Regis Juniors Reach Finals In Wharton Investment Competition

Earlier this January, a team of Regis juniors was selected as regional finalists in the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition. Representing Regis as Owl Investments, the five Regians are one of just 50 teams recognized from roughly 1,000 competitors across the globe for the strength and creativity of their investment strategies.

Hosted by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, The Wharton Global High School Investment Competition is a 12-week challenge in which students compete to win the chance to manage the wealth of a potential client. Presented with a case study, teams must create a compelling and creative long-term strategy, with some additional short-term goals. Along the way, students learn investing concepts and buy stocks for their portfolio using an online simulator. 

“I’ve always been interested in learning about finance, and so since there weren’t a lot of activities going on this summer, I took some online business-related courses, and I knew many of my friends were interested in finance too and doing similar things,” said Team Captain for Owl Investments Samuel Ngiam ’22. “In terms of why we entered this competition in particular, it’s judged based on your investment strategy. Most competitions give you a time period to invest and then you win based on how much money you make, whereas this competition is more about what you’ve learned and the thought process behind the stocks, and so we thought it would be a better learning experience for us.”

Following the end of 10 weeks of trading, each team is required to submit a report detailing its recommended investment strategy, analytical approach, and competition journey. Owl Investments was one of 20 finalists selected from the United States, and will compete to be one of four teams representing the country in the Global Finale in May. 

Joining Ngiam on Owl Investments were Donovan Barcelona ’22, Julien Jerkovich ’22, Andrew Kwok ’22, and Aidan Slovinski ’22. Four other teams of Regians participated in this year’s competition, and Mr. Christopher Rose, moderator of the Regis Finance Club, and Mr. Glen Gregorio ’98, who previously worked in the financial sector, mentored the students throughout. 

“There were a lot of teams that ended up entering the competition,” said Barcelona about the accomplishment of getting to the regional finals. “These are teams from all over the world, so when you look at it in the grand scheme of things, we were able to essentially compete with the best.”

Owl Investments is currently working on their final video presentation, and is looking forward to seeing how far their financial knowledge and creativity will take them.