Babson Trading Competition
Sponsored by Fidelity Investments
Welcome to the 16th Annual Babson Trading Competition! $1,000 in prizes!
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Cutler Center Finance Lab
The competition is open to all current undergraduate and graduate students at Babson, Wellesley, and Olin Colleges. No trading experience is necessary.
The competition uses the Rotman Interactive Trader (RIT) Market Simulator. If possible, I recommend trying the software before the competition. The software is available on the Cutler Center finance lab computers and can be installed on your own Windows-based computer. To do so, download and install both the RIT Client and the Excel Real-Time Data (RTD) links (32-bit or 64-bit) found here.
You need to install the version of the Excel RTD links that matches your Excel version, not your operating system. Please read the installation instructions for more information. There will be computers available during the competition on a first-come first-serve basis for those without a Windows-based laptop.
Once you have installed the software, I recommend reading the client software feature guide and watching this video:
The competition is based on modified versions of the liability trading cases (LT3 and LT4). The base case descriptions can be found here:
Additional documentation can be found here:
Real-Time Data Guide
Visual Basic Guide (advanced users only)
REST API Instructions for Python Programming (advanced users only)
Detailed REST API Documentation for Python Programming (advanced users only)
You can try the cases on the practice server beginning on October 19, 2026. On the RIT Client, set the server to be: 155.48.8.52 and the port to be 8443. Your username and password should not contain any spaces or special characters. You may need to create a new user each time you use the software. On the practice server, the case runs in a continuous loop with a short pause (20 seconds) between iterations.
The competition will be held on Wednesday, October 28, 2026 in the Cutler Center Finance Lab. The schedule is:
5:00 - 6:00 pm Software tutorial and practice iterations
6:00 - 6:45 pm Pizza and refreshments will be served outside the Cutler Center Finance Lab
6:45 - 7:15 pm Hear from special guests:
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Rebecca Kim, Equity Syndicate (Fidelity)
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John Wisbach, Systematic Trader (Fidelity)
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Ken Martin '95, Co-Head Trader, US Sector (Fidelity)
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Marco Gargurevich MBA'01 DBA'28, Head of Strategic Initiatives (Geode Capital)
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Richard Pope, Trader (Geode Capital)
7:15 - 7:45 pm Competition instructions and practice iterations for all participants
7:45 - 9:15 pm Trading competition
9:15 - 9:30 pm Awards presentation
It is not necessary to attend the software tutorial if you are already familiar with the software. All participants should arrive by 6:15pm to allow sufficient time to obtain their login ID and password. Babson College students are asked to bring their laptops to the competition, as the number of Cutler Center computers is limited.
No additional instruction will be given during the scored competition rounds. There will be eight rounds, with different parameters for each round (e.g., liquidity, volatility, price levels, number of securities, tender offer parameters). The first four rounds will include a penalty for speculative trading. The practice server will cycle between the eight different sets of case parameters, generating random price paths each iteration. All iterations will have automated (Client REST API) trading and Direct Market Access (DMA) enabled. Advanced users can try a practice server with DMA enabled. It is available on the Babson network only at 172.23.49.203 Client Port 12005 DMA Port 12006.
A description of the 2026 competition rounds can be found here.
Scoring and prizes will be based on the consistency of your performance across the eight rounds. Traders will be ranked each round based on their overall P&L. Your overall rank will be based on your average rank across the eight rounds.
An optional practice session and tutorial will be held on Wednesday, October 21st at 5pm - 6pm in the Cutler Center.
Recent Competition Winners
Competition Year | 1st Place | 2nd Place | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
2015 | Poolperm (Jo) Thongcharoenpoolporn | Max Funken | Ziyi (Jason) Lan |
2016 | Yanchuan Cai and Brandon Drexler | Chris Bruno | David St. Peter and Aditya Sastry |
2017 | Brandon Drexler and Meiwei Luo | Mohnish Mehta | Elena Yang |
2018 | Alex Spinnell | Johnny Regan | Brian Dago |
2019 | Ben Norris | Elham Chowdhury and Alex Spinnell | Ian Jurkiewicz and James Cheng |
2021 | Tyson Corner | Alexander Bowers | Gabriel Papa |
2022 | Gabriel Papa | Angel Hill | Sarah Glinski |
2023 | Alex Bowers | Matt Giacchetti | Tinn Habanananda |
2024 | Carlos Roberto Dias Neto | Napat (Oak) Kornsri | William Sun |
2025 | Priyansh Bothra | Napat (Oak) Kornsri | Owen Fu |