Sophie McCormack Wins the CFA Montreal Award
October 31, 2008
Sophie McCormack, MSc 2008, is having an excellent year. After receiving the award for the best master's thesis from the School, in September, she has now won the CFA Montreal Award, worth $4,000, from the Montréal Chartered Financial Analysts Society. The Society presented her with this distinction in recognition of the originality and pragmatic aspects of her thesis, entitled Les coûts de réorganisation comme déterminant de l'utilisation corporative de produits de couverture : une étude empirique. Martin Boyer, Director of the Department of Finance, directed Sophie’s thesis, which will soon be published.
With an original and relevant approach, she managed to empirically validate a new theory, looking at co-ordination costs as a corporate motivator in financial risk management. According to this theory, financial risk management makes it possible to better co-ordinate investment and financing decisions in companies with decentralized decision making.
The Montreal CFA Society and the CFA title
The Montreal CFA Society is a non-profit association founded in 1950 with a number of goals, including assisting members in their efforts to pursue their educational development by organizing conferences. Note that to earn the CFA title candidates must pass three CFA Institute exams and have four years’ relevant work experience in finance.
Sophie is an Analyst in the Investment Banking Department of Merrill Lynch Canada, and has only one more CFA exam to take. She emphasizes that “the CFA title, in addition to enjoying strong recognition in Canada, is standardized and this makes for greater international mobility. Candidates all over the world take the same exams, administered by the CFA Institute.”