One of the reasons why capital market debacle surfaced in Bangladesh back in 2010-2011 can be attributed to little or no knowledge by majority investors of how the stock market operates in a dynamic environment and feeble analytical panache. They would merely trade relying on word of mouth backed by intuition and manipulation that stemmed from inadequate market information. More often than not, they were exposed to vulnerability owing to manipulative exaggeration pulled off by cunning market players. Fortunately, the market bounced back well, thanks to proper regulatory practices and increased financial literacy among the investors. To keep this momentum going for a sustainable capital economy, the economy needs to be endowed with a massive influx of insightful investors. That is where the essence with which Bangladesh University of Professionals Finance Society (BUPFS) came into being with a fair share of promises, converge.
Keeping justice to the motto of BUPFS which is 'Key to enduring success', BUPFS took the plunge in its stride to introduce a platform which will provide path-breaking solutions being empowered by promising participants and thus enhance the horizon of sustainable financial practices in the country.
BUP Finance Society is coming up with an intra- BUP investment strategy competition titled 'ASOI JV Presents Capitalizer'18'. Capitalizer seems to be on a spree to strike the right chord among the enthusiasts as it is expected to pave out a diversified range of learning curve for the participants. The competition, divided into three intriguing rounds, is designed in a way which has never been explored before.
During round one, named 'Think the money way', participants will be asked to come with a proper capital budgeting of a given business plan for a timeframe of five years. They will be required to set the price of the product/service mentioned in the given online case with a suitable rationale in addition to displaying a projected revenue model for five years of the specified business plan. During round two, the selected teams will be asked to capitalise on the hidden unique selling proposition (USP) of the given business plan backed by a pitch deck accordingly to convince the investors, which in this case is the jury, for investing in the team's proposition of a significant provision of ownership to the investors. Since teams will be dealing with the hidden USPs, this round is cheekily named 'Deal behind the bars'. Round three, also known as ‘Capitalize It beyond’, will require the finalists to come up with strategies to issue Initial Public Offering (IPO) which will pave a path of financial viability to the startups resulting in the fulfillment of the investor's concern of wealth maximisation.
In coherence to the event timeline, workshop of round one was held on April 28, 2018 to enable the participants in getting a grip over the do's and don'ts regarding the submission material and procedure. This knowledge sharing session was conducted by a reputed industry practitioner-- KM Saqiful Alam who is currently serving as a co-manager of Google Business Group Sonargaon. His attention to details in analysing the case task coupled with practical examples helped the attendants to resonate with the requisites of the case and evoked thoughtful questions in the Q/A session making the workshop engaging and fruitful. Besides, Mr. Ashraf, corporate communications officer of ASOI JV, also graced the event with his presence to disseminate the reasoning behind such affiliation with BUPFS. The round one – online case and business plan development round – started on April 28. The deadline for business plan submission was on May 01. The round two cases will be given on May 03 and its presentation will take place on May 05.
Being the very first flagship event organised by BUPFS, this competition does not glorify itself on pushing the participants in number-crunching only. Instead, Capitalizer is designed to let the participants' form a junction between their qualitative interpretation and quantitative reasoning and to learn to present their pitch deck in a befitting mannerism. In other words, it wants to help students to organise their thinking around an integrative planning framework. As a whole, the aphorism of Capitalizer is blending in the quality of the quantity to nourish financial creativity. The varied tasks assigned to different stages makes this competition eligible, engaging and competitive for all.
Nonetheless, the exclusivity of Capitalizer'18 lies in the fact that this is going to be the most prominent intra finance based competition in the history of BUP, offering total prize money of Tk 0.1 million. This glam is added to acknowledge the participants for their hard work, instant wit, and efficiency they embellish in Capitalizer. Money does not even cover half of the outcome Capitalizer'18 is intended to exert for students participating here would find themselves building efficiency in Microsoft Excel. The participants can build a whole new level of confidence by managing financing decisions economically, preparing pitch decks, developing financial reports, acknowledging underwriting efforts before issuing IPO, and giving a real-life recognition to it fulfilling the underlying prerequisites within the limited span of time. Eventually, they would get to know how fundraising looks like, when applied in real world, thus they would develop the grip in taking investment decisions, matching real-time investment scenarios.
The writer is currently studying at Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP) and is also the Junior Vice President (PR and Communications) of BUP Finance Society. He can be reached at [email protected]
