CFA UK and Brandes Investment Partners are delighted to invite entries from all CFA UK members for this year’s £5,000 essay competition.
The essay prize was first launched in 2015 at the inaugural Aberdeen Road lecture presented by Charles Brandes, CFA, founder of Brandes Investment Partners, who worked with Ben Graham when founding his firm in the 1970s.
Entering in our essay competition can help build your knowledge and showcase your writing skills. The winning essay will be published online on Professional Investor. The judges will choose the essay that reflects a balance of interest relevance, clarity and is evidence-based. The judging panel is made up of previous winners and CFA UK members who have extensive experience in value investing.
Essay theme
Entrants should submit an essay answering the following question:
What are the most underappreciated aspects of Ben Graham’s writing, and where do they find relevance today?
The minimum word count is 1,200 words and the maximum is 3,000.
Entry criteria
- Open to all members of CFA UK
- Entries should be a minimum of 1,200 words and a maximum of 3,000 words
- Participants must submit a 50-word synopsis of their paper along with their entry
- Entries should be in word format and the title should read SURNAME, First name
- Deadline for submission is 30 September 2021 before 5pm and entries can be sent to essayprize@cfauk.org
Key dates
- 30 September 2021: Submission deadline
- 29 October 2021: Judging finalised
- W/C 8 November 2021: Winners announced
Read past winning entries:
- 2020 winning entry by Masahiro Onizuka, CFA
- 2019 winning entry by Tomasz Bulinski, CFA
- 2017 winning entry by John Citron, CFA
- 2016 winning entry by Liam Nunn, CFA
Terms and conditions
Entry is open to all CFA UK members. You can only submit one entry. No entry fee. The judge's decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into. All entries will be judged anonymously. Entries must be received by 30 September 2021 before 5pm (BST). Footnotes and bibliography are not counted toward the word limit. We reserve the right to publicise the winner's name and hometown. By entering, authors are agreeing that their entries may be published online and in Professional Investor online magazine and distributed via the CFA UK's social media channels.
About CFA UK
Part of the worldwide network of member societies of CFA Institute, CFA UK represents the interests of 11,500 investment professionals in the United Kingdom.
About Brandes Investment Partners
Brandes is a leading investment advisory firm managing global equity and fixed-income assets for clients worldwide. Since the firm’s inception in 1974 Brandes has consistently applied the value investing approach pioneered by Benjamin Graham to security selection. It was among the first investment firms to invest globally using a value approach. Headquartered in San Diego Brandes and its related entities have offices in Milwaukee, Toronto, Dublin and Singapore. To learn more about Brandes, visit the website or follow it on LinkedIn.