By Henry Yan

Using newly acquired finance knowledge, strategic thinking and creativity, local high school team beats out hundreds of other student teams, earns right to compete for chance at global title.

PHILADELPHIA, January 18, 2021 — The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has announced the regional winners of the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition, an annual contest for high school teachers and students run by the School’s Wharton Global Youth Program.  Unlike other stock games this competition’s winners are selected on the strength and creativity of their team investment strategies, not on the growth of their stock portfolios.

“Our investment competition continues to grow not only in terms of the number of students participating but also the number of countries represented. We had more than 5,000 students competing from 35 countries which, underscores our mission to connect high school students and educators around the world with the Wharton School’s many business, finance and leadership opportunities,” said Serguei Netessine, Wharton’s Dhirubhai Ambani Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and vice dean for Wharton Global Initiatives, which oversees the Wharton Global Youth Program. “Through our competition and other youth programs students demonstrate time and again that innovation transcends borders.”

Canis Lupus from Upper Canada College was among 10 finalists in Region 4 of the competition, selected by judges from Philadelphia-based Aberdeen Standard Investments, an asset management firm in Philadelphia. The regional finals will be conducted virtually. Region 4 is sponsored by BTG Pactual, the largest investment bank in Latin America.

“To think we didn’t know what a P/E ratio was only a few months ago, it’s quite unbelievable how far we’ve come.” – Henry Yan, team captain

The Canis Lupus team has also created a club to help students take part in this competition and learn about investment and finance along the way. Through this club, they seek to provide more young investors with the same opportunities the competition offers.

“Our team was impressed by the quality of submissions across all regions this year,” said Eli Lesser, executive director of the Wharton Global Youth Program. “Students showcased their strong financial knowledge and teamwork, and many worked hard to understand their potential client as a first step toward developing comprehensive, creative and sound investment strategies.” 

A total of 50 top teams from around the world were selected from 972 final competition reports, which were submitted for judging on December 11, 2020. The regional finals results will be posted on the Wharton Global Youth Program website in March 2021. The grand prize winner will be announced on May 7, 2021.  

About the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition

The Wharton Global High School Investment Competition, launched in 2012, is a 12-week challenge in which students compete in teams of four to seven, led by an advisor, to win the chance to manage the wealth of a potential client. Presented with a case study of this client, teams must create a compelling and creative long-term strategy, with some additional short-term goals. This year’s case study is based on Florian Hagenbuch, founder and co-CEO of Loft, a startup that is reinventing the process of buying and selling real estate in Latin America. Along the way, students learn investing concepts with the help of Wharton Global Youth Program resources and buy stocks for their portfolio using an online simulator that is a tool for trading and portfolio-management education. 

Following the end of 10 weeks of trading, each team is required to submit a report detailing its recommended investment strategy, analytical approach and competition journey. Judges review these final investment policies and select the top 10, which then compete against each other in the Regional Finals round. Top regional winners advance to the Global Finale which will be held on May 7, 2021.

About the Wharton School and the Wharton Global Youth Program

Founded in 1881 as the world’s first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is shaping the future of business by incubating ideas, driving insights, and creating leaders who change the world. With a faculty of more than 235 renowned professors, Wharton has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students. Each year 13,000 professionals from around the world advance their careers through Wharton Executive Education’s individual, company-customized, and online programs. More than 99,000 Wharton alumni form a powerful global network of leaders who transform business every day. For more information, visit www.wharton.upenn.edu.

The Wharton Global Youth Program mobilizes the extensive opportunities of the Wharton academic community to educate, inform and inspire pre-college students to explore business practices, analyze the world’s complex challenges, and take the needed steps to become leaders who will transform the global economy.