CFA Society Toronto's Fellowship Award, "Essays on Market Conditions and Corporate Investment Decisions" Granted to University of Toronto PhD Candidate

TORONTO, Feb. 13, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CFA Society Toronto is honoured to reveal this year's recipient of the CFA Society Toronto Fellowship Award. Our 2014 recipient from University of Toronto, Ding Ding, was awarded for her thesis, "Essays on Market Conditions and Corporate Investment Decision".

"I am thrilled to win this award and am grateful for CFA Society Toronto's encouragement for advances in financial research through this award. I thank my dissertation committee members for their guidance and my parents for their unqualified support. My research in corporate investment and financial regulations has benefited from my industry experience and I will continue to pursue an agenda that addresses challenges in both academics and practice." said Ding who summarized key findings at CFA Society Toronto's Annual Award Reception on Monday night.

The annual award is open to doctoral candidates whose dissertation proposals have been approved by participating Canadian universities with doctoral programs in the field of finance or economics but whose final dissertation has not been approved. Dissertation proposals are judged on their potential to add to the body of knowledge about Canadian debt, equity or derivatives and other markets, with particular emphasis on regulation, accounting, corporate governance, taxation, applied securities valuation, portfolio management and performance attribution. The winning research paper was selected by a panel of industry judges and received a $5,000 cash prize.

Ding's paper investigates how market conditions alongside investor beliefs about equity valuation, business cycles, and financial regulations affect corporate investment and performance. So far her research has determined that when there is a high level of disagreement among investors about potential returns from a firm's investments, the firm responds by shifting a greater share of total investment into riskier projects. One explanation for this shift is to enable the manager and current shareholders the ability to sell their stakes in the firm to more optimistic outside investors and at higher prices.

"Quality academic research contributes to the advancement of all industries, and the investment industry is no exception. CFA Society Toronto is proud to provide support to the authors of high calibre dissertations like the one submitted by Ding Ding this year. We would like to congratulate Ding and thank the other doctoral candidates who submitted their papers for consideration," said Christy DeCosimo, CFA, Chair, Awards and University Relations and CFA Society Toronto Board member.

About the Winner

Ding Ding is a PhD candidate in the field of Financial Economics at University of Toronto. She earned both her Master of Financial Economics and Honours BSc. in Computer Science and Economics from University of Toronto. She has been awarded 10 academic scholarships and fellowships to date and has presented previous research papers for various finance association conferences across North America.

About CFA Society Toronto

CFA Society Toronto supports the professional and business development of more than 8,000 CFA charterholders in Toronto, making it the second largest member society in the world. It provides members with a local perspective on a global designation, including: educational programs, sponsored events, job postings, quarterly newsletters, a comprehensive affinity program and networking opportunities. A not-for-profit organization, CFA Society Toronto is affiliated with CFA Institute, the global body that administers the Chartered Financial Analyst curriculum and sets voluntary, ethics-based performance-reporting standards for the investment industry. CFA Society Toronto's members are leaders in ethics in the financial community. For more information, please refer to www.cfatoronto.ca