Guidebook

Ethics and Code of Conduct

Competing Ethically

All Wharton Global High School Investment competition team members are held to high personal ethical standards. The decisions you make from the moment you register for the competition should be honest and truthful to the best of your ability. This starts with your number of team members (you must have at least four active members from the beginning to compete) and ends with how you articulate your strategy and investment choices in your final papers — and includes everything in between. We trust that you will not lie about your investment decisions and outcomes, fabricate analyses, invent teamwork and experiential stories, or plagiarize existing strategies. If at any point you are unsure about a decision or situation, please reach out to the Wharton Global Youth Program team for clarification.

Students must abide by the University of Pennsylvania’s Code of Academic Integrity, which states a student’s work must be their own, and not be plagiarized from any other source, including advisors or “unofficial” advisors. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to, the use of another’s words or ideas as if they are one’s own. Plagiarism and any kind of academic cheating are grounds for dismissal from the competition. If at any point you are unsure about a decision or situation, please reach out to the Wharton Global Youth Program staff for clarification. Ethics are an essential aspect of money management. All teams should review the CFA Institute’s Asset Manager Code and operate by these standards. We expect you to read these rules and apply them to all you do on behalf of your potential client throughout the competition.

In addition, ethical considerations are fundamental to effective asset management. All competing students should review Section 4 of the Final Written Investment Policies section under Competition Deliverables in the Guidebook for more on professional industry ethics.

Behavior and Respect

The Wharton Global High School Investment Competition code of conduct extends to how both students and advisors treat teammates, supervisors, as well as the competition organizers. We expect teams to behave politely and respectfully through in-person, email and social media interactions, and to communicate any concerns or grievances with a courteous tone and language. The Wharton Global Youth Program will not tolerate negative, threatening or off-color behavior of any kind, and will sanction or disqualify teams for any such behavior in its sole discretion.

You should realize from the day you register that not every team can win! We have hundreds of participants each year and many don’t make it to the end game. With this in mind, how will your team have a rich experience without focusing only on the win? How will your team define success knowing that it may not be a finalist? Will you appreciate the learning? Or possibly deeper relationships with friends and classmates? Will you supplement your competition experience with some real investing? Will your team form an investment club and carry on the mission of financial literacy? How do you define success? Set those expectations together early so that you can feel motivated, encouraged and satisfied with milestones and outcomes, even if they don’t involve delivering your strategies to a team of judges in March.