The Wharton Global High School Investment Competition is a free, experiential investment challenge for high school students (9th to 12th grade) and teachers. Students work in teams of four to seven, guided by a teacher as their advisor, and have access to an online stock market simulator. Together, they learn about strategy-building, teamwork, communication, risk, diversification, company and industry analysis, and many other aspects of investing.

Numbers from Last Year’s Investment Competition

1,655 Teams

62 Countries

9,010 Students

1,148 Advisors

About the Competition

Teams examine a short case study featuring a potential client (an actual Wharton graduate working in business). They are tasked with collaborating to meet that client’s long-term investment goals as they try to win their business. Equipped with an approved stock and exchange-traded fund (ETF) list (domestic and international) and the Wharton Investment Simulator (WInS), which allows them to buy and sell stocks and ETFs over ten weeks, students develop an investment strategy, analyze industries and companies, and build a portfolio using $100,000 in virtual cash. Winners are selected on the strength and articulation of their team strategies, not on the growth of their portfolios, which is a critical differentiator between this investment challenge and others. During the competition, each team submits two deliverables.

Final reports are reviewed by a team of judges, who select 50 semifinalist teams. Those teams are invited to present their strategies to a panel of expert judges at the virtual Semifinals. The top 10 teams from the Semifinals move on to the Global Finale at Wharton in Philadelphia.

Why Join the Competition?

The Wharton School, a world leader in business education, runs it

You get to explore the exciting world of securities and strategies

You learn about risk, diversification, company and industry analysis and more investing basics

You develop teamwork, leadership and communication skills

You enhance your college and scholarship applications by building your résumé

You have a chance to compete against teams from around the world

You learn finance skills that will last a lifetime

It’s free and fun!

Rules & Roles: 

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.

Teams are required to have one advisor, who must be a teacher/educator at the high school their student team(s) attend.

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. 

Article written by Angeline Zhang, Saturday 31, Aug 2024