Awards and Distinctions

WU students excel with their financial expertise

11/03/2024

WU Institute for Finance, Banking and Insurance wins two CFA Society Austria distinctions

The WU Institute for Finance, Banking and Insurance currently has two successes to celebrate: The WU team won the vote of the jury at the CFA Research Challenge 2024 – and the bachelor’s thesis of a WU student was awarded the CFA Society Austria Prize.

Every year, the CFA (Chartered Financial Analysts) Society Austria supports young finance specialists by awarding prizes and scholarships for outstanding academic theses and organizing challenges where students can put their financial knowledge to the test.

This year, WU students delivered two impressive achievements: A team of WU Finance & Accounting MSc students took first place in the Austrian edition of the CFA Research Challenge 2024. The aim of this challenge is to analyze a listed company, write an equity research report, and present this report. The report on PORR AG presented by the WU team won the jury vote for the best student performance.

“I’m thrilled that we’ve won the Austrian competition for the second year in a row,” says Manfred Frühwirth from the WU Institute for Finance, Banking and Insurance, who was the academic supervisor of the winning team. “Now we’ll be focusing on the next round, and we hope to eventually make it to the world finals.”
The CFA Research Challenge is a global competition with four rounds: By winning at the Austrian level, the WU team has qualified for the sub-regional elimination round (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). The challenge ends with the grand world finals, which will take place in Warsaw on May 13, 2024.

An outstanding bachelor’s thesis

[Translate to English:] CFA Lahrmann

This year’s CFA Society Austria Prize was another success story for WU. This prize is awarded annually to honor outstanding bachelor’s, master’s, or diploma theses and dissertations that deal with the topic of investments, banking, and finance. WU student Maximilian Lahrmann took third place with his bachelor’s thesis this year.

His thesis entitled “Validity of Wikifolio Rankings,” supervised by WU Senior Assistant Professor Michaela Nettekoven, deals with the Austrian company Wikifolio. This social trading platform allows users to create model portfolios and share their trading strategies with other people. Maximilian Lahrmann took a close look at the platform’s rating system and tested its effectiveness. His research showed that Wikifolio’s ratings can be a helpful indicator for making investment decisions.

The CFA Society Austria Prize is awarded on the basis of practical relevance, presentation, the innovative nature of the approach taken, and the research methodology used. The prize is a CFA scholarship that covers all costs for the CFA exams (levels I, II, and III) required to earn the title of chartered financial analyst (CFA).

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