Finance students in the past have participated in national student competitions. They are a great opportunity to practice and further your knowledge and skills you learned in the finance program at PSU. Because not all of you are finance major, grading will be generous as long as you follow the instructions (e.g., number counts for answers). In addition, it’s not a technical assignment. It’s an opportunity to look back and evaluate what you have learned, how they can be useful, and what else you should learn. Remember you chose finance as your major because you like something about finance. Follow your passion and keep learning what excites you, and you will have a bright future ahead of you. This is the last assignment of this course. Thank you for working hard in this course for the past 7 weeks.
Q1 What is the title of the finance student competition you may consider competing? Hint: You may Google search something like “student competitions in finance”.
After doing some research into potential finance student competitions that are held every year, I was surprised by how many were being offered. I knew that there would be a few, but it turns out the events are much larger than anticipated. The one which interested me the most was the National Investment Baking Competition. This event brings together 1,600 students, from over 100 universities, competing to be recognized as the best team in the case competition. NIBC is well sponsored with the help of 17 investment banks, 12 private equity firms, and asset management firms as well as 14 law firms, accounting firms, and listed corporations.
Q2 Describe the eligibility requirements, if any (e.g., undergraduate college student).
In order to be eligible to participate in this competition, you must be an undergraduate or graduate student, and attend a school which has a finance program that has entered the competition.
Q3 What are the competition criteria?
Competitors will be challenged to apply and develop new skills in financial modeling and pitching based on a real-world simulation of an investment banking transaction. It will require competitors to research and analyze financial data, run scenarios in financial models, evaluate structual alternatives against client parameters, create pitch books, and present to senior management.
Q4 What is the deadline for the submission?
The deadline to register and participate in this competition is in early December every year.
Q5 Why are you interested in this competition?
This competition peaked my interest due to the fact that I have competed in similar competitions but with the sales program here at PSU. I know from my own experiences that these competitions are fantastic opportunities for students to get job offers and exposure in front of companies. This also allows the corporate sponsors to scout out the best talent that school shave to offer. I think it would be beneficial for PSU to start participating in more competitions like this throughout the different fields of study the university offers.
Q6 What would be a possible project you may turn in for the competition? Describe it in at least 100 words.
A potential project one may do for this competition would be an in-depth comparison of two similar companies. To start, you would need to create some research concepts. This would allow you to focus your time and energy on specific aspects of the case such as Valuation and Stock Price Impact, Stock versus Cash Considerations, and Deferred Payment Structures. Since the competition also requires some financial modeling, Model Inputs such as premium over share price or size and timing of synergies as well as Model Outputs such as EPS Acceleration vs. Dilution or Net Debt to EBITDA ratio should be included.
Q7 List things that you learned in financial modeling course that could be helpful for your project in Q6. Describe it in at least 100 words.
In taking the financial modeling course, there are several things we have learned that would be beneficial to a project like this. The first would be comparing stock prices and fluctuation in the market. Being able to take two companies and create an easy to read and accurate visual representation of complex data like stock prices would be very helpful. Another skill would be comparing yearly, monthly, and even daily returns of the selected stocks through R-Markdown. This could be used to sway the decision of a potential investor and clearly show why one stock is doing better than the other(s).
Q8 List things that you learned in other finance courses at PSU that could be helpful for your project in Q6. Describe it in at least 100 words.
As a business management student who is focusing in sales, I have not taken many financial courses during my time at PSU. However, I have learned the basics of what finance is, and how the financials of a company work. Having a strong grasp on these kinds of concepts is necessary to even begin planning or talking about such a complex case. Things like budgeting, reporting, cash flow management, and capital markets are just a few that would be necessary. Having at least a general understanding of both Micro and Macroeconomics would also be necessary to be able to compete in an event such as this one.
Q9 Check the finance blog below and see if you see any post that may be helpful for your project in Q6. Discuss how it can be helpful in at least 100 words. Hint: The author of the blog writes articles on financial analysis using R. https://rviews.rstudio.com/categories/reproducible-finance-with-r/
Q10 List things that you think could be helpful but not taught/offered at PSU finance courses. Discuss how it can be helpful in at least 100 words.
As my time at Plymouth State University comes to an end, I like to reflect on some aspects of business and finance I wish I learned about but was unable to. Recently, my eyes were opened about school and how it prepares young minds for the world. I realized that the current approach to curriculums teaches kids how to be employees. It teaches them how to go out and work for someone else, but it doesn’t show you how to work for yourself. As far as I’m concerned, it’s not even discussed what it takes to start your own business, not to mention run the operations. I would like to see more entrepreneurial course to be available to students who may want to pursue a different path and work towards being an employer vs. an employee.