Rotman Portfolio Management Competition (RPMC)

The RPMC isn't just another student competition. It's a golden ticket for undergraduate and graduate students from universities across Canada and the US to dive deep into the world of portfolio management. Hosted by the prestigious BMO Financial Group Finance Research and Trading Lab at the Rotman School of Management, this competition offers participants a unique opportunity to manage an investment portfolio of a whopping $1 million CAD. And guess what? It's not Monopoly money. It's real cash, traded in actual markets. Talk about hands-on experience!

Now, managing a million bucks is cool and all, but what's in it for the participants? Well, apart from the invaluable experience, the top-performing teams get to present their strategies to a panel of portfolio managers and investment professionals. And if they impress this panel, they walk away with some serious cash. We're talking CAD$1000 for the top spot, CAD$600 for the runner-up, and CAD$400 for the third place. Not too shabby for a few months of strategic investing, right?

The competition kicks off with a portfolio management briefing on November 1, 2023, followed by the start of the portfolio management period. Teams will have until March 1, 2024, to showcase their investment prowess. But that's not all. There's also a portfolio presentation awards ceremony scheduled for March 14, 2024, where the top teams will present their strategies and vie for the cash prizes.

If you're a current undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in a degree program at a university in Canada or the US, you're eligible. And here's the kicker: more than one team per university can compete. Each team requires three student members. Faculty advisors or staff members can accompany each team, but they can't compete as team members. The competition encourages diverse and inclusive teams, so teams with members of different genders are a plus.

The competition uses the Sharpe Ratio, developed by Nobel laureate William F. Sharpe, to assess the risk-adjusted return of an investment or portfolio. Another metric used is Jensen's Alpha, named after economist Michael Jensen, which evaluates the performance of an investment portfolio or fund manager. The panel of judges will evaluate the top teams based on their presentation and portfolio performance on a weighted average basis.

The portfolio presentation session is the culmination of the RPMC. Teams get 10 minutes to present, followed by a 5-minute Q&A session with the judges. The content of the presentation should be concise and informative, covering investment strategies, highlights of surprises, risk management, and performance analyses.