Haskayne teams find success in international trading competition

Haskayne student teams placed fourth and 10th overall at the 2015 Rotman International Trading Competition (RITC) in Toronto this past weekend, outperforming students from top schools including Chicago, Princeton, Cornell, Duke, LSE, Waterloo, Toronto, McGill and Queens.

“This was an exciting competition and our teams were really eager to stand toe-to-toe with competitors from top universities across the world,” says team coach Gordon Sick, professor of finance at the Haskayne School of Business.

Pictured above are Haskayne's Rotman International Trading Competition teams, back row from left: Gordon Sick (coach), Carter Ensign, Constantine Zakrasov, Branden Lewis, Ranjot Sandhu, Scott Woldum, Jordan Grant, Georg Jalkotzy, Taylor Ronsky, George Hart (assistant coach). Front row from left: Felicia Specht, Brett Lomore, Catalina Cuzzani, Richard (Yunlong) Hou.

Fifty teams from 45 universities around the globe participated in the annual RITC which hosts students and faculty advisors in a three-day simulated market challenge.

Haskayne Team Gold won the commodities case sponsored by BP and the equity valuation case sponsored by S&P Capital IQ, while Haskayne Team Red, an all-rookie team, took third place in the sales and trading case and, fifth in the algorithmic trading.

In the past four years, Haskayne has advanced from 24th to fourth place overall and this year. “This year we found funding for two teams and this allowed us to prepare an all-rookie team alongside a team of veterans,” said Sick.

Students were challenged in six simulated trading cases including commodities, equity options, quantitative outcry with floor and terminal trading, equity valuation, agency trading, and algorithmic trading. Top teams must have skills in market-making, quick and informed decision making, computer programming, and team communication.

“The students have been practising hard since late September and I'm really proud of my teams,” Sick says. 

Team Gold students included:

• Carter Ensign, BComm
• Georg Jalkotzy, BComm
• Branden Lewis, BComm
• Ranjot Sahdu, MBA
• Taylor Ronsky, BComm and economics
• Constantine Zakrasov, economics

Team Red students included:

• Catalina Cuzzani, economics and sociology
• Jordan Grant, BComm
• Richard (Yunlong) Hou, MBA
• Brett Lomore, BComm
• Felicia Specht, BComm
• Scott Woldum, engineering and economics 

For pictures and further information from the RITC competition, please click here.