Twenty-two year old Chad-Anthony Coke created history by becoming the first student to win the annual Jamaica Stock Exchange Market Research Competition in its 18-year history.
Coke, a fourth-year business administration in finance student at Northern Caribbean University (NCU), was declared the joint winner of the competition along with Andre Rumble, Portfolio Officer at Proven Wealth Ltd. The competition was held on Oct. 2, 2020, at the Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) office in Kingston, Jamaica. Both walked away with a cash prize of J$300,000 or US$ 2,000 each in addition to a trophy.
The JSE 2019/2020 Market Research Competition, which was formally known as the Broker Analyst Competition, is one where each quarter the JSE invites analysts from the securities industry, tertiary institutions and the media to submit analyses of listed companies based on past performances and future expectations. Participants conduct research, perform analysis and prepare submissions on the selected company using the JSE’s required format.
Denise Williams (right), CEO of Financially Focused and one of the judges of the competition, presents a replica of the winning checkto winners of the JSE 2019/2020 Market Research Competition Andre Rumble (third from left) and Chad-Anthony Coke (fourth from left) after the finals of the JSE Market Research Competition at the JSE office in Kingston. Others from left are: judges Samuel Parkes, Principal, JSE e-Campus and Ms. Karen Richards, Assistant Vice President, Investments and Client Services at Sagicor Investments. [Photo: Nigel Coke]
Winning the finals was not the only history making moment for Coke, as he was also the first student to have ever won a quarter’s award when he won the fourth quarter in September ahead of research analysts from some of the island’s top investment companies.
Some of the objectives of the Market Research Competition are to increase the interest and involvement of analysts and observers in the Jamaican stock market through in-depth analyses of the performance of listed companies; enhance the research, analysis and presentation skills of the entrants, enabling them to better understand the market, improve their communication skills and, in the case of broker representatives, to better advise their clients; benefit the investing public through increased exposure to market analysis; and stimulate the interest and involvement of the wider public in the stock market.
