Arqaam Capital announces winner of the MENA Investment Challenge

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Arqaam Capital, the emerging markets’ investment bank, today announced the winner of a competition set for undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the recently launched finance colloquium at the Al Akhawayn University School of Business Administration in Ifrane, Morocco. Nada Lahrech was awarded first prize in Arqaam’s MENA Investment Challenge.

After attending a three-day colloquium taught by Arqaam staff at Al Akhawayn campus, the students were asked to choose a company listed on one of the major MENA exchanges and present an investment case, with their recommendation and supporting rationale. In their rationale, they were asked to consider the risk factors affecting the company and consider a number of different performance outcomes depending on various scenarios. Twelve students presented their findings to Arqaam Capital’s investment committee who awarded Nada Lahrech the first prize. Nada was presented with a certificate and will attend a six week internship in Arqaam Capital’s head office in Dubai.

The Arqaam MENA Investment Challenge was specially designed to equip students in the Arab world with practical skills to increase their employment prospects, focusing on regional equity and credit markets, derivatives, interest rates, and financial risk management.

Riad Meliti, CEO, Arqaam Capital commented,

“The inaugural investment challenge has been a great success and we have been very impressed by the excellent quality of the work produced by the students. Al Akhawayn University has an established reputation for producing first class graduates, and this was one of the reasons we decided to launch our business initiative here. The very high quality made selecting the winner a difficult decision and all the students should be commended on their efforts. My congratulations go to Nada and we look forward to welcoming her to Arqaam’s offices for the internship programme this summer.”

Al Akhawayn University President Driss Ouaouicha said,

“The course has been extremely well received by our students and a six-week internship is an excellent incentive and a wonderful opportunity for students to put their knowledge into practice. We look forward to continuing our work with Arqaam Capital in advancing our students’ ability to explore the many opportunities in global finance, economics, and business.”

Following the success at Al Akhawayn University, Arqaam Capital is exploring opportunities with other top universities in the MENA region where similar initiatives may be implemented.

-ENDS-