The Wharton Investment Competition Sparks a Passion for Finance
This month’s podcast guest may be familiar to some of our Wharton Global High School Investment Competition fans. Mojmír Zálešák and his team from Novy PORG high school in Prague, Czech Republic, took third place in last year’s Global Finale, becoming one of the first teams from Europe to ever place in the annual competition.
As we prepare for our 2024 Learning Day and Global Finale this week on April 19 and 20, we welcomed the opportunity to talk to Mojmír, not only about his past experiences in the competition, but also what has happened in the year since we last saw him on Wharton’s Philadelphia campus. As you’ll hear, what a year it has been! The competition opened incredible opportunities for Mojmír and his teammates to explore their love of finance even further.
Be sure to click on the arrow above to listen to our conversation with Mojmír! An edited transcript appears below.
Wharton Global Youth Program: Hello and welcome to Future of the Business World. I’m Diana Drake with the Wharton Global Youth Program at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Each month on Future of the Business World, we meet an inspiring young entrepreneur who is mixing up passion, grit and curiosity to start something new in this world.
Today’s guest is an ideal fit for the month of April, known in different parts of the world as Financial Literacy Month. Less than a week ago, Mojmír Zálešák published an article in the Czech Republic edition of Forbes magazine about the level of financial literacy in Czechia, his home country located in Central Europe.
We knew about Mojmír’s love of finance long before he hit the magazine stands. A year ago, his high school team Novy PORG competed in our Wharton Global High School Investment Competition global finale, traveling to the Wharton School in April 2023 to compete against nine other finalist teams. Novy PORG ended up winning third place in the global competition. That victory opened up lots of opportunities for Mojmír and his teammates, including a spot for him in the Czech Forbes 30 under 30 list.
Mojmír, welcome to Future of the Business World!
Mojmír Zálešák: Hi, thanks for having me.
Wharton Global Youth: All right. So here we are a year later. And we’re preparing for a whole new cohort of investment competition finalists to visit campus in a few weeks. You’ve mentioned that the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition changed your life. I’d love to know how? In what ways has our investment competition been transformative for you and for your teammates in Prague?
Mojmír: So, kind of a funny story is that the Wharton investment competition is how I started with investing, because the competition introduced me to the role of finance and investing, and with its interactive nature, it also allowed me to gradually fall in love with it. And I’ve competed ever since. So, that was since I think like 2019, when I first started competing. And some of the biggest takeaways [that] me and my teammates [have taken] away from all the years we’ve competed is that investing in general is just not purely about the numbers and the fundaments and the DCF models and so on. But it’s also about tying it with macroeconomic trends. And that influences the individual sectors, and the financial space as a whole, and therefore also influences our investment strategies. And also, as part of this competition journey, we realized that it’s essential to build the right group of people around you that can allow you to grow not only as a person, but also as an investor or in a professional way.
Wharton Global Youth: Have you had specific opportunities unfold in the past year?
Mojmír: Yeah, definitely. When we came back in April, after winning the first place, we got a lot of media attention. A lot of local outlets started writing about us. And people and institutions started noticing us. Well-known investment bank J&T here in the Czech Republic noticed us and they offered us a summer internship, which is something they haven’t done in the past. So, it was unique in this in this manner. It was an amazing three-week-long program, where we got to visit different parts of the bank, ranging from stock trading to bond trading and private equity, and where we got to speak with all the top experts from the field and also received some tasks for completion. This was a great indulging experience that not only opened our eyes, because before that we only thought about stocks, but when we came out of J&T, we realized [that] there are all these other financial instruments that we can use. And we also started sharing that with our members in our investment society. And after the internship and the completion of the assigned tasks, I think they quite enjoyed our company and liked our work. So, we were offered a chance to open our own retail fund called J&T Next Gen that opened this January. We serve on the advisory board and come up with all the different investment ideas. I think that’s probably the biggest experience, as we have the chance to work alongside one of the best portfolio managers here in Czechia, Michal Semotan. And we also get to apply all the knowledge that we’ve gained through our investment society and your competition in practice at higher volumes. I think that’s the greatest piece of experience currently.
Wharton Global Youth: Wow, that is amazing. So tell me how this Next Gen fund actually works. Are you selecting investments? How are you going about it?
Mojmír: Yeah, so me and the four guys, Jonas, Filip, Herbert and Jan, who competed with me in the in the Wharton competition, serve on the advisory board — with Michal Semotan being the portfolio manager, so he has veto power. However, the six of us together come up with the individual investment theses and ideas. Usually, we separate individual sectors between us and see [if there are] interesting companies that could fit into the strategy of the fund, which is rather more risk-prone and focused on modern technology, and also tying it with alternative data like patents, government contracts, and so on. And then we just present. It’s the same process like in a competition, when you come across an interesting stock, you prepare a simple presentation of the pitch, then you pitch it to the other guys and say, ‘Well, I think there’s an opportunity here.’ Then you delve into the company more to see whether there’s some kind of upside; whether you see potential in it. And then basically, we all together decide whether it is a fit for us or not. Every vote has an equal weight among the six of us; however, Michal as the portfolio manager, if we come up with a silly idea, he has the veto power. So, he’s there to guide us through the entire process, and he serves as our mentor.
Wharton Global Youth: It sounds like you are definitely using your quantitative and qualitative analytic skills. Is that right?
Mojmír: Yeah, it definitely is a combination of both, tying it with the macro trends. And also, some of the alternative data we find.
Wharton Global Youth: Wow! What an excellent follow-on from the competition. I heard before [that] you mentioned bringing it back to “our investment society.” Can you tell me more about the Novy PORG Investment Society that’s right at your school?
Mojmír It’s an investment club that was started by Otakar Kořínek. (He’s actually one of your students at Wharton right now) in 2019, and I was one of the first members to join. He eventually gave me the leadership position when he was leaving. And what’s important to mention is that the Novi PORG Investment Society, or in short, we say NPIS, is under the umbrella of a larger club called Econet, which I lead as well. And it was started by Otakar as well, so I that over, as well. It’s an economic and financially oriented club organization that seeks to increase financial literacy among the youth here in Czechia.
We have different ways we do that. We currently have over 140 members, and apart from the investment society, where we compete in your competition, we teach the basics of stocks, bonds and option analysis, write reports, and [publish] our monthly newsletter, The Raging Bull. But we also then engage in writing and publishing economically and financially oriented articles in local media, like Forbes, and other well-known media outlets here in Czechia. And [we’ve also] organized debates with exclusive hosts that [have] attracted over 140,000 viewers since we started. I think that has been pretty effective. Also, what we started doing as of late is engaging in international collaborations, which was made possible again because of our experience with the Wharton investment competition, where we made some friends at the Global Finale. And so we now are in partnership with the [Thomas] Jefferson High School, who are the last year’s winners, where we combine our European and American perspectives, to analyze prospective stocks, and then we publish reports together, or we’ll publish our first report together, hopefully in May or June. And that I think might be interesting for some people.
“Coming up with functioning long-term strategies is more challenging than ever. And even with today’s advanced technology – like AI models — they can’t really even comprehend some of the logic of the markets.” –Mojmír Zálešák
Wharton Global Youth: Excellent. So, a really fruitful collaboration there with the U.S. team. Your recent Forbes article, which I mentioned in the beginning, suggests you’ve also become somewhat of a financial literacy champion. You talk about the accessibility of investing for young people in the article. And it also highlights a quote from famous investor Warren Buffett: “If you don’t find a way to earn money while you sleep, you’ll work until you die.” What do you hope other teens might take away from your article? Do you want to inspire more young investors?
Mojmír: When I was writing the article, I think my main aim was to simply encourage more young people to take up an interest in investing, because I think it’s still a problem here in Czechia. [This is in part] because of the educational system here, which is something I’m also speaking about publicly in different media outlets. I think there some changes need to be applied, even though I think it has gotten better in recent years. But still, financial literacy is not really present [in our schools]. I just want to show people that it’s not as daunting as it may seem. Because of all the immense resources in today’s digital world, which on one hand may seem a little overwhelming, but on the other, it makes it a whole lot easier to start [investing]. In addition to that, I also want to emphasize that it’s important, or I would say, even essential to start at an early age to take big advantage of the compounding effect, and also instill these kinds of financial habits that will help you in the future and that will allow you to take care of your future self and your future well-being.
Wharton Global Youth: you have immersed yourself in this world since 2019. It’s amazing to hear. I’m curious just what aspect of investing in the stock markets you have found most challenging?
Mojmír I think, especially my friends in the society would agree that I think in recent years, but probably in the entire history of the stock market, the most challenging aspect of it [has been] predicting the future. Because as we’ve seen in the last couple of years, there’s a high sense of irrationality in the markets, I would say, or certain behavior that we’ve never seen before. Coming up with functioning long-term strategies is more challenging than ever. And even with today’s advanced technology – like AI models — they can’t really even comprehend some of the logic of the markets, and they don’t really function in the long-term. So, that really just shows how difficult it is to read today’s market. And I think that’s the most challenging aspects.
Wharton Global Youth: Alright, let’s switch for a moment to talk about Mojmír the entrepreneur. You are the co-founder of Sportegy Futures and Teramite. Tell us more about these startups and how they relate to other areas of your life?
Mojmír: Let’s start with Sportegy Futures. It’s an agency or a company that I and three other people started a little over one and a half years ago. The story behind it I think is rather interesting. In the summer of 2022, I decided to go to the Harvard secondary school program for two months, where I took a class that was called IP Laws and Startups. And we had a task to come up with our own startup, basically. Before I went to the U.S., I had a discussion with my squash coach about how sport opens up many doors in the U.S., especially at prestigious universities, because what’s so special about the American system is that they really support athletes, and they encourage sports, which is, I think, really unique. And it makes the entire process much easier, especially for international students.
I was looking for all sporty options we had here in Europe and Czechia and I couldn’t really find any good ones. I thought, there’s a hole in the market and we can fill it. I then took the task at Harvard as a test trial. I came up with the idea and pitched it to my classmates and to the professor. They had some feedback, but I think they liked the idea. So, when I came back a month later, the agency had launched.
Basically, our mission is to help as many talented student athletes as possible to achieve their American dreams and study at prestigious U.S. universities under scholarship programs. And we also want to motivate more people to go to the U.S. as well. And [we want to] show them that there are different possibilities that can be done. Many people here are scared of the costs, or the distance or the environment as a whole. So, we’re trying to familiarize that for them. I’ve shown them there are different resolutions to this and it can be done.
That’s Sportegy Futures. The other project I launched during COVID with my close friend, Patrik Čermák. He’s my classmate. During COVID we really got interested in blockchain technology, not like cryptocurrencies, specifically, but the technology behind it, and how it works. We find it really intriguing and we believe that it has many, many applications in today’s world. When we started diving into the space, we realized there were two problems. The first one was that most people didn’t really understand blockchain technology and what it was. And they had false impressions of cryptocurrencies. And the other one is that there’s distrust in the system, because of all the scams that happened and because the entire market is unregulated.
So, we decided to come up with an initiative called Teramite that would serve both as an educational project, but also provide our users with the ability to try basic crypto functionalities hands-on. We co-programmed a platform that allowed them to try all the functions, risk-free; the tokens had no value, they were fake. They were sent to them when they registered to play around with through our platform, and familiarize themselves with the environment. We also competed with the projects Kickstarter, where we won first place, and we received $25,000 for us to launch it. And to build the platform, which was successful in the end. And so now the project is running.
But there have been some struggles, especially with introducing the main idea behind it to people because [just] as they do not trust the entire system, they do not trust us. They do not believe when we say to them that it’s risk-free, it’s just a trial platform, it’s a fake crypto exchange, we won’t take your money. We’ll just send you fake tokens and [you can] play around with them. It’s hard for them to comprehend. They just think we’re somehow trying to take their money. That’s been a challenge we have to overcome. But I think it has worked.
Wharton Global Youth: You have such a diversity of interests. I’m wondering, where’s the intersection? Have you experienced the power of communication and collaboration? How do we bring together your interest in investing and your entrepreneurial endeavors?
Mojmír: When I was building my portfolio of activities over the years, I’ve never really had a set plan, I would say I just engaged in activities that made sense to me. And where I saw potential. When I was interested in investing and increasing financial literacy, I first joined and then led Econet and NPIS. And also because of my newly found interest in the financial world, I started, for instance, learning about crypto and the blockchain, which led me to starting a project with Patrik, Teramite. And then when I was researching all kinds of the possible ways I could apply to U.S. universities, because I played squash competitively for seven years, I wanted to get there through sports, as well. So, I started researching on the topic and realized there’s a hole in the market here in Czech Republic. That led me to Sportegy Futures. It tied this financial world with this business world and entrepreneurial world. Even though it may not really seem like that on paper, the intersection has always been there. It has been the intersection between my passion for finance and investing, helping others in achieving their dreams, as well as expanding my own horizons and learning new things.
Wharton Global Youth: Yes, and of course, innovation, right? That brings it all together. You were telling me that you have exams coming up and you’re about to finish your high school career. What’s next for you?
Mojmír: Well, I hope to go to a university. Right now I have options to go to Italy and the UK or the U.S., but I’m still waiting for some decisions in the USA. I’ve been waitlisted at Wharton and [the University of] Chicago, so I’m waiting for the decisions to come. Luckily, I have other great options, as well. I hope to go study abroad, gain some experience there, and then we’ll see what happens next. And of course, while I’m at the university, I would also like to continue to engage in and grow the projects I’ve started and that we’ve talked about, and maybe even expand them internationally. We’ll see how that goes. That’s in the plans for next year, especially with Econet and NPS. I believe I will be able to do so even though I’ll be out of the country, because I’ve built a really great team around me here in Czechia and I think we’ll be able to do it. Time will tell.
Wharton Global Youth: All right, let’s end with our lightning round. Please answer these questions as quickly as you can. Your all-time favorite investment and why?
Mojmír: I would say (this may come as a surprise) Lantheus Holdings (LNTH). It’s actually a bad investment, well, not a bad investment. But it taught me a lesson because it dropped by more than 30% during one trading session. It taught me a lot about crisis management and controlling my emotions in intense moments, which I value probably the most. So it wasn’t my best investment, but it definitely taught me the most.
Wharton Global Youth: You told Forbes magazine that you hoped at one point in your life when you were younger, to someday be a chef. What is your favorite food to cook?
Mojmír: I would say probably some surf and turf. I like to cook steak with gumbo, shrimps and rice, probably my favorite.
Wharton Global Youth: A podcast, book, or movie you recently enjoyed that you want to share?
Mojmír: There’s a lot, but probably the movie that comes to my mind is the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with Jim Carrey. Or I recently saw the Spaceman with Adam Sandler. I think that’s a pretty good existential movie. And it actually has a Czech background, so I found that interesting.
Wharton Global Youth: What is something that you hope to learn that you don’t yet know?
Mojmír: At the moment, I think I’m working on learning more about option trading, because that’s a new space for me. And I would like to understand that a whole lot more in the future.
Wharton Global Youth: Something about you that would totally surprise us?
Mojmír: I think a lot of people don’t know that I like to write poetry.
Wharton Global Youth: Other than winning third place, your favorite moment from your trip to campus for the investment competition?
Mojmír: I would have to say probably visiting and spending time with our mentor Otakar Kořínek. And some of our other friends from Czechia that are studying at UPenn.
Wharton Global Youth: You are starting your own business-themed talk show. Who is your first guest and why?
Mojmír: I think I even mentioned this in Forbes magazine, but I would really like to meet and talk to Larry Fink, who’s the CEO of BlackRock. I think it would be intriguing to get insight into the man running a company or a conglomerate at this point that essentially controls a ninth of the world’s economy. I think it would be a really interesting conversation.
Wharton Global Youth: Mojmír, thank you for joining us on Future of the Business World!
Mojmír: Thank you for having me.
Conversation Starters
How did the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition open up opportunities for Mojmír Zálešák? How have he and his teammates built upon their learning?
Help Mojmír troubleshoot his struggles with Teramite. How can he and his co-founder overcome the struggles they’ve had with trust for their platform? Post your ideas in the comment section of this article.
Mojmír has built quite a portfolio of activities over the years. What do they suggest about identifying and pursuing your passions? What do you take away from this conversation about truly living into what interests you?
Wharton High School Investment Competition gave him a whole new platform and a whole lot of opportunities for Mojmir in my opinion which opened up all the opportunities which followed later allowing him to start his own startup and work at the bank. I think like Mojmir the competition is allowing many other students to dive into their passion in the field giving them a platform and even if few children are doing it just for the name of it being a Wharton competition, they sometimes just find their passion in it aside from gaining a lot of other information about the business world which will help them a lot going forward. In the whole article the Mojmir’s advice to get to know a whole lot of individual industries and how they affect at macro-economic level was the one which I like the most because it’s really important to know how pieces make up the whole to really understand something properly instead of half-knowledge about a topic. You need to know the company, the industry and the biases before investing in something and the most important thing is patience to earn something without being afraid of short term fluctuation in the market. It takes a lot of confidence to do because many a times your decision will be different form others and all will be telling you not to invest there but one should have confidence in what they are doing. Because if you do what others are doing your result will be the same. I think he and his teammates would have learned a lot from this experience learning from their mistakes because repeating mistakes would not have gotten them where they are.
Crypto-trading has been increasing in the past decade with a lot of fluctuation in the market which are pretty big. these huge fluctuation eroded the trust of people in this field especially combined with the news of people losing money from it . These news are further diverting people from even wanting to delve a bit deeper into how the tradign works. People want to play it safe because already stock market is risky enough , they don’t want to increase the risk of losing a whole more. I think to increase the trust of people Mojmir should tell people about some success stories and how it improved life of people with their advice while telling them to be cautious while investing. This might pull people towards them and then they can teach how this crypto-market actually works. It would increase the number of customers of Teramite. Also in future I think they these market will be more stable with more regulations coming maybe from government side too and with stability automatically people will trust it more but this all is very far away. However people should also understand trading is not about getting free money you need skills and research for it.
I think I will also going forward explore these different fields and before deciding what truly interests me
Thanks to the WGHSIC and the success of the Nový PORG team, interest in finance, economics, and financial literacy among young people in the Czech Republic has increased. I had the honor of speaking with Mojmír twice, and he is one of the wisest men I have met. He delivered a speech at our conference for high-achieving high schoolers, discussing ways to do your best while dealing with failure. Mojmír bravely anticipated rejections from Wharton and other Ivy League universities, which, sadly, came to pass. However, his foresight and the grace with which he handled the situation left an indelible mark on us.
Despite coming from a family that worshipped finance, I have always remembered my father telling me one thing about the stock market – “Rule number 1, never lose money. Rule number 2, never forget rule number 1.” This seemingly simple yet frighteningly powerful strategy has made Warren Buffet the ultimate investment guru that we know him to be. Unlike Mojmir, the Wharton Global Youth Stock Investment Challenge was not my first time investing. I had successfully executed multiple stock market trades several times in the past – on behalf of my father, mother, and cousins. So when I heard about the Wharton stock exchange challenge, I was as elated as a human could be. Unlike Mojmir, I had previous experience in the field and was determined to use my skills to design the best possible portfolio for our client Hillary. Similar to Mojmir, I was confident that stock market trading was only reliant on quantitative analysis, DCF models, and fundamental indicators – an assumption that didn’t last long. Throughout the challenge, I learned that macroeconomic indicators and trends play a significant role in determining long-term investments – a realization that helped me better allocate the $100,000 towards sectors with high growth potential. Another key lesson that I learned throughout this process – similar to what Mojmir learned – was that it is not possible to predict future trends. We tried to time the market for the stock of a company called ‘Shopify’ and attempted to predict its trajectory using quantitative analysis. However, this turned into a nightmare when the stock lost 35% of its value in a short period, forcing us to sell it and accept the loss. Regardless, through incredible teamwork and focus, I led my team to make an overall return of 9% on our initial capital in the brief period between September and December. Covering up the loss from Shopify was as challenging as it was pressurizing since we wanted to achieve high returns for Hillary. In the process, we learned a plethora of skills that are certain to reward us in our future corporate careers, just like they rewarded Mojmir.
Yes, indeed, quantitative analysis, DCF models, and fundamental indicators, macroeconomic indicators and trends are important. The only thing I can add is that in the process of investing you should also focus on your values and invest only in what you believe. Because if you have certain values, you don’t need to invest in companies that don’t support your values. You don’t need to invest in a company just because in technical analysis they should have an increase in value, you also need to pay attention to the values of the companies and also that these companies have the same values as you.
I have to admit, Ahaan—you’re definitely ahead of the curve here. I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I’ve never invested before, whether that be in competitions or in real life. As such, I’m extremely intrigued by your experience and your learning curve in the Wharton Stock Exchange Challenge.
I noticed that you emphasized the unpredictability of investment—that it really can’t be quantitatively analyzed or predicted beforehand. Models and numerical indicators can’t keep up with the volatility of the stock market. At its core, the stock market is largely a human-driven system and not often compatible with purely logical technical analysis. It begs the question: what other factors, if any, can improve our ability to “predict” stock potential? Or are our algorithms doomed to failure?
One slippery factor might be politics and its rippling effects. For example, Starbucks became extremely unpopular in 2023 for union-busting among other anti-labor tactics, which led to boycotts of the store, which plummeted its stock prices. As far as I’m aware, the company had been doing as well as usual, stock prices stable and a ubiquitous household name. This sudden volatility was something that couldn’t have been predicted by numbers and historical data alone. We should also consider the impact of disasters. Things like war, floods, earthquakes, and more, can lead to abnormal stock returns and increase volatility in the market. We have no entirely reliable way to predict disasters either; you only really know them once they happen.
So, perhaps the best analysis tool we have is our own ability to make change. The numbers may have gotten you in trouble with the “Shopify” stock, but it was the hard work of you and your teammates that got you all out of it. In just three short months, you guys managed to return 9% of your initial amount even with those losses. That’s impressive!
We shouldn’t reject technology. After all, numerical tools have stayed for a reason. But, as you found, it’s adaptability that really makes the best investors. Perhaps that’s the attitude we should take towards using technology: using it to inform but not make our decisions. We made the models, so we should have the final say. Technology will always be able to outdo us in many respects, especially as it pertains to numbers, to historical data, but when it fails, we still have ourselves, our ingenuity and quick reactions. That is to say, we can all learn from your mindset in that Wharton Stock Exchange Challenge. It may indeed be impossible to predict trends, but that doesn’t mean we can’t try, and especially that we can’t return from those losses.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve heard HUDA usually provides wonderful returns—do you think something will happen to the stock? Only one way to find out!
When reading about Mojmír Zálešák’s experience of participating in the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition, I couldn’t help but reminisce about the similar experience I had with three of my friends when we initially began our GYM Trading Sprint three weeks ago after meeting in the Essentials of Finance program on campus. While managing our investment portfolio, the four of us shared similar experiences and came away with these three major takeaways that align with what Mojmír has shared.
1. Experience is the ultimate teacher.
Just like Mojmír, the investment competition introduced me to the roles of finance and business. Prior to the EoF program, I had no prior experience with investment management. However, after meeting the girls in my team, who are all eager to learn through trial and error, I learned how to be a team player in the business world, how to strategize the stocks we purchased, and most importantly, that we all learn best from our own mistakes.
2. Always have a game plan.
Mojmír raises a good point that when investing, one should always tie it to the macroeconomic trends. When my team initially started investing, we chose stocks based on the names of big companies we’re already familiar with and are often mentioned, such as Apple, Coca-Cola, and Meta. It didn’t take us long to realize that it wasn’t an effective strategy. After learning how to utilize the DCF model in the EoF program, we began computing the intrinsic value of a company to determine the rationale behind purchasing a stock.
3. A learner should seize every opportunity.
I look at every opportunity as to learn something new, therefore attending the EoF program at Wharton this summer. It’s the same reason why my team attended the investment workshops given by Mr. Anomitra Banerjee every Wednesday. We dedicated two hours every evening during the two weeks we were on campus to researching and discussing stocks and creating DCF models.
Even though the program ended a week ago, the four of us are still constantly checking in on the stock portfolio, and staying in contact with one another from three different countries: the United States (California & Connecticut), Korea, and China. Our experience participating in the GYM Trading Sprint prompted us to register for the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition for the upcoming year. I cannot wait to meet more passionate students interested in business and investment, just like Mojmír himself!
In this article, Mojmír, who is the winner of the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition, describes how this competition changed his life. After winning the investment competition, he received lots of media attention, which led to a summer internship opportunity at J&T. The renowned J&T investment bank provided Mojmír with more investment knowledge and allowed him to lead the J&T Next Gen fund. With his financial knowledge, he has enthusiastically supported financial literacy education for youth in Czechia.
Mojmír’s successes prove that one thing leads to another, and all it takes to start is passion and hard work. After that, learning opportunities will arise that enable us to gain knowledge and empower others on their own journeys. Similar to Mojmír’s experiences, I also embarked on a journey for financial knowledge and investment success.
In my freshman year of high school, I played a stock market game which sparked my interest in investing and financial decision making. I didn’t have prior experience investing, and I wound up too focused on short-term gains. When I saw a stock rapidly growing, I would buy in, hoping to ride the wave up. However, most companies that saw drastic price increases were micro-cap companies with extremely volatile stocks, and I ended up losing money. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the thrill of investing—it felt like a gamble.
After playing around with the stock market simulation, I researched more about value investing and how to pick reliable companies for long-term growth. I spent a lot of my free time buried in investment books, and I became fascinated with Benjamin Graham’s Value Investing concepts. I opted for potential turnaround companies – companies that had lost stock value over the pandemic yet retained strong financial balance sheets. Slowly, investing didn’t feel like a complete gamble since critical financial numbers popped out at me.
Investing still interested me, but I wanted to learn more about the financial world: making money, smart spending, and saving for big purchases. I was delighted when I was accepted into this Wharton Online Program Financial Decision making. I’ll cherish this opportunity to enhance my knowledge in a wide range of financial topics.
With more knowledge in financial literacy, I hope to effectively handle my finances in the future and help those around me manage their assets. I aspire to be like Mojmír and support my community like Mojmír did by promoting financial literacy in Czechia. I’ve only begun my journey with finances, so I have a lot more to learn, but I’m hopeful of being able to master making logical financial decisions and inspire others to become financially literate. Mojmír’s story stood out to me because we both have similar passions and goals with investing. Thank you, Mojmír, for inspiring me to take my passion a step further.
This article truly highlights the transformative power of early financial education. It’s inspiring to see how this competition ignites a passion for finance among high school students, offering them practical experience that goes beyond traditional classroom learning. I deeply resonate with Mojmir’s story of discovering his interest in finance through the competition. It emphasizes the importance of opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge in the real world.
I participated in the Wharton Global Investment Competition and visited the Wharton School in April 2024 for the global finale. Being the only team from India present there, it was an unbelievable experience for me and my team. Engaging with other high school students from around the world, we shared thoughts and insights, learning not just from the competition but from each other. The opportunity to present my investment strategy to judges at Wharton was nerve-wracking yet thrilling which pushed me even further to refine my presentation skills.
Apart from the competition, I’ve used my passion for finance back in my school, where I used to host weekly financial literacy sessions for the peons and housekeepers. These sessions were aimed at sharing basic financial knowledge like budgeting, saving, and investing. Additionally, I started an investment club where I teach my juniors about investing, providing them with the guidance I wish I had received at a younger age. I wish to provide a platform for fostering financial literacy and sparking an interest in the field of investment among the next generation.
As a past participant in the Wharton investment competition, I am truly inspired to see how Mojmír carried out his entrepreneurial spirit after the competition. Like Mojmír, the competition taught me an immense amount about investment, especially the importance of both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Initially, my team and I considered prioritising maximising profits above all else. However, as we delved deeper, we realised that focusing solely on profits wasn’t enough. We shifted our strategy to emphasise the quality of our chosen stocks, ensuring they aligned with long-term growth prospects and fit our client’s preferences. This holistic approach not only strengthened our portfolio but also taught us the importance of balancing profitability with sustainability and client satisfaction. This participating was truly an incredible learning experience!
I’m currently participating in the Wharton Global Youth Meetup (GYM), and I’m currently finishing up the four-week Investment Competition, which is similar to the annual Investment Competition, but only lasts four weeks.
I agree with Mojmír Zálešák. I think that these four weeks gave me a lot of experience and an incredible desire for further study in finance. I think the best part about the competition is that it inspired me because I myself experienced what it’s like to invest, to take a risk somewhere, to be happy when asset prices rise and so on. I really liked that all and I am planning to form a team at my school to participate in the annual investment competition.
Answering second question, I think that it would be better if he made a competitive option for his cryptocurrency startup. Instead of just giving access to the platform, I think it would be better to do a competition similar to the Wharton Investment Competition. In addition, he can turn to the management of schools and universities in the Czech Republic in order to attract young graduates to this, since it is young people who are most interested in cryptocurrency. Therefore, I think that if he focuses on the youth, it is possible to achieve a good penetration into the market. In this way, it will be possible to achieve trust, because it will be a competition to officially attract people from schools and universities and teach young people in the Czech Republic about investments.
Any competition always makes me feel the same emotion: anxiety. I know: I have a problem. I vividly remember my first debate tournament of this high school year. I could feel the sweat forming on my palms. My arms felt rigid and frozen. My mouth felt way too dry. Yet I knew I was doing something I was passionate about. Something that was important to me. We were debating on Biden’s plans for student loan debt reform. While not as directly related to finance as the Wharton competition, this is the competition that certainly got me interested in learning more about the economy. I used to think about economics, business, and finance in general, as boring concepts. But you never know about something until you try it. That debate really sold me on the idea of learning about this sector of our world. Now that I know more about it, I can safely say the financial sector is pretty important, and not boring at all! Competitions have the power to do that for students: completely change their lives. It’s inspiring to hear about how the Wharton Investment Competition is able to inspire students like Mojmír and fuel a passion for their learning. You know people like Mojmír and his teammates are genuinely passionate when they start a passion project. They want to teach people about Cryptocurrencies, participate in various competitions, and are going to prestigious places because they have a passion. They have a drive and want to know more because they are interested. Growing their knowledge is a consequence of that desire. Even when others didn’t believe them, such as in their Terramite app, they kept going. I would say, to help others feel more safe, they should try to market it as a game as much as possible. Many of these Crypto Games usually have malicious links and attempt to steal information, so maybe don’t market it as related to cryptocurrency either. Perhaps, players should play with another fake currency, like bananas, while learning the skills for something like crypto. This way, they are not thinking of the stigma that surrounds cryptocurrency and scams. Ultimately, this story suggests that sometimes, your passions come to you, instead of you looking for it. This doesn’t mean that you should sit around and do nothing. Rather, do whatever you can until you find something that interests you, then run with it. What I take away is that I need to make life happen. I was hesitant about going into extracurriculars, but I don’t regret that 1st debate tournament. There’s a reason why I care about that 2nd place medal. There’s a reason why I’m commenting in the first place. This is what I live for.
P.S. I love eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! Looking forward to the Investment Competition
This competition played a big role in shaping my own interest in finance and investing. As a part and current competitor, I can relate to Mojmir’s experience. I have found that participating in the competition not only sparked a passion for investing but also helped me realise that I want to pursue investing in the future, as it combines my interests in business and economics. The skills I’m honing through researching and making strategic decisions have been invaluable and I look forward to applying them in the real world, like Mojmir is doing for J&T Next Gen.
I also agree that forecasting seems to be one of the biggest challenges when it comes to stock markets. Especially since much of traditional investing involves applying rational theories and models to irrational agents, that are humans. We cannot be trusted to act in a particular manner, as investing decisions are often heavily influenced by emotions, and individual experiences. This reminds me of the book Psychology of Money, by Morgan Housel, that delves a bit deeper into this topic in one of the chapters.