Rules and Regulations

ESTIMATED Timeline

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 General Guidelines

  • Participants must be registered undergraduate or graduate students on January 31, 2025.

  • Participants should have taken finance courses covering portfolio management and valuation.

  • Teams can mix graduate and undergraduate students if they wish.

  • Teams should be made up of 3 - 4 students each, with the option for one alternate member.

  • Individuals who have been employed in a role for a period of two years or more and whose primary duty involves(d) fundamental company analysis—unless the team member’s work was solely as an intern—are ineligible to participate in this competition.

Competition Dates

The 2025 competition will take place on March 21st & 22nd, 2025.

Registration Deadlines

Registration for the 2025 competition is now open! Please note the following deadlines:

  • Early Bird registration deadline: November 30th, 2024

  • Registration closes: December 31st, 2024

Teams can register by filling out the online form here. Teams will need to provide the names of all team members (up to 4 members) and the name of their coach (optional). Teams can also register by contacting us at schools@vanberkomcc.com.

Teams are encouraged to register as soon as possible as only 25 teams will be permitted to submit a qualifying case.

Qualifying Round Selection

The qualifying case will be sent to the registered teams in January 2025. Teams must complete the written qualifying round case and submit their solution by email by midnight of the specified due date. The qualifying cases will be judged by a panel of judges and the top nine teams will be selected to compete in the final round. Schools may send multiple submissions should they wish, but only one team will be accepted from each school. Accepted teams will be notified in the first week of February 2025 and will then have one week to confirm their attendance. Selected teams must submit their participation fee by the end of February 2025.
A sample qualification case can be downloaded here.

If you or your team members will require a VISA to enter Canada, it is recommended to start the VISA application process upon registration to allow for any potential delays. Team members must also include an up-to-date copy of their CV with the qualification case submission.

Participation Fees

For teams that registered before the early bird deadline, the participation fee is 500 CAD. For teams registered after, the participation fee is 750 CAD. Only the final nine teams are required to submit the participation fee in February 2025.

Two Live Cases

The cases are selected by Van Berkom and Associates and are unique to the Van Berkom JMSB Small-Cap Case Competition. Cases are based on real companies using real-time, up-to-date qualitative and quantitative information. The selected companies and cases are kept completely confidential until the day of the competition. The live case session is one hour long.
During the live case, Mr. Sebastian van Berkom and two of his associates will act as the management team for the company in question.
The management team will give a brief overview before opening the floor to questions. The live case session is moderated by Prof. Reena Atanasiadis where the teams can ask their questions. Inappropriate or leading questions will not be answered, and teams are encouraged to prepare their questions strategically before asking.
A sample of the live case documents can be found here.

Competition Format

On day one, teams are randomly assigned to three divisions. Each division will consist of three teams. Judges will assign a score (please see below for more details on scoring) to each team and scores will be released at the end of the day.
On day two, teams are reassigned to new divisions and present as on day one. Judges will again assign scores for day two and the cumulative total of each day will determine the winning teams, to be announced at the end of day two.

Preparation

At the beginning of each day, teams will be assigned a team host who will guide them throughout the competition. After the opening breakfast, teams will be escorted to their case prep rooms and the team hosts will provide them with their case package. This will include a written summary and a USB stick containing financial statements, press releases, and other pertinent information that they may need. The teams will have two hours to read the case materials, formulate a strategy as well and prepare for the live case session.

After two hours of initial prep, team hosts will bring their respective teams to the live case room (see above for details on the live case session). After the live case, the teams will return to their prep rooms and will be given three hours to continue with their analysis as well as prepare an oral presentation with supporting PowerPoint slides. After the three hours are complete, team hosts will notify their teams and escort them to their respective presentation rooms. Each team has 5 hours of preparation time, 2 hours before and 3 hours after the live case session. The live case session is one hour long.

Teams will be allowed to utilize whatever tools and media are needed to research the case. Any external information presented must be cited in a reference list in your slide deck.

No faculty advisor, spectator, or outside party is allowed to assist the teams in the research of the case or preparation of the oral presentation. Any interference by outside parties will be considered a violation of our code of conduct and will result in disqualification from the competition.

On both days, teams must ensure that every team member is present for the preparation, live case session, and oral presentation.

Preparation rooms will be equipped with:

  • Flip chart paper and markers

  • Note pads and pens

  • Snacks and water

Items allowed in the presentation rooms:

  • Laptops & Mice (please bring your own computer & mice)

  • Number pad attachments for laptops

  • Non-programmable calculators

Presentations

The goal of the presentation is for teams to give a well-supported recommendation about buying, selling, or holding a specific stock. Each team will be allowed time for a 20-minute presentation and a 10-minute question & answer period. Time limits will be strictly enforced by a timer and teams will be notified when they have five minutes and one minute left to present. After the question and answer period, teams will be asked to step outside for a few minutes while the judges deliberate. Teams will then be invited to re-enter the room where they will be given feedback from the judges on their presentation. This feedback is intended to be constructive criticism to help the teams improve their presentations the following day.

Judges and Scoring

The judging panels are comprised of three to four finance industry professionals selected by the organizing committee and director. Judges will score teams on a total of 30 points based on the following factors:

  • Definition of Key Issue(s) - 5pts

  • Qualitative Analysis - 5pts

  • Quantitative Analysis - 5pts

  • A recommended course of action - 5pts

  • Handling of question period - 5pts

  • Presentation effectiveness - 5pts

Tie-Breaking

In the case of a tie, the total of the first four factors for both days of the presentation will be considered to determine the winning team. If there is still a tie, the first three factors for both days of the presentation will be considered.