Cooperation was successful: Our master's students are the winners of the Setl Group case championship!

Dear friends!

We are proud and happy to announce that the master's students in the "Finance" program at HSE demonstrated the highest level of preparation and ambition. The team "CASE ME HARDER," consisting of first-year master's students — Vsevolod Nikolaev, Ivan Rogov, Alisa Belkova, and Viktoriia Mitropolskaia — won the case championship "Cooperation with the Corporation," organized by HSE in collaboration with Setl Group.

Details of the Case Championship

The case championship consisted of two stages: a qualifying round and a final. In the first stage, students were asked to evaluate the financial efficiency of three construction projects and decide on the implementation of one of them. The evaluation and analysis were conducted through modeling operational, investment, and financing cash flows, preparing financial reports, conducting DCF analysis and sensitivity analysis. The results had to be presented on a dashboard in the model and showcased in a presentation.

The final of the case championship, held on November 28, was a true test of professionalism, creativity, and team spirit. The final consisted of two parts. The first part was a workshop where participants had to demonstrate the functionality and adaptability of their developed financial models under changing input data. This format provided a unique opportunity to experience the role of analysts working in real-time with management requests.

The second part included defending models and answering questions from the jury consisting of experts from Setl Group. According to participants, this defense format was unique and required teams to test hypotheses quickly, analyze dynamics based on scenarios provided by experts, and demonstrate their ability to interpret results based on new input data swiftly.

What the Winners Say

More than ten teams, both bachelor’s and master’s students, competed for victory in the championship. All HSE students displayed a responsible approach to their solutions, but it was the team "CASE ME HARDER" that managed to impress experts with their analytical skills, well-thought-out detailed model, and concise professional presentation of their results. The winners commented on their success as follows: “For most members of our team, this case championship experience and financial modeling were new. We dedicated a lot of time to developing our solution, engaging in discussions about calculation of various indicators while always supporting each other and maintaining team spirit. The synergy that developed throughout our work helped us take that final step in the finale and win.

We also greatly benefited from knowledge gained in our corporate finance and financial analysis classes, which coincidentally took place during the case championship timeline.

Special thanks to the organizers — the Setl Group and HSE Career Center — for creating a competition closely aligned with real-world practice.”

Why Participate in Case Championships?

This case championship is a vivid example of how education in our master's program not only prepares students for real business challenges but also helps them unlock their potential. Participation in such projects provides not only knowledge but also confidence in one's abilities. Our students are already ready today to tackle the most complex financial modeling tasks!

Join our master's program in "Finance" to be part of such victories!
‘For the photos from the event we express our special thanks to photographers Vladimir Alexandrov and Artem Vakengut!’