28 march - 8 april 2022
REGISTRATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED! PLAY FROM 3.30 CEST TODAY!
DISCOVER SOON THE 100 TOP FINALIST!
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
Challenge modal text (editor only)
We are glad you're interested in this content, sign up and discover more!
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
On 15th October 2021 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.
Have a look at this edition's winners and download the best solutions.
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 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:
16
Paolo Fabris
Avantage IT
Matteo Riccardo
Avantage IT
Francesca
Avantage IT
Emilio Maria
Avantage IT
Mauro
E*Finance Consulting IT
Benjamin
E*finance Consulting LU
Luigi
Go IT
Federica
E*Finance Wealth Management
Margherita
E*Finance Consulting IT
Pasquale
E*Finance Consulting IT
Valerio
Avantage IT
Francesca
E*Finance Wealth Management
Elisabetta
E*Finance Consulting IT
Mattia
E*Finance Consulting IT
Ilaria
Avantage IT
Oksana
Avantage LU
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. 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.
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 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?
If you’re not sure what version you have, you can check here.
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:
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
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:
|
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.
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.
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 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
Whitelist Products - Excel format
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
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 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:
|
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:
To go more in-depth about the Algorithm, please check the T&Cs.
You can ask the Reply Titanium Team questions during the challenge via chat. Their response might not be immediate.
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.
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:
