We knew from the get-go that Region 3 of the KWHS Investment Competition was a pack of fierce competitors. We received hundreds of registrations from teams in the U.S., Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Norway, Romania, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Then when the mid-project team reviews started streaming in – nearly 300 by the February 12 deadline – we were captivated by the collective wave of strategic thinking, deep analysis and tough team deliberations. No longer just high school students, these teams were transformed into novice investors on a mission to build potential client Jack Abraham’s wealth in cohesive, creative and SWOT-savvy ways.

By the time the 160 final team strategy reports arrived on March 25, we were expecting greatness – and Region 3 did not disappoint. The KWHS team eagerly delivered the papers to our expert review panel at Aberdeen Standard Investments in Philadelphia, which has been a partner and supporter of the KWHS Investment Competition since its inception in 2012.

Brianna Leporace, marketing research and intelligence analyst for the U.S. at Aberdeen Standard Investments, assembled a group of 13 other Aberdeen professionals to read and evaluate the Region 3 reports. “We were extremely impressed with the high caliber of the final investment policies submitted this year and applaud all teams for their efforts in the KWHS Investment Competition,” said Leporace, whose team of Aberdeen judges were from different areas of the company, including equity, fixed-income and alternative investing, as well as marketing and distribution. “The competition continues to get stronger and more competitive every year, so selecting the finalists to advance to the Global Finale was very difficult. The students demonstrated a solid understanding of investing concepts through the articulation of their investment strategies and analysis, and we enjoyed reading about their educational journey over the course of the competition.”

In the end, the results truly reflect the global evolution of the KWHS Investment Competition. The student teams advancing to the Region 3 regional and Global Finale on May 5, 2018 are:

• All You Can Eat Buffett, Virginia, United States
• ALPHA, Sevenoaks, United Kingdom
• Brazilian Bulls, Colégio Santa Cruz, Brazil
• Charlottesville High School Student Investment Group, Charlottesville High School, United States
• Dollar Tiger$, Germantown Friends School, United States
• Longer-Term Capital Management, Monta Vista High School, United States
• Maple Eagle, York Mills Collegiate Institute, Canada
• Medici Capital, Lovejoy High School, United States
• Oakridge Investment Enterprises, Oak Ridge High School, United States
• Saints Capital, St. George’s School, Canada
• United World Capital, United World College RCN, Norway
• Vancity Capital Management, Canada

The top 12 Region 3 teams will present their strategies to a panel of judges at the KWHS Investment Competition Global Finale on May 5 at Wharton in Philadelphia, where they will go up against each other, as well as the top three teams from the Region 1 finals and the top three teams from the Region 2 finals. We anticipate an especially exciting Global Finale this year, with prizes awarded to the top teams in Region 3, as well as the top teams globally. Here is the full lineup of the 18 competing teams presenting at Wharton on May 5:

• All You Can Eat Buffett, Virginia, United States
• ALPHA, Sevenoaks, United Kingdom
• Brazilian Bulls, Colégio Santa Cruz, Brazil
• Charlottesville High School Student Investment Group, Charlottesville High School, United States
• Dollar Tiger$, Germantown Friends School, United States
• Longer-Term Capital Management, Monta Vista High School, United States
• Maple Eagle, York Mills Collegiate Institute, Canada
• Medici Capital, Lovejoy High School, United States
• Oakridge Investment Enterprises, Oak Ridge High School, United States
• Pied Piper Investments, Amity International School, India
• Pine Stone Capital Management, RDFZ, China
• RDFZ ICC, RDFZ, China
• Saints Capital, Canada
• Scion Capital, Jayshree Periwal International School, Jaipur, India
• The Alchemy of Investments, Amity International School, India
• United World Capital, United World College RCN, Norway
• Vancity Capital Management, Canada
• War Wolves, Beijing Academy, China

In addition to our in-kind sponsor Aberdeen, we will also be welcoming aboard several new corporate sponsors, including Dechert LLP, Dilworth Paxson LLP, Finclusive Capital, Principle Quest Foundation and UBS. All of these companies embrace the underlying mission of the KWHS Investment Competition, which is to help high school students learn investing, communications, entrepreneurship and teamwork, and to become more financially literate.

While we could only select 12 top teams, we would like to pay tribute to some of this year’s other devoted Region 3 competitors by highlighting memorable moments from their final papers. So much analysis, critical thinking and insight. Great work, Region 3!

“Our team has decided that three factors are the most important to have exposure to: momentum, value and growth… consider that each company is a soccer team going to compete on Russia’s 2018 World Cup. Each of the different factors, with assumptions made, is relatable to the characteristics of each team. Momentum: the number of games the team has won in a row; Value: the defensive potential of the squad; Growth: the attacking potential of the squad.” Dangoor Investments, St. Paul’s School, São Paulo, Brazil

“A strong resource for Team Sona was Wharton Professor Adam Grant. He was a figure highly spoken about at last year’s KWHS Global Finale, and our team found his book Originals very applicable to a competition of this nature. If our team wanted to stand out to Jack Abraham as the best potential client, we knew that we had to think, visualize, and collaborate like “Originals.” After a careful read, analysis, and discussion about Grant’s ideas on Originality, we sought to implement it not only in our initial strategy, but also in more collaborative aspects such as unbiased team decision-making, ethical quandaries, skepticism and judgment, and elimination of conformity and emotion in the investment process. With Grant’s teachings and values, Team Sona was able to adopt a fantastic set of approaches that facilitated the way team members respected and interacted with each other.” Team Sona, Allen D. Nease High School, Florida, U.S.

“We recommend for KWAM is to invest in all of the sectors, taking care to invest equally in both the cyclical sectors and counter-cyclical sectors in order to reduce the risk of specific sectors losing value. Industry wise, the software industry is a safe investment choice, and the diversified consumer services, machinery, and equity real estate industries are also included in our recommendations. The particular stocks we recommend are Twitter, Adobe Systems, Spartan Motors, TAL Education Group, Southwest Airlines and Semiconductor, which all have had steady growth in recent times. We do not, however, recommend investing into metal industries—such as United States Steel—with the tariffs being placed on steel and aluminum.” NPCA Lions, Collegiate Academy, Pennsylvania, U.S.

“It is beyond doubt that the average investor is frequently portrayed as an evil, greedy and merciless person, and the examples are not few. From Gordon Gekko to Jordan Belfort, the general idea of evilness in the Financial Market is present in our society. Fortunately, this, in most of the cases, is an absolute misconception compared with the reality. The common investor, from home broker to Wall Street investment banker follows an ethical rule.” Monty Python and the Holy Stock, Colégio Bandeirantes, São Paulo, Brazil

“Our team loved this competition as it gave us an opportunity we could never find elsewhere, as none of us have $100k to invest. Working with thousands of dollars to make investment decisions, understanding the markets, and seeing the results have given us a highly educational and motivational experience. Our inspiration to seek professions in this field and invest our own money would never truly have arisen without the experiences we all had during this competition.” Rolling Stone, Downingtown STEM Academy, Pennsylvania, U.S.

“Qualitative judgments arguably played a bigger role than quantitative metrics in our decision-making process, although they work hand in hand. The industry the company operates in, the countries, the quality of the management team, the company’s vision, their target audience – these are all factors that cannot be assigned a value. Successfully recognizing the “soft” skills a company has marks the difference between a star active fund manager, and a passive index fund investor. Anyone can compare numbers on a spreadsheet but it is the reasons behind those numbers that matter. Succumbing to tunnel vision exposes you to making false conclusions based on numbers without context. It is very likely that you may then miss opportunities, or make grave mistakes.” Team Zurich, Zurich International School, Switzerland

“Many of our team members chose to take part in the KWHS competition because they had prior experience with stock market competitions. However, all of the previous competitions were focused on day trading and making as much money a s possible in a short time period. This was our first time participating in a competition that focused on long-term trading. Most of the team members had never considered the dividend yield when buying a stock, because we never participated a long-term investment competition. Participating in this competition helped us learn a lot more about finance and the different statistics to consider before buying a stock.” Taxmanian Devils, Troy High School, Michigan, U.S.

“The first step to forming our investment strategy was researching Jack Abraham: his age, his professional background, and his ideal risk balance. As a successful entrepreneur, Mr. Abraham fittingly welcomes risk for the potential of returns. However, despite his appeal to “very calculated risks”, his age of 32 years and our fundamental analysis pushed the ideal strategy for Mr. Abraham to balance innovation and market potential with value and long-term stability.” InvestorPrep Partners, Bellaire High School, Texas, U.S.

“Facebook is probably our favourite holding. Some of us are so convinced from this company that they even bought Facebook stocks in real life. What makes Facebook so special? Firstly, it has a deep moat created by the so called “network-effect,” which means that people won’t move away from Facebook as long as their friends only use Facebook (or other platforms from Facebook like Instagram, Whatsapp, Messenger or Oculus). And even if there is another competitor, which threatens to steal market share from Facebook, they just can acquire the competitor or copy their business model very quickly, what they, by the way, have already successfully done in recent years (e.g. Snapchat Stories).” List Capital, Friedrich List High School, Karlsruhe, Germany

“The biggest challenge was definitely the uncertainty that comes with everyone’s – sometimes conflicting – opinions on stocks. We made decisions by informally discussing it: We brought up the stock’s name, everyone looked it up on their computer if it was an obscure company, and then we all pitched our opinions. We also informally assigned sectors to each member, which was just a way of separating it with ease; however, everyone ended up looking into every sector by the end…The most important skill coming from each member was definitely the different points of views to the same stocks/situations.” Prophets of Profit, Gulliver Prep, Florida, U.S.

“In our view, this is a crucial moment for the financial markets as there are almost 10 years since the Great Recession. The markets face right now multiple adversities like a trade war (USA vs Europe and China), the unknown Brexit dilemma, the growing of isolationism of big powers (USA, China, UK) as well as the relative unstable political situation around the globe (tensions: USA and UK vs Russia; also USA vs North Korea). Moreover, the increasing inflation due to tax cuts and raising US wages, followed by a rising interest rates environment will be in our view the biggest enemy on the economy. To stop the inflation, the Fed and the Central Banks around the world would need to find the right timing for monetary policy out of one trial. If they miss, the result will be an abrupt recession, and we need to be prepared. Therefore, we tried to create an all-weather portfolio in which sectors are interconnected.” AlphaStrike Capital, Avenor College, Romania

“This project served as a practice in keeping our composure during periods of losses. As a stock trader or manager, you will almost certainly have periods where the value of your portfolio decreases. For us, this happened during our three-month venture. Experiencing a loss, while not ideal for us, actually helped us better learn about investing. We realized that as long as you make smart and secure buys, your portfolio will be solid and grow in the long run. Participating in this competition further reaffirmed for us that the stock market goes through cycles, and a period of losses does not necessarily represent complete failure or a reason to panic.” The Oakland Traders, West Chester East High School, Pennsylvania, U.S.

The 8^th floor of Wharton’s Huntsman Hall was buzzing with energy on the morning of Saturday, May 6, 2017. Teams of eager high school students, led by expectant advisors and nervous parents, flooded off the elevator and into Robertson Hall for a quick bite of breakfast and a sip of coffee or juice. Many had touched down at Philadelphia International Airport only hours before. Some teams chatted in close circles, while others disappeared to the back hall for last-minute presentation practice. The mood was one of excitement, underscored by several students commenting on how awesome it was to have finally made it to the 2017 Knowledge@Wharton High School (KWHS) Investment Competition Global Finale at Wharton. Fifteen top teams with unique investment strategies. More than 100 participants. Six judges. In a matter of hours, all this would result in three winning teams.

The finalists were selected from a group of some 225 high school teams from around the world that submitted final written investment policies in January and March. Those final policies were the culmination of 10 weeks of learning investing concepts, developing strategies in teams of four to nine students, placing online trades through Wharton’s OTIS platform, and thinking critically and creatively.

While all 15 teams delivered powerful presentations, only three could take home top honors. Silver Stone Partners, a team of four from The International School Bangalore, India, won the first-place trophy and coveted Wharton fleece pullovers with its savvy presentation over Skype and its clever Silver Score rating system of stock selection. The second-place trophy and leather Wharton journals went to One Up on Herd Street, a dynamic team of seven students from Amity International School, Noida, India, who delivered an especially passionate and solid presentation with deep analysis and unique team outreach through financial literacy promotion among other high school students. United World Capital, a team of four from United World College RCN in Norway, earned the third-place trophy and Wharton travel mugs for its thought-provoking and cohesive strategy that was strong on qualitative analysis, incorporated a “value filter,” and closely followed the team’s high ethical standards for investing.

Three teams also won honorable mentions from the judges. They were: The Rainmakers from Amity International School, Saket, India; the Terriers of University Road from Boston University Academy in Massachusetts, U.S.; and the Wizards from Virginia, U.S.

The remaining nine teams competing on Saturday were: Alpha Capital of Hopewell Valley Central High School in N.J., U.S.; Investor Troopers from Colégio Bandeirantes in São Paulo, Brazil; The Madison Money Makers from James Madison High School in N.Y., U.S.; Matador Investments from Monta Vista High School in Calif., U.S.; Pride of Lions from St. Paul’s School, São Paulo, Brazil; SPPS Seoul from St. Paul Preparatory School in Seoul, South Korea; Team Sona from Allen D. Nease High School in Florida, U.S.; Westview Wolverines from Westview High School, Calif., U.S.; and the Wolves of Wall Street from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School, N.J., U.S.

The day’s six judges were candid about their difficult deliberations, noting that choosing the winners was an incredibly daunting task. Still, they found the experience inspiring and memorable. “The KWHS finale is a brilliant initiative to promote financial literacy among high school students,” said Aarti Jethwani, client partner and former head of global academic partnerships at Infosys in Plano, Texas, who served as a judge for Saturday’s event. “Witnessing the global scale of this competition, the amazing effort put in by the 15 finalist teams, the depth of their knowledge on finance, business, collaboration and leadership, was truly a wonderful and humbling experience. What amazed me the most was the students’ commitment to spread the exposure and financial literacy they gained across their schools and even communities through clubs, workshops and various initiatives that went beyond the scope of the competition.”

Added Mukund Rao, senior technologist at Wharton Research Data Services, which operates the competition’s OTIS online trading system, and also a 2017 finale judge: “To be in the presence of such brilliant young minds as they embarked on this incredible challenge was amazing. In both presentation and substance, the students showed outstanding professionalism, discipline, and depth of knowledge. There was no hiding the talent evident in each and every presentation. The young men and women were tasked with formulating and presenting successful investment theses, an endeavor that continually challenges the best investment professionals in the world. And they did so with results that were truly world class.”

Joining Jethwani and Rao at the judging table were Saras Agarwal, a Wharton alumnus and financial literacy expert; Andrew Hill, economic education advisor with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia; Suzanne McHenry, corporate responsibility senior manager with PwC in Philadelphia; and Fionna Ross, senior analyst with Aberdeen Asset Management in Philadelphia, specializing in responsible investing and equities.

Perhaps the most powerful takeaway from the 2017 KWHS Investment Competition Global Finale was its impact on high school students around the world. Aneesh Shinkre of Florida’s Team Sona described it as a “truly unforgettable experience,” adding, “We definitely feel inspired to grow our stock market/investment club initiative to connect with our community and, ultimately, the world.” Mehak Mathur from One Up on Herd Street said, “This competition is not just about competing with a team; it’s all about the learning. I’m in Grade 11, and I can tell my parents how to invest!”

For more information on the KWHS Investment Competition, please visit the KWHS Competitions page or email us at KWHSCompetition@wharton.upenn.edu. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @WhartonHS and check out our KWHS Facebook page for many more photos and student reflections from this year’s 2017 KWHS Investment Competition Finale.

How do you measure the success of financial education for high school students? Get some 80 freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors from around the world into a high-tech conference room atop Wharton’s Huntsman Hall, and let their financial knowledge and conviction lead the way.

Knowledge@Wharton High School and Aberdeen Asset Management, a global asset management company with U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia, did just that on Saturday, April 30 – also the final day of Financial Literacy Month in the U.S. — during our fourth-annual Investment Competition Wharton Day Finale.

We welcomed more than 130 invited high school students, educators, parents and financial professionals to participate in the presentation, observation and evaluation of the 16 finalist teams from this year’s 2015-2016 KWHS Investment Competition, sponsored by Aberdeen. Fifteen student teams competed the day of the Wharton Finale event (and one via conference call during the prior week) by presenting their final investment strategies to a panel of four Aberdeen judges. A total of 13 teams traveled to Wharton to present live, while two teams presented remotely via Skype. Among the live presenters were the top three Indian teams from the KWHS South Asia and Middle East regional competition.

The finalists were selected from a group of more than 200 teams that submitted investment policies in January and March. Those final written policies were the culmination of 10 weeks of learning investing concepts, developing strategies in teams of four to nine students, placing online trades through Wharton’s OTIS platform, and thinking critically and creatively.

And without further ado…the results. Defending champs Western Trade, a team of seven students from West Ranch High School in Stevenson Ranch, Calif., won Aberdeen’s first-place prize of $1,500. OMG Capital, a team of four students from Moanalua High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, won the second-place prize of $1,000, and The Wolves of D-Street, a team of seven students from Amity International School in Noida, India, won the third-place prize of $500. The Erudite Wits, a team of four students from Amity International School-Pushp Vihar in India, and the Charlottesville Student Investment Group, a group of nine from Charlottesville High School in Virginia, received honorable mentions.

The remaining 11 finalists and presenters were: Fantastic Four from John L. Miller Great Neck High School in Great Neck, N.Y,; Guilderland Hedge Fund from Guilderland High School in Guilderland, N.Y.; Methacton Investments from Methacton High School in Methacton, Pa.; Moorestown Marketology Investment Group from Moorestown High School in Moorestown, N.J.; On Our Way to Wall Street from West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North in Plainsboro, N.J.; Quants from John P. Stevens High School in Edison, N.J.; The Rainmakers from Amity International School-Saket in Saket, India; Stella Rosea Holdings from Dulwich College in Beijing, China; SWOT Team from Bodine High School for International Affairs in Philadelphia, Pa.; Troy Colts from Troy High School in Troy, Mich.; and Wolverines of Wall Street from Westview High School in San Diego, Calif.

“It has been exciting to see the evolution of this competition, which began in early 2012 as a pilot project with a handful of Philadelphia teams, into a truly global experience,” says Diana Drake, managing editor of Knowledge@Wharton High School. KWHS started the challenge as an extension of its business and personal finance resources for high school students and educators. “The growth is so much more than the fact that we are now reaching thousands of students through the game,” added Drake. “The inspiration comes in what students do with their new financial knowledge. For many, this is their first exposure to investing and the stock market. Ultimately, the deep learning they encounter both inside and outside the classroom helps to inform their investment strategies. We also witness such impressive teamwork and communication skills, and so appreciate the students’ stories about the struggles and triumphs with these types of dynamics. From start to finish, this competition is a testament to the value of engaging, hands-on learning – often with high school business and finance teachers guiding the process.”

Finalists’ investment decisions seldom start and end with only stock prices. Strategy development extends far beyond the numbers game. Take, for example, first-place team Western Trade. In order to better understand their investment in Amgen, a leading biotech company based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., Western Trade students visited the company’s headquarters for a tour and information session. Similarly, they met with stock and financial analysts and conducted further primary research through a team-designed survey. Second-place team OMG Capital developed its own IMUA strategy for portfolio development – Investment Model for Uncertain Atmospheres – a word that also means “go forward” in Hawaiian. The team’s presentation involved clever humor, including a nod to Federal Reserve interest rates with an image of a Fed chairman Janet “Yellen Yoda.” Third-place winners The Wolves of D-Street created The D-Street Chronicle, a monthly newsletter with a mission of spreading financial literacy to their peers and the community.

As has been the trend, KWHS is expecting a bigger and better investment competition in 2017, registration for which will begin at the end of this year. Stay tuned to the KWHS Bulletin for more details, or email kwhscompetition(at)wharton.upenn.edu to participate.

Though they hailed from different schools and cities, even different countries, the high school students participating in the KWHS South Asia & Middle East Investment Competition finale on February 11 shared essential emotions and convictions: they were excited, a bit nervous, and prepared to present with a passion worthy of even the most seasoned asset management team.

They did not disappoint, often wielding ratios, SWOT analyses and strategy development tools like stock market pros. “These teams were incredibly impressive on many levels, from content and preparation to strong delivery,” said Dominic Johnson, director of business operations for Knowledge@Wharton and a judge for the competition finale, which was held for the second straight year during the One Globe Conference at The Imperial Hotel in New Delhi, India.

The finale was run in partnership with BrainGain Magazine, a study abroad magazine for students, their parents and mid-career professionals in South Asia, and sponsored for the first time by FLAME University, an institution based in Pune, India, that is revolutionizing higher education in the country with its liberal education approach. FLAME Investment Lab works to deliver concepts and decipher the art of value investing for students. Concluded Johnson: “Selecting the top three teams at this year’s regional finale was a daunting task.”

And now, for this year’s regional champs. Teams taking home trophies were first-place winners One Up on Herd Street from Amity International School, Noida, led by 11th grader Simariot Kaur Bhatia and advisor Manvir Singh Rana; second-place winners The Rainmakers from Amity International School, Saket, led by 11th grader Rhea Gupta and advisor Monica Thareja; and third-place winners Silver Stone Partners from The International School, Bangalore, led by 11th grader Pranav Prabhas and advisor Naveen Tom.

The finale event featured 12 finalist student teams presenting their investment strategies to a prestigious panel of judges from finance and academia. The jury included Rajesh Sehgal, senior executive director of the emerging markets group at Franklin Templeton Investments; Rajat Kumar, vice president of transaction monetization for SnapDeal, one of India’s top e-commerce firms; and Johnson of Knowledge@Wharton.

Both Sehgal and Kumar returned this year after also judging the regional finale in 2016. “The KWHS Investment Competition has been an eye opener,” noted Sehgal. “The breadth and depth of talent among students and their deep desire to understand complex financials and make sense of business models is breathtaking. We encourage participation from all schools as this experience goes a long way in exposing students to yet another new dimension aiding their overall well-rounded growth.”

Added Kumar: “It is great to see the natural curiosity of students, allowing them to link various complicated concepts together amazingly well.”

In addition to the big winners, the following teams were among the top 12 selected to compete in last Saturday’s finale: The Alchemists from Inventure Academy in Bangalore; Alpha Infinitum from Amity International School, Sector 43, Gurgaon; the Corporate Pirates from Amity International School, Pushp Vihar; Gamma Papa Investments from Neerja Modi School in Rajasthan; Inception of Sri Kumaran Children’s Home in Bangalore; the Marxist Moneymakers from Bhavan Vidyalaya, Chandigarh; Solito Negotium of Canadian International School in Singapore; Stock Mubarak from Amity International School, Mayur Vihar; and The Wolves of Dalal Street of NSS Hill Spring International School in Mumbai.

The KWHS Investment Competition encourages students to think more broadly about the world of investing and the related decision-making processes, a goal that is aligned with sponsor FLAME University’s mission. “We are honored to be the academic partner of Knowledge Wharton’s Investment Competition in India,” said Dr. Devi Singh, vice chancellor of FLAME University. “Investment education is a focus area for FLAME, the pioneers of liberal education in India. Investing as a discipline is inter-disciplinary in nature. Making good investment decisions requires one to make connections between various seemingly disparate disciplines. Partnering with Knowledge@Wharton’s Investment Competition is a natural fit.”

This year’s regional finale in India was infused with a spirit of critical thinking and knowledge-sharing as the judges challenged team members to think on their feet about investment concepts and defend specific aspects of their strategies. For example, they asked questions like: “Why might investing in a company with many subsidiaries be risky?” If team members struggled to answer, the judges posed the same questions to the audience, inviting students to volunteer their best guesses and guiding them toward answers with still more thought-provoking questions.

“This exchange was really rewarding,” noted Diana Drake, managing editor of Knowledge@Wharton High School. “KWHS greatly values the learning aspect of the investment competition as a financial literacy tool, and the judges’ engagement with the students at this year’s finale took this effort to an even deeper level. It was inspiring for all of us to experience the students’ earnest responses.”

The winning teams distinguished themselves by delivering enthusiastic and well-rehearsed presentations that were strong on fundamentals, but yet not too laden with excessive content and analysis, which puts teams at a risk of losing their audience. The winning teams also demonstrated equal team member participation and articulated unique aspects of strategy development.

In addition to its interesting discussion of the team’s stock selection, portfolio construction and risk management, One Up on Herd Street, for example, described its community-based High School Investors program to “provide financial literacy among high school students” in India. The Rainmakers, one of only a few woman-led teams, impressed with a strong understanding of how the political and economic landscapes in both the U.S. and India influenced the markets and ultimately their investment decisions. Silver Stone Partners invented the Silver Score, a framework calculating the relative value of companies and factoring in their prices to determine a score that guided their stock selections. Despite a barrage of questions from the judges, team members successfully defended their unique approaches. In the end, the winning teams provided dynamic presentations, sound analyses and creative ideas that set their strategies apart.

The annual One Globe Conference, hosted by Salwan Media Ventures, brings together global thought leaders to discuss how to build a 21st century knowledge economy in India and South Asia. Both Salwan Media Ventures as well as its affiliate BrainGain Magazine, have hosted our KWHS South Asia & Middle East Investment Competition Finale for the past two years.

Following this year’s competition, Harjiv Singh, founder & CEO of Salwan Media Ventures, said, “I would like to congratulate the winners of the KWHS Investment Competition! The presentations showed the kind of effort made by such young high school students, and it was very commendable. The investment competition provides students a platform to showcase their potential in investing wherein they develop and manage their portfolios and work as a team. I’m glad that BrainGain Magazine has collaborated with KWHS to run the regional investment competition for the last two years.”

The KWHS Investment Competition is a free, online investment game run by Knowledge@Wharton High School, that encourages high school students to learn and practice investment concepts, while also building a portfolio of stocks using Wharton’s OTIS investment simulator. Students, competing in teams of four to nine, are ultimately judged on how well they develop and articulate their investment strategies. Hundreds of teams and thousands of students participate in both the South Asia & Middle East Regional competition, as well as the Global Regions competition, which is currently underway and concludes in March 2017.

One Up on Herd Street, The Rainmakers and Silver Stone Partners have been invited to participate in the grand finale of the Global Regions competition on May 5 and 6, 2017 at Wharton in Philadelphia. Please send any questions or ideas to KWHScompetition@wharton.upenn.edu.

 

About Knowledge@Wharton High School

Knowledge@Wharton High School – KWHS for short — is on a mission to provide high school students and educators around the world with a deeper understanding of business, entrepreneurship, leadership and personal finance and to equip them with the skills to excel in the global marketplace. We do this largely through free content and competitions. KWHS is part of Knowledge@Wharton, the online business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

About the Wharton School

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania — founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school — is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The School has more than 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 9,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and an alumni network of 92,000 graduates.

It’s a story that is custom-made for April, which is Financial Literacy Month in the U.S. More than 75 high school students from around the world who competed in this year’s KWHS Investment Competition are preparing to step up to the mic in a few weeks to show off their financial literacy skills. What began as a pilot project in 2012 with a few Philadelphia high schools has grown into a truly global challenge for students with a passion for finance.

Knowledge@Wharton High School, an initiative of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania that promotes a deeper understanding of business, personal finance, entrepreneurship and leadership among high school students and educators, just announced the top 12 teams that will compete in the 2017 KWHS Global Regions Investment Competition Wharton Day finale on May 6 in Philadelphia.

A team of judges from Aberdeen Asset Management in Philadelphia, Pa., reviewed more than 120 final team reports in early April, ultimately selecting 12 of the strongest to advance to the finale, where they will present their investment strategies to a panel of expert judges.

The 2017 top 12 Global Regions teams are:

• Alpha Capital, Hopewell Valley Central High School, NJ, USA
• Investor Troopers, Colégio Bandeirantes, São Paulo, Brazil
• Madison Money Makers, James Madison HS, NY, USA
• Matador Investments, Monta Vista HS, California, USA
• The Pride of Lions, St. Paul’s School, São Paulo, Brazil
• SPPS Seoul, Saint Paul Preparatory School, Seoul, South Korea
• Team Sona, Allen D. Nease HS, Florida, USA
• Terriers of University Road, Boston University Academy, Mass, USA
• United World Capital, UWC Red Cross Nordic, Norway
• Westview Wolverines, Westview High School, California, USA
• Wizards, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology, Virginia, USA
• The Wolves of Wall Street, West Windsor-Plainsboro HS North, NJ, USA

This year’s Global Regions competition, which began with the kick-off of trading on January 3, 2017, involved more than 1,300 high school students and more than 200 teachers and advisors from 31 U.S. states and 13 countries. The top 12 will be joined by the three winning teams from the KWHS South Asia & Middle East regional competition, who were named in February. These 15 teams will be delivering 10-minute presentations, either in person or via Skype, on May 6, and the winners will be announced that afternoon.

With generous financial support from AXA, a worldwide insurance and wealth management firm, KWHS will also host this year’s top teams for a separate Learning Day on May 5 at Wharton Philadelphia. Students will gain insight on college admissions, finance and entrepreneurship, and get a chance to meet the other competitors, who are traveling to campus from as far away as India, South Korea, Norway, California, Florida and Virginia.

“Considering that our judges don’t even take into account where teams are based during the final-report review process, we are so excited to have a strong international presence among this year’s Global Regions top 12, including teams from Brazil, South Korea and Norway,” says Diana Drake, managing editor of Knowledge@Wharton High School. “The students always impress us at the finale with their story-telling and how well they articulate new concepts. Each team expresses its competition journey in a unique way. We can’t wait to see this year’s finalist presentations.”

The results are in, and it was an Amity sweep! Three teams from high schools belonging to Amity International, a network of educational institutions located in and around New Delhi, India, won the top prizes during the first annual KWHS Investment Competition South Asia and Middle East Regional Finale on February 6.

Teams taking home trophies were first-place winners The Rainmakers from Amity International School-Saket; second-place winners the Wolves of D-Street from Amity International School, Sector-44 Noida; and third-place winners The Erudite Wits from Amity International School, Pushp Vihar.

The finale event, held on February 6 during the One Globe Conference at the Imperial Hotel, New Delhi, featured 12 finalist student teams presenting their investment strategies to a prestigious panel of judges from Indian finance and academia. The jury included Pankaj Dinodia, CEO of Dinodia Capital Advisors; Rajesh Sehgal, senior executive director of the emerging markets group at Franklin Templeton Investments; Rajat Kumar, vice president of transaction monetization for SnapDeal, one of India’s top e-commerce firms; Kanu Priya Sekhri, associate vice president at SOIL, School of Inspired Leadership, in Gurgaon; and Kunal Nandwani, CEO of uTrade Solutions.

In addition to the three winners, the following teams were among the top 12 chosen to compete in last Saturday’s finale event: Stock Genius of Amity Global School, Gurgaon; GammaPapa Investments of Neerja Modi School; Stock Sense from St. Kabir Public School; Goenkan Consortium of G.D. Goenka World School; JBP Partners from Cathedral & John Cannon School; Chronos Capital of American International School; Wall Street Wizards of The International School Bangalore; The Indian Investment Inc., also from the International School Bangalore, and the Inveterate Investors, of Dhirubhai Ambani International. All the teams displayed extensive hard work, deep learning from the competition process and impressive presentation and teamwork skills. While eight teams presented their final strategies in person, four teams, including Chronos Capital, Wall Street Wizards, The Indian Investment, Inc., and the Inveterate Investors, presented over Skype.

Following the finale event, judge Kumar said, “To see young minds come up with not only great presentations and discussions, but to think of the hard work and hours of teamwork that would have gone on in the background was honestly humbling! I think I can say on behalf of all the other judges that we were floored by some of the presentations.”

The winning teams emerged victorious because they energetically presented comprehensive strategies with an impressive understanding of new investment concepts, and they had full-team participation. In addition, they often took unique approaches to their strategy development and presentation, highlighting customized methods of stock selection and weaving quotes and creativity into their strategy discussions. Many teams also performed well under pressure during the Q&A session with judges that followed their presentations. Judges observed that teamwork – as well as some solid preparation – was fundamental to success in the investment challenge finale. Even so, they added that the journey was much more important than the outcome, in that it was evident that every team deepened its knowledge of business and investing.

The annual One Globe Conference, hosted by Salwan Media Ventures, brings together global thought leaders to discuss how to build a 21st century knowledge economy in India and South Asia. Both Salwan Media Ventures as well as its affiliate, BrainGain Magazine, a study abroad magazine for students, their parents and mid-career professionals in South Asia, were instrumental in organizing and executing the first South Asia regional KWHS Investment Competition finale.

The KWHS Investment Competition is a free, online investment game run by Knowledge@Wharton High School, that encourages high school students to learn and practice investment concepts, while also building a portfolio of stocks using Wharton’s OTIS investment simulator. Students, competing in teams of 4 to 9, are ultimately judged on how well they develop and articulate their investment strategies. The Rainmakers, the Wolves of D-Street and The Erudite Wits have been invited to participate in the grand finale of the Global Regions competition on April 30, 2016 at Wharton in Philadelphia, which is sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management.

When Scott Stimpfel, former director of educational initiatives for Knowledge@Wharton High School, first developed the annual KWHS Investment Competition in 2012 along with a team of Wharton undergrads, he had a key goal in mind: financial education for high school students that is also fun. That first pilot project with partner Aberdeen Asset Management involving primarily Philadelphia high schools, engaged a few dozen students — and oozed with potential.

Smart investments pay off. As our 2015-2016 KWHS Investment Challenge kicked into gear last fall, our competition team couldn’t help but reflect on those early numbers. With interest growing from students around the world, particularly in India, we decided to launch a separate South Asia and Middle East regional investment competition, followed soon after by our Global Regions competition, which included schools from primarily the U.S., as well as Australia, Canada, China and Mexico.

A total of more than 500 teams registered for both competitions, resulting in more than 300 submitting mid-project team reviews and some 200 turning in final investment strategies. With individual teams comprised of four to nine students, well over 1,000 high school students were learning investing concepts, placing trades on Wharton’s OTIS platform, communicating and working out their team dynamics – and, ideally, enjoying the ride.

‘Today, I am the Shepherd’

We hear often from educators that they appreciate the wealth of free resources we provide to help them teach concepts and inspire classroom conversations during the competition. “It has been priceless to me and the kids who are the benefactors,” says Kim Zocco, a teacher at Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School in Florida, who this year had 15 teams from three separate finance classes compete in our Global Regions investment competition.

While McCarthy High had a team among last year’s top 12 and traveled to Philadelphia to participate in our big Wharton Day finale event at the end of April – during which top teams present their investment strategies to a panel of expert Aberdeen judges — this year the McCarthy 15 were edged out by stiff competition from some impressive finalists, which are listed below. Still, Zocco followed through on the competition, designing her own in-class presentations, complete with team incentives (candy!) and an ice cream party for the winners.

“We had a wonderful experience, as always,” adds Tasha Allred, an educator with Williamsburg Academy, an online program that entered 13 student teams into this year’s competition. While two Williamsburg teams made it to last year’s finale (Skyping in their team presentations from a multitude of states), this year they too fell short of placing in the 2016 top 13.

Even so, students like Camryn Sawyer, a Williamsburg high school junior from Alaska and leader of this year’s The Wise Stewards investment team, have a new perspective on personal finance as a result of their competition involvement. “Before my Wharton experience, my understanding of finance was limited,” admits Sawyer, who is now considering a career in finance, as well as investing on her own. “I was a sheep in the land of dreams hoping to understand it. Today, I am the shepherd. The financial process and its complexities only drive me to create and innovate, to set higher standards than the ones set before me. I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned here towards my future.”

Camryn and hundreds of other finance-minded students from around the world will be watching Knowledge@Wharton High School in the coming weeks for the results of our Investment Competition finale, to be held on Wharton’s Philadelphia campus on April 30.

The finalists for the 2016 KWHS-Aberdeen Global Regions Investment Competition are:

• Charlottesville High School Investment Group, Charlottesville HS, Virginia
• Fantastic Four, John L. Miller Great Neck North, New York
• Guilderland Hedge Fund, Guilderland HS, New York
• Methacton Investments, Methacton HS, Pennsylvania
• Moorestown Marketology Investment Group, Moorestown HS, New Jersey
• OMG Capital, Moanalua HS, Hawaii
• On Our Way to Wall Street, West Windsor-Plainsboro North HS, New Jersey
• Quants, John P. Stevens HS, New Jersey
• Stella Rosea Holdings, Dulwich College, Beijing, China
• SWOT Team, William Bodine HS for International Affairs, Pennsylvania
• Troy Colts, Troy HS, Michigan
• Western Trade, West Ranch HS, California
• Wolverines of Wall Street, Westview HS, California

These teams will be competing in the finale, either in person or via teleconference. They will be joined by the top three teams from our South Asia & Middle East regional competition, which are:

• The Rainmakers, Amity International School-Saket, India
• The Wolves of D-Street, Amity International School-Sector44 Noida, India
• The Erudite Wits, Amity International School-Pushp Vihar, India

PHILADELPHIA, April 30, 2015 – Knowledge@Wharton High School (KWHS) and Aberdeen Asset Management Inc., a global asset management firm with U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia, are pleased to announce the winners of the 2014-2015 KWHS Investment Competition, which is run by KWHS and sponsored by Aberdeen.

Teams from West Ranch High School in Stevenson Ranch, Calif., Narsee Monjee School of Commerce and Economics in Mumbai, India, and Gaithersburg High School of Gaithersburg, Md., were selected from among an elite group of some 50 high schools nationwide and globally that participated in the competition. The winning high schools were announced during an event on April 30 at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where the top analyst teams received prizes of $3,000, $1,500 and $500 respectively.

Twelve teams of high school students competed during the Wharton Day Finale event by presenting their final investment strategies to a panel of Aberdeen judges. Those teams included the winners – Western Trade from West Ranch High School, The Titans of Dalal Street from Narsee Monjee and the Trojans from Gaithersburg High School – as well as the remaining nine finalist teams. They were: The Rainmakers from Amity International School in Saket, India; the Mavericks from Archbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School in Southwest Ranches, Fl., 5 Round Lots from Wilson High School in West Lawn, Pa.; The Seven Stocketeers from William W. Bodine High School in Philadelphia; Hands on Money from James Madison High School in Brooklyn, N.Y., T-DOT and Hulkador from Williamsburg Academy, on online high school; Who Let the Stocks Out from Carmel Junior College in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India; and Akamai Investors from Waipahu High School in Waipahu, Hawaii. The teams from Bodine High School and Carmel Junior College won Honorable Mentions from the judges.

“The Investment Competition Finale is an annual highlight for our team at Knowledge@Wharton High School,” says Diana Drake, managing editor of the online KWHS business journal and resource portal and project manager for KWHS’s offline initiatives that promote finance and business skills among high school educators and students. “We are always so impressed by the students’ grasp of investing concepts and strategies – which for many are very new – and their ability to articulate their knowledge to a professional audience. We had more teams than ever this year travel to the Wharton campus to present their strategies, flying in for the event from as far away as India internationally and California in the U.S. The caliber of the teams and their commitment to financial education grow stronger each year.”

During the Wharton Day Finale event on April 30, nine teams presented live to a room of students, educators and professionals in Wharton’s Huntsman Hall, while three teams delivered their presentations to the group via videoconference. Each team of four-to-nine students was required to provide a 10-minute overview of its investment strategy and teamwork approach throughout the 12-week competition, as well as present a case study of one stock that helped to drive the team’s strategy. At the end of each presentation, Aberdeen judges asked specific questions to evaluate how well team members could think on their feet about their stated strategies and use some of the concepts they had learned throughout the investing process.

Top teams often identify creative approaches to help develop and define their strategies. The four-student team of the Trojans from Gaithersburg High School, for instance, used a stock-picking technique they named “The Trojan Ten,” a measure of 10 different attributes that they assessed for each equity as a means of deciding which stocks in which to invest.

Trojan team leader Parker Rist, a senior at Gaithersburg, is very excited about his team’s third-place competition win. “The KWHS-Aberdeen Investment Competition was an unforgettable and incredibly rewarding experience,” says Rist. “To be chosen as one of the three winners was truly more than we could have ever asked for. Thanks to Knowledge@Wharton High School and Aberdeen Asset Management, we have expanded our financial literacy, delved into the world of stock trading and visited one of the most prestigious business schools in the world.”

Rist’s teacher and team advisor, Kimberly Jackson, says the entire experience was extremely rewarding, and she is looking forward to competing again next year with a new group of students. “The Knowledge@Wharton High School Investment Competition sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management was an incredible opportunity for my students,” says Jackson. “As an educator, [I feel] it is imperative that students have the opportunity to extend their learning beyond the classroom where they can benefit from the expertise of professionals as well as their peers. This competition allowed the students to identify their individual strengths while working collaboratively and truly gaining a greater appreciation of financial and investments strategies, communication skills, professionalism and networking.”

Aberdeen has sponsored the KWHS Investment Competition for the past four years. In that time, the competition has expanded past its initial Philadelphia focus to include schools from across the U.S., India and Dubai. For more information about the investment competition or Knowledge@Wharton High School, please contact Diana Drake at investkwhs(at)gmail.com.

About the Wharton School, Knowledge@Wharton and Knowledge@Wharton High School
Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. With a broad global community and one of the most published business school faculties, Wharton creates ongoing economic and social value around the world. The School has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA and doctoral students; more than 9,000 annual participants in executive education programs; and a powerful alumni network of 92,000 graduates.

Knowledge@Wharton is the online business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. The site, which is free, captures relevant knowledge generated at Wharton and beyond by offering articles and videos based on research, conferences, speakers, books and interviews with faculty and other experts on global business topics.

Knowledge@Wharton High School is an initiative of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania that promotes business, financial literacy, entrepreneurship and leadership among high school students and educators around the world through quality online content and competitions.

PHILADELPHIA, May 29, 2014 – Knowledge@Wharton High School (KWHS) and Aberdeen Asset Management Inc., a global asset management firm with U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia, are pleased to announce that High Technology High School of Lincroft, N.J., Northwest High School of Germantown, Md., and Korea International School of Pangyo, South Korea, have won the 2013-2014 KWHS/Aberdeen Investment Competition.

Teams from High Technology High School, Northwest High School and Korea International School were selected from among an elite group of more than 30 high schools nationwide and globally that participated in the competition. The winning high schools were announced during an event on May 29 at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where the top analyst teams received prizes of $3,500, $1,500 and $500 respectively.

Ten teams of high school students competed during the event for the honor of top analysts. Those included the winners — HTHS Investment Club from High Technology High School, The Stockers from Northwest, and Risky Business from Korea International School — and the remaining finalists, The Seven Stocketeers and Future Legacy from Bodine High School for International Affairs in Philadelphia; 1% Asset Management and Upper Middle Class from Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, N.Y.; Short & Stocky from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md.; Team Marshmallow from Williamsburg Academy, a cyber school; and Toga Investments from Saratoga High School in Saratoga, Calif. While HTHS, The Stockers, The Seven Stocketeers, Future Legacy, Short & Stocky and 1% Asset Management presented in person on the Wharton campus, the remaining teams presented via Skype. Team Marshmallow’s members delivered their presentation simultaneously from Georgia, Nevada, Utah and California, with their teacher online from Illinois.

To kick off the event, surprise guest Jack Abraham, founder of Milo.com — which was sold to eBay for a reported $75 million — Skyped in with words of advice and inspiration from Italy. In the investment competition case study, Abraham is the potential client for whom the analyst teams of students are building a portfolio and investment strategy. Abraham is also featured in a popular KWHS article about successful entrepreneurship.

“Aberdeen is proud to support talented students and encourage financial education in high school curriculums,” says Gary Marshall, Chief Executive Officer at Aberdeen. “The students not only learn how to wisely invest and increase returns, they also gain invaluable professional and relevant experience that can be applied to their financial and career decisions.”

Aberdeen has partnered with Knowledge@Wharton High School, a Wharton School initiative that promotes financial literacy, business skills, entrepreneurship and leadership among high school students and teachers through innovative content and competitions like the Investment Competition. Now in its third year, the competition has expanded past its initial Philadelphia focus to include schools from 12 different states and South Korea.

“While understanding how to buy and sell stocks is one component of our investment competition, it is not the fundamental goal,” notes Diana Drake, managing editor of KWHS.“ As with all our KWHS business resources — including lesson plans, articles and a video glossary – we want to give teachers and students the tools to become more financially literate and, in this case, learn the concepts that support sound investment decision making. We were all extremely impressed with the range of investment knowledge that the students showed during today’s strategy presentations.”

Over the past five months, students at participating high schools have managed virtual portfolios of stocks using a Wharton trading platform known as OTIS. Students and teachers are able to use the platform, along with KWHS articles and lesson plans, as resources to learn basic tenants of investing and create well-thought-out, logical investment strategies.

Kevin Murley, a business teacher at Montgomery Blair High School who has had two teams reach the investment competition finale, has come to value the experience in many ways.

“Our students have received tremendous benefit from participating in the investing challenge offered by Knowledge at Wharton High School and sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management,” notes Murley, whose team, Superiority Investment, won last year’s competition. “In many investing competitions, students are judged solely by their stock market results during a short time frame. In many cases, they leave having formed bad habits while chasing after risky trading strategies. In this competition, the students are required to develop a strategy paper that serves as the basis for a long-term outlook. They do have fun making trades and trying ideas via a stock market simulator, but just earning a higher dollar figure does not define success with the project. During the finals, the students have the opportunity to present and interact with professionals from Aberdeen Asset Management. The experience gained from going through a professional presentation and responding to tough questions from investment professionals has helped my students start to understand why their education is important and has helped them imagine where they can go in life if they continue to college and manage their money well.”

PHILADELPHIA, May 19, 2014—The top 10 finalist teams have been announced in the KWHS-Aberdeen 2014 Investment Competition. The competition, run by Knowledge@Wharton High School and sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management, kicked off back in December 2013. For the next 22 weeks, more than 60 teams from 17 different high schools built portfolios through the Wharton OTIS stock-trading simulation and developed strategies using the investment concepts they were learning in class.

Trading ended in early May, and student teams submitted final investment policies on May 13. The finalists, selected from 60 final policies, will compete for the prize of top analyst during the finale event at Wharton on May 29. The top 10 teams are: 1% Asset Management from Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, N.Y.;  Future Legacy from Bodine High School for International Affairs in Philadelphia; HTHS Investment Club from High Technology High School in Lincroft, N.J.; Risky Business from Korea International School in South Korea; Seven Stocketeers from Bodine in Philadelphia; Short & Stocky from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Md.; Team Marshmallow from Williamsburg Academy, a cyber school; The Stockers from Northwest High School in Germantown, Md.; Toga Investments from Saratoga High School in Saratoga, Calif.; and Upper Middle Class from Shenendehowa High School in Clifton Park, N.Y.

Aberdeen Asset Management is a global asset management firm with U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia. Knowledge@Wharton High School is an initiative of The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania that promotes business, financial literacy, entrepreneurship and leadership among high school students and educators around the world through quality content and competitions.