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The 2023 Bloomberg Global Trading Challenge attracted over 2,000 teams representing colleges and universities from around the world. Essex County College was well represented in the Challenge as ECC produced three teams to compete.
For five weeks through the end of November, the students worked in five member teams placing trades using $1 million in “virtual funds.” The students had to carefully select their investments as they were limited to spend no more than $200,000 for any one stock, said Professor John Hammond, one of the faculty advisors to the Challenge.
The students worked at the College’s Bloomberg Lab terminals on average about five hours per week. The terminals allow students, mostly Finance or Business Administration majors, access to the most up to date financial information available.
The results were tabulated weekly by Bloomberg LP. According to Bloomberg, the challenge was to provide students firsthand what real-world investing looks and feels like. Teams used the Terminal to define market assumptions, develop a return-generating strategy, and execute trades within a closed network.
Professor Hammond said that this was the second year ECC competed in the Challenge. “We started talking about the Challenge in the Spring for recruiting and student participation was outstanding this year,” he added.
“The Bloomberg Challenge helped give me a lot of experience navigating the financial markets. I’m interested in an investment career and I’m certainly glad I took part in the Challenge,” said Angelica Laguador, a Finance major from West Orange.
“I now have a better knowledge of the stock market. I really learned a lot by participating,” stated Rihanata Sana, a Finance major from Irvington. She is interested in becoming a financial advisor.
“Given the right opportunities and support, our students are proving time and again they have the potential to compete with the best and succeed,” said ECC Business Division Chair Germaine Albuquerque. He said that ECC alumni are working at such prestigious firms as Deloitte, Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg LP, Prudential, Goldman Sachs and KPMG.
Although the three ECC teams (ECC Traders, Scooby Traders and ECC Wolverine Traders) did not finish among the top teams worldwide, the experience they gained will prove invaluable, said ECC Professor Lan Wang, one of the advisors. “Our teams worked diligently to face the challenges of a volatile market,” she stated.
Dr. Michael Stewart also served as an advisor.
Serving as team captains were Julio Perez of Team Scooby Traders, Mary Huayunga Diaz of Team ECC Wolverine Traders, and Thierno Bayo of Team ECC Traders.
At the end of the competition, students had the chance to visit Bloomberg L.P. headquarters in New York City.
