Rules & Regulations

2024 Budding Value Investor Award

Rules and Regulations

RULE 1:INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL PROVISIONS

The 2024 Budding Value Investor Award (hereon “Competition”) is a global investment research competition organised by the Capital Dynamics group (hereon “Organiser”), to encourage postgraduate, undergraduate and diploma students to acquire knowledge of value investing and the benefits it offers. The competition is sponsored by the Capital Dynamics group and icapital.biz Berhad (hereon “Sponsors”).

The Capital Dynamics group¹ is Asia’s first global investment house with offices in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Sydney, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Led by Tan Teng Boo, it is the first Asian fund manager to obtain the Australian Financial Services Licence, the first ASEAN fund manager to obtain Hong Kong’s retail Type 9 licence and is also Malaysia’s first independent investment adviser. icapital.biz Berhad (stock code: 5108) is Malaysia’s only closed end listed fund, listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.

The Organiser is at liberty to include additional requirements relating to the administration of the Competition as long as those requirements are not in conflict with the rules listed herein below. The Organiser is committed to creating a welcoming and safe environment for the Competition where fairness, opportunity, and trust exist, so as to allow participants (hereon “Participants”) to leverage on their diverse talents and perspectives.

The Competition consists of two stages:

[1] Preliminary Stage
The Preliminary Stage requires Participants to submit a Research Paper that consists of two parts:

Part 1
After over 30 years’ high economic growth, the world’s second largest economy has adjusted its paces amid the geopolitical tensions, property market slowdown and ageing population. Chinese stock markets are the collateral damage.

Please submit Part 1 of your Research Paper on the following topic:

“Chinese stocks are now cheap in terms of valuation. Do they present an opportunity or are they a value trap?”

Part 1 of your Research Paper shall not exceed 1,500 words, excluding charts, tables, references and appendices.

Part 2
Please pick one Chinese stock that is listed in any stock exchanges around the world. Conduct a research paper on the said company with recommendation of Buy, Hold or Sell rating. Justify your choice of company with reference to your answer in Part 1. How do you make sure that the stock chosen is not a value trap?

Part 2 of your Research Paper shall not exceed 5,000 words, excluding charts, tables, references and appendices.

[2] Final Stage
The Final Stage is a Presentation of Part 2 of Participants’ Research Paper. Finalists will be invited to present their research to a panel of prominent judges. The Final Stage Presentation will be held physically in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 30 November 2024. More detailed information and procedures will be disclosed to the Finalists in due course.

1.1 Conflicts of interest

All Participants, hosts and judges in the Competition have an obligation to avoid actual or potential conflicts of interest with their participation. A conflict of interest is any matter that could reasonably be expected to impair an individual’s independence and objectivity or interfere with an individual’s duties and may be actual or perceived.

To avoid any actual or perceived conflicts of interest, each Participant must disclose to the Organiser any actual or potential conflicts of interest in writing. Actual or potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed promptly upon the Participants becoming aware of the same.

The Organiser will investigate any disclosures of actual or potential conflicts of interest. If a conflict of interest is found to exist and cannot be resolved within a reasonable period of time, the individual having a conflict of interest will be disqualified from participation. If the Organiser determines that it is necessary to protect the integrity of the Competition, the Organiser may disqualify a team from the Competition if any member of the team is found to have a conflict of interest that cannot be resolved within a reasonable period of time. The decision of the Organiser regarding the existence of a conflict of interest, when a conflict of interest is deemed to be resolved, and its determination regarding the disqualification of any individual or team, shall be final and binding.

1.2 Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a serious offence punishable by law and is defined as copying or using substantially the same form of materials prepared by others without acknowledging the source or identifying the author and publisher of such materials.

We recognise that generative artificial intelligence programs of various kinds have the potential to be a valuable resource for Participants. However, the inappropriate use of generative artificial intelligence by Participants to create or enhance their Research Paper and/or Presentation risk being classed as plagiarism, and hence, may also be subject to penalty including disqualification from the competition.

Participants can read existing research on the subject company, but all analysis should come from their own efforts. The source(s) of all information used should be acknowledged by Participants in their work, and sourced information should be properly cited using generally accepted citation systems, for example, Chicago Manual of Style, Harvard, and MLA. The prohibition on plagiarism applies both to the Research Paper and the Presentation.

The abovementioned requirements also apply to usage of generative artificial intelligence programs (i.e. Participants may use generative artificial intelligence programs to conduct initial research on the subject company, but all analysis should come from be their own efforts, and all the usage of all generative artificial intelligence programs should be acknowledged and properly cited in Participants’ work using generally accepted citation systems).

Allegations of plagiarism will be investigated by the Organiser and may result in immediate disqualification. The decision of the Organiser (as applicable) regarding plagiarism is final and binding.

1.3 Third Party Intellectual Property Rights

Respect for third-party intellectual property rights is essential to the Competition. While Participants are free to include text, images, graphics, or other logos in their Research Paper and Presentation, it is their obligation to ensure that the use of any third-party materials complies with all applicable copyright and trademark laws. Third party images included in the Research Paper and Presentation must be appropriately licensed by the images’ owners. Where legally necessary, Participants should secure the permission of the owners of any trademarks or service marks incorporated into their Research Paper and Presentation.

All Participants of the Competition represent and warrant that neither their Research Paper nor their Presentation infringes or violates the copyright, trademark, trade secret, or other intellectual property right of any third party anywhere in the world. All Participants agree and acknowledge that they will indemnify the Organiser from any assertion of the same from any third party.

1.4 Personal Data

1.4.1 All Participants of the Competition acknowledge that the Organiser will access, collect, process, use, and share their personal data. The Organiser is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of the personal data of all Participants in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (Malaysia) and its privacy policies, and personal data collected by the Organiser and/or its authorised representatives will not be disclosed, revealed, shared, transferred, sold, or rented to any third party, apart from for the purposes specified in Clause 1.4.3 herein below, for legal, regulatory and compliance purposes, or where otherwise required by law.

1.4.2 Personal data that may be accessed, collected, processed, used and shared include but are not limited to Participants’ names, voices, photographs, likeness and appearance in any medium or forum anywhere in the world (including online).

1.4.3. All Participants agree that the Organiser and its affiliates shall have the right to use their personal data in relation to the organising, conducting and administering of the Competition, to attribute the Participants as the creator of their respective entries, for its promotional, marketing and publicity efforts for the Competition and other related competitions organised by the Organiser and/or its affiliates, and for any other purposes as may be stated in the 2024 Budding Value Investor Award Rules and Regulations without further compensation, unless prohibited by law.

1.4.4 Participants that have any questions or concerns about the use of their personal data may contact the Organiser by email at bvia@icapital.biz .

1.5 Others

1.5.1 By participating or submitting an entry in the Competition, Participants warrant that all statements made by them, or personal details provided by them are true, correct, accurate and complete to the best of their knowledge.

1.5.2 By participating or submitting an entry in the Competition, Participants warrant that they have read and understood all of the 2024 Budding Value Investor Awards Rules and Regulations and agree to be unconditionally bound by it.

1.5.3 By participating or submitting an entry in the Competition, Participants represent and affirm that their participation is an original creative work, and where it is not, that they shall provide credit to the original source. Participants also represent and affirm that their participation does not infringe, misappropriate or violate the copyright, trademark or other intellectual rights of any third party.

1.5.4 By participating or submitting an entry in the Competition, Participants represent and affirm that the participation or entry is not in violation of any law, regulations or contracts or an infringement of third party’s intellectual property rights, moral rights and privacy rights.

1.5.5 The Organiser reserves the right to disqualify any Participant for any reason at their absolute discretion including but not limited to violation of the 2024 Budding Value Investor Awards Rules and Regulations.

1.5.6 All costs and expenses incurred in relation to Participants’ participation in the Competition is their sole responsibility and shall be fully borne by them.

1.5.7 In the case of unforeseeable events, the Organiser reserves the right to reschedule or cancel the Competition, and/or reschedule or modify the format or any requirements of the Competition at any point of time in its sole discretion without prior notice.

1.5.8. Words in italics throughout the 2024 Budding value Investor Awards Rules and Regulations are defined in Appendix 2. In the event of any confusion, uncertainty or dispute relating to the terms in the 2024 Budding Value Investor Awards Rules and Regulations, the Organiser shall be the sole arbiter and its interpretation of the terms in dispute shall be final.

1.5.9 In the event of any dispute arising in connection with the Competition, the Organiser’s decision will be final, and no appeal will be entertained.

1.5.10. The 2024 Budding Value Investor Awards Rules and Regulations are to be governed by and construed in accordance with Malaysian Law and any dispute arising directly or indirectly from these rules or their interpretation shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Malaysian Courts.

1.5.11. All Participants of the Competition agree that the Organiser and Sponsors shall have no liability whatsoever for any injury, illness, or death of any Participant, or loss and/or damage to any Participant’s personal property, suffered by him/her in connection with or arising out of this Competition or the 2024 Budding Value Investor Awards Rules and Regulations, except for foreseeable death or personal injury of any Participant, or loss and/or damage to any Participant’s personal property caused by the negligence of the Organiser and recoverable on those grounds.

1.5.12 All Participants of the Competition agree not to hold the Organiser responsible or to indemnify the Organiser and/or its affiliates against all claims, demands, losses, damages, judgments, liabilities, disputes and expenses (including legal fees) arising out of or in connection with their participation in the Competition including but not limited to any infringement, misappropriation or violation of copyright, trademark or other intellectual rights of any third party.

1.5.13 The 2024 Budding Value Investor Award Rules and Regulations contain the entire agreement between the Participants and the Organiser.

1.5.14 If any of the rules and/or portion thereof in the 2024 Budding Value Investor Award Rules and Regulations are held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason by any Malaysian court of competent jurisdiction, such rules and/or portion thereof shall be rendered ineffective and shall not invalidate and/or render unenforceable the remaining rules in the 2024 Budding Value Investor Award Rules and Regulations.

1.5.15 If either party is prevented from performing any of its obligations hereunder due to any cause which is beyond the non-performing party’s reasonable control, including fire, explosion, flood, virus outbreaks or other acts of God; acts, regulations, or laws of any government; war or civil commotion; strike, lock-out or labour disturbances; or failure or public utilities or common carriers (hereon “ Force Majeure Event”), such non-performing party shall not be liable for failure to perform any obligation under the 2024 Budding Value Investor Award Rules and Regulations with respect to such non-performance to the extent any such non-performance is due to a Force Majeure Event.

1.5.16 The Organiser reserves the right to update, remove and/or amend the 2024 Budding Value Investor Award Rules and Regulations at any point of time in its sole discretion without prior notice and Participants shall be informed of the relevant changes by the Organiser through the official website of the Competition, https://bvia.icapital.biz/. Participants agree that their continued participation in the Competition shall constitute their acceptance of any such changes.

1.5.17 The Organiser’s failure to enforce any rule of the 2024 Budding Value Investor Award Rules and Regulations shall not constitute a waiver of that rule.

1.5.18 A person who is not a party to the 2024 Budding Value Investor Award Rules and Regulations has no legal right under the Malaysian Contracts Act 1950 or under common law to enforce any rule of the 2024 Budding Value Investor Award Rules and Regulations.

1.5.19 The copyright for materials submitted for the Competition by all Participants will be assigned to the Organiser and may be retained, reproduced and/or used for exhibition, publication and promotion purposes. The Organiser reserves the right to retain ownership of all Competition materials for the purpose of utilising submissions in any exhibition, publication or promotional endeavour undertaken by the Organiser without compensation to the Participants.

Any questions pertaining to the 2024 Budding Value Investor Award Rules and Regulations may be directed to bvia@icapital.biz

RULE 2: PARTICIPANTS

2.1 Team Participation

Teams:

must be formed by postgraduate, undergraduate, or diploma students, or a combination of postgraduate, undergraduate and/or diploma students from schools recognised by their country’s respective Recognised Higher Education Accreditation Organisation;
must consist of a maximum of three members
must consist of members that are all 18 years of age or above on the date of submission of the team’s entry.
must accept the terms of the 2024 Budding Value Investor Award Rules and Regulations upon registration.
can have no alternates. If a team loses one or more of its members, that member(s) can be replaced no later than the Preliminary Stage on Sunday, 15 September 2024, 11.59 PM Malaysia time (GMT+8).

The following parties are not eligible to participate in this competition: -

Past finalists or winners of the yearly Budding Value Investor Award organised by the Organiser;
Persons who have been or are employed in a role where they are involved in the core investment management profession, unless that position is in the capacity of an intern. Core investment management professionals are those individuals primarily involved in activities related to the investment decision-making process – generally portfolio managers, financial advisors, and research analysts on both the buy and sell side. The core investment management industry is comprised of firms (or larger firm business lines) primarily engaged in asset management (mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity, real estate investment, investment research and ratings, and investment advisory services), wealth management, fiduciary asset ownership (such as pension funds, endowments, and sovereign wealth funds), and their related regulators and standard setters.
Current or former employees and interns of the Organiser and its affiliates, their immediate families, and anyone professionally connected with the Competition.

The Organiser may at its sole discretion grant an exception to Rule 2.1 on a case-by-case basis.

RULE 3: RESEARCH PAPER AND PRESENTATION

3.1 Preliminary Stage

Each Participant may only submit one Research Paper. The Research Paper must not exceed 1,500 words for Part 1 and 5,000 words for Part 2, excluding charts, tables, references and appendices.

The Research Paper must:

conform to the guidelines set forth in Appendix 1;
be written in English;
not contain any insider information;
be the original work of the team members, must not be plagiarised from any source, and sourced information should be properly cited using generally accepted citation systems;
not contain any material which might be construed as slanderous, obscene, embarrassing, contain offensive gender, cultural or racial stereotypes, or any other material which might be deemed as inappropriate.
be contained in a SINGLE document;
be submitted in BOTH Microsoft Word and PDF versions via email to bvia@icapital.biz;
be submitted by 15 Sep, 2024, 11.59 PM Malaysia time (GMT+8).
not be altered by Participants once it has been submitted.

The Organiser may impose penalties for late submissions. Penalties are at the discretion of the Organiser and may include point deductions or disqualification from the Competition. The Organiser will not return materials submitted by the Participants for the Competition, to the Participants.

3.2 Final Stage

The Organiser will announce the Finalists for the Final Stage of the Competition on bvia.icapital.biz and via email by 19 October 2024. .

Finalists are required to prepare a Presentation based on their Research Paper in English and send their presentation slides to bvia.icapital.biz by 16 November 2024, 5.00 PM Malaysia time (GMT+8) in BOTH Microsoft PowerPoint and PDF formats. No further changes to the content can be made thereafter.
The Finalists may not hand the judges any printed materials before or after the Presentation.
All Finalists must take part in the Final Stage. Subject to the limitations of these rules, Participants are free to structure their Presentation as they wish.
Each Presentation will be timed. A timekeeper will stop the teams once the allocated time is up.
There will be a Question & Answer (Q&A) session after the Presentation. The format of the Q&A will be communicated to Finalists at a later date.
Mr Tan Teng Boo, the managing director and chief investment officer of Capital Dynamics, will be one of the judges and the technical consultant of the Competition.
During the Presentation, the Finalists shall avoid making any statements which might be construed as slanderous, obscene, embarrassing, containing offensive gender, cultural, or racial stereotypes, or any other remark that might be deemed inappropriate.

RULE 4: JUDGES AND PRIZES

4.1 Judges

Capital Dynamics reserves the right and has the exclusive discretion to select, substitute, or modify the panel of judges for the Competition at any time and for any reason whatsoever.

The panel of judges are not affiliated with any Participants. All judges on the panel are impartial to the outcome of the Competition and have no prior knowledge of the Participants.

All judges on the panel are given the same information regarding the Competition, Participants and entries submitted by the Participants for the Competition.

The winners of the Competition will be selected by the panel of judges. Their decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into between the teams and the panel of judges in relation to the decisions. The panel of judges will not be allowed to revise its decision once it has been made, and Participants will not be allowed to appeal the decision. Tan Teng Boo, the head judge, shall have the power of veto on the decision. The Organiser shall not be held responsible for any errors or omissions by the panel of judges.

4.2 Prizes

The prizes for the 2024 Budding Value Investor Award are as follows: -

Celebrating excellence in investment research and analysis, The Budding Value Investor Award is reserved for outstanding achievements. Its bestowal is an acknowledgment of exceptional distinction. Alongside a prestigious cash prize of RM10,000, recipients of this prestigious award are granted an exclusive apprenticeship under Tan Teng Boo, the revered Managing Director of Capital Dynamics, the Designated Person of icapital.biz Berhad and Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology Sydney. Such a privilege encapsulates the pinnacle of recognition, affirming the extraordinary caliber and unwavering dedication exemplified by the honored team.
The top 3 teams will each receive the Grand Prize of RM5,000 and certificate(s) of achievement. The Grand Prize Winner’s Research Paper will be published in Capital Dynamics’ flagship investment publication, i Capital and www.icapital.biz in English and Chinese (translation will be provided).

There is no alternative prize or cash alternative, and prizes cannot be transferred to any other person. The Organiser may alter prizes should this be deemed necessary by the Organiser. Unless stated otherwise, the Organiser will contact the winners via email.