On Saturday, February 13, 2021, CFA Society Winnipeg hosted the 5th annual Canadian CFA Society Ethics Challenge (Prairie Regional Division) competition virtually with participating university teams from Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Three Edwards School of Business students, Jaydon Beuker, Ethan Fisher and Sidney Meyer competed alongside their coach and faculty member Brian Lane.

The Ethics Challenge focuses on the Society’s Future of Finance initiative and strives to prepare graduates entering the investment profession with ethical challenges they may encounter during the course of their career.

Competing teams receive an ethics case to study and evaluate three months prior to the event. On the day of the challenge, teams have 10 minutes to present their analysis and recommendations to a judging panel of CFA charter holders. Following the presentations, each team participates in a 10-minute Q&A period with the judges, after which the winners are selected.

The winner is selected based on the identification and understanding of the ethical issues in the case, the recommendations provided, the depth of the analysis, quality of the presentation, and responses to the judges' questions.

The team will now advance to the Canadian Ethics Challenge Finals to be held virtually on May 7th.

In the national round, students will have three hours to work on a new case and then presentations are given to a judging panel of CFA charter holders.

Teams are judged based on their recommended course of action and their ability to identify the violations to the CFA Institute Code of Ethics & Standards of Professional Conduct.

Why is the CFA Society Ethics Challenge an important event?

	Jaydon Beuker The CFA Ethics challenge provides students with the opportunity to review real-life scenarios in the financial industry and identify the ethical dilemmas and issues within each case. This challenge is an important event because having the ability to identify and present these dilemmas allows students to prepare for ethical challenges they may encounter in the workplace after their education.
	Ethan Fisher Being a part of the Edwards CFA Ethics team was an amazing experience. It helped me develop my logical reasoning and presentation skills. For any students who are looking to enroll in the CFA program, the in-depth experience you get with the CFA Code and Standards is a huge advantage. I have received such positive feedback from industry professionals telling me how valuable strong ethical thinking is, no matter the exact position or firm you may find yourself in. I also had the pleasure of working with a great team of fellow Edwards students and our fantastic advisor, Brian Lane. I would recommend the program to other finance students or students in other majors with an interest in the financial services industry.
	Sidney Meyer The Ethics Challenge was a chance to expose myself to ethical dilemmas and develop skills to work through each situation. I learned how to identify specific violations and provide guidance on how one should approach resolving these issues. Our society has begun to place great importance on ethical work, which makes experiences like this even more valuable regardless of your major! The challenge also allowed me to work alongside two great teammates and our faculty advisor, Professor Brian Lane. The format required us to work and think as a team, but without the added pressures that can sometimes accompany group projects, which made the experience even more enjoyable! I learned a lot about working as a team in this virtual environment and I believe that will continue as we begin preparing our presentation for Nationals in May I was able to make valuable connections within our community by speaking with professionals in the investment industry and representatives of CFA Society at the competition.

Congratulations to the Edwards student team and Professor Lane on finishing in first place at this competition!

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