SIF students triumph at 2025 CFA Atlantic Ethics Challenge with teamwork and integrity
Author: Faculty of Management
Posted on Feb 13, 2025
Category: Students , Student Investment Fund
A testament to the power of teamwork and diligence, a group of Student Investment Fund (SIF) students - Milena Ramiez, Sam Volpe, Nicholas Harvey, Ross Briggs - won first place at the 2025 CFA Society Atlantic Ethics Challenge!
The CFA Society Atlantic Ethics Challenge embodies the mission of the CFA Institute by promoting “the highest standards of ethics, education, and professional excellence.” The Ethics Challenge is a great way to prepare finance students for investment careers. It promotes best practices in the investment profession and prepares them for some of the ethical dilemmas they may face in the industry.
The competition challenged students to analyze a case to identify ethical violations and present solutions to prevent those violations from happening in the future. Since the SIF student's study for the CFA, this was a chance to apply their learnings of the CFA Code of Ethics.
The case focused on conflicts of interest between the investment banking division and the equity research division of a large bank. “I believe the team’s strategy was quite simple - accurately identify all violations and focus solutions not only on personal accountability of the people featured in the case but also, on institutional level safeguards to ensure ethical compliance,” noted Dr. Joseph DeCoste, instructor of the SIF class and Director for UNB’s Centre for Financial Studies.
“For this, they benefitted from guest talks we've had throughout the year from both equity research and investment banking leaders which included the importance of ethics, and the real-world safeguards banks put in place to mitigate conflicts.”
Other teams competing were from St. FX, Memorial, UPEI, and Saint Mary's. What helped to set the SIF group apart was teamwork and practice, say the students. During the four-hour drive to Halifax, Nova Scotia, they got to know each other better and they practiced their presentation. They practiced again the following morning and at every step of the way they supported each other.
“In a nutshell, our strategy was simple: instill confidence in one another to stay calm and ensure each teammate felt secure in the work they had put in,” said one team member.
“The competition helped us improve our presentation skills while gaining valuable experience in a formal competition setting - an excellent opportunity!”
Photo: Congratulations to this team of Student Investment Fund students from UNB (L-R, Ross Briggs, Nicholas Harvey, Milena Ramirez and Sam Volpé) on winning first prize in the 2025 CFA Atlantic Ethics Challenge.
Learn more about the Student Investment Fund and about UNB’s faculty of management.
Media contact
Liz Lemon-Mitchell
lizabeth.lemonmitchell@unb.ca