2021 Forecasting Contest: Congratulations to Hind Abdo, Forecaster of the Year!

 

 

The Forecasting Contest is an annual event held by a number of CFA societies around the world as part of their Forecast Dinner. Participants are asked to provide a 12-month outlook for a variety of economic indicators by answering a series of financial, economic, geopolitical and other topical questions.

This year, CFA Montréal named Hind Abdo the winner for her June 2021 forecast, which was the most closely aligned with economic and financial data as at May 31, 2022. She is the first woman to earn this honour since 2010. Her new title of Forecaster of the Year was announced during the Forecast Dinner on June 16. She was pleased and proud to take home this prestigious trophy, in recognition of the accuracy of her predictions.

Mrs. Abdo is Senior Director, Operational Risk, at Desjardins and a CFA charterholder. She drew on her 20 years in the financial field to inform her projections. “I’m really happy to have won this contest. It was a great opportunity to put the investment and financial theory I’ve learned over the years into practice. And it was a lot of fun. Plus, it lends me an air of legitimacy when I’m talking to my children about investing!” she mused.

Given recent geopolitical and socioeconomic trends, she was actually quite surprised to receive the award, especially with the upheaval in interest rates, stock markets and currency prices in the past few months and the impacts this has had on the economy.

The forecast she submitted in June 2021 was based primarily on an analysis of the economic cycle and its effects, as well as various indicators that were already beginning to emerge, among them inflation, stock prices, the fallout of the pandemic and the volatility of bitcoin.

Comparing her predictions against the current state of affairs, she stresses that “it is important for investors to have a solid financial plan in place, to diversify their portfolio, to invest for the long term and to take only as much risk as their investor profile allows, to avoid unpleasant surprises.”

She encourages anyone interested in financial markets to join her in signing up for the 2022 edition of contest.

 

To find out more about CFA Montréal, the Forecasting Contest or our other activities, please feel free to contact us at info@cfamontréal.org