Finance
UST Finance Students Compete on Global Stage in CFA Research Challenge
A select team of students from the University of St. Thomas’ Cameron School of Business has officially launched its bid for the FY 2025–2026 Texas Region CFA (Certified Financial Analyst) Institute Research Challenge, a prestigious competition often referred to as the “Investment Olympics” for university students.
The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual competition that provides university students with hands-on mentoring and intensive training in financial analysis. The competition tests students’ analytical, valuation, report writing and presentation skills, challenging them to take on the role of real-world research analysts. The 2025–2026 cycle involves more than 6,000 students from more than1,000 universities worldwide.
Representing UST, the team is comprised of Team Captain Chih Jung Ting, MSF; Vice-Captain Daria Kostyukova, BBA/MSF; Reginald Paolo Laudato, BBA/MSF; Simon Wong, BBA in Finance; and Anjali Sebastian, BBA in Finance.
The team of five students has been selected to conduct an exhaustive equity analysis of a target company, competing against top-tier universities from around the Texas area.
“Taking part in the CFA Research Challenge has been the most intense and rewarding experience of my academic career,” said Chih Jung Ting, team captain. “We aren’t just reading case studies anymore—we are digging into real balance sheets, forecasting real economic shifts, and learning how to defend our ideas under pressure. It’s given us a true taste of what it means to be an analyst.”
The team is supported by Department Chair of Economics and Finance Dr. Joe Ueng, CFA, and faculty advisor Dr. Dan Hu. Assisting the team was industry mentor Matt Caire, CFA, CFP®, CMT from Vaughan Nelson, a seasoned professional who provides guidance on the intricacies of equity research.
“Our participation in the CFA Research Challenge is a testament to the caliber of our students and the strength of our curriculum,” said Dr. Ueng. “By applying advanced financial theory to a live market scenario, our students demonstrate that they are not just learners, but emerging professionals ready to contribute to the global financial community. We are incredibly proud of their dedication to academic excellence.”
Dr. Sidika Gülfem Bayram, the Cullen Foundation Endowed Chair of Finance and UST associate professor of Finance said participating in the CFA Research Challenge this year creates a pivotal moment for UST students.
“I’m impressed to see our students apply their curriculum knowledge to meet the depth and vast nature of the analysis required in such a fierce competition,” Dr. Bayram said. “I’m so proud of the effort the students put into the challenge.”
This year, the team has been tasked with analyzing Green Brick Partners, a publicly traded company in the consumer cyclical sector. During the past several months, the students have dedicated more than 150 hours to conducting a deep-dive analysis of the company’s business model and industry position, interviewing company management and financial experts, building complex financial models to determine the stock’s intrinsic value, and compiling an “Initiation of Coverage” report with a buy, sell or hold recommendation.
“Participating in the CFA Research Challenge allows our students to bridge the gap between classroom theory and the fast-paced world of investment management,” said Dr. Hu. “It demands a level of rigor and professional ethics that prepares them for the highest levels of the finance industry.”
The team will presented its findings and defended its recommendation before a panel of judges from leading investment firms at the CFA Society local final in late February. Winners of the local competition will advance to the subregional and regional rounds, with the goal of reaching the global finals in May 2026.
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Why did you choose to attend Bentley?
I wanted to find a school that allowed me to combine both business and language.
I grew up working in my family’s restaurants in Western Mass., so I have been surrounded by business from an early age. As I got older and started working more intensely in this environment, I developed a real passion for the ins-and-outs of business.
On top of that, my grandparents are Chinese immigrants, so the Chinese culture has always played a big role in my life. Since I studied Mandarin Chinese starting in kindergarten, the ability to continue that at college was non-negotiable. When I toured Bentley, it all clicked and felt as though I’d be able to pursue all my interests to their fullest extent.
What stood out about the Language, Culture and Business major, and Finance minor?
What really drew me to Bentley’s Language, Culture and Business major was that it wasn’t just language studies — it also highlighted global perspectives and how to adapt to a highly globally connected business environment. At the same time, I was interested in the analytical and strategic side of business, which led me to the Finance minor.
Together, I believe they allow me to approach business problems and solutions from both a quantitative and human-centered perspective. My finance background gives me the technical foundation to analyze performance and then make strategic decisions, while Language, Culture and Business has helped me understand the people and environment that those decisions impact.
Are there specific Bentley professors or classes that helped you connect the dots between finance and culture?
Yes, several of the required courses for my Language, Culture and Business major really helped me understand how cultural context influences economic behavior, negotiation styles and decision-making. Pairing these skills with my finance courses allowed me to think more critically about how financial strategies play out in global markets and where cultural nuances can directly impact outcomes.
If I were to choose what course has impacted my choices the most, I would say Chinese for Business I (MLCH 201) and Chinese for Business II (MLCH 208) taught by Fei Yu, assistant professor of Modern Languages. I thoroughly enjoyed taking these courses because they made me realize that language can be applied to so many industries and made my aspirations to work internationally seem possible and within reach. I also gained important skills such as interview skills and resume skills.
At Bentley, there’s a strong culture of encouraging students to explore multiple interests and see how they connect for future careers.
Were there other campus experiences that helped blend your cultural and business interests?
Yes — being involved in organizations such as the Women’s Leadership Program and the Bentley Dance Team helped me work with diverse groups of people and develop strong interpersonal skills. Additionally, studying abroad in Florence, Italy, made me comfortable with change and sparked a new fire to continue learning about cultures other than my own.
It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense, does it? Someone decides to go to war, the oil stops flowing, prices go up and our economy starts shutting down.
The best response we can come up with is to raise interest rates, to dampen demand a little more. As if doubling the price of petrol won’t do that enough.
Problem is, raising interest rates only hurts people with mortgages and renters, typically not high on the wealth ladder. People with no debt get more money, and will spend it. And the rising interest rates hurt the businesses that have already been hit. Just when we want to raise supply.
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Besides interest rates, standard macroeconomic thinking is there’s only one other lever. We could reduce net government spending, which is hard to do when you’ve just cut taxes on diesel and petrol, which will fuel demand just when you don’t want that to happen.
But there may be a third way. To our collective credit, Australia has set up what many regard as the world’s best superannuation system. As at December 2025, we had close to $4.5 trillion set aside for our futures. And, every hour of every day, 12% of our income is added to the pile.
It’s been suggested that the super guarantee levy might be used as the third ‘lever’ to modulate the economy, in addition to fiscal and monetary policy.
This was actually one of the arguments used when the levy was introduced back in 1992. Instead of giving workers a wage rise, which might trigger wage-inflation, Bill Kelty and Paul Keating negotiated a compulsory savings scheme. Workers would benefit, but not immediately.
Perhaps it’s worth revisiting that negotiation. Say you want to set the levy at 12% over the long term. When times are tough you might put the 12% rate down a little to stimulate the economy. Instead of a $100 wage and $12 in super, people get $102 for now and $10 for later. We get through.
Or, when inflation is running you might nudge the 12% up a little to constrain demand. The extra isn’t paid by business. Instead of the $100 wage and $12 in super, people get $98 for now and $14 for later. Given the cost of living crisis, maybe the lever only cuts in above a certain income.
This would arguably be fairer, easier and more effective than the interest rate sledgehammer. It would inject or remove the same amount of money from the economy. But the pain is spread, people keep their own money rather than paying it to the banks, and businesses aren’t hit by higher interest rates just when you want them to invest in their capacity.
Finance
Stress in private credit could spark ‘psychological contagion,’ Fed’s Barr tells Bloomberg News
May 3 (Reuters) – U.S. Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr said stress in private credit could spark “psychological contagion” leading to a broader credit crunch, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday.
While direct links between banks and private credit do not yet appear “super worrisome,” there were other areas of concern such as the insurance sector’s overlaps with private lenders, Barr said in an interview with Bloomberg News.
“People might look at private credit, and instead of saying, ‘This is an idiosyncratic problem, these were high-risk loans, the rest of the corporate sector is different,’ they might say, ‘Wow, there seem to be cracks in our corporate sector. Maybe over here in the corporate bond market, there are also cracks,’” Barr said.
Barr also added that “then you could have a credit pullback, and that could lead to more financial strain.”
Private credit firms have been under stress because of the market’s recent downturn with some investors retreating from these investments due to worries about valuations and lending standards following a handful of high-profile bankruptcies.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in March central bank officials are watching developments in the private credit sector for signs of trouble, but do not currently see issues there bringing down the financial system as a whole.
(Reporting by Angela Christy in Bengaluru; Editing by Will Dunham)
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