Rules & Roles
Rules & Roles for the 2024-2025 Wharton Global High School Investment Competition
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Trading Rules
All trading takes place on WInS (the Wharton Investment Simulator). Teams will be able to access WInS during the pre-competition period but will not be able to place trades until the trading period begins at 9:30 AM (ET) on September 30.
The Investment Competition primarily involves the buying and selling of stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from our approved lists.
NEW in 2024-2025: Students can choose to include a limited number of stocks from outside the approved list in their portfolios. Teams must still have at least 70% of their total stock allocation from the approved list. The remaining 30% can be from either the approved list or any stocks of the team’s choosing. For example, if a team owns $10,000 in stock, $7,000 of its stock ownership must come directly from the Approved Stock List. The remaining $3,000 can (but doesn’t have to) include any stocks that trade on WinS. Penny stocks and stocks that trade over the counter (OTC) are not permitted.
All teams must fully execute at least one trade on WInS by close of the U.S. markets (4:00 p.m. ET) on October 18, 2024 to be eligible to advance to the Semifinals and Global Finale.
All teams must build a sector-diversified portfolio when they submit their midterm report on November 8, 2024, to be eligible to advance to the Semifinals and Global Finale. This means your team’s investment portfolios must include at least one stock from as many sectors as teams have members. Our competition uses the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS®). If a team has five members, it must be invested in five different sectors. Teams must maintain this required diversification throughout the entire competition. So, if a team sells the one Utilities stock from its portfolio, at some point during active competition trading, it must then invest in a new Utilities stock or a stock from another sector in which it is not yet invested to replace that sold stock.
In addition to one stock from each sector, portfolios must include at least one Exchange-traded Fund (ETF) from the approved list. Teams may only trade/invest in ETFs from the approved list.
Teams can also recommend that their client invest in U.S. Treasury Bonds from an approved list. These Treasury Bonds must be bought on WInS. Unlike stocks and ETFs, teams are not required to include Treasury Bonds in their portfolios.
A Trading Note specifying the purpose of the trade and how it fits into the overall investment strategy must be included with each trade made on WInS. Students will be prompted to add a trading note before the trade can be executed. You will use trading notes in your Final Report.
Teams whose final reports include investment recommendations other than cash, stocks (no more than 30% from outside the approved list), ETFs and U.S. Treasury Bonds from the approved lists will NOT be eligible for the Semifinals and Global Finale. The use of stock-secured debt is NOT permitted as a part of your team’s strategy.
Student Eligibility
Student teams must be comprised of members from the same high school and be current high school students. If the high school has various branches, teams must be comprised of students and an advisor from the same branch.
“High school” is typically secondary-level (no younger than 14, no older than 18 at the start of the competition), pre-university education, as defined by country (e.g., generally 9th – 12th grade in the United States).
Home-schooled students or privately tutored students working towards a G.E.D. (high school diploma) or non-U.S. equivalent may also compete.
A written request to form a team of home-schooled students must be submitted to wghs-invcomp@wharton.upenn.edu and approved by the Investment Competition team prior to registering.
If a team of home-schooled students advances to the Semifinals, each student will be required to provide one of the following items: a) Dated copy of a letter of intent to homeschool from the parent to the state or county in which the student resides; b) Copy of the current membership ID to a homeschool association; or c) Dated proof of purchase of curriculum for the current academic school year.
Additionally, home-schooled students are permitted to join a school-based team as long as the student lives in in the school district of the team they are joining. Should the team advance to the Semifinals, the home-schooled student will be required to provide one of the following items: a) Dated copy of a letter of intent to homeschool from the parent to the state or county in which the student resides; b) Copy of the current membership ID to a homeschool association; or c) Dated proof of purchase of curriculum for the current academic school year.
Participants must not have earned a high school/secondary school diploma before the competition begins on September 30, 2024.
A child of faculty or staff of the University of Pennsylvania is eligible to participate, as long as his or her parent or guardian is not part of the competition judging committee.
Semifinals & Global Finale
Each team must submit the required deliverables during the competition in order to be considered an “active” team eligible for the Semifinals and/or Global Finals (more details to follow). Please refer to the competition deliverables for additional details and due dates. The top 50 teams will be selected as semifinalists based on the strength of their final reports. Along with their final report teams will need to include documentation from their high school (on official school letterhead) indicating they have permission to compete and all students and the advisor are affiliated with the school.
You may use generative AI programs (e.g., tools like ChatGPT) to help generate ideas and brainstorm. However, you should note that the material generated by these programs may be inaccurate, incomplete, or otherwise problematic. Beware that use may also stifle your own independent thinking and creativity. You may not submit any work generated by an AI program as your own. If you include material generated by an AI program, it should be cited like any other reference material (with due consideration for the quality of the reference, which may be poor). Any plagiarism or other form of cheating will be dealt with severely under relevant Investment Competition policies. See Ethics and Code of Conduct policies below.
The Semifinals will be conducted virtually. If your team advances to the Global Finale in Philadelphia, Wharton Global Youth Program will not cover your costs and will not sponsor any students or advisors for visas or similar travel permissions. All costs, including travel and lodging of students and advisors, are the responsibility of the participants. Every student must participate in the Global Finale either in-person or virtually. Wharton Global Youth Program requires at least one adult (advisor, other educator from the school or parent/guardian) to accompany any team traveling to the Global Finale. Teams will be permitted to join the Global Finale virtually via live video stream, but must provide their own equipment necessary to connect live to the Semifinals and/or the Global Finale.
A Consent and Waiver of Liability must be signed by all semifinalists and global finalists (or a parent or legal guardian if the student is a minor under the age of 18). With this consent, Wharton Global Youth Program may use students’ names, high schools, cities, states, likenesses, photographs, and project details in various media in connection with the promotion of Wharton Global Youth Program or the Competition.
Video/audio recording or photography of presentations and/or participants during the Semifinals and/or Global Finale is not permitted. Unauthorized video/audio taping, photographs, screenshots or posting to the internet are grounds for dismissal from the competition.
All participants must abide by the University of Pennsylvania’s Policy of Acceptable Use of Electronic Resources.
Prizes
All students on teams that submit and meet the minimum requirements for the competition deliverables will receive participation badges in February 2024. All semifinalists and global finalists will also receive special certificates recognizing their achievements.
Each student member of the global champion team will receive a complimentary spot in our online summer program, Future of the Business World, Essentials of Leadership, Moneyball Academy: Training Camp FLEX or Moneyball Academy: Training Camp*.
Each student member from all 10 global finalist teams will have the course fee waived for our online course, Understanding Your Money*.
The Global Champion school will be permitted to fast-track one team to the semifinal round of the 2025-2026 competition. The team will still need to submit all the required deliverables.
*Student must meet course/program requirements. No prize substitutions are permitted except at the sole discretion of Wharton Global Youth Program, in which case a prize (or portion of the prize) of equal or greater value may be awarded. Prize(s) are not redeemable for cash. Contest and prizes void where prohibited.
AI Policy
You may use generative AI programs (e.g., tools like ChatGPT) to help generate ideas and to brainstorm. However, you should note that the material generated by these programs may be inaccurate, incomplete, or otherwise problematic. Beware that use may also stifle your own independent thinking and creativity. You may not submit any work generated by an AI program as your own. If you include material generated by an AI program, it should be cited like any other reference material (with due consideration for the quality of the reference, which may be poor). Any plagiarism or other form of cheating will be dealt with severely under relevant Investment Competition policies. See Ethics and Code of Conduct section above.
Ethics
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 at all times 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, compensate advisors, education consultants, or other agents, enroll in non-Wharton extracurricular courses that claim to “teach” the competition, 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.
The Wharton Global Youth Program reserves the right to engage its employees and third-party private investigatory firms and/or forensic analysts to ensure compliance with the foregoing restrictions, and to ensure that all teams are competing fairly.
Code of Conduct
This Wharton Global High School Investment Competition Code of Conduct extends to how students and advisors treat teammates, supervisors, and 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 at its sole discretion.
Each team is required to properly cite any sources used and acknowledge ownership of all images and other media that it submits as part of a deliverable or a presentation that it (or a team member) does not own or did not solely develop. Submitted materials that violate any laws or intellectual property restrictions, are offensive, incite violence, or are otherwise deemed inappropriate for viewing by the general public (for purposes of this competition) will not be accepted. Regardless of whether a team is selected as a Finalist, each team (and/or the students on such team) retains ownership of their own work.
The University of Pennsylvania, the policies of which govern the competition, prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected class.
Advisors
Teams are required to have one advisor, who must be a teacher/educator at the high school their student team(s) attend.
The team advisor provides student teams with guidance, knowledge (supported by the competition curriculum and lesson plans), encouragement and structure throughout the competition. Please note that an advisor’s role is NOT to make decisions for competing students or participate actively in teamwork and strategy development. At the outset of the competition, each team should clarify the role of its advisor, whose responsibilities will vary depending on the level of engagement. Some advisors are very active, teaching concepts and providing consistent guidance, while others only serve as sounding boards and motivational coaches. We require that teams enlist the support of an advisor to maximize student potential and stay motivated through the 10+ weeks of the competition.
Advisors may play different roles and should discuss the advising expectations with your team(s) before the competition begins.
- Advisors are responsible for registering their team(s). Students are NOT permitted to register for the competition on their own behalf or on behalf of their team. If this rule is violated the team will not be permitted to compete.
- Serving as a main point of contact for your team(s). All communications and notifications will be sent to you and the student team leader.
- Providing educational guidance to your team(s), especially for those students who have had little-to-no exposure to investing. The Competition Learning Materials page provides numerous learning materials, including lesson plans, discussion questions, learning outcomes and articles to help you build knowledge into every aspect of this competition. Financial education is a key competition objective.
- Motivating your student teams. Many teams that register for the competition drop off before the mid-project team review because they lose interest or lack guidance. Please help to keep them in the competition and encourage them to submit both deliverables.
- Checking in on students’ portfolios. As an advisor, you will be able to log into WInS and review team portfolios to make sure your students are engaged and building a strategy.
- Informing Wharton if you suspect that one or more of your team members has engaged a paid advisor or is enrolled in an extracurricular online course that claims to “teach” the competition.
- Acting as a sounding board for your team without actually doing any of the hands-on work.
- Providing structure. We have thousands of students competing each year, and only the top 50 will make it to the semifinals. We encourage advisors to find creative ways to build the competition out in the classroom, providing incentives and prizes for your top teams and even inviting judges to hear and evaluate final strategies.
- Total follow-through. If one or more of your teams are among the finalists, we hope you will support their final presentations and even accompany them to the Global Finale in Philadelphia.
An advisor can oversee a maximum of five teams. However, there is no limit to the number of competing teams per school.
The use of paid advisors, education consultants, or other agents is prohibited. Similarly, no participant or team may enroll in any non-Wharton, extracurricular “course” (online or in-person) claiming to “teach” the Investment Competition. Teams suspected by the Wharton Global Youth Program of using paid advisors, education consultants, extracurricular coursework, or other agents will be disqualified from the competition. The Wharton Global Youth Program reserves the right to engage its employees and third-party private investigatory firms and/or forensic analysts to ensure compliance with the forgoing restriction, and to ensure that all teams are competing fairly.
Teams are not permitted to change their advisor. If a team needs to change their advisor due to extenuating circumstances, a written request must first be submitted to and approved by the Investment Competition team (wghs-invcomp@wharton.upenn.edu). Teams that attempt to change their advisor without first submitting a written request will be eliminated from the competition.
Teams
All team members must attend the same school. Students from different schools cannot compete on the same team.
Each team must maintain a minimum of four team members and a maximum of seven members from the very start of the competition. Each team will have one designated student team leader. Student team leaders are responsible for the following:
- Leading your teammates to success. Each team will select one student to serve as their team leader and represent their team in all communications with the Wharton Global Youth Program. Teams may also assign additional duties to the team leader (such as coordinating meeting times) however they wish.
- Serving as a main point of contact for your team. All communications and notifications will be sent to you and the team advisor.
- Fulfilling all the responsibilities of a regular team member, as listed below.
Student team members are responsible for the following:
- Developing your team’s investment strategy with the potential client in mind. Your advisor serves as a guide for your team, but students are the competitors.
- Conducting deep analysis of sectors, industries and securities.
- Learning new concepts, where necessary, with the help of a teacher-advisor and/or through the Competition Learning Materials for Students found on the website.
- Placing trades on WInS. Team members must work together and place trades as a team through one shared account. Communication and collaboration are fundamental to success in the competition.
- Staying engaged and meeting deliverable deadlines. Registered student teams are expected to be active throughout the competition, understand the rules, and work consistently during the 10 weeks of trading and strategy development. Manage your time wisely.
Students are not permitted to participate on more than one team.
Teams are not permitted to contact the competition client. Teams that violate this rule will be disqualified.
Teams will be able to select an official team name, more details to be provided. Teams should choose their own names, and have fun with it. Please use good judgment. Team names that use offensive or vulgar language, as determined by the Wharton Global Youth Program in its sole discretion, may be automatically disqualified. The Wharton Global Youth Program reserves the right to contact teams to mandate changes in team names that it deems inappropriate.
Teams can add or delete members, and students can switch teams until October 18, 2024, when they submit their official team roster. After October 18, if a team needs to drop team members due to extenuating circumstances, a written request must be submitted by the Advisor and approved by the Investment Competition team (wghs-invcomp@wharton.upenn.edu). Teams that drop team members without first submitting a written request will be eliminated from the competition.