Only weeks after an impressive showing at the John Molson International Case Competition, MBA team Andrew Orsborn, Dana Burke-Bouzane, Krista Fowlow and Steve Melamed have taken silver at the Credit Risk Case Competition held at Dalhousie University.

The Credit Risk Case Competition is a relatively new competition that aims to raise awareness about credit risk management. As the competition website explains, “This event pits teams from Canadian and U.S. universities in a two-day competition of ideas, theory and cutting-edge credit risk decision making. The central concept is to increase awareness of the importance of credit risk, which was cited by a PRMIA poll of risk managers as the greatest risk in today's financial sector.”

Team members Andrew Orsborn and Steve Melamed heard about the competition in their MBA finance course, Financial Futures and Options. After talking it over with their teammates, they decided to enter the competition even though there were just a few weeks to prepare.

“After the John Molson competition, we felt prepared for the presentation aspect of the competition, so we focused on learning more about financial theory and practice,” explained team member Mr. Orsborn. “Dr. Faseruk brought in members of the business community to help us and we ran through practice cases.”

Their distinctive presentation style, presenting recommendations first and then explaining their rationale, went over well with the judges. “The judges responded well to our presentations, and after seeing us present, other teams began to follow the same format,” said Mr. Orsborn. “I think it goes back to the extensive preparation we did with prof. Peggy Coady and Dr. Faseruk. We were all very comfortable speaking and presenting in public.”

Dr. Faseruk was proud of the team’s showing. "I was very pleased to see the team perform so well in a highly specialized competition involving credit risk management. This area is undergoing tremendous growth within financial theory and practice. It is a testimony to the breadth of knowledge that our students acquire in the MBA program."

After months of preparing for competitions, the team is enjoying their downtime, but as Mr. Orsborn explains, they look back on the competition with fondness. “Both competitions were amazing in terms of what we learned. The people you meet, the things you learn, the preparation and the actual experience is priceless. I would recommend participating in something like this to all students.”