Announcing the Region 2 KWHS Investment Competition Finalists

After reading 72 final policies for Region 2 of the KWHS Investment Competition, our reviewers are reminded of a quote from a Region 1 finalist team: “A passive investment needs patience; it is more of a test of the heart than the mind.” Not only are our hearts and minds full with the incredible time and effort demonstrated by this year’s Region 2 teams, we are also deeply impressed by the intellect and emotion that so many teams poured into this year’s investment competition. Your final policies reflected this hard work, as well as a robust concoction of new skills, insights and financial knowledge. And many of you also seemed to have fun! Here are a few reflections gleaned from this year’s Region 2 final team strategy papers:

“With risk taking and investing comes the emotional pressure and fear of our stocks losing value and money. This was exactly how we felt when our portfolio value was dwindling in mid December. However, we have learnt that investors must not rely on emotional temptations or urges but make decisions based only on our analysis.” Vaffles, Victoria Junior College, Singapore

“Effective team leaders share leadership by encouraging team members to take on leadership roles or by formally recognizing team members with special subject matter expertise.” The Stockers, Amity International School, Gurgaon, India

“Conflict, a difference of opinion, can be healthy and if carefully managed it can trigger useful debates. It can make people think differently, expanding knowledge and insight, and innovation can happen and results flourish. Different opinions are not a bad thing. It’s how we handle the conflict that makes a difference.” The Entrepreneurs, Sat Paul Mittal School, Ludhiana, Punjab, India

“The group was quite chaotic in its approach to investments, without any proper research; rather it was an analysis of stock trends over a short period of time, as well as recent events that could influence the stock value in any way.” Trade Wolves, Dubai International Academy, United Arab Emirates

“The competition was more difficult than we imagined because finding companies of a foreign country which would give returns was not an easy job. This became more challenging as we had to follow the policy changes in that country, but it was really fun and interesting.” Investor Wolves, Christ Junior College, Bangalore, India

“Taking our client Jack Abraham’s profile into account, our team has developed a strategy that does not fear taking risks, yet aims to hold sustainable stocks in our client’s portfolio.” Cash Team, Inanc High School, Turkey

“It was soon clear that long-term investment is our goal, as our name signifies. So bottom up approach it was. This meant research and more research.” Horizon Capital, Hillspring International School, Mumbai, India

“The economic world is as old as humanity. We started trading food for protection, clothes for wood and similarly everything else of importance. This parallel to human evolution makes our emphasizing on humanity clear. This parallel indeed dictates that the world of stocks also needs to follow ethics because it is a part of evolution, growing stronger as we constantly move towards becoming a single unit.” Stock Knockers, The Emerald Heights International School, Mumbai, India

“We followed an EIC approach, where we went from choosing the growing economies and analyzing the market scenario to looking towards the flourishing sectors and the industries which control the progress.” The Bullish Obsidos, Amity International School, Saket, India

“New innovations such as artificial intelligence will play a big role in driving the world in the future. In addition, almost every sector relies heavily on technology in order to advance; thus, it’s not his risks of losing money that are increasing but rather his chances of obtaining future long-term rewards.” Team Rich Kid, Mahidol University International Demonstration School, Thailand 

“We had been investing in 2 major companies: Tesla and Apple. Those 2 companies had made up 60-70% of our portfolio. But towards the end it had dipped in prices, as does every market inevitably. The team had failed to pull out, most fearing that we may sell low and miss a large profit.” The Wolves of OTIS Street, Dubai International Academy, United Arab Emirates

“It’ll take us more than a lifetime to know all that we need to about investment,” said Amisha with her head in her hands. “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know and how vast is the ocean of investment opportunities, which we have decided to breach, in our attempt to ace investing.” Trading Aces, Amity International School, Gurugram, India

“We were very inefficient during that meeting, as every member was very tired and mentally drained. As such, we decided to go out to a restaurant to have steamboat buffet for dinner. During the meal, not only did we have a great time bonding over food, we also came up with a lot of ideas at an efficiency which none of us could have expected.” Marymount Holdings, Raffles Institution, Singapore

“This competition helped us grow by giving us an intellectual insight into the business and corporate world. With each iteration of buying and selling stocks, the team learned something new. We developed an inclination towards keeping in touch with the world around us, keeping an open eye towards all the possible developments changes and growths in the market.” Prophets, Amity International School, Section 43, Gurgaon, India

“It is presumed that always parents are capable of teaching their children, but after the completion of this competition our team is this much confident that we think that we can teach our parents how to invest in the stock market and how to manage their own portfolio.” Trade Trappers, Ahlcon International School, Delhi, India 

We honor all the teams that took the time to participate in Region 2 of the KWHS Investment Competition. We know that many of you are new to investing and we hope you will join us again next year.

We selected 12 teams from the final group of 72. The finalist teams advancing to the regional finals on March 3, 2018 at the Infosys headquarters campus in Bangalore, India are:

• The Alchemy of Investments, Amity International School, Noida, India
• Alpha Hawks, Amity International School 46, Gurugram, India
• Green White Black, Raffles Institution, Singapore
• Griffles Fund, Raffles Institution, Singapore
• Infinitum, Dubai International Academy, UAE
• Pied Piper Investments, Amity International School, Noida, India
• Plutus Investors, Fountainhead School, Surat, India
• The Rainmakers, Amity International School, Saket, India
• Scion Capital, Jayshree Periwal International School, Jaipur, India
• The Stock Wizards, Amity International School, Vasundhara, Ghaziabad, India
• Stockland Yard, Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai, India
• Strong Hands, Amity International School, Mayur Vihar, India

The top teams from the regional competition will advance to the KWHS Investment Competition Global Finale at Wharton Philadelphia on May 4 and 5, 2018. Good luck!