The 2019 KWHS Investment Competition Finalists Are Ready for the Regionals

by Diana Drake
A group of smiling teenagers in a school hallway, with some giving others piggyback rides, symbolizing friendship and camaraderie.

As we set out on the 2018-2019 KWHS Investment Competition, we knew this journey would be different. For one, all three competing regions – vying to become finalists in our regional competitions based in China, India and the U.S. in February and March of 2019 – started trading simultaneously on the OTIS platform on October 1, 2018. What had for years been a global competition with three separate onramps, was now one grand rivalry involving more than 2,000 teams around the world. Game on!

Additionally, the client profile had changed from the perhaps all-too-familiar wealthy young entrepreneur Jack Abraham, to another young Silicon Valley star with a somewhat similar background but different investing needs, Sachin Rekhi.

Change is good. This year’s competition has been the most robust on record, with more than 900 teams submitting mid-project team reviews, up from 480 last year, and nearly 570 teams detailing final strategies and teamwork dynamics in comprehensive competition reports, up from nearly 300 last year. Some 20 countries were represented among those teams that followed the competition through to the end. KWHS is grateful for a new partnership with the National Stock Exchange of India, which helped us recruit student teams from new high schools throughout the country.

Our intrepid team of evaluators from Aberdeen Standard Investments in Philadelphia, Pa., U.S., tackled hundreds of final reports through the Christmas break and into the new year, assessing if they met important criteria (such as addressing Mr. Rekhi’s short and long-term needs), and looking for several pillars of strength, including an understanding of their client, strategy articulation, analysis and teamwork. “We looked for groups that took the client’s preferences beyond [the basics] and made sure they provided a good level of detail in their research process and their experience,” notes Sarina Manetta, a graduate business analyst at Aberdeen Standard Investments who led the judging team. “The teams that made it to consideration for the Top 12 stood out either because of creativity, or because they went above and beyond in developing their own methods.”

And with that, here are the 2019 KWHS Investment Competition top 12 finalist teams:

Region 1

  • Arithmancers – Eton House International School, Suzhou, China
  • CFuture – WHBC of Wuhan Foreign Languages School, Wuhan, China
  • CHILLAX – Hangzhou Foreign Languages School, Hangzhou, China
  • Coconut Union Jingshan – Beijing Jingshan School, Beijing, China
  • DCSInvests – Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong, Shanghai, China
  • Deficit Demolition Team – Hangzhou No. 14 High School, Hangzhou, China
  • Lux Capital – WHBC of Wuhan Foreign Languages School, Wuhan, China
  • Money Scoopers – Shanghai High School Intl. Division, Shanghai, China
  • OG – The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China, Beijing, China
  • Pegasus – YK Pao School, Shanghai, China
  • Shildeg-KWHS – Shildeg School, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
  • YKPS Unicorn – YK Pao School, Shanghai, China

Region 2

  • AlphaBulls – Podar International School, Mumbai, India
  • C.R.E.A.M. (Cash Rules Everything Around Me) – Greenwood High International School, Bangalore, India
  • Et Tauri Auream – The Doon School, Dehradun, India
  • Filter Coffee Investments – Amity International School, Noida, India
  • Infinito Asset Managers – Amity Intl. School, Sector-46, Gurgaon, India
  • InvestoMania – Sushila Birla Girls’ School, Kolkata, India
  • Keepers of the BULLevard – Amity International School, Noida, India
  • Mr. Stock’s Enterprise – DAV Model School, Durgapur, India
  • OLYMPIANS – Amity Intl. School, Vasundhra Sector-6, Ghaziabad, India
  • Scion Capital – Jayshree Periwal International School, Jaipur, India
  • SnF Capital – SVKM, Mumbai, India
  • Wallstreet Wolves – The PSBB Millennium School, Chennai, India

Region 3

  • The BRLs – Colégio Bandeirantes, São Paulo, Brazil
  • DC Capital – Dulwich College, London, United Kingdom
  • EVA (Eagles Value Added) – Graded American School of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Lions Investment – Saint Theresa of Lisieux Catholic High School, Richmond Hill, Canada
  • Make Bank – Palo Alto High School, California, United States
  • Midas Money Management – The Harker School, California, United States
  • Princeton Tigers – Princeton High School, New Jersey, United States
  • Prophet – Moorestown Friends School, New Jersey, United States
  • Sage Hill – Sage Hill School, California, United States
  • Saints Capital – St. George’s School, Vancouver, Canada
  • TJ Asset Management (TJAM) – Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Virginia, United States
  • Yeti Investors – Maclay School, Florida, United States

Congratulations to all of this year’s finalists! Be sure to follow their progress in the regional competitions by checking back to the KWHS Newsroom and registering with KWHS to receive our bi-weekly updates. The Region 2 finals will be held at the National Stock Exchange of India facilities in Mumbai on February 23, 2019; the Region 1 finals follow on March 2 at the Penn Wharton China Center in Beijing; and the Region 3 finals (the first year we’re holding them separately!) will be on March 16 at Wharton in Philadelphia. The top three teams from each will advance to our KWHS Investment Competition Global Finale, held on Friday and Saturday, May 3 and 4, at Wharton in Philadelphia.

You can stay connected with all this year’s teams, and maybe even see quotes from your own final report, by following KWHS on Instagram @KWHSLife, Twitter @WhartonHS and Facebook at www.facebook.com/whartonhs. #KWHSInvests.