Information
AlphaChallenge details, schedule, rules, and contact form
- Each team must consist of three full-time MBA students, of which at least two must be first year students and one of which must be a female. Masters of Finance students are also allowed.
- For the equity bracket: student teams will be making two (2) recommendations: a long from a pre-defined universe of stocks, and also a “wildcard” (long only) with parameters on the wildcard to be outlined closer to the competition. For the fixed income bracket: students will also be making two (2) recommendations: one high-yield corporate bond from a pre-defined universe and one “wildcard” – a choice between an investment grade or high yield bond pitch.
- For the defined universes, each team will receive an email approximately one month in advance of the competition, informing them of the universe of stocks available for recommendation. The available stocks will be selected from specific industries and exclude companies in which trading is not considered sufficiently liquid. From the list of available stocks, students must make one, and only one, buy recommendation. (Note(1): if the stock or bond submitted with your resume is in the universe, it cannot be used as any of your pitches (“long" nor "wildcard"); Note(2): the additional “wildcard” selection can come from the universe, but it does not have to; Note(3): the "wildcard" selection must be a US *traded* name, but does not need to be a US domiciled company). The investment horizon is twelve months and the students should assume they represent a $1 billion fund that will fully invest in these two (2) positions.
- Students will be permitted to use any research tools that are available through their respective school, including Bloomberg, FactSet, StockVal, professionally prepared equity research and industry contacts.
- Presentations must be submitted electronically as two (2) individual PowerPoint files. A template will be provided when the universe is distributed, on October 27. File names must include the name of the team’s school, type of pitch, and the stock ticker (example: Long-UNC-MSFT.ppt ). Presentations should not contain any video or other excessively large data objects. Presentations must be emailed to Davis Morrison, Quincy Field, Joseph Alp, and London Stewart 5:00pm EST, Sunday, Nov 20th.
- Morning rounds will begin at staggered times. The Equity round one bracket will begin promptly at 8am EST with 6 compeitation rooms. Each team will present twice (one Long and one Wildcard). The Fixed Income bracket will begin at 8:15am EST with four competition rooms. Each team will present twice (one High-yield and one Wildcard). Teams will be randomly assigned to rooms and pitch times. Signs will be posted with assignments the morning of the competition. Time limits will be strictly enforced by the official.
- In round one, each team will have seven (7) minutes to present. The presentations will be followed by up to ten (10) minutes of questions by the judges.
- Following the first-round presentations, the judges will assign a rank of 1 (best) through 5 (worst) to each team in their room. For the equity bracket, the top eight (8) teams will move on to the semi-final round to pitch the stock from their winning room. The top four (4) teams from the semi-finals will move onto the Equity finals. For the fixed income bracket, the top four (4) teams will advance to the Fixed Income finals.
- Judging will be based on the quality of the investment idea, its communication and current risk/reward, to “which idea would you allocated the most capital?”
- During the lunch break, KFBS representatives will reveal the teams/pitches that will compete in the semi-finals for equity and the finals for fixed income brackets. The order of team presentations will be determined by random drawing. Advancing teams will have seven (7) minutes to present. The presentations will be followed by up to fifteen (15) minutes of questions by the judges.
- Following the Equity Semi-finals and Fixed Income Finals, the judges will assign a rank of 1 (best) through 5 (worst) to each team in their room. For the equity bracket, the top four (4) teams will move on to the final round to pitch the stock from their winning room. The advancing teams will be announced in the Grand Ballroom just prior to 3pm. For the Fixed Income bracket, the winners will be announced at the awards dinner later in the evening.
- The Equity final round presentations will begin at 3:00pm EST. All attendees are invited to observe. Each team will have seven (7) minutes to present their stock recommendations and up to twenty-five (25) minutes of questions by the judges. The proceedings will be officiated by a member of the Kenan-Flagler Business School community. Time limits will be strictly enforced by the official. Following the presentations of all four (4) Equity finalists, the judges will assess their rankings and the winners will be announced at the awards dinner later in the evening.
- First, second, and third place teams for both Equity and Fixed Income brackets will receive awards at the dinner.
Pat Hartley Performance Award: Return Calculation Rules
All results are based on the cumulative total percentage returns of both stock recommendations, assuming an equal weighting of each. For determining return, the closing price of the relevant securities on the US exchange trading date exactly three (3) weeks prior to the current competition is used as the ending value, and the closing price of the relevant security on the date of the previous year’s Alpha Challenge competition is used as the beginning value.
The performance award is based only on the positions selected by students during the previous year’s competition. Positions cannot be changed,
PLEASE NOTE TIMES ARE APPROXIMATE AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Wednesday November 29
Arrival Day
5:30 PM | Woman’s Reception | (By Invitation only) | |
6:30 PM | Judges Reception | (By Invitation only) | |
Thursday, November 30
Competition Day
Equity Competition
7:00 AM | Breakfast | Old Well Room | |
8:00 AM | Equity Round 1 | Grand Ballroom (North, Central, South) Chancellors Ballroom (East, West) Club Room | |
11:00 AM | Meet with Mentors - North Parlor | North Parlor | |
11:15 AM | Meet with Mentors - North Parlor | North Parlor | |
11:30 AM | Lunch (Semi-Finalists Announced) | Old Well Room | |
12:45 PM | Equity Semi-Finals (see schedule for details) | Alumni Room C lub Room | |
3:00 PM | Equity Finals - Hill Grand Ballroom | Hill Grand Ballroom | |
5:30 PM | Competition Concludes | ||
Evening Events
Thursday, November 30
| 6:00 PM | Student Reception (Equity & Credit) | Carolina Inn - Chancellor's Ballroom |
| 6:00 PM | DOR Roundtable (By Invitation Only) | TBD |
| 7:00 PM | Judges & Sponsors Dinner | TBD |
| 8:15 PM | Awards Ceremony (all invited) | TBD |
Credit Competition
7:30 AM | Breakfast | Old Well Room |
8:15 AM | Credit Round 1 | South Parlor Room Alumni Room Piedmont Room Sunroom |
10:20 AM | Meet with Mentors - North Parlor | North Parlor |
11:00 AM | Networking - Students & Firms | Colonnade |
11:30 AM | Lunch (Finalists Announced) | Old Well Room |
12:45 PM | Credit Finals - Chancellor's Ballroom | Chancellor's Ballroom |
3:00 PM | Equity Finals - Hill Grand Ballroom | Hill Grand Ballroom |
5:30 PM | Competition Concludes |
Friday, December 1
Interview Day
| 7:00 AM | Breakfast | Old Well Room |
| 7:30 AM | Interviews (running every 30 minutes) | Hill Grand Ballroom |
| 8:30 AM | Education Session: Investment Lessons Learned: Stories from the Trenches | Old Well Room |
| 9:30 AM | Education Session: How to Pick Winners (and the Art of the Pitch) | Old Well Room |
| 10:30 AM | Education Session:Generating Alpha Through ESG | Old Well Room |
| 12:00 PM | Lunch | Old Well Room |
| 1:30 PM | Education Session: Credit Versus Equity: A Day in the Life | Old Well Room |
| 4:00 PM | Interviews Conclude |