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 $ 0Competition 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
| Key Dates | Event |
| October 2nd, 2023 | Competition begins |
| October 7th, 2023 | Registration ends |
| November 11th, 2023 | Mid Report |
| December 9th, 2023 | Trading ends & quarterfinalists (top 60) announcement |
| December 23th, 2023 | Quarterfinalists (top 60) final reports due |
| December 30th, 2023 | Top 30 semifinalists announced |
| February 18th-19th, 2024 | 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.