Investment Challenge

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2022 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

ONLINE ROUND 

Play the Reply Sustainable Investment Challenge designed for you by Reply Experts and invest a restored balance on the trading platform.

WINNERS ANNOUNCEMENT

THE PODIUM 

The top three players will provide the reports of their strategy and the Titanium team will evaluate and validate them for the winners annoucement. 

Learn by doing

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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.

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About

Welcome to the third edition of the Investment Challenge, and first with zero-CO2 impact, brought to you by Reply and sponsor Banca Generali. A team of investment experts from Reply (the Titanium Team), have designed a Challenge to help you learn all about sustainable investment.

 

Initially, you’ll be challenged to invest your pretend money ($1,000,000) in the US market, maximizing your profits by making sustainable trading choices. The best players will get a chance to win a Mac Book Pro, iPad Air, or Apple Airpods Pro.

 

Learning is key, which is why Reply, Banca Generali, CFA Society Italy, MainStreet Partners and MIP Politecnico di Milano have put together some useful content on finance basics and ESG ratings, along with some tools you can use to start trading.

 

What changes from 2021? This year, the game will award your good investments even more and, on the other hand, will heavily penalize you for choosing bad ESG rated companies. The final ranking is going to be based mainly on your weighted P&L so you will be allowed to trade, but always bearing in mind the Sustainability goal.

 

This is an individual challenge, and registration is open until 25th March, with the online challenge starting on 28th March.

The Titanium Team

Number of people in lions:

22

Paolo Fabris

Avantage IT

Matteo Riccardo

Avantage IT

Bernardo

E*Finance Consulting IT

Giorgia

E*Finance Consulting IT

STEFANO

E*Finance Consulting IT

Francesca

Avantage IT

Emilio Maria

Avantage IT

Valentina

E*Finance Consulting IT

Mauro

E*Finance Consulting IT

Benjamin

E*finance Consulting LU

Marco

Holding

Federico

Blockchain IT

Gianvito

E*Finance Consulting IT

Francesco

E*Finance Consulting IT

Umberto

E*Finance Consulting IT

Valerio

Avantage IT

Emanuela

Avantage IT

Bruno

E*Finance Consulting IT

Alessio

E*Finance Consulting IT

Elisabetta

E*Finance Consulting IT

Riccardo

Blockchain IT

Ilaria

Avantage IT

learning

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. 

FAQ

Participants & Registrations

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. There will be two challenges, one dedicated to externals and one dedicated to Replyers.

 

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 25th March, 21:59 CET.

 

How do I change my registration details?

To update your details, log in to 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.

Communication

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.

Reply Challenges

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.

Training Phase

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. Youll need both to access the trading platform and you can access it during the training phase as many times as you want. 

 

I played in 2021, do I need new credentials?

Yes, you do: 2021 credentials won’t work for the 2022 edition. Please register for the Reply Sustainable Investment Challenge, and get new ones.

 

How does the balance work during the registration and training phase?

From 28th February 25th March you can trade your $1,000,000 across equities, bonds, options (long position only), ETFs as much as you like. Whatever you did, we’ll restore your balance on 28th March 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, ETFs. Only whitelisted tools 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.

 

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 real-time?

Yes.

 

How to trade on the trading platform?

Youll 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 topics?

You can access all the educational content in the Learning section to prepare yourself for the challenge. The materials have been created by Reply Titanium Team. You can also take part in live webinars with our experts.

 

What browsers are supported on the trading platform?

  • Pc: Windows 7 - IE11, Windows 8 - Firefox 52+, Windows 10 - Chrome 58+ and Edge
  • Mac: OSX10.11+ - Safari 10.11+ and Chrome 58+
  • Chromebook: Chrome OS61+ - Chrome 61+
  • Linux Pc (Ubuntu): Linux - Chromium 55+, Firefox NOT supported
  • Tablet: iOS11+ - Safari10+, Android 4.1+ - Chrome 55+
  • Smartphone: iPhone - iOS11 - Safari 10+, Android 5.1+ - Chrome 56+

If you’re not sure what version you have, you can check here.

Investment Challenge

When will the challenge start?

On 28th March, when the U.S. market opens at 9:30 am EST (15:30 CEST), 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 8th.

 

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 every 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 limits for the single position?

Yes, you can have in your portfolio max 10% of current portfolio value for Shares, Bonds, ETFs and max 5% of current portfolio value for Option.

 

Are there any product type limits?

Yes, you can have in your portfolio a max 10% of portfolio value for Options and 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 8th at 22:00 CEST.

 

When is the leaderboard 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?

The trading platform only takes into 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 the previous day individual account balances at 22:00 CEST and weighted on our algorithm.

This means that on Tuesday 29th March 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:

  • Daily Ranking: considers the Performance-based on trading activities done during a working day (Monday to Friday), weighted on our algorithm, until 10:00 pm CEST, and weighted on our algorithm.
  • Global performance: considers the Performance-based on trading activities, weighted on our algorithm, and done from the beginning of the Challenge.

What happens during the weekend?

Any trading activity placed during the weekend, when market is closed, will be shown on Tuesday 5th leaderboard, together with Monday 4th trading activities. Below you find a scheme:

 

Trades From/to -  Daily Ranking report on, CEST time

  • Trades from Monday 28/03 h15 / to Monday 28/03 h22 - Report on Tuesday 29/03
  • Monday 28/03 h22 / Tuesday 29/03 h22 - Wednesday 30/03
  • Tuesday 29/03 h22 / Wednesday 30/03 h22 – Thursday 31/03
  • Wednesday 30/03 h22 / Thursday 31/03 h22 - Friday 1/04
  • Thursday 31/03 h22 / Friday 1/04 h22 – Monday 4/04
  • Friday 01/04 h22 - Monday 4/04 h22 - Tuesday 5/4
  • Monday 4/04 h22 / Tuesday 5/04 h22 - Wednesday 6/04
  • Tuesday 5/04 h22 / Wednesday 6/04 h22 – Thursday 7/04
  • Wednesday 6/04 h22 / Thursday 7/04 h22 - Friday 8/04

How do you calculate the final scoring?

The goal is to award green and profitable investment strategies. You should maximize your profit by investing in companies with a high ESG rating and keep 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 choice:

  • Choose an issuer with a good ESG rating on the Whitelist and you’ll get a bonus on Countervalue and P\L. Choose an instrument with a bad ESG rating, but still on the Whitelist, and you’ll get a malus. Mind that the effect of your choice will heavily affect your ranking. Also, be aware that if you take a position on a put option, the logic will be the opposite.
  • Be careful if you choose an issuer outside the Whitelist (only for bonds and options). You’ll get -15% for bonds (based on market value), -500% for options (based on premium price). 100% penalty on your P\L on both Bonds and Options. 
  • Remember, the ESG Rating adjustment is applied only if the position-holding period is at least two working days.

Whitelisted Financial Products within the Whitelisted Companies based on ESG Rating

Financial product

ESG Rating

CTV 1st Rule

- Rating

P&L 1st Rule - Rating

Score equal or greater than

Score less than

Bonus/Malus %

Bonus/Malus %

Stocks, ETFs, Bonds, Options

4,50

5,00*

10,00%

100,00%

4,00

4,50

5,00%

50,00%

3,50

4,00

2,50%

25,00%

3,00

3,50

1,00%

10,00%

2,50

3,00

-1,00%

-10,00%

2,00

2,50

-2,50%

-25,00%

1,50

2,00

-5,00%

-50,00%

1,00

1,50

-10,00%

-100,00%

Financial products outside the Whitelisted Companies

Bonds

   

-15%

-100%

Options

   

-500%

-100%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Detention Days Value

CTV 2nd Rule - Detention Days

Days Equal or greater than

Days Less than

Multiplier Factor %

8,00

 

4,00%

7,00

8,00

3,50%

6,00

7,00

3,00%

5,00

6,00

2,50%

4,00

5,00

2,00%

3,00

4,00

1,50%

2,00*

3,00

1,00%

2,00**

 

0,50%

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, ETFs, options put. Only whitelisted tools 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 charge of your request asap, but it won’t be necessarily in real-time.

Winners and prizes

Who wins?

At the end of the final round, on April 11th by 1:00 pm 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 Pro, and the third-placed player will win Apple Airpods (third generation).

The Reply Titanium Team judgment 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.

Technical requirements

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.

Reply Titanium Team and Fair Play

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 the operation of the platform, software, hardware, or telecoms equipment. This will result in instant disqualification. If you’ve spotted any cheating or unfair behavior, email challenges@reply.com

 

Terms & Conditions

Whitelist Products - Excel format

 

RULES

Terms&Conditions

Whitelist Products - Excel format

Participants

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

Challenge platform

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

Problem statement

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.

Limitations

  • You can trade shares, bonds, options (long positions only) and ETFs. You must consider Whitelist issuers only. !WARNING! If you take positions on bonds, options related to issuers outside the Whitelist (you can find the list of accepted issuers here), you’ll get a
    • 15% penalty on the market value (bonds) and a 500% penalty on the premium price (options).
    • 100% penalty on your P\L on both Bonds and Options.
  • Concentration limits for a single position:
    • Max 10% (of current portfolio value) per each issuer/security
    • Max 5% (of current portfolio value) for options.
  • Concentration limits by product type:
    • Max 10% portfolio value on options
    • No limits for stocks and bonds.
  • You can make a maximum of 350 trades during the Challenge – classification phase.

Rankings, scoring and Finals

The Challenge will last from 28th March 15:30 CEST to 8th April at 22:00 CEST. Each day of the contest (starting from Tuesday 29th March to Monday 8th April), 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 1st April 22:00:01 CEST to Monday, April 4th at 22:00 CEST on the leaderboard on Tuesday 5th April.

 

Each day, we’ll apply the following rules to total portfolio value and 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:

 

  • Choose an issuer with a good ESG rating on the Whitelist and you’ll get a bonus on Countervalue and P\L. Choose an instrument with a bad ESG rating, but still on the Whitelist, and you’ll get a malus. Mind that the effect of your choice will heavily affect your ranking. Also, be aware that if you take a position on a put option, the logic will be the opposite.
  • Be careful if you choose an issuer outside the Whitelist (only for bonds and options). You’ll get -15% for bonds (based on market value), -500% for options (based on premium price). 100% penalty on your P\L on both Bonds and Options.
  • Remember, the ESG Rating adjustment is applied only if the position-holding period is at least two working days.

 

Whitelisted Financial Products within the Whitelisted Companies based on ESG Rating

Financial product

ESG Rating

CTV 1st Rule - Rating

P&L 1st Rule - Rating

Score equal or greater than

Score less than

Bonus/Malus %

Bonus/Malus %

Stocks, ETFs, Bonds, Options

4,50

5,00*

10,00%

100,00%

4,00

4,50

5,00%

50,00%

3,50

4,00

2,50%

25,00%

3,00

3,50

1,00%

10,00%

2,50

3,00

-1,00%

-10,00%

2,00

2,50

-2,50%

-25,00%

1,50

2,00

-5,00%

-50,00%

1,00

1,50

-10,00%

-100,00%

Financial products outside the Whitelisted Companies

Bonds

   

-15%

-100%

Options

   

-500%

-100%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

Detention Days Value

CTV 2nd Rule - Detention Days

Days Equal or greater than

Days Less than

Multiplier Factor %

8,00

 

4,00%

7,00

8,00

3,50%

6,00

7,00

3,00%

5,00

6,00

2,50%

4,00

5,00

2,00%

3,00

4,00

1,50%

2,00*

3,00

1,00%

2,00**

 

0,50%

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:

  • The global ranking value equals the sum of the weighted values of (based on Bonus/Malus %) of Profit & Loss, Dividends and Invested Value.
  • The daily ranking value equals the difference between the global ranking value of yesterday and the global ranking value of two days ago.

To go more in-depth about the Algorithm, please check the T&Cs.

Questions and communication

You can ask the Reply Titanium Team questions during the challenge via chat. Their response might not be immediate.

Winners and rewards

On 8th April we’ll freeze the leaderboard and a temporary one will be published on 11th April, 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 Pro, and the third-placed player will win Apple Airpods (third generation). 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.

Fair play

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

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:

FAQ


 

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