About Us
Welcome to the Joint-University Algo Trading Challenge 2020/21 (Hong Kong).
Ideate your trading algorithms, test on a robust back-testing platform, and compete to make a name for yourself!
Gain professional industry knowledge and practical skills to prepare yourself as the next-gen algo-trading professional.
All undergraduate and postgraduate students from any faculty at participating universities are eligible.
Create teams of 1~4 members with diverse skills (maths, statistics, finance, coding, presentation) and register by 18 Oct 2020.
1st Round:
Ideate
Registered teams of 1-4 students will prepare a trading proposal consisting of:
• Executive summary
• Trading idea description
• Trading logic
• Implementation detail
• Team biography
Coding is not required in this round
Submission deadline: 21 Nov 2020
Result announced: 30 Nov 2020
2nd Round:
Test
Teams will code their trading algorithm and test on ALGOGENE's back-testing engine, then submit the code
Judges will backtest trading algorithms for return, volatility, robustness and practicality to select advancing teams
Submission deadline: 16 Jan 2021
Result announced: 31 Jan 2021
Final Round:
Compete
A new seperate set of data will be provided to test the trading algorithm of each team
Teams will present trading plan to judges in a 5-minute pitch session on event day
Judges will select winners in each of these categories:
• Best Return
• Best Sharpe
• Best Strategy Design
Final Day: 20 Feb 2021
Parties
Participating Universities:
Event Sponsors:
Media Partner:
Co-organisers:
Result
The final result of the Joint-University Algo Trading Challenge 2020/21 (Hong Kong)
Out of sample data: 1/1/2020-31/12/2020
Schedule
Awards
There are 3 award categories: (A) Best Return, (B) Best Sharpe, and (C) Best Strategy Design.
The winning teams from each category will be entitled to:
Free Subscription of Back-testing Engine
All prize winners will get 1-year free subscription of ALGOGENE's back-testing platform
Free Subscription of AI Robo-advisor
All prize winners will get 2-month free subscription of AI robo-adivsior, AO Summit from Finbot Limited
Internship / Full-time Employment Opportunities
All prize winners may have a chance to have internship / full-time employment from the Organisers
Join Algo Challenge Association (ACA)
All prize winners will connect with algo fund managers and industrial professionals in Algo Challenge Association (ACA)
Resources
The dataset provided includes the latest trading records and bid-ask updates by the hour, and covers data from normal trading hours within every trading day from Jan 2010 to Dec 2019. Kindly note that data provided is strictly for trading strategy prototyping purposes only. Final round evaluations will be carried out using a new data set with the same structure but from a different time period. Thus, over-fitting of the data set is discouraged.
Datasets
Provide access to required historical data for model development and testing
• Market data
• News
• Economic Statistics
System
Access to ALGOGENE's back-testing engine, cloud simulation environment and relevant technical documents
Judging Criteria
Judging panel criteria comprises team performance (30%), trading strategy (30%), and presentation (10%), plus the risk-adjusted return (30%) as computed by the ALGOGENE back-test system.
(A) Best Return
A good return is the primary goal of every algo trading strategy. ALGOGENE's state-of-the-art trading system will back-test the trading strategies of Finale teams to ascertain outcomes. The team with the highest return in one year will win this award.
(B) Best Sharpe
A good strategy does not only need to be profitable, but it is also important to take care of the risk taking. The team with the highest Sharpe will win this award.
(C) Best Strategy Design
Recognises Finale participants' knowledge and skills in developing the best algo trading strategy that demonstrated the following:
• Trading Strategy Logic: reasonable return, manageable risk, stability and predictability;
• Creativity: innovative use of statistical models, parameters, forecasting methodology or interpretation of data and novel ideas based on existing theory and models; and
• Execution Potential: a realistic strategy and full consideration of factors including capital, trading time, market impact and risk management.
Rules
- The Challenge is open to only current undergraduate and postgraduate students (students with valid school registration for the current school year).
- All members of the same contestant team must be from the same university.
- All individual contestants must register with their university email addresses only. Failure to register with university email address will result in disqualification.
- Each individual contestant is only allowed to be in one team.
- Each team must elect one representative to liaise with the organizers.
- All entries must be the original work of the contestant team. Any form of plagiarism is prohibited and the contestant team will be disqualified from the Challenge.
- Each individual contestant is required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement with the organizers.
- Finalists must present valid Student ID cards and provide a copy for verification.
- The judging panel’s decision of the Challenge results is final. The organizers reserve the right to the final decision in all other areas.
- An online briefing session will be arranged in October-2020 to answer any inquiries about the Challenge.
FAQ
Q: If a person is in overseas or mainland China, can he still join the competition via zoom? Or he has to come to hong kong physically?
A: As this contest will take place via Zoom, overseas or mainland China participants are still able to join the contest. As long as the candidates are current students with the participating universities, you are welcome to partner up with students who are not physically in Hong Kong. Online or Physical Award Ceremony on the Final Day will be arranged according to Covid-19 situation.