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CMT Association is Celebrating 50 Years in Finance – 2023 Symposium April 26-28 – Register Now!

Overview

“The stock market is a better economic forecaster than economists.”

- Walter Deemer (CMT Association Past President)

“At the bottom, stocks will be cheap and no one will care.”

- Bob Farrell (CMT Association Founding President)

“When the train leaves the station, it doesn’t back up to let latecomers on. If it does, there’s something wrong with the train.”

- Walter Deemer (CMT Association Past President)

“If you can’t sleep at night, reduce your positions or get out.”

- Marty Zweig ( Lifelong Member and Friend of CMT Association)

CMT Association’s Investment Challenge gives CMT Program candidates and students of our Academic Partner Program institutes a platform to learn and apply Technical Analysis like top investment management professionals. You can conduct research, plan investments, and build a successful portfolio over an 8-week period.

If you are new to the world of Technical Analysis, this competition will introduce key concepts to help you compete. If you are already pursuing the CMT qualification, this competition allows you to apply your knowledge in real markets.

Participants’ performance will be made visible to recruiters from the financial services industry, for alpha capture roles.

CMT Candidates

Academic Partner Program Students

SMIFC School Students

Why is this different from all the other “stock market games”?

CMT Association is different. We are the world’s foremost credentialing and advocacy body for technical analysis . We engage with regulators, employers, academic institutions, and media houses worldwide to advance the discipline and its value to the financial services industry . The results of this challenge will also be made visible to recruiters, who could consider top performers for appropriate job opportunities .

Optuma is different. Powerful Charts, robust tools, better dashboard, detailed tracking & reporting leader boards, custom-built for this challenge – make it uniquely focused on the appropriate use of technical analysis. Its founder, Mathew Verdouw, CMT, is, well, a CMT.

Investment Challenge Structure & Timelines

In this challenge you will be able to:

Learn

Review videos on CMT Discord Server's #knowledge-center channel to learn basic concepts of Technical Analysis. This is especially useful for participants who are new to Technical Analysis to get up to speed for the competition.

Manage

Submit your investment ideas with thoughtful investment and risk management rationale. This will be an ongoing activity throughout the period of the competition.

Engage

Interact with fellow "Investment Challengers" and CMT Mentors on Discord and social media with posts related to your investment ideas as well as your Technical Analysis journey during the competition.
All communication and networking will happen only in the dedicated Investment Challenge section on Discord.

Timeline

August 1 To August 31

Log in to Discord, Enable Access and Review Learning Videos

  • Registration Step 1: Log in to Discord and click on the Enable Access button (in 2022 Investment Challenge >> #enable access channel
  • Registration Step 2: Visit the Optuma Challenge Platform and sign up
  • Review Videos on Discord to get an understanding of technical analysis strategies and connect with fellow Investment Challengers
August 25 To August 31

Trial Week

  • Explore the platform, enter test trades, make changes and share feedback and questions if any.
  • Trades entered during the trial week are not logged to the competition.
September 1 to October 28

Submission and tracking of Investment Ideas

  • During the live competition, you will submit trades and explain your investment ideas directly in the platform
  • This will be an ongoing process as you will continue to submit new ideas and close old ones
  • Continuously monitor your portfolio to make revision where necessary
  • Posting and engagements on social media based on the guidelines provided
November 5

Declaration of Winners

Prize Categories: Individual and Institute level

Best Overall Portfolio:

This is the top prize for the competition

Maximum risk-adjusted return during the period across all the closed investment ideas submitted.

Highest Absolute Return:

Highest absolute return over the competition period.

Lowest Max Drawdown:

Lowest Max DrawDown over the entire competition period.

Highest Number of Valid Trades:

Maximum number of valid and qualified closed trades.

Single Most Profitable Trade:

Highest return in any one closed trade.

Official Communication platform for the Challenge - CMT Association's Discord Server

Discord is a popular group-chatting app, available for Mac, PC, iPhone, and Android devices. All announcement, discussions, FAQs will happen here. If you are not already on Discord You can download the Desktop and Mobile versions of Discord and Install them. Desktop/laptop apps work the best. It is advisable to create a Discord login before you register for the Investment Challenge on cmtic.optuma.com

Steps

  1. Click on the Invite Link: https://cmta.fyi/discord
  2. Open Discord and Click Register
  3. Enter your Username, Email and Password and click Next
  4. Enter your Date of Birth and click Create Account
  5. Once you have registered, you will be added to the CMT Server . If you haven’t been added, click on the link : https://cmta.fyi/discord
  6. This will add you to the CMT Association Server.
  7. You will then need to click on the Investment Challenge section
  8. Familiarize yourself with the platform and explore the various sections. Feel free to introduce yourself on the chat.

Notes

  • The 2022 Investment Challenge category of channels on our Discord server is where you will get all the latest updates about the challenge. over the next 3 months.
  • You must also use this space to engage with other 2022 Investment Challengers and your CMT mentors.
  • Once you get to the CMT Association Discord Server, if you are a participant in the challenge, or you want to follow the challenge as it unfolds, go to the #enable-access channel and click the “Enable Access” button.
  • When you do that you will see 4 new channels. Some are READ-ONLY and others you can participate in.
    1. #event-details-faqs (READ-ONLY) is where all information and announcements will be posted
    2. #knowledge-center (READ-ONLY) is where you can access various pre-recorded training videos as well as livestream videos of weekly mentoring sessions.
    3. #market-chat (OPEN) is where you can engage with fellow participants and others to talk about the markets you are tracking
    4. #ask-queries (OPEN) is where you can reach out to CMT Association or Optuma Staff for any specific challenge-related, non-market queries
    5. We may add new channels as the Challenge progresses
  • Remember that to participate in the challenge you HAVE TO register on cmtic.optuma.com.
    • Participation is exlusive to
    • CMT Candidates of the June 2022 and December 2022 exams, and
    • Students of
      • CMT’s Academic Partner Program institutions
      • Student Managed Investment Fund Consortium Institutions
  • Please note that this is a public chat so all other members and participants will be able to see your questions / posts, so be nice.

Happy Investing!

Contact Us

For all questions you have with regards to the Investment Challenge, you can:

  1. Post your questions on Discord under the CMT Investment Challenge
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  2. Tag any of the contacts listed below

JOEL PANNIKOT

Head: Asia Pacific, CMT Association

TYLER WOOD

Managing Director: Global Business Development, CMT Association

KAIZAD MAROLIA

Head: Partnerships, CMT Association

Matthew Humphreys

Product Manager: Optuma