TAR UC students have once again proven their ability to apply the skills and knowledge that they have learnt in the classroom to real-life situations by successfully emerging as the 1st runner-up at the National level of the CIMB ASEAN Stock Challenge 2016. The annual competition mainly involves regional stock trading, offering real-time trading experience across five major stock exchanges - Bursa Malaysia, Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), Singapore Exchange (SGX), The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) and The Hong KongStock Exchange (HKEx). Open to undergraduates in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Cambodia, the competition is a two-stage competition consisting of National and Regional levels.
TAR UC’s team of Year 3 students of the Bachelor of Finance and Investment (Hons), which consisted of Cheah Weng Loong, Yuan Ting Jing, Cheak Juin Yaeng and Lee Tzyy Cherng did the institution proud by beating more than 2000 other teams from various universities in Malaysia at the National level of the competition. They won for themselves cash prize worth RM500, certificates as well as internship opportunities with CIMB. The National level of the competition mainly involved two rounds whereby the students were first required to compete to make the most profit during a three-week trading period starting from 10 October to 28 October 2016. Subsequently, having emerged as one of the top three teams with the highest percentage gains at the end of the trading period, they were required to submit their trading strategy paper for evaluation.
When asked about what motivated them to join the competition and to win, Yuan Ting Jing said, “Since we are studying Finance and Investment, we were eager to apply our knowledge and put what we have learnt to good use, and we found this competition a good way to do so. And when we were ranked number one in the first round, we were even more motivated to go all the way.”
Lee Tzyy Cherng, on the other hand, spoke of how their lecturer cum mentor for the competition, Mr Chang Kwok Boon, contributed to their success. “Throughout the competition, we constantly had discussions with our mentor and he advised us on what strategies to use. He also took the time to check the strategies we planned out and polished them so that they would be effective,” he explained. Yuan Ting Jing also attributed their success to the Equity Analysis subject which they took as part of their course. “This subject focuses on stocks where we learnt all the skills and knowledge required to read charts which was very helpful for the competition,” he said.
As for tips to juniors who wish to follow in their footsteps in future, Cheak Juin Yaeng said, “Time management is key. You must be able to balance your time between studies and the competition.” Cheah Weng Loong, on the other hand, said that passion is also an important element in the equation. “Having passion in the field is important in order to stay motivated,” he remarked.
