Sustainable Investment Challenge
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
DISCOVER SOON THE 100 TOP FINALIST!
2021 Timeline
REGISTRATION PHASE
Register and start training
Register to the challenge and reinforce your skills, accessing exclusive educational contents and train with your 1.000.000$ pretend money.
CHALLENGE ON
FIRST ROUND
Play the Reply Sustainable Investment Challenge designed for you by Reply Experts and invest a restored balance on the trading platform.
FINALISTS ANNOUNCEMENT
ONLINE Final round
The best 100 players will keep on playing in the online final round: show you’re the most sustainable investor!
Learn by doing
Challenge modal text (editor only)
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Whether you're new to Finance or a Pro, access exclusive contents made for you by Reply Experts, Banca Generali and MIP, to learn more on financial strategies and tools.
Want more? Have a look at the Learning section.
Why are we doing this?
Reply and the Challenge Sponsors invest heavily to develop financial knowledge and digital skills, aiming to engage younger generations in having fun and showing off talent in different areas of expertise.
Previous on Reply Challenges
The challenge took place from May 21st to 23rd; each team had 48 hours to develop a creative concept for one among nine creative areas.
Nine finalist teams, one for each category, were selected by an expert Jury panel and presented their projects during the online final event on July 1st 2021, prior to the announcement of the winning team.
These are the numbers we made:
+12.000 REGISTRATIONS
1900 registered TEAMS
80 different Countries
Re-watch the finals here!
The investment Challenge - in collaboration with Banca Generali, MIP Politecnico di Milano, CFA Society Italy, and Main Street Partners. took place between April 19th and May 18th with a first round of 2 weeks (April 19th - April 30th) from which a selection of 100 best traders compete on an online final round on May 14th - May 18th.
Lets crunch some numbers:
For the external edition we had +14.500 new registered to the platform!
from 91 Countries!
On 11th March 2021 Reply launched the third edition of the Code Challenge - Teen Edition, together with the Standard Edition. Teenagers from all over the world could use any programming language to face five algorithmic or logical problems in 4 hours.
During this edition we had:
22.000 REGISTRATIONS
3.124 TEAMS for the Standard Edition
1.923 TEAMS for the Teen Edition
+ 30.000 total SUBMISSIONS
On 11th March 2021 Reply launched the fourth edition of the Code Challenge - Standard Edition, in collaboration with INWIT.
Participants from all over the world could use any programming language to face one optimization problem during the 4 hours of the challenge.
During this edition we had:
22.000 REGISTRATIONS
3.124 TEAMS for the Standard Edition
1.923 TEAMS for the Teen Edition
+ 30.000 total SUBMISSIONS
This years problem was on the correct placement of 5G antennas in an urban environment, taking care of the constraints and expected results for a fully connected mesh into an urban “Manhattan grid"
On 9th October 2020 the Cyber Security Challenge in Capture the Flag (CTF) mode took place online reaching thousands of participants.
Each team had to face 5 levels for each of the 5 categories offered with Cyber Security as main theme: Coding, Web, Miscellaneous, Crypto and Binary. This all happens in a time span 24 hours total.
During this last edition we had:
+10.000 new REGISTRATIONS
160 different COUNTRIES
2380 registered TEAMS
9176 FLAGS submitted, of which 1283 scoring ones
The challenge took place from May 22nd to 24th; each team had 48 hours to develop a creative concept for social media: Instagram story-telling, branded content, brand activation, service design and employer branding areas.
Five finalist teams, one for each category, were selected by an expert panel and presented their projects during the online final event on July 1st 2020, prior to the announcement of the winning team.
These are the numbers we made:
6200 REGISTRATIONS
1093 registered TEAMS
522 Total PROJECTS SUBMITTED
The investment Challenge - in collaboration with Banca Generali and MIP (Politecnico di Milano School of Management) took place between March 30th and April24th with a first round of 2 weeks (March 30th - April 10th) from which a selection of 100 best traders compete on an online final round on April 24th.
We had 8488 registrations, 168.100 trades and 23,6 years as total time spent on BG SAXO. At the end of the challenge, 63% of players had more than 1M €!
These are the numbers we made:
8.500 Registrations
168.100 Trades
207.037 hours played
On 12th March 2020 Reply launched the second edition of the code challenge - teen together with the standard edition. Teenagers from all over the world could use any programming languages to face five algorithmic or logical problems.
This all happened in a time span 4 hours total.
Both editions made these numbers:
20.171 REGISTRATIONS
2.862 TEAMS for the Standard Edition
1.253 TEAMS for the Teen Edition
+ 21.000 total SUBMISSIONS
On 12th March 2020 Reply launched the fully digital challenge together with the teen edition. Participants from all over the world could use any programming languages to face one algorithmic or logical problem and send as many solutions they want. This all happened in a time span 4 hours total.
Both editions made these numbers:
20.171 REGISTRATIONS
2.862 TEAMS for the Standard Edition
1.253 TEAMS for the Teen Edition
+ 21.000 total SUBMISSIONS
On 11th October 2019 all registered teams took on the Cyber Security Challenge in Capture the Flag (CTF) mode.
Each team had to face 5 levels for each of the 5 categories offered with Cyber Security as main theme: Coding, Web, Miscellaneous, Crypto and Binary. This all happens in a time span 24 hours total.
During this last edition we had:
6699 new REGISTRATIONS
87 different COUNTRIES
1365 registered TEAMS
6466 FLAGS submitted, of which 1003 scoring ones
The challenge took place from May 10th to 12th; each team had 48 hours to develop a creative concept for social, video, branding, customer experience and employer branding areas.
Five finalist teams, one for each category, were selected by an expert panel and presented their projects during Reply Xchange 2019, prior to the announcement of the winning team.
These are the numbers we made:
3480 REGISTRATIONS
1581 PLAYERS
587 registered TEAMS
350 Total SUBMISSIONS
On 15th March 2019 Reply launched the challenge online together with the teen edition. Participants from all over the world could use any programming languages to face one algorithmic or logical problem and send as many solutions they want. This all happened in a time span 4 hours total.
Both editions made these numbers:
15000 REGISTRATIONS
1337 TEAMS for the Standard Edition
1522 TEAMS for the Teen Edition
21000 total SUBMISSIONS
On 15th March 2019 Reply launched the challenge online together with the standard edition. Teenagers from all over the world could use any programming languages to face five algorithmic or logical problems.
This all happened in a time span 4 hours total.
Both editions made these numbers:
15000 REGISTRATIONS
1337 TEAMS for the Standard Edition
1522 TEAMS for the Teen Edition
21000 total SUBMISSIONS
On 5th October 2018 all registered teams took on the Cyber Security Challenge in Capture the Flag (CTF) mode.
Each team had to face 5 levels for each of the 5 categories offered with Cyber Security as main theme: Coding, Web, Miscellaneous, Crypto and Binary. This all happened in a time span 24 hours total.
For this first edition, here is the participation response:
6260 new REGISTRATIONS
61 different COUNTRIES
697 registered TEAMS
7820 FLAGS submitted, of which 962 scoring ones
On 15th March 2018 a problem statement was released online and the teams, had to solve it. Each team could send more than one solution and use their favourite programming language.
This all happened in a time span 4 hours total.
These are the numbers we made:
7776 CODERS registered in the challenge
67 different COUNTRIES
1207 TEAMS
2328 SOLUTIONS submitted
About
Welcome to the second edition of the Investment Challenge, brought to you by Reply, in collaboration with with Banca Generali, MIP Politecnico di Milano, CFA Society Italy and Main Street Partners.
A team of investment experts from Reply (the Titanium Team), have designed our maiden challenge for finance lovers to teach you how to invest sustainably.
The challenge involves trading 1 million $ combining profits and sustainable investment strategies.
Learning is key and that’s why Reply, Banca Generali, CFA Institute and MIP have put together some useful content on finance basics and ESG ratings, along with some tools you can use to start trading.
Initially, you’ll be challenged to invest your pretend money (1,000,000$), on the US market, maximizing your profits and sustainable choices: your profit will be weighted on the ESG Ratings provided by Main Street Partners.
After that, we’ll invite the best 100 players to the finals with the chance to win a Mac Book Pro, iPad Air, or Apple Airpods Pro.
This is an individual challenge, and registration is open until 16th April, with the online challenge starting on 19th April.
The Titanium Team
Number of people in lions:
10
Paolo Fabris
Avantage IT
Matteo Riccardo
Avantage IT
Francesca
Avantage IT
Emilio Maria
Avantage IT
Mauro
E*Finance Consulting IT
Giovanni
E*Finance Consulting IT
Margherita
E*Finance Consulting IT
Pasquale
E*Finance Consulting IT
Elisabetta
E*Finance Consulting IT
Mattia
E*Finance Consulting IT
Access exclusive contents made for you by Reply Experts, CFA Institute and MIP, to learn more on financial strategies and tools.
ARCHIVE
Have a look here at the archive of the Reply Investment Challenge.
Gallery
FAQ
Who can take part?
The Investment Challenge is a competition open to finance and investment passionates from 16 years old, from all over the world. Financial professionals cannot take part in the competition.
There will be two challenges, one dedicated to externals and composed of an online round and finals and one dedicated to Replyers composed of an online round only.
Can I play as a team?
This is an individual challenge only.
If I register on the platform, am I registered for the competition?
No, you need to join the Investment Challenge. By registering on the platform, you’ll get updates on upcoming online challenges.
Is there a registration fee?
No, this challenge is free.
When do the registrations close?
You can register until 16th April, 21:59 CEST.
How do I change my registration details?
To update your details, log into your profile and click “Edit profile”, or follow this link.
How do I cancel my registration?
You can send your cancellation request to challenges@reply.com.
Is it an online-only challenge?
Yes, both online and final round will take place online.
How will we get updates about the Reply Sustainable Investment Challenge?
You’ll get some emails before, during and after the challenge, so check your inbox regularly. If you have a question during the challenge, you can message the Reply Titanium Team via chat.
If you have technical issues on the trading platform please write to the support on the trading platform specifying your ID.
Which language(s) do I need to speak?
All communications will be in English.
Will Reply Titanium Team reply real time?
Please consider we’ll take your request in charge but not necessarily in real time.
What browsers are supported?
The platform supports the latest version of Chrome, Explorer, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Safari. If you’re not sure what version you have, you can check here.
Something’s wrong with the platform. What should we do?
Try reloading the page, then clearing your cache and cookies. If you’re still having problems, contact the Reply Titanium Team via chat or email challenges@reply.com.
Can I train for the Reply Sustainable Investment Challenge?
We strongly recommend you look at the tasks in “Learning” and practice on the trading platform before the challenge starts.
How do I access the trading platform?
When registering for the Reply Sustainable Investment Challenge, you’ll get your ID on the platform and get an email with your password. You’ll need both to access the trading platform and you can access it during the training phase as many time as you want.
How does the balance work during the registration and training phase?
From 8th March – 16th April you can trade your $1,000,000 across equities, bond, option (long position only) as much as you like. Whatever you did, we’ll restore your balance on 19th April at 15:30 CEST, when the online round officially starts.
Will there be a leader board in the training phase?
No, but you can access your wallet to check your performance.
Which financial instruments will be traded on the trading platform?
During the Training Phase, you can trade the following financial instruments: bonds, equities, options put. Only whitelisted tool will be counted for the challenge. How can you know? Check here
Which markets will be available on the trading platform?
U.S. market only.
Pay Attention! The options are European style only.
When does the U.S. market open and close?
The opening times are 9:30- 15:00 EST, which correspond to 15:30-22:00 CEST
Are all financial instruments traded in realtime?
Yes.
How to trade on the trading platform?
You’ll find most of the tutorials you need here, but you can also check on the how-to section of the trading platform.
What if I need more information about financial instruments and sustainability topic?
You can access all the educational contents in the Learning section to prepare yourself for the challenge. The materials have been created by Reply Titanium Team.
What browsers are supported on the trading platform?
If you’re not sure what version you have, you can check here
When will the challenge start?
On 19th April, when U.S. market opens at 9:30 am EST (15:30 CEST), and the challenge will officially start. You’ll have $1,000,000 to invest and Reply will publish the problem statement on the challenge platform and hints will follow every day until the end of the Challenge on April 30th.
What is a hint?
A hint is an investment suggestion or an educational tip Reply might publish on the Platform, on which players should base their sustainable investment strategy, using the financial instruments available on the Trading Platform
All inputs will trigger a notification, so that you’re always up-to-date with what’s happening on the Challenge platform.
Is it mandatory to follow the hints?
No, it is not strictly mandatory to follow each single input, but it is strongly suggested for two reasons: first it allows you to improve your sustainable investment strategy. Furthermore, we will ask you to provide a report with more details on your trades and investment strategies related to the hints if you will be among the finalists. The reason why you decided to follow or not to follow each hint shall be explained in your final report. (e.g. why in that specific market condition you deemed more opportune to do or not to do something, doesn’t matter it turned out right or wrong at the end of the competition.)
Am I supposed to invest as requested in a limited time (like 1 hour) or all along this day?
No, you can invest all day long, of course when the market is open. Mind that the U.S. stock market opens 9:30am-16:00pm EST (15:30 – 22:00 CEST).
How many trades can I place?
In total, you can do up to 350 trades during the online round.
Are there any product type or concentration limits?
Yes, you can have in your portfolio max 10% of portfolio value for Shares and Bonds and max 1% of portfolio value for Option.
Also, you can have max 10% of your portfolio value on options. There are no limits for stocks and bonds.
Do we need to close our position before the end of the challenge?
It is not necessary to close them unless you want to do so to take a market position. All open positions will be valued at the mark to market on April 30th 22:00 CEST.
When is the leader board updated?
We update the leader board daily by 13:00 CEST, to show how players are performing. We base the rankings on players’ balances, and will show daily ranking and global ranking.
Why do I see a different value in the Ranking and on the trading platform?
Trading platform only takes in account profit and losses; our Ranking is based on players’ balances and weighted on our algorithm. We will show you a daily ranking and a global ranking. The Reply ranking counts for winning the Challenge.
What are Daily and Global rankings?
Each day we show rankings based on previous day individual account balances at 22:00 CEST and weighted on our algorithm.
This means that on Tuesday 20th April you’ll see how well you performed on the first day of the challenge and so on.
You’ll find your personal ranking and the overall players’ ranking divided in:
What happens on the Online Round weekend?
Any trading activity placed during the weekend, when market is closed, will be shown on Tuesday 27th leaderboard, together with Tuesday 26th trading activities. Below you find a scheme:
Trades From/to - Daily Ranking report on, CEST time
How do you calculate the final scoring?
The goal it to award the most conscious and profitable investment strategies. You should maximize your profit investing on companies with a high ESG rating and keeping them as long as possible. Only whitelisted issuers are considered.
Each day we’ll publish on Challenges.reply.com a ranking based on your profit and the following 2 rules:
1.ESG Rating – this awards the most sustainable investment choices:
2. Holding period – a coefficient based on the number of days an asset is held affects the good/bad sustainable investment choices of Rule 1 (ESG Rating). In other words, the longer you keep a good/bad instrument from a sustainability point of view, the more it will affect your performance.
| Holding period | ||
| Days min= | Days max | Multiplication Factor% |
| 8,00 | 9,00**** | 12,00% |
| 7,00 | 8,00 | 9,50% |
| 6,00 | 7,00 | 7,50% |
| 5,00 | 6,00 | 6,75% |
| 4,00 | 5,00 | 5,50% |
| 3,00 | 4,00 | 4,00% |
| 2,00* | 3,00 | 3,00% |
| 2,00** | 2,00% | |
| 0,00 | 2,00*** | 0,00 |
*only greater
**only equal to
***only minor
****lower and equal
Which financial instruments will be traded on the trading platform?
During the Training Phase, you can trade the following financial instruments: bonds, equities, options put. Only whitelisted tool will be counted for the challenge. How can you know? Check here
Where can I find the ESG ratings?
We wont publish the Main Street Partners ratings, but you can find the Whitelist Issuers. The ESG ratings required for the assessment are provided by Main Street Partners, but are not distributed to participants. Being able to look for information regarding companies sustainability is part of the challenge goal: it is up to the player to do the necessary research and make the portfolio decisions.
What if we have a question about the problem statement?
You can message the Reply Titanium Team via chat. Please consider the Reply Experts will take in charge your request asap, but it won’t be necessarily in real-time.
Which financial instruments will be traded on the trading platform?
During the Training Phase, you can trade the following financial instruments: bonds, equities, options put. Only whitelisted tool will be counted for the challenge. How can you know? Check here
What if we have a question about the problem statement?
You can message the Reply Titanium Team via chat. Please consider the Reply Experts will take in charge your request asap, but it won’t be necessarily in real-time.
Who wins?
At the end of the final round, on May 17th by 1:00pm CEST the Reply Titanium Team will apply the final scoring algorithm and publish the provisional leader board.
The best players will be asked to provide a Report explaining their investment strategies.
What are the prizes?
At the end of the challenge, the leader board will be ‘frozen’ while the Reply Investment Experts review and validate the best investment strategies from the top-three ranked players on the leader board. The first ranked will win a Mac Book Pro, the second will win an iPad Air, and the third placed player will win Apple Airpods Pro.
The Reply Titanium Team judgement is final and indisputable when enforcing competition rules and awarding prizes. We’ll send to the winners the details of how to claim their prize.
What do I need to play the Investment Challenge?
You’ll need to register for the challenge to get your trading platform ID and Password. You’ll also need to check for challenge updates regularly.
Do I need to be a finance expert?
Nope, the Learning section is there for you to help you get started with Finance Basics and Sustainable Investments.
What are the computer/technical requirements?
You’ll need your own computer with an internet connection.
Who are the Reply Titanium Team Experts?
Reply Titanium Team is a group of Reply Investment Experts who devised the challenge and the educational contents. They’re also responsible for enforcing all challenge rules. They’ll review the submissions strategy reports from players and award prizes. They may exclude any participants at any time, for not following competition rules.
What do we do if someone’s cheating or behaving badly?
We want to make training sessions and the challenge fair for everyone. So never stop others from taking part – for instance, by overloading the challenge platform, or sending files containing malware, viruses intended to interrupt, destroy or limit operation of platform, software, hardware or telecoms equipment. This will result in instant disqualification. If you’ve spotted any cheating or unfair behaviour, email challenges@reply.com
RULES
Whitelist Products - Excel format
This is an individual international online challenge for players aged 16 or over. Professional financial advisors cannot take part in the Challenge. This challenge is open to all Replyers.
+++BREAKING NEWS+++ Deadline extended to Sunday 18th April at 11:59pm CEST.
The Challenge platform will publish hints throughout the online round and notify players by email.
The platform features a leaderboard updated daily, showing how players are performing globally. There will be a separate leaderboard for Replyers.
If you wish to leave the Challenge, please email challenges@reply.com.
We’ll publish the problem statement and any hints on the trading platform. The hints will help you improve your sustainable investment strategy. You can use the hints to help you invest when on the trading platform.
Using your USD$1 million, you can trade each day in the US market from 15:30 CEST to 22:00 CEST.
The Challenge will last from 19th April 15:30 CEST to 30th April at 22:00 CEST. Each day of the contest (starting from Tuesday 20th April to Monday 4th May), we’ll publish daily and global rankings based on each player’s balance at 22:00 CEST of the previous working day. We’ll apply an algorithm each day as explained below.
Generally, financial markets are closed on weekends, so we’ll show any trading done from Friday 23rd April 22:00:01 CEST to Monday, April 26th at 22:00 CEST on the leaderboard on Tuesday 27th April.
Each day, we’ll apply the following rules to total profit or loss, so your balance on the trading platform might differ from the leaderboard:
1.ESG Rating – this awards the most sustainable investment choices:
| Product type | Score equal to or greater than | Score less than | Bonus/malus% | |
|
Bonus/Malus for Shares, Bonds, Options related to Whitelisted Companies based on ESG Rating |
4,50 | 5,00* | 0,35% | |
| 4,00 | 4,50 | 0,20% | ||
| 3,50 | 4,00 | 0,10% | ||
| 3,00 | 3,50 | 0.05% | ||
| 2,50 | 3,00 | -0,05% | ||
| 2,00 | 2,50 | -0,10% | ||
| 1,50 | 2,00 | -0,25% | ||
| 1,00 | 1,50 | -0,50% |
*lower and equal
In addition:
|
|
Instrument |
Extra Malus |
Note |
|
Extra Malus for financial products outside the Whitelisted Companies |
Bond |
-15,00% |
The extra malus is applied on the market value |
|
Option |
-500,00% |
The extra malus is applied on the premium price |
2. Holding period – a coefficient based on the number of days an asset is held affects the good/bad sustainable investment choices of Rule 1 (ESG Rating). In other words, the longer you keep a good/bad instrument from a sustainability point of view, the more it will affect your performance.
| Holding period | ||
|
Days equal to or greater than |
Days less than | Multiplication Factor% |
| 8,00 | 9,00**** | 12,00% |
| 7,00 | 8,00 | 9,50% |
| 6,00 | 7,00 | 7,50% |
| 5,00 | 6,00 | 6,75% |
| 4,00 | 5,00 | 5,50% |
| 3,00 | 4,00 | 4,00% |
| 2,00* | 3,00 | 3,00% |
| 2,00** | 2,00% | |
| 0,00 | 2,00*** | 0,00 |
*only greater
**only equal to
***only minor
****lower and equal
The leaderboard will show global and daily ranking values:
To go more in-depth of the Algorithm, please check the T&Cs.
We’ll invite the top 100 players to the Investment Challenge Final Round on 12-14th May.
The final round will be similar to the qualifying round and we’ll tell players about the rules via mail.
You can ask the Reply Titanium Team questions during the challenge via chat. Their response might not be immediate.
On the Challenge Final Round day, we’ll freeze the leaderboard while the Reply Titanium Team reviews and validates the investment strategies of the top-three ranked players on the leaderboard.
Replyers will compete on a different leaderboard.
The top player will win a Mac Book Pro. The second ranked will win an iPad Air, and the third placed player will win Apple Airpods Pro. The Reply Titanium Team decision is final and indisputable when enforcing competition rules and awarding prizes. We’ll publish the full results and notify the winners no later than one week after the day the Challenge ends.
Replyers will receive the same prizes, but the Challenge will end after the first round.
We expect all players to have a positive attitude during the contest. No player should prevent others from taking part – for instance, by trying to overload the challenge platform, saturating the local WiFi, or interfering with other players’ devices. This will lead to automatic disqualification. Similarly, do not disturb or distract other players. You’re not allowed to receive any external help or support.
It’s strictly against the rules – and the spirit of the Reply Challenges – for Replyers involved in the competition to help any players taking part in the external challenge.
Reply Titanium Team are investment experts and are responsible for enforcing all rules. They will review submissions from players and award prizes. They may exclude any player at any time if they breach any of the rules.
You can also have a look at:
