2020/2021 Budding Value Investor Award

Rules and Regulations


RULE 1:INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL PROVISIONS

The 2020/2021 Budding Value Investor Award (hereon “Competition”) is a global investment research competition for undergraduate and diploma students, organised by Capital Dynamics. The competition is sponsored by Capital Dynamics and icapital.biz Berhad (hereon “Capital Dynamics”). icapital.biz Berhad (stock code: 5108) is a closed-end fund listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.

Capital Dynamics 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. Capital Dynamics is committed to creating a welcoming and safe environment for the Competition where fairness, opportunity, and trust exist, so as to allow participants to leverage on their diverse talents and perspectives.

The 2020/2021 Budding Value Investor Award consists of two stages:


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

Part 1
Introduced by Benjamin Graham in 1934, value investing is a time-proven investment approach used by some of the most successful investors, including Warren Buffett. The world has changed fundamentally, driven by China’s emergence, technology disruption, the aftermath of the US-led financial crisis and low interest rate. With disruptions of all kinds affecting business models, in your own words, please submit Part 1 of your Research Paper on the following topic:

“What is New Value Investing in the context of the 21st century?”

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

Part 2
Choose a listed company with annual reports available in English or Chinese from the 43 stock markets that Capital Dynamics invests in globally. As Part 2 of your Research Paper, conduct an analysis on the said company. Justify your choice of company with reference to your answer in Part 1. Conclude by recommending a Buy, Hold, or Sell rating on the said company.

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. Due to the unexpected circumstances, the Final Stage Presentation will be held virtually on 27th March 2021. More detailed information and procedure will disclose 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 Capital Dynamics any potential conflicts in writing. Potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed promptly upon the participant’s becoming aware of the same.

Capital Dynamics 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 Capital Dynamics determines that it is necessary to protect the integrity of the Competition, Capital Dynamics 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 Capital Dynamics 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.

Participants can read existing research on the subject company, but all analysis should be their own. 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.

Allegations of plagiarism will be investigated by Capital Dynamics and may result in immediate disqualification. The decision of Capital Dynamics (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 Capital Dynamics from any assertion of the same from any third party.


1.4 Personal Data

1.4.1 All participants of the Competition acknowledge that Capital Dynamics will collect, process, and share their personal data. Capital Dynamics is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of the personal data of all participants in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (Malaysia), and personal data collected by Capital Dynamics and/or its authorised representatives will not be disclosed, shared, transferred, sold, or rented to any third party, apart from for the purposes specified in Clause 1.4.2 herein below.

1.4.2. All participants agree that Capital Dynamics and its affiliates shall have the right to use their names, voices, photographs, likeness, and appearance in any medium or forum anywhere in the world (including online) in relation to its marketing efforts for the Competition and other related competitions organised by Capital Dynamics and/or its affiliates without further compensation, unless prohibited by law.

The copyright for materials submitted for the Competition by all participants will be assigned to Capital Dynamics and may be retained, reproduced and/or used for exhibition, publication and promotion purposes. Capital Dynamics 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 Capital Dynamics without compensation to the participants.

1.5 Others

1.5.1. Words in italics throughout the 2020/2021 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 2020/2021 Budding Value Investor Awards Rules and Regulations, Capital Dynamics shall be the sole arbiter and its interpretation of the terms in dispute shall be final.

Any questions pertaining to these Rules and Regulations can be directed to bvia@icapital.biz

1.5.2. The 2020/2021 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.

1.5.3. All participants of the Competition agree that Capital Dynamics and icapital.biz Berhad shall have no liability whatsoever for any injury, illness, or death of any participant suffered by him/her in connection with or arising out of this Competition or its Rules & Regulations except for foreseeable death or personal injury caused by the negligence of Capital Dynamics and recoverable on those grounds.

RULE 2: PARTICIPANTS


2.1 Individual and Team Participation

Teams:

  1. must be formed by undergraduate or diploma students from schools recognised by their country’s respective Recognised Higher Education Accreditation Organisation;
  2. can consist of up to three members (teams are subject to requirements in Rule 2.2);
  3. must not be current or former employees or interns of Capital Dynamics;
  4. must accept the terms of the 2020/2021 Budding Value Investor Award Rules and Regulations upon registration.

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

  • Past finalists of the yearly Budding Value Investor Award organised by Capital Dynamics;
  • Persons who have been or are employed in a role where they are involved in investment management, unless that position is in the capacity of an intern.

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


2.2 Team Requirements

Teams:

  1. can consist of undergraduate or diploma students enrolled in different schools;
  2. shall not have any member replacement after the Preliminary Stage on Sunday, 10th January 2021, 11.59 PM Malaysia time (GMT+8).

RULE 3: RESEARCH PAPER AND PRESENTATION


3.1 Preliminary Stage

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:

  1. conform to the guidelines set forth in Appendix 1;
  2. be written in English;
  3. not contain any insider information;
  4. not be plagiarised from any source;
  5. be the original work of the team members and sourced information should be properly cited using generally accepted citation systems;
  6. be contained in a SINGLE document;
  7. be submitted in BOTH Microsoft Word and PDF versions via email to bvia@icapital.biz;
  8. be submitted by Sunday, 10th January 2021, 11.59 PM Malaysia time (GMT+8).

Capital Dynamics may impose penalties for late submissions. Penalties are at the discretion of Capital Dynamics and may include point deductions or disqualification from the Competition.


3.2 Final Stage

Capital Dynamics will announce the Finalists for the Final Stage of the Competition on bvia.icapital.biz and via email by Saturday, 27th February 2021, 5.00 PM Malaysia time (GMT+8). .

  1. Finalists are required to prepare a Presentation based on their Research Paper in English and send their presentation slides to bvia.icapital.biz by Saturday, 13th March 2021, 5.00 PM Malaysia time (GMT+8) in BOTH Microsoft PowerPoint and PDF formats. No further changes to the content can be made thereafter.
  2. The Finalists may not hand the judges any printed materials before or after the Presentation.
  3. 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.
  4. Each Presentation will be timed. A timekeeper will stop the teams once the allocated time is up.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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 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.


4.2 Prizes

The prizes for the 2020/2021 Budding Value Investor Award are as follows: -

  1. Grand Prize
    The winning team will receive the Grand Prize US$5000, certificate(s) of achievement, and a three-month paid internship opportunity with Capital Dynamics. The internship opportunity is at the absolute discretion of Capital Dynamics and may not apply to all members in the team.
  2. Special Prizes
    Two (2) runners-up will each receive a Special Prize: US$1,000 and certificates of achievement.