Judging and Evaluation

Judging and Evaluation

Your team’s final report will be evaluated on five criteria:

  1. Investment strategy: contains a clear and creative strategy thesis; demonstrates mid-term and long-term investment thinking; portfolio is invested in at least as many sectors as there are team members.
  2. Client knowledge and objectives: strategy is tailored uniquely to the client’s financial goals; would win him/her over as a client.
  3. Portfolio analysis: demonstrates clear understanding of new concepts and investment tools; uses both quantitative and qualitative analysis.
  4. Articulation of competition experience: demonstrates good teamwork and communication; team clearly explains decision-making process and what they learned from the competition.
  5. Creativity and presentation: compelling narrative and visually pleasing presentation of data; many creative elements; clearly presented with an authentic team voice.

A Few Things to Keep in Mind

  1. Excessive investing jargon doesn’t necessarily dazzle the judges. Your report should reflect your team’s voice.
  2. Don’t use precious space repeating known facts about your client and defining concepts. However, it is okay to demonstrate that you understand your client beyond the case study.
  3. Keep your reader engaged. Choose active language, illustrate with examples and make your report memorable.

In order for your team to be considered for the Semifinals, you must also have fulfilled all of the following requirements. Your team is only eligible to advance to the Semifinals—regardless of the quality of your final report—if all of the following are fulfilled:

  • Fully executed your first trade on WInS by 4:00 PM ET on October 13, 2023.
  • Had a sector diversified portfolio when they submit their midterm report on October 30, 2023. This means as a minimum requirement, the team was invested in as many sectors as they had team members. (e.g., If  they had five team members they were invested in five different sectors on WInS.) The team portfolio also included at least one ETF.
  • Submitted both the Midterm Report AND the Final Report on time. Teams that submit a Final Report but not a Midterm Report are not eligible for the Semifinals or for participation certificates.
  • Adhered to our rules about what securities can and cannot be traded. Teams that include prohibited securities in their final report are not eligible for the Semifinals.
  • Completed a final report that falls within the acceptable page range and includes all the required elements.
  • Maintained the same team advisor throughout the competition (you may not change your advisor without written permission from the Wharton Investment Competition Team).
  • Maintained the same roster of team members after October 30, 2023 (you may not change your team members after October 30, 2023 without written permission from the Wharton Investment Competition Team).

Teams WILL NOT receive individual feedback about Midterm Reports or Final Reports. We WILL NOT provide you with information about how the evaluators scored your team.

Each year, we receive many excellent final reports. If your team is not selected as a Semifinalist, this does not necessarily mean that you did something “wrong.” We are looking for teams that score exceptionally well on all five components of the criteria, and that embrace all aspects of the competition with passion and creativity, which is then reflected in various ways in their final reports.