Five students from Politecnico di Milano beat Federico II University of Naples and Ca’ Foscari University of Venice with Technogym’s financial analysis and are now preparing for the EMEA regional competition. The world grand final will be held on 3 May 2023.

The School of Management team of Politecnico di Milano wins the Italian final of the CFA Research Challenge 2023, a global finance competition sponsored by CFA Institute and promoted in our country by CFA Society Italy with the support of PwC Italia and Kaplan Schweser.

The final involved 10 universities, 48 students and over 30 professionals and took place at the PwC Italia headquarters in Milan  on Tuesday 28 February. Teams from the following universities participated in the Italian phase, coordinated by CFA Society Italy: Università Cattolica of Milan, Politecnico di Milano, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Tor Vergata University of Rome, University of Florence, University of Bologna, Sapienza University of Rome, University of Pavia, Polytechnic University of Marche and Federico II University of Naples.

Under the guidance of professors Laura Grassi and Marco Giorgino and mentor Giacomo Saibene, Management Engineering students Alberto Giannetto, Gabriel Mazzante, Andrea Marconi, Giulio Galloni and Alberto Peccol presented their financial analysis on the Technogym stock to a jury of six financial sector experts: Roberto Sollevanti, Andrea Bonfà, Mauro Baragiola, Alberto Mari, CFA, Angelo Meda, CFA, CIPM, Pinuccia Parini.

Politecnico di Milano will continue directly to the EMEA regional semi-finals (Europe, Middle East and Africa), to be held next 6-7 April. As evidence of the high quality of our students and of the professionals who follow them, Italy already won the EMEA regional final in 2011, 2014, 2016 and 2022.

The world grand final will be held on 3 May 2023, where the EMEA, America and Pacific Asia winners will be competing against each other.

“This victory represents an important milestone in our professional careers, and we are proud of our hard work to achieve it. The CFA Research Challenge has given us the opportunity to measure ourselves against other students from other universities and to put into practice the topics we have studied during our academic careers.” These were the first words expressed by Alberto Giannetto, Gabriel Mazzante, Andrea Marconi, Giulio Galloni and Alberto Peccol, members of the winning Italian team. “We sincerely thank our teachers Laura Grassi and Marco Giorgino and our mentor Giacomo Saibene. Without them we would never have reached this milestone. We are looking forward to the next phase of the competition and feel confident moving forward.”

“Over the past 10 years, the Politecnico team has always been able to show its skill both at Italian and international level.” So said Politecnico di Milano professors Laura Grassi, Assistant Professor of Investment Banking, and Marco Giorgino, Full Professor of Financial Markets and Institutions. “As their professors, we are very proud of the skills that our School instils in them, allowing them to achieve these excellent results which are confirmed year after year.”

“After my experience of participating in the CFA Research Challenge as a student in 2011, it has been a great pleasure, as well as an incredible thrill, to mentor this time, helping this amazing team to challenge their limits and construct a solid critical analysis and careful financial evaluation.” said Giacomo Saibene, mentor of the winning team and member of the Italian team that won the world competition in 2011.

“The Research Challenge is an initiative that directs towards important objectives in the world of education and academia. Bringing students closer to the world of work by combining academic knowledge with the techniques and tools used by professionals in the financial sector is getting more and more relevant. Furthermore, we want excellence of our Italian universities to stand out at a European and global level.” commented Giuliano Palumbo, CFA, President of CFA Society Italy.

“In its work over the years, CFA Society Italy has forged a strong relationship with Italian universities to promote the principles of integrity and professional excellence among the younger generations.” said the project co-ordinator, Giuseppe Quarto di Palo, CFA. “We are happy to be able to offer universities and their promising students the opportunity to measure themselves in a realistic competition aimed at reproducing the experience of research offices at management companies or investment houses. The best students are also offered scholarships to access the CFA Programme: our wish is to enable them to obtain a globally recognised certification in the financial sector.”