First-year students in CFM 101 put their coding and finance skills to the test with four teams coming out on top with this year's case competition.
Each year, Computing and Financial Management (CFM) students enroled in the mandatory first-year course, CFM 101, get to experience real‑world decision‑making through a unique and friendly team‑based competition embedded in the class. The challenge, a major project in the course, asks groups of three to four students to use Python, a programming language, to run code along a secret list of stocks to generate "the best" investment portfolio over the course of a week. Students are given the option of pursuing one of three goals that they need to satisfy in their project to create the best portfolio.
The goal is simple in theory but demanding in practice: combining technical programming skills with financial insight to build the portfolio that best meets a set of predefined performance targets. To be successful in the competition, students must rely on problem‑solving, strategic thinking, and adaptability to navigate the shifting market conditions.
At the end of the week, winners are announced based on how closely their team's portfolio performed within the competition’s guidelines.
This year, we are happy to announce our winners:
- Goal 1: Winners — Mane, Nelson, and Phelan
- Goal 2: Winners — Elliot, Frank, and Jaimin
- Goal 3: Winners — Aryan, Jack, and Samyak
- Goal 3: Runners-Up — Jay, Manal, and Sardul
Every year we are excited to see the creativity and technical skills of our students. We are always so impressed by the talents in the competition.
CFM 101 is only available to students enroled in the Computing and Financial Management program and offers a unique introduction to the intersection of finance and computer science. Students who have previously taken the class note that the skills learned strengthened their résumés to interview for co-op jobs in financial-technology-related roles. It has also given them the confidence to apply and interview for exciting opportunities. This class continues to be a favourite of CFM students.