02/16/2026
Yet another proud TCM moment...
The 2025-2026 Titan Capital Management (TCM) students have prevailed again at the Chartered Financial Analysts of Los Angeles Institute Research Challenge (CFALA IRC). This is their 7th consecutive win at this event, which is highly competitive. This year's field included several CSU's as well as UCLA ad USC. TCM fielded two teams, finishing 1st and 3rd with USC taking second place.
Needless to say, I am very proud to be a part of this program, but I am acutely aware of the workload our students, professors and coaches shoulder to achieve these kinds of results. Special shout out to our Professor Kelly Ko (Coach K) and Derek Derman, who coached both teams as they have done in prior years. Clearly, they are quite the team. There are many other students I could thank that helped their fellow competing students and showed up on competition day to root them on. In this regard, TCM has established a very cohesive and collaborative culture of mutual respect.
For fun, I did ask Gemini if there are any other universities in the nation that have achieved this kind of success. Here is Gemini's response below:
CFA Research Challenge Winning Streaks
https://gemini.google.com/share/037759514936
Created with Fast February 15, 2026 at 08:40 AM
Published February 15, 2026 at 09:41 AM
What universities have the longest running winning streak for winning the local CFA Investment Research Challenge?
Based on recent results from the 2024 and 2025 competition cycles, a few universities have established significant "dynasties" in their local CFA Institute Research Challenge rounds.
While records for over 1,000 participating universities are maintained by individual local societies (e.g., CFA Society Los Angeles, CFA Society Boston), the following schools currently hold some of the longest documented winning streaks:
Top Local Winning Streaks
Key Standouts
California State University, Fullerton (6 Years): CSUF has dominated the CFA Society Los Angeles local competition, securing their sixth consecutive win in February 2025. Their program, Titan Capital Management, is noted for its rigorous preparation, often fielding multiple teams that place in the top three.
Babson College (5 Years): Representing CFA Society Boston, Babson has won five straight local titles as of 2025. They have a deep history with the competition, having won the local round seven times in the last nine years and even securing a Global Championship in 2007.
University of Sydney: While total consecutive counts vary by source, they are a perennial powerhouse for CFA Society Australia, frequently advancing to and winning the Asia Pacific Regional finals.
Rutgers University: Often cited as a "dynasty" in the CFA Society New York round (one of the most competitive globally), Rutgers has a long history of consecutive wins and high-level finishes in the Americas regional rounds.
The Path to Victory
The local challenge is the first of four stages:
Local: Hosted by local CFA Societies (e.g., San Francisco, Toronto, London).
Sub-Regional: Winners of local rounds compete via recorded presentations.
Regional: (Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific).
Global Final: The top teams from each region compete for the world title.
Pictures attached of the winning teams and our dinner afterwards, where we take the time to honor our students and professors. A special thanks to Dean Sri Sundaram for taking the time to come to the competition and dinner. It really helps to have a supportive Dean for this program. Also thank you to Professor Shane Kim and our Managing Director, Steven Wang, who were at the event and the dinner. Steven pulls double duty as he is the current president of the CFALA. We are lucky to have him as our MD.
Onward this team will go to the Sub-regional, which is a taped video presentation. This is a tough round to get through as we tend to shine in live presentations and Q&A. Good luck to this team! Proud of your effort regardless of future outcomes!
