CFA Society Austria Prize 2024/25: The decision has been made
Association of Austrian Investment Analysts, CFA (Chartered Financial Analysts) Society Austria, awarded outstanding academic papers on "Investments, Banking and Finance" on February 28, 2025.
Vienna, March 3, 2025 - CFA Society Austria, the association of Austrian investment analysts awarded the "CFA Society Austria Prize" for the 17th time on February 28, 2025. The prize was awarded for bachelor, master or diploma theses and dissertations in the field of "Investments, Banking and Finance". This year's prize was again a CFA scholarship, which covers all costs for the CFA examinations (Level I, II and III).
The decision
For the well-established CFA Society Austria Jury the CFA Prize is an important contribution to education and training. 5 members of CFA Society Austria jointly selected the 3 prize winners:
1. Place left Martin Worel, CFA (Board Member CFA Society Austria) Middle Winner Tom Oskar Zeissler right Otto Randl (Professor and Supervisor)
2. Place left Martin Worel, CFA (Board Member CFA Society Austria) right 2. Place Nina Feik
Place: Tom Oskar Zeissler
Topic of the PhD thesis: „Essays on the Risk and Return Predictability of Factor Strategies"
University: Vienna University of Economics and Business, Supervision by Univ.Prof. Dr. Otto Randl
Place: Nina Feik
Topic of the master thesis: "The Impact of Sustainable Investing on Anomaly Strategies"
University: Vienna University of Economics and Business, Supervision by Matthias Molnar, Ph.D.
Place: Marcell Tatar
Topic of the master thesis: "Why can analyst recommendations be profitable?"
University: Vienna University of Economics and Business, Supervision by Univ.Prof. Dr. Otto Randl
All participating Students, Jury members and Professors of the CFA Society Austria Prize
Academic jury
The papers were judged on practical relevance, presentation, innovative approach and research methodology. Only papers written at Austrian universities or universities of applied sciences and graded "1" were accepted for submission.
A top-class academic jury did the pre-selection, students of the Vienna University of Economics and Business could submit their papers themselves. These were then pre-selected by CFA Society Austria:
Prof. (FH) Mag. Dr. Christian Cech, MBA, deputy head of the master program "Quantitative Asset and Risk Management", University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Jürgen Huber, Institute for Banking and Finance, University of Innsbruck
Paul Charles Pudschedl, BA, LL.M., University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt for Economics and Technology Ges.m.b.H.
Univ. Prof. Dr. Otto Randl, contact person for WU Vienna
Due to the selection by the professors mentioned above, it was ensured that only outstanding work came up for evaluation. The prize was awarded in a festive ceremony together with the final presentations of the CFA Institute Research Challenge at the University of Applied Sciences BFI Wien Ges.m.b.H., Wohlmutstraße 22, 1020 Vienna.
CFA Society Austria stands for ethics and integrity
The CFA Society Austria was founded in 2001 as the 101st local association of the CFA Institute - the internationally renowned association of investment professionals in 59 countries. CFA stands for "Chartered Financial Analyst" and is a title that may be held by those who pass all three partial examinations of the CFA Institute, which take place once a year worldwide, and can also prove four years of professional experience. The local association - CFA Society Austria - aims to establish CFA as the first address for continuing education for all CFA Charterholders and to be the leading body in Austria for questions of ethics, integrity and financial analysis at the highest level. CFA is committed to the principle that financial markets should be fair, free and efficient, so that every investor has a chance for a fair return and the interests of the end investors must be paramount over the interests of all other stakeholders. Highest ethical principles and self-regulating standards are as important for fairness and market efficiency as rules and laws. Last but not least, CFA Society Austria acts as a point of contact for ethical issues, integrity and "best practice" in the field of finance in Austria.