BAFEF University Merit Award

The CFA Level I University Merit Award is available to undergraduate or graduate students that have demonstrated an interest in pursuing a career in the investment management industry. Applicants are required to have a minimum of a 3.0 GPA, a letter of recommendation from a professor as well as an essay on the candidate's career interest. The Award includes CFA program enrollment fees, level I exam registration fees as well as level I exam review fees at a participating CFA review provider.

Merit Award Recipients - 2012

Tasnuva Noushin, USF
Ian Robertson, UC Berkeley

Merit Award Recipients - 2011

Prentiss Douglass, UC Berkeley
Jue Liu, USF
Jack Wei, UC Berkeley

Merit Award Recipient - 2010
Andrew Collier, USF

Scroll down to read more about our winners!

Tasnuva Noushin, 2012 Merit Award Winner
Tasnuva Noushin graduated from the University of San Francisco with a Master's Degree in Financial Analysis in December 2011. She graduated with a CGPA of 3.83 and she was also a tutor for the graduate students of MSFA, MSRM and MAIR programs at USF. During her study at USF, Tasnuva undertook notable projects such as – “Constructing pension fund portfolio for institutional investors and generating capital market expectation & forecast about next 3 years’ macro economic situation in US” and “Researching on the strength of the relationship among S&P 500 index, US GDP & Unemployment rate based on last 15 years historic data”. Before joining the Masters program, Tasnuva graduated from North South University, Bangladesh with a Bachelor degree in Business Administration with dual majors in Finance and International Business. She achieved the highest distinction of “Summa cum Laude”. After completing the bachelor degree, she joined a financial institution in Dhaka, Bangladesh as an Analyst and continued to work there till 2010 before coming to US for higher studies. Aside from her keen interest in the Capital Market, Tasnuva is quite fond of mathematical puzzles and enjoys the quantitative aspects of Finance.

Prentiss Douglass, 2011 Merit Award Winner
Prentiss Douglass is entering the investment management field after practicing as a civil engineer for ten years. After participating in product diligence for several acquisitions in a previous position, Prentiss became interested in how target firms were valued and started an investment club with several colleagues and friends. In 2008, Prentiss returned to the Haas School of Business to work towards his MBA with a focus on finance. Having completed internships in equity research and asset management at JMP Securities and Harvest Capital Strategies, respectively, Prentiss is looking forward to building his career in asset management. Prentiss received his B.S. from the Pennsylvania State University.

Jue Liu, 2011 Merit Award Winner
Jue Liu graduated from Guangdong University of Business with a bachelor’s degree in economic statistics and a 3.5 GPA. After graduating, Jue worked as a business analyst with a private real estate development company in Guangzhou City, China. She was responsible for conducting statistical research on the economies, government finance, traffic, and demographics of four major districts in order to identify real estate development potential. She received the “best employee” award. In 2008 Jue enrolled at the University of San Francisco to work toward a master’s degree in financial economics. To prepare for an investment management career, she focused on financial courses such as “Options and Futures”, “Financial Econometrics”, and “Money and Banking”. Additionally, she worked as a teaching assistant in the business school for the economics department, tutoring more than 100 students for economics and derivatives classes. Jue graduated with a 3.95 GPA and was awarded the “2010 Best Student in Economics” by USF.

Jack Wei, 2011 Merit Award Winner
Jack Wei is a senior majoring in economics at UC Berkeley and is also an avid student of financial literature and the capital markets. Although he has arduously studied various asset classes and actively followed prominent investors, he is particularly passionate about technology and distressed debt securities. To gain hands-on experience and deepen his financial knowledge, Jack has interned at SKBA Capital Management, where he was an investment research analyst intern and focused on technology, energy, and insurance. Jack’s past experience also includes an investment banking role at US Capital Partners and an audit internship in Asia. The son of a diplomat, Jack has resided in Budapest, Taipei, Vienna, Los Angeles, and Berlin. In his free time, Jack enjoys investing, hiking, reading academic publications, and fine-dining.