NUS MBA Students Clinch Championship With 'Buy' Call on NOL in NUS Asian Stock Pitch Competition

They Beat Seven Other Teams From Asia's Business Schools; Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad), SP Jain of Mumbai Among the Finalists


SINGAPORE--(Marketwired - Feb 23, 2014) - Invest in Neptune Orient Lines Limited (NOL), recommends the winning team of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School's fifth Asian Stock Pitch Competition.

Consisting of Master of Business Administration (MBA) students from NUS Business School -- Nilendra Weerasinghe, Jiang Mingzi and Abhishek Khandelwal -- the team made a 'buy' call on the shipping and transportation firm in their presentation to judges during the Grand Final.

According to the trio, the outlook for NOL is good despite the risks, due to the company's ideal positioning and focused diversification strategy, high efficiency and flexibility, as well as two 'hidden gems' -- APM Terminals and APM Logistics.

The team's insights into NOL and the shipping industry, as well as good presentation skills, clinched them the top prize of S$10,000. SP Jain Institute of Management and Research from Mumbai, India clinched the runner-up spot.

The annual competition is organised by NUS Business School's Centre for Asset Management Research and Investments (CAMRI) to provide a platform for Asia's top MBA students to showcase their equity research and stock-picking skills.

The event challenges teams of Asian MBA students to research, present and defend their stock picks. Judged by a panel of distinguished experts from Singapore's financial sector, the event is an intense competition designed to replicate the fast-paced, demanding jobs of fundamental analysts and asset managers in the investment industry.

Unlike many stock pitching competitions for students, participants of the NUS Asian Stock Pitch Competition gain full access to a suite of industry portfolio analytics and analysis tools, including Bloomberg, for their preparation at CAMRI's Investment Management and Trading Lab.

"It has been a good learning experience, and it was very competitive. A challenge was to sift through the information 'overflow' within a limited time and pick out important details, in order to create a simple and good presentation that communicates our message", said Nilendra Weerasinghe, full time MBA student at NUS Business School. He added: "It has been a good platform to mingle and compete with our counterparts from Asian business schools. Given that Singapore is increasingly a financial nerve centre in terms of the wealth and asset management business, going forward, with the capital flows that are coming in towards Asia in the long run, I think it is a good industry to be in."

The eight competing teams in 2014 were from:

-China Europe International Business School
-Fudan University
-Indian Institute of Management (Ahmedabad)
-International University of Japan
-Peking University
-SP Jain Institute of Management and Research (Mumbai)
-The Chinese University of Hong Kong
-NUS Business School

"We have organised the NUS Asian Stock Pitch Competition annually since 2010 with the aim of developing financial talent in Singapore and this region. Over the years, this competition, which has an Asian focus, has evolved to be of great value to industry partners, recruiters, and most importantly, to the students in the region. They get a taste of the reality of working as asset managers who often face hard-hitting questions from their clients. I am pleased to note that this year's participants displayed a high quality of research and analytical skills, which bodes well for Asia's asset management industry. I would like to congratulate all the teams for a job well done", said Professor Joseph Cherian, Director of CAMRI, NUS Business School.

The NUS Asian MBA Stock Pitch Competition is held in partnership with the Parker Center for Investment Research at Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management. Morgan Stanley was the Platinum Donor this year, while Brandes Investment Partners and Novatera Capital were the Gold Donors.

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Contact Information:

Contact:

Mr Christopher CHONG
Senior Manager, Media Relations
NUS Business School
National University of Singapore
Email:
Website: http://bschool.nus.edu.sg

(L-R) Mr Samuel Rhee (Managing Director, Co-Head of Asian Equities and CEO, Morgan Stanley Investment Management Asia) with NUS MBA students Jiang Mingzi, Nilendra Weerasinghe and Abhishek Khandelwal.