Resources 6-12th Grade, 1-3 Participants

YOUTH SUSTAINABLE INVESTMENT CHALLENGE (YSIC)^™

Congratulations!

The YSIC Final Results have been released. Congratulations to all the groups who made to the final. Please check the button below for the winners and updates for the final round. YSIC Final Winners and Final Round Instructions update

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What You Can Win?

Cash Prizes

1st Prize $ 0 2nd Prize $ 0 3rd Prize $ 0 4th -10th Prize $ 0

Competition Overview

The Youth Sustainability Investment Challenge (YSIC), hosted by the Youth Entrepreneurship and Finance Association (YEFA) and sponsored by Global Alliance, is an ESG-centered portfolio management competition. In YSIC, students will have the opportunity to think creatively, build their own unique strategies, and test out various financial instruments individually or with a team up to 3 members (Team Size: 1-3 members). Each student/team will start out with $1,000,000 in cash and have roughly 3 months to construct an ESG-oriented portfolio. Any stock and bond listed on a YSIC-approved stock exchange or bond exchange will be allowed for trading during the competition. Finalists (top 10 global students/teams) will have the opportunity to pitch their investment strategy to a panel of distinguished Wall Street judges, compete in New York City for a $10,000 cash prize pool, and attend a unique networking event in NYC with industry-leading professionals.

Sustainabilily: ESG Strategy

Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) is an approach of assessing the extent to which a company is working on behalf of social objectives that go beyond its role to maximize profits on behalf of its shareholders. ESG analysis has become an increasingly important part of the investment process. A key motivation for investment professionals to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues into their financial analysis is to gain a fuller understanding of the companies in which they invest. In the Youth Sustainability Investment Challenge (YSIC™), we ask participants to incorporate ESG-related principles into their overall investment strategies & investment decisions-making processes. Participants may implement different approaches in integrating ESG analysis into their investment processes. Further ESG-related educational study materials / webinars will be provided by YEFA.

Dates & Timeline

2022-2023 Key Dates	Event
September 12th, 2022	Registration ends
September 19th, 2022	Competition begins
November 11th, 2022	Mid Report
December 9th, 2022	Trading ends & quarterfinalists (top 60) announcement
December 23th, 2022	Quarterfinalists (top 60) final reports due
December 30th, 2022	Top 30 semifinalists announced
February 18th-19th, 2023	Top 10 finalists announced & YSIC conference in NYC

Trading hours:

Here are the trading times for some of the largest global stock exchanges. (All times represent regular trading hours, Monday-Friday, and are listed in Eastern time.) · New York Stock Exchange (NYSE): 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m · Nasdaq Stock Market (NASDAQ): 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m · Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX): 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. · Mexico Stock Exchange (BMV): 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. · London Stock Exchange (LSE): 3 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. · Euronext Paris (EPA): 3 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. · Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRA): 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. · Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE): 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., 11:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. · Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE): 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. · Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE): 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m., 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. · Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKG): 9:30 p.m. to 12 a.m., 1 a.m. to 4 a.m.

Trading Rules

Trading 9/19/2022- 12/9/2022
Each account will start out with $1,000,000 in virtual cash.
All Stocks must be greater than $3,
International stocks are allowed.
Stocks and Bonds are allowed to buy and sell.
ETF, short selling, margin trading, Cryptocurrencies, and other options are not allowed.
The maximum amount a student can invest in single security (either a stock or bond) is 10%. (Example: the maximum you can invest in AAPL is 10% of your entire portfolio)
Each account must make a minimum of 1 trade by 11:59 pm EST on 09/30/2022. Otherwise, you will be disqualified.
Your cash position cannot be greater than 50% at the midterm. Ex: if you buy 10% for each stock, the minimum number of stocks is 5.
Record each transaction
To enter the quarterfinals and semifinals, you need to show that at least one ESG-friendly stock in your portfolio.
There is no brokerage fee for this competition.
There is no interest income on cash balances
ESG Requirements TBD

Mid Report Requirements

Each team leader should submit their finalized team roster (their students’ names and schools, and addresses). Note: there are no team composition requirements. Any country, school grade. Each portfolio must have less than 50% of the cash. You can buy bonds/treasury (cash similar) to substitute cash investment. Presentation Must Include:

Team name and an introduction of each team member
How the team met one another
What they've learned so far
Their trading strategy and your portfolio performance
Reasoning for their ESG friendly stock

Quarter Final Rules on 12/09/2022:

The quarterfinalists are determined based on their stocktrak ranking.
The final trade ends at 4:00 PM EST. A 4PM EST ranking screenshot will be used to determine the quarterfinalists.
The quarterfinalists (top 60) will be immediately announced online based on the rankings.

Semifinal Rules 12/30/2022

Qualification for entering the semifinals:

Students from grade 6 - 12
At least one person from a team must travel to New York to attend the final conference from 2/18/2023 to 2/19/2023.
The Semifinalists (top 30) will be announced at noon on 12/30/2022 EST

Finalists Conference 12/30/2022

All teams will prepare presentations. The finalists will be judged by the Finance Judge Committee of YSIC - all financial professionals.
Relatives will not be permitted in the judging area.
Parents can join the conference. More details will be provided.
The top 10 winners will be determined during the conference.
Cash awards and the winner’s certificates will be issued by TCFA, Alliance for Impact, and Global Alliance.

Competition Deliverables

We will be judging you primarily on the 3 deliverables you present to us. 1. Diversified, Sustainable Investment Portfolio for all the Participants

– Students will be judged on their portfolio’s performance in the first round of YSIC™. – The YSIC™ team will be crosschecking students’ trades with their proposed investment strategy.

2. Investment Strategy Report (~1500 words) for the Semi-Finalists – Risk Tolerance & Return Objectives– Time Horizon– Liquidity– Asset Allocation– Macro Analysis– Individual Security Selection– ESG Strategy– Competition Reflection / Lessons Learned 3. On-Site Investment Strategy Presentation for the Finalists – Strategy Overview – Investment Case Study – Q&A Section More information about these deliverables as well as YSIC™’s judging criteria will be released through the duration of the competition Disclaimer: Any information or data related to the Youth Sustainability Investment Challenge (YSIC™) is only contest-related and does not indicate any trading/investing recommendations or profit promises in the real stock market. YEFA is not responsible for actual profit or loss in a participant’s real personal brokerage account. ü YEFA reserves the right to modify the competition rules, awards, and any other instructions over the entire duration of the Youth Sustainability Investment Competition (YSIC™).

What can we offer?

Improve Finance Skills

Students will gain practical experience and learn financial industry knowledge in a simple way with the help of the trading simulation, periodic seminars, and study materials.

Virtual Trading Platform

Participating students will have hands-on experience of placing stock trades just like a portfolio manager on a web-based stock market simulation platform which executes all US stock trades at real time prices with real-world data.

Communication and Time Management

Throughout the 3 months, students will have a great opportunity to improve their communication and time management skills, and practice leadership and teamwork skills – the most important skills in the 21st century which have lifetime benefit.

Enhance College Applications

The YEFA Committee is committed to provide the participants with learning opportunities, and regularly invites industry professionals to share & discuss topics such as investment and finance etc. Students will gain valuable insights about college, careers, and lifetime lessons via discussions.

More Info Email: YSIC@yefa.org Discord:

Historical Discord QR code is no longer available. Contact: YSIC@yefa.org