FactSet UK Trading Challenge

Prizes   

In addition to cash and technology prizes, winning teams can also enjoy:

  • A formal online certificate awarded by FactSet upon passing mandatory courses
  • Interview prep and career counseling from FactSet’s Recruiting Team
  • A fast-track through our interview process for the fulltime Client Solutions Position or Client Solutions Summer internship

Winners will be determined based on their overall positive portfolio performance, stock analysis, final presentation performance, following the rules, and timely completion of the FactSet online courses.  See Official Rules Below. Click the button on the front page to register.

Scenario

Julie, 26, has just graduated from a leading flight academy in Australia. She works as a first officer for a feeder airline. Julie has recently received a gift of $50,000 USD from her grandparents as a graduation gift. She is an avid stock market buff since her college days and intends to use her banks brokerage app to build herself an aggressive portfolio.

Build an aggressive portfolio of your choice of securities from any and all of the following US and London Exchanges. Participants can also buy stocks on the London exchange. Additional US Exchanges to be offered are on the AMEX, NYSE and NASDAQ. Options trade on the CBOE exchange in Chicago.

  • You have $50,000 USD to work with.
  • A position limit of 10% for Equities, 5% for Mutual Funds, 5% for Options and 5 % of Crypto will be maintained as the maximum that anyone can invest in a security type.
  • A diversification limit rule of 60% for Equities, 40% for Mutual Funds, 40% for Options and 40% for Crypto will be permitted as the maximum that anyone can invest in all asset types.
  • Asset classes that are available include- London and US Stocks, US ETFs, US Options and Crypto currency.
  • You will be graded on the Sharpe Ratio to be declared a winner. 

*US Stocks and ETFs trade at real-time bid ask with a 15-minute delayed quote displayed in EDT

*US Mutual Funds trade at end of day pricing EDT

*London trades on a 15–20-minute delay GMT

*No day trading, short selling and or margin trading is permitted

*Participants have a maximum of 75 trades their disposal

Eligibility 

  • All 2nd and 3rd year BSc students and all MSc students currently completing a degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Computer Science, Information Engineering, Mathematics, or a general passion for Finance and capital markets are eligible to join!
  • The challenge is free and open to  2nd and 3rd year BSc students and all MSc students currently completing a degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Computer Science, Information Engineering, Mathematics, or a general passion for Finance and capital markets
  • Students may only enter once with an active LBS/LSE/ Swansea/Nottingham email address and proof of enrollment if declared a winner.
  • Students may enroll as an Individual or Team with max 3 persons.
  • Registration opens 10am (GMT) on Monday 10th February 2025 and closes at 11:59 PM GMT on Friday 3rd March.
  • The Competition begins at 10am (GMT) on Monday 10th March 2025 and will run through 11:59 PM GMT on 9th May 2025.
  • Students will start with a virtual $50,000 USD in virtual cash.
  • Student can trade London and US Stocks, US ETFs, US Options and Crypto currency.
  • All participants will be required to use the website’s Trade Notes feature to document their decisions for making their trades.
  • Day trading, short selling and buying on margin are NOT allowed.
  • To be declared a winner, participants MUST
    • Have a positive portfolio return of greater than their $50,000 USD beginning cash balance provided.
    • Placed a minimum of 40 trades during the event.
    • Must have placed trades in March, April and May. If you have not placed a trade in the aforementioned months, you cannot win.
    • Must use the Trade Notes feature to document decisions for making trades.
    • Complete all the FactSet Lessons by 11:59 PM GMT on Friday 9th May, 2025 (examples of lessons listed below).
    • Provide a valid phone number and respond if you have been declared a winner of your acceptance within 72 hours of notification of an award.
    • Provide proof of attendance at either LSE, University of Nottingham, Swansea University or London Business School.
    • Students must agree to supplying a photo to be made public as the organizing committee deems appropriate.
    • Not completing part of the requirements will disqualify you and the organizing committee shall go in descending order to award winners.
    • StockTrak Inc. shall be the final authority with respect to winners.
    • StockTrak’s audit team will declare the winner 7 business days after the competition ends.
    • FactSet UK shall be the final authority with respect to awards and distribution of prizing.

Mandatory Personal Finance & Financial Literacy Assignments

  • FactSet Essentials: Core Products (Mandatory)
  • FactSet Essentials: Universal Screening (Optional): This course will guide you through developing, testing, and confirming investment strategies across all databases simultaneously, which is helpful on filtering the stocks you want to focus on
  • FactSet Essentials: Portfolio Analysis (Optional): This course will guide you through the usage on Portfolio Analytics tool to identify what decisions drove performance through attribution analysis, which is helpful on analyzing and explaining your portfolio returns.