Roles and Responsibilities

Team Roles and Responsibilities

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ADVISORS

The team advisor must be a teacher/educator at the 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.

In general, advisors may be responsible for the following: 

  • Registering your team(s) for the Investment Competition. Students are NOT permitted to register for the competition on their own behalf or on behalf of their team. 
  • 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. 

TEAM LEADER (1 student)

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. 

TEAM MEMBERS (4-7 students, including the team leader)

All team members must attend the same school. Students from different schools cannot compete on the same team. 

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. 

We also realize that many schools are on summer break, making it difficult to identify a teacher and other students to participate. Registration is open until September 15. Here are some suggestions you might consider for forming a team:

  • Do you have an investment club at your school? Connect with members and the advisor to form a team. No club? Find out how to start one!
  • Remember that the competition is open to all high school-age students. Reach out to students in other grades at your school to form a competition team.
  • Who teaches business or personal finance at your high school? Reach out to that teacher to become your advisor and to help you form a team.
  • Get promotional over the summer and as the new school year begins: Write a short blurb about the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition and ask other students to team up for 2023-2024, then publish that piece on the school website, in official school social media channels and/or in the school newspaper. Be sure to include contact info! Explore options in your local community!
  • Do you play in a soccer club, work at a summer camp, spend time at the YMCA or other group, or attend a religious organization with other kids from your high school? Ask them to team up for this year’s investment competition!
  • Family teams can be fierce! Recruit siblings and cousins from your high school to register for this year’s competition.