This semester, investment-focused students at Cal State Fullerton’s College of Business and Economics continued their winning streak in the Los Angeles region Chartered Financial Analyst competition to a seventh consecutive year. Competing with teams from world-renowned universities, the CSUF students were victorious through four rounds, becoming one of six teams out of 1,100 teams around the world to make it to the exclusive Global Round in Hong Kong in May. This is the second time this decade that Cal State Fullerton students have performed on this worldwide stage.
The 2026 team included Class of 2026 grads Mateo Garcia, Karhan Camurdan, Eamon Andrew Helding and Samantha Santonil, who celebrated their commencement on May 20.
Advancing to the CFA competition is a multiyear effort that spans much of participating students’ time at Cal State Fullerton. For months, students research individual companies and portfolios. Students must present to the program’s advisory board and work together to author an in-depth research paper.
Once the CFA competition officially begins in October, participating Titans are busy researching the target company ahead of a meeting with corporate management to plan a research report. The target company this year was Cathay Bank. Fifty percent of the local round scoring is focused on the research paper, with the balance based on the presentation before real-world business professionals acting as judges at the local final competition.
“It is an unbelievable commitment of over 2,000 collective hours, considering the students have other internships and classes,” says Kelly Ko, lecturer in finance and equity director of Titan Capital Management, the investment program. “To do work worthy of winning even the local competition is an incredible testament to student tenacity. Working in teams, doing investment research, answering questions and more are combined in this competition, ensuring students have all the preparation needed for industry careers.”
In 2026, two Cal State Fullerton teams participated in the local round, with one team placing first and the other Titan team coming in third, besting competitors from UCLA, Pepperdine University and other Southern California schools.
Read the full article on the investment students’ success in CSUF Business News.