Gabriel Papa ’23 Wins 12th Annual Babson Trading Competition

Gabriel Papa ’23 recently won the 12th annual Babson Trading Competition, which attracted 48 undergraduate and graduate students from Babson College, Wellesley College, and Olin College to the finance lab at the Stephen D. Cutler Center for Investments and Finance.

Professor Ryan Davies (left) congratulates Gabriel Papa ’23 on winning the 12th annual Babson Trading Competition. (Photo: Mark Manne)

The Babson Trading Competition—hosted by Professor Ryan Davies, the chair of the Finance Division—pits students competing against one another using the Rotman Interactive Trader software, which simulates an order-driven market.

Papa led the top five finishers, which included Angel Hill ’23 in second place, Sarah Glinski ’24 in third place, Alex Bowers ’24 in fourth place, and William Li ’25 in fifth place. This was the second top-five finish for both Papa, who placed third last year, and Bowers, who finished second last year. In addition to cash prizes, the top five winners will be invited to the Fidelity trading floor in Boston at the start of the spring semester for a tour and an opportunity to meet and network with additional Fidelity traders.

The competition, sponsored by Fidelity Investments, is based on the Liability Trading cases (LT3, LT4). In these cases, participants play the role of principal trader. Institutional orders are randomly routed to a principal trading desk and then traders must decide whether to accept the tender. If the order is accepted, the trader then must develop an optimal strategy for unwinding the position over time, accounting for market conditions such as liquidity, price volatility, and price impact.

Prior to the start of the competition, Fidelity co-trader Ken Martin and Fidelity syndicate trader Jackie Ham discussed what it is like working on the trading floor at Fidelity and how their career paths lead them to Fidelity. Babson alumni Marco Gargurevich MBA‘01 and Janis Voldins MBA‘98 also met with students.

Posted in Babson Briefs

Tagged Finance, Class of 2023, Class of 2024, Class of 2025

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