, the team will go on to compete in the 2nd Annual Global Investment Research Challenge on May 1 at Thomson Financial in downtown New York City.

Hosted by NYSSA — a not-for-profit educational organization that is committed to the promotion of best practices and highest ethical standards in the investment community— the Investment Research Challenge is an eight-month educational initiative in which leading industry professionals teach students from top area business schools best practices in securities research.

Following a preliminary round of competition that narrowed the field from eight top area business schools to four finalists, the Rutgers Business School team was selected as the winner by a panel of senior Wall Street executives, based on the combined scores of a written stock report on a publicly traded company and a 10-minute presentation.

The Rutgers team analyzed the stock of subject company W. P. Carey & Co. LLC (NYSE: WPC), a leading global provider of long-term net lease financing for companies worldwide.

During Wednesday night’s final, the Rutgers Business School team outperformed teams from Pace University’s Lubin School of Business, the Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University, and Fordham University’s College of Business Administration. In reaching the finals, Rutgers also bested teams from Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business, The Frank G. Zarb School of Business at Hofstra University, NYU Stern School of Business, and The Peter J. Tobin College of Business at St. John’s University.

Rutgers Business School’s winning team (left to right): Sylvie Nappey, Elizabeth Moore, Dr. Jesse M. Cohen, Benjamin Schmid, and Jorge Barreiro

The Rutgers Business School team is comprised of five undergraduate and graduate students: Jorge Barreiro (undergraduate), Dr. Jesse M. Cohen (Executive MBA program), Elizabeth Moore (MS/MBA program), Sylvie Nappey (Executive MBA program), and Benjamin Schmid (undergraduate).

The team’s industry mentor is Greg Francfort, CFA, the Principal in Francfort & Company, a private investment firm, and an adjunct finance professor at Columbia University, where he co-teaches a course in Security Analysis. A Rutgers University alumnus, Francfort is a retired partner of Neuberger Berman, a division of Lehman Brothers with over $65 billion of assets under management.

Rutgers Business School Finance and Economics Professor John Longo served as faculty advisor to the Rutgers team. Said Dr. Longo, "The depth and breadth of the analysis that our team presented, and their meticulous attention to detail, were tremendously impressive. Our students did a great job, especially with the Valuation and Financial Statement Analysis sections, which I think has been enhanced by our integration of DealMaven's financial modeling software into Rutgers Business School's finance curriculum. This is a great example of how highly competitive Rutgers students are, and a testament to how well we are preparing them for real-world business challenges."

This year’s Investment Research Challenge panel of distinguished judges was chaired by Martin S. Fridson, CFA, president of FridsonVision LLC and publisher of Leverage World. Other panelists are John J. Apruzzese, CFA, managing director at U.S. Trust; Steven Kent, CFA, managing director at Goldman, Sachs & Co.; Jack L. Rivkin, chief investment officer of Neuberger Berman; and Christina Rizopoulos Valauri, managing director and director of equity research, Broadpoint Capital, Inc.

This marks Rutgers Business School’s first overall victory in the NYSSA Investment Research Challenge, and their third time among the “final four” competitor in the competition.
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To download a PDF of the team's winning report, click here*.

About Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick
Rutgers Business School-Newark and New Brunswick is an integral part of one of the nation’s oldest, largest, and most distinguished institutions of higher learning: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. It has been accredited since 1941 by AACSB International–the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business — a distinction that represents the hallmark of excellence in management education. Today, Rutgers Business School is educating more than 4,000 undergraduate and graduate students at two main campuses in New Jersey as well as six satellite locations in New Jersey, China, and Singapore. Steeped in academic excellence, with a distinguished faculty and a corps of over 25,000 successful alumni, Rutgers Business School is highly ranked by the Financial Times, U.S. News & World Report, Business Week, and The Wall Street Journal. Alumni of the school include CEOs and CFOs of leading corporations in the United States and abroad. The school is home to numerous outreach and academic research centers, including the Blanche and Irwin Lerner Center for Pharmaceutical Management Studies, the Prudential Business Ethics Center, and the Rutgers Center for Supply Chain Management, among others. For additional information, visit www.business.rutgers.edu.

*Disclaimer: The information set forth herein has been obtained or derived from sources generally available to the public and believed by the author(s) to be reliable, but the author(s) does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to its accuracy or completeness. The information is not intended to be used as the basis of any investment decisions by any person or entity. This information does not constitute investment advice, nor is it an offer or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security. This report should not be considered to be a recommendation by any individual affiliated with NYSSA or the NYSSA Investment Research Challenge with regard to this company's stock.

Department:
Office of Communication & Marketing
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111 Washington Street
Newark, NJ 07102-3027

Contact:
Bridget Daley, bdaley@business.rutgers.edu
973-353-5177