Wilton Native Jonathan LaSala Heads to London to Compete in the CFA Institute Research Challenge Global Final

First year MBA student, Jonathan LaSala, is a member of the Fordham University team that won the prestigious 2013 New York Regional CFA Institute Research Challenge. His team competed against over 600 universities from 55 countries and they are in the Final Four, who will compete in London on April 12, 2013. 

The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an educational initiative in which leading industry professionals teach business and finance students how to research and report on a publicly-traded company. The New York Society of Security Analysts (NYSSA) originated the competition eleven years ago as a means to promote best practices in research among the next generation of analysts.

Teams of three to five university students work directly with a local, publicly-traded company in researching and preparing a company analysis. Each team works with an investment professional who mentors the team during the research process and who reviews and critiques the team's company analysis report.

The report is reviewed and scored by a group of judges and the teams' final presentations are locally evaluated by high-profile panels of experts from top financial institutions. The team with the highest combined score wins the local competition and advances to a regional competition in the Americas, Asia Pacific, or Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) region. The winners of the regional competitions advance to the global final.

Jonathan LaSala and his winning Fordham team now advance to the CFA Institute Research Challenge Global Final in London to compete against teams from around the world.

Jonathan grew up on Ruscoe Road in Wilton and attended Wilton High School. His parents, Diane and Andrew LaSala, own the Wilton based design build company, Cannondale Building & Design.

Jonathan was nominated to be President of the Fordham University Finance Society next year, and he is expected to complete his MBA in May of 2014 with dual concentrations in Finance and Public Accounting.