Kiwis head to the Big Apple to bite off a ModelOff win

Kiwis head to the Big Apple to bite off a ModelOff win

18 November 2014 - Two New Zealanders and two Australians and a finalist from Hong Kong are part of the top 16 qualifiers set to be flown to New York to participate in the final round of competition the 3rd annual Financial Modeling World Championships, ModelOff 2014.

The final round takes place in New York between 5th ¬– 7th of December. APAC contestants will vie against an international league of peers for a USD$30,000 first prize and the honor or being recognized as the best financial modeler in the world.

Sponsored by Intralinks Dealspace™, the ModelOff competition this year attracted entries from over 4,000 professionals and students from more than 100 countries. Now, 16 finalists are set to battle it out live in New York, pitting their modeling speed, innovation, data skills and risk understanding against one another in front of a panel of expert judges.

A combined total of 100 New Zealanders and Australians made it through to Round 2 in late October, a testament to the true depth of talent and skill available in the region. The two New Zealand finalists, Michael Clarke from Wellington and Owen Auger from Auckland will be among the other 14 finalists travelling to New York.

Finalist Michael Clarke, Senior Analyst at PwC New Zealand, is thrilled to be in the running for the top honours for the second time.

“I entered the 2014 ModelOff competition as I saw it as an opportunity to benchmark my modeling and Excel skills against others from around the world in a prestigious competition. I think financial modeling is such an important skillset to have, and it not only challenges your ability to think logically but creatively too. It's such a unique experience to be given the chance to meet a great bunch of people who are also interested in financial modeling and have the opportunity to compete for prize money in something like financial modeling. I am delighted that I have the opportunity to fly over to New York to compete and represent New Zealand.”

For this final round of the competition, ModelOff major sponsor Intralinks Dealspace™ will be:
• Providing insights and commentary in the form of a ‘Top 16 Form Guide’ for the New York live final
• Delivering live video steaming and commentary of the finals in early December.

Intralinks Dealspace™
Intralinks Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: IL) is a leading, global technology provider of inter-enterprise content management and collaboration solutions for managing strategic transaction. Intralinks Dealspace, the market leading virtual data room (VDR), gives M&A professionals a complete solution to manage the full lifecycle of a deal. Intralinks Dealspace supports every step of the deal process, enabling deal teams to securely exchange data with buyers, sellers and advisors, helping speed strategic transactions such as mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, capital raises and corporate restructurings. More than 2.7 million professionals at 99% of the Fortune 1000 companies have depended on Intralinks' experience. With a track record of enabling high-stakes transactions and business collaborations valued at more than $23.5 trillion, Intralinks is a trusted provider of easy-to-use, enterprise strength, cloud-based collaboration solutions. For more information, visit www.Intralinks.com.

About ModelOff and PSCL
The annual Financial Modeling World Championships is a fun and challenging educational competition run globally for Professionals and Students who love Finance, Banking, Accounting, Investments, Microsoft Excel and Quantitative industries. Two Online Rounds and Live World Finals in New York City for the World’s Top 16. The competitions helps participants diversify their skills and learning, join local ModelOff networking events and become recognised as a leaders in their local, national and international communities.

The Professional Services Champions League (PSCL) organises and administers official world championships events for the consulting and professional services industries. Among the PSCL educational competition portfolio, include the Big Data Analytics World Championships (www.texata.com) and Loyalty Rewards and Gamification World Championships (www.theloyaltygames.com).

ENDS

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