UConn students take top prize in prestigious 2021 Bloomberg Global Trading Challenge

Photo | Contributed The University of Connecticut's flagship campus in Storrs.

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By Robert Storace

Five Stamford-based University of Connecticut business graduate students are celebrating their victory in the 2021 Bloomberg Global Trading Challenge, in which they beat out about 500 teams from around the world.

The students, whose trading portfolio passed a Bloomberg benchmark by nearly $470,000, are Sayem Lincoln, Justin Keish, Matt Ciaburro, Varun Katari and Jayabhushan Nallakannu. They were told of their first place finish on Nov. 23.

The students, all studying financial risk management, beat out a team from a university in Saudi Arabia by more than $100,000.

Chinmoy Ghosh, head of the university’s Department of Finance, said the students’ preparation and dedication to working together helped them in the competition.

“The team was inspired not only by their classes, but by their professors who encouraged them to take their knowledge and apply it in the competition.” Ghosh said in a statement. “Employing an investment strategy that involved bold and carefully monitored risks and a sharp focus on the changing market, the team invested in a diversified portfolio of stocks ranging from vaccines to cryptocurrency. These students will certainly continue to achieve tremendous results while at UConn, and later in their careers.”

The students credited their winning in the prestigious competition to, among other things, identifying underdog companies that were responding to market demands.

The team won an award of $3,000 to donate to a charity. They chose The Humane Society. Each student was also given an Ipad.