The Global Trading Challenge, Bloomberg's annual Terminal-based event for students, amassed a total of 10,240 student participants across 46 countries for its 2024 virtual investment competition. Students in the challenge invest 1 million virtual US dollars in a universe of more than ten thousand global stocks, using the Bloomberg Terminal to define market assumptions, develop a return-generating strategy, and execute notional trades with the support of faculty advisors and training from Bloomberg employees.

This year's winning team from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) had the highest time-weighted relative return, relative to the Bloomberg World Large, Mid & Small Cap Price Return Index (WLS Index). RIT also excelled in last year's competition, finishing in 3rd place overall and as a North America regional finalist. As part of the win, Bloomberg awarded students on the RIT campus with a one-year free trial to Bloomberg's digital news subscription (Bloomberg.com), providing them with timely and relevant data driven news, adding a dimension to their educational experience. 

Rosa Kauffman, Carter Ptak, and Evan Macko, winners of this year's challenge, ended with a final relative profit of +$1,676,618. "We are proud of our results working together as a diverse team, especially given our varied majors in Software Engineering, Finance, and Japanese. None of us have had a class together, but we found each other through our Financial Management Association club and decided to compete in the challenge. We were surprised by the sheer depth of the Bloomberg Terminal and the quality of analysis in Bloomberg articles; the speed of information available was incredibly helpful and gave us insight into how the markets might move and potential opportunities. Everything from technical charts to equity data was instantly available to us."

In addition to the challenge, Bloomberg offers access to a selection of certificate courses for all via the Bloomberg for Education portal, including Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC), Environmental Social Governance (ESG), and Bloomberg Finance Fundamentals (BFF). These courses are comprised of self-paced modules that provide guidance on navigating financial markets and teach core industry terminology. Students, regardless of major, with access to Bloomberg Terminals on campus also have access to these certificates.

The trading challenge has become an experiential learning program for educators looking to enhance business and financial learning through real world applications. It serves as an exciting introduction to non-finance students and an interactive addition to those already in financial courses allowing students to exercise their financial knowledge through participation in this annual competition. Educators continue to value the challenge and it has more than doubled, expanding by over 127% since 2022, demonstrating a growing appetite for students across educational disciplines to receive practical exposure to financial applications and build marketable knowledge and skills. As part of the expansion, this year's student participants also received access to Bloomberg.com to incorporate real time market news into their strategy.   

Regional Winners include: Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie (Latin America), Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles (Europe), Zayed University (Middle East & Africa), and University of Nottingham Ningbo China (Asia & Oceania).

"Bloomberg is committed to providing students with access to crucial experiential learning opportunities and resources, including data-driven business insights. This year's winners were rewarded with a campus-wide free trial to the Bloomberg.com subscription, rounding out their educational experience," said Emily Perrucci, Bloomberg Global Head of User Support. "At Bloomberg, we're proud to work alongside skilled faculty in their pursuit to take financial teaching to the next level, paving the way for the next generation of talent. The growing participation each year reflects that shared goal. We encourage all students with Bloomberg Terminals on campus to go test it out and see what's possible — the Global Trading Challenge is a great way for you to build your financial prowess and skillset."

"We are incredibly proud of the team for their success," said Hao Zhang, Professor of Finance, Saunders College of Business at RIT. "This win reinforces the value of practical learning and teamwork, which are core elements of our curriculum at the Saunders College of Business. It is a testament to the strength of our finance programs, which are designed to equip students with real-world experience using industry-standard tools like Bloomberg Terminals, and the skills to tackle challenges at the intersection of finance and technological innovation. This gives validation to the hands-on approach we take in our courses and the culture of interdisciplinary collaboration at RIT."