Rotman International Trading Competition (RITC)
Getting Started Resources
Support Documents
RIT Market Simulator
NOTE: The software platform, Rotman Interactive Trader must be downloaded on a Windows machine. Mac users can install a virtual lab on their computer for free. Click here for more information.
Anaconda Packages List for Python Code
Case Packages
Mergers and Acquisitions Case
The Mergers and Acquisition case allows participants to operate as hedge fund financial investors. They must closely monitor whether a friendly takeover, approved by the board of directors and key shareholders, will occur. When one company acquires another, the stock prices of both entities tend to be very volatile. Participants may own a non-majority share of the company being acquired, aiming to increase the value of these shares before selling them at a higher price than they originally paid. Participants will also experience asset mispricing due to the potential impacts of mergers and acquisitions.
- Manuals trading case
- REST API and RTD Links will be enabled for information retrieval
Commodities Case
The Commodities Case challenges the ability of participants to trade in a closed supply and demand market for crude oil. Natural crude oil production and its use coupled with regulatory compliance in the form of carbon credits will form the framework for participants to engage in direct trade to meet each other’s objectives. The case will test each participant’s ability to understand sophisticated market dynamics and optimally perform his/her role, while stressing teamwork and communication. The case will involve crude oil production, refinement, storage, and trading of its synthesized physical products and carbon credits.
- Manuals trading case
- REST API and RTD Links will be enabled for information retrieval
Sales and Trader Case
The Sales and Trader Case challenges participants to test their critical thinking and analytical skills in an environment where they must evaluate the liquidity risk associated with various tender offers. Throughout the case, participants will encounter multiple tender offers, requiring quick decisions on whether to accept and execute, or reject each offer based on their profitability. Profits can be achieved by exploiting price differentials between market prices and private tender offers. Once a tender is accepted, participants should focus on efficiently closing out their large positions to maximize returns and minimize liquidity and market risks.
- Manuals trading case
- REST API and RTD Links will be enabled for information retrieval
Algorithmic CAPM Forecasting Case
The Algorithmic CAPM Forecasting Case is designed to challenge participants’ programming skills by developing algorithms using the RIT API to forecast future asset prices and automate trading strategies. Throughout the case, these algorithms will capture the historical prices of the securities, estimate market sensitivities with beta, forecast future asset return using CAPM model, identify price trend and submit orders to profit from private information about the changing market movement. Due to the high-frequency nature of the case, participants are encouraged to develop algorithms that can adapt to rapid changes in market dynamics using their selected programming languages.
- Client REST API and RTD Links will be enabled for information and order execution
Algorithmic Quantitative Arbitrage Trading Case
The Algorithmic Trading Case is designed to introduce participants to algorithmic strategies for market making, where the objective is to earn the bid-ask spread while providing liquidity for an individual stock. Participants will need to use their programming skills to develop algorithms with the RIT API to automate trading strategies and respond to changing market conditions. Throughout the case, these algorithms will submit orders to profit by earning the bid-ask spread and pursuing rebates through competitive limit orders that get filled. Given the high-frequency nature of the case, participants are encouraged to develop algorithms that can quickly adapt to rapid changes in market dynamics using their preferred programming languages.
- This case will be taking place in the location of the FRT-Lab
- Client REST API and RTD Links will be enabled for information and order execution
Access Credentials
Your RIT Trader IDs are like tickets to a movie. Your team is given two tickets, you may sit where you like.
For Example:
- Seat (Trader ID) #1: ABCD-1
- Seat (Trader ID) #2: ABCD-2
- Team Password: apples
RIT Credentials give your team access to:
- Practice Server
- Practice Sessions
- Competition Day (Updated credentials will be sent to you closer to February 10th, 2025)
Roles
- Some cases require team members to play specific roles. Teams can decide which team members will play which roles.
- For cases that have roles, only specific Trader IDs will be in operation, and they will be tied to a specific role.
- To use our movie analogy, for each case with roles, only certain seats will be available.
- Teams can decide which team members have a seat, and which team members watch from the aisle.
Mergers & Acquisitions Case
- ABCD-1: Role of Trader #1
- ABCD-2: Role of Trader #2
- ABCD-2: Role of Trader #3
- ABCD-2: Role of Trader #4
Commodities Case
- ABCD-1: Role of Producer
- ABCD-2: Role of Refiner
- ABCD-3: Role of Trader #1
- ABCD-4: Role of Trader #2
Sales and Trader Case
- ABCD-1: Role of Institutional Trader #1
- ABCD-2: Role of Retail Trader #2
- ABCD-3: Role of Retail Trader #3
- ABCD-4: Role of Retail Trader #4
Algorithmic CAPM Forcasting Trading Case
- ABCD-1: Role of Algo Trader
Algorithmic Quantitative Arbitrage Trading Case
- ABCD-1: Role of Algo Trader
- ABCD-2: Role of Analyst
- Mergers & Acquistions Case: All team members participate in this case, and all have the same role.
- Commodities Case: Each team member is required to trade in a specific role for this Case.
- Sales & Trader Case: Each team member is required to trade in a specific role for this Case.
- Algorithmic CAPM Trading Case: Any one member may represent the team in the single role in this Case.
- Algorithmic Quantitative Arbitrage Trading Case: Any one member may represent the team in the single role in this Case (ABCD-1). The second trader will only have access during the actual case practice server but will not have access to RIT on the day of the competition (ABCD-2).
Scoring
The scoring and ranking methodology is designed to translate absolute performance into relative performance using a ranking system. This ranking system is designed to discourage participants from “betting the house” in one heat and generating very large absolute profits that will result in a clear win of the entire competition. Instead, participants’ absolute performance in each heat is converted into a series of ordinal ranks which are subsequently converted into a final case ranking. These case rankings are mapped to case scores and then combined under the following weights:
Case | Weight |
Mergers and Acquisition Case | 0.15 |
Commodities Case | 0.25 |
Sales and Trader Case | 0.15 |
Algorithmic CAPM Forecasting Case | 0.15 |
Algorithmic Quantitative Arbitrage Trading Case | 0.3 |
The scoring system is not intended to be extremely complex. However, throughout the trading competition there will be over 2,000 separate trading results. These results must then be averaged and ranked over several iterations to compute a final ranking and score. This document describes that process.
The purpose of the system is to reward consistently high performance (i.e. a team that places 8th, 5th, and 10th will have a higher final score than a team that places 1st, 10th, and 35th).
Final Score
The final case scores are then multiplied by their case-weights to form a final weighted score. This final weighted score is used to rank teams, where the highest score is the best score. In the case of two or more teams having the same final weighted score, those teams will be ranked based on the variance of their final case scores. The team with the lowest variance will be ranked ahead of the others. For example, if the top 3 teams have the following scores:
Team | Final Case Scores | Final Weighted Score | ||||
M&A | Commodities | Sales & Trader | Algo CAPM | Algo Quant Arbitrage | ||
Team 1 | 49 | 50 | 50 | 49 | 50 | 49.7 |
Team 2 | 50 | 49 | 48 | 47 | 45 | 47.5 |
Team 3 | 48 | 46 | 46 | 50 | 48 | 47.5 |
Team 1 will be ranked first as it has the highest weighted score. Team 2 and Team 3 have the same final weighted score and will be ranked based on the variance of their case scores. The variance for Team 2 is 3.7 while the variance for Team 3 is 2.8, therefore Team 3 will be ranked second while Team 2 will be ranked third.
Final Rank | Team |
1 | Team 1 |
2 | Team 3 |
3 | Team 2 |
Two (or more) teams that have the same score and the same variance will tie. In the event of a tie, the teams that have tied will be given the same rank. The teams below the tie will be given a rank based on the number of teams that have scored better than them. Therefore, if three teams tied for 2nd place, the ranking would be 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, and 5th.
Additionally, we use the Weighted Mean-Variance Score as a key factor in determining final rankings, particularly for the top three positions and in case if there is a tie. This approach ensures that the best-performing teams are recognized based on both consistency and overall performance across all RITC cases. By applying the Weighted Mean-Variance method, we fairly rank teams that maintain high and stable performance throughout the competition. This methodology is also used in our academic programs and other competitions as a reliable metric for evaluating student performance. Over time, it has proven to be the most effective in assessing both consistency and overall achievement, making it a fair and credible ranking method for RITC.
We also want to clarify that while we share the ranking methodology, the scoring page does not provide a detailed breakdown of the individual scoring process. Ranking determines the relative standing of teams, while Weighted Mean-Variance scoring assigns points based on specific performance metrics. These two processes may differ in methodology, but together they ensure a fair and accurate ranking for the competition. However, for future RITC competitions, we recognize the importance of including more details and examples about the scoring process on the Getting Started page to enhance transparency and prevent misunderstandings.
Case Package Release
- January 27th, 2025
Practice Server
The Practice Server allows you to explore RIT prior to the Competition Day. The Practice Server will be disabled on Competition Day. Some cases require team members to play specific roles. Teams can decide which team members will play which roles.
To log into any Practice Server port, please use the trader ID and password we have you sent you.
The case structure of the general practice case is an simpler version of the cases selected for RITC 2025.
From February 10th, the actual case studies will be run on the practice servers and we will remove the general cases from the server.
During the competition, the case market dynamics may be different depending on the participants’ trading behaviour. Price paths will also be different during the competition. In addition, market parameters during the competition may be adjusted to better account for over 100 live traders.
We are running fixed iterations of Commodities case. The rest of the cases are randomized on each heat.
Practice Server Details
Mergers & Acquisitions Case practice server details
- Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
- Server port: 16610
Commodities Case practice server details
- Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
- Server port: 16620
Sales & Trader Case practice server details
- Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
- Server port: 16630
Algorithmic CAPM Forecasting Making Case practice server details
Server 1:
- Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
- Server port: 16640
Server 2:
- Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
- Server port: 16645
Algorithmic Quantitative Arbitrage Trading Case practice server details
Server 1:
- Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
- Server port: 16650
Server 2:
- Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
- Server port: 16655
Practice Server
Practice Server (General Cases)
- December 13th, 2024 at 12:00 PM EST -- February 10th , 2025 (12:00 PM (EST)
Practice Server (Actual Cases)
- February 10th, 2025 at 12:00 PM EST -- February 20th, 2025
Server closes the morning of the competition
Virtual Practice Sessions
February 11th, 2025
- Virtual Practice Session #01 - 0900 - 1000 | Mergers & Acquisitions and Algo CAPM
- Virtual Practice Session #02 - 1600 - 1700 | Sales and Trader and Algo Quant
February 12th, 2025
- Virtual Practice Session #03 - 1200 - 1300 | Commodities + Algo CAPM
February 19th, 2025
- Virtual Practice Session #04 - 0900 - 1030 | Sales & Trader + Algo Quant + Algo CAPM
- Virtual Practice Session #05 - 1100 - 1230 | Commodities + Algo Quant + Algo CAPM
- Virtual Practice Session #06 - 1300 - 1430 | Mergers & Acquisitions + Algo Quant + Algo CAPM
- Virtual Practice Session #07 - 1500 - 1630 | Sales & Trader, Mergers & Acquisitions + Commodities + Algo CAPM
*Practice Sessions are optional
*All times in EST
The practice sessions are scheduled to allow participants to virtually gather and practice the competition cases together at the same time. Results for each case will be released during the practice sessions.
Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
Port number: 16600
NOTE: The above port will only be active during the scheduled practice sessions
Competition Day Schedule
February 20th, 2025
Day 1
- 0730 - 0830 Registration + Breakfast + Photos
- 0830 - 0915 Opening Ceremony
- 0930 - 1130 Case #01
- 1145 - 1245 Lunch + Photos
- 1300 - 1500 Case #02
- 1500 - 1530 Break
- 1530 - 1730 Case #03
- 1730 - 1830 Dinner at Rotman
- 1830 - 2030 - Case #04
February 21st, 2025
Day 2
- 0800 - 0900 Breakfast + Photos
- 0900 - 1130 Final Case - Prep & Round 1
- 1145 - 1245 Lunch + Photos
- 1300 - 1700 Final Case
- 1700 - 1800 Travel to Hockey Hall of Fame
- 1800 - 2300 Reception & Awards Ceremony a Hockey Hall of Fame
Competition Day
Venue
BMO Financial Group Finance Research and Trading Lab
University of Toronto
Rotman School of Management
105 St. George St, Toronto, Canada M5S 3E6
Office no. 290
Competition Day
Instructions
- Use your RIT credentials to connect to the server and port (Trader ID and Password) assigned to you by your team (see Roles).
- Server and port will be announced on this page on February 1st.
- Example: If you are the Role of Algo Trader in the Algo Market-Making Case, you will log in as ABCD-1
- Once you are connected, messages on your RIT will keep you informed throughout the session about the next steps.
- Each case will be run in various heats multiple times
- Between cases, users will be temporarily disconnected from RIT as the next case is loaded. Simply reconnect to resume.
- Only one team member will need to reconnect to RIT to trade the Algorithmic Trading Case.
- The server port is only active during the competition session.
- Depending on the case study, your team will be assigned to a specific classroom. The lab will be used only on Day 2. In the lab, you will be provided with a desktop computer.
- Note that on Day 2 of the competition: participants will be required to trade in the BMO-FRT Lab space using the lab desktop computers and only the standard preloaded Python packages will be available on these machines. You will not be allowed to use your own laptop if you are trading on Day 2 in the lab space.
Server Details
- Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
- Server port: 16600
Technical Requirements NEW!
- New to this year’s competition, to compete, students are required to bring their own device (laptop computer).
- Please ensure RIT Market Simulator is installed and functioning on your device prior to the competition.
- Laptops will not be provided by Rotman
- Mac users can install a virtual lab on their computer for free. Click here for more information.
Wifi Connectivity
A note about Wifi Connectivity during the competition:
- Rotman recently upgraded all of our wireless access points in fracture to Wi-Fi 6, the latest high-tech generation of Wi-Fi which can communicate on 2.4 GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz with a maximum link rate of 96000 Mb/s. Most new phones and laptops are equipped with Wi-Fi 67 module, allowing devices to connect on the fastest available frequency.
- We have ensured that the minimum required bandwidth is available for all participants
- Extensive testing has been conducted to ensure our network infrastructure meets the competition's needs. From a Bandwidth Baseline perspective, an average bandwidth of 539 Mbps was identified between a trader using the RIT client and our RIT server. This bandwidth is more than sufficient, even under high activity levels.
What to do when you arrive
Badges: Your badges will be available for pick-up beginning February 20th, between 7:30 am and 8:30 am at the RITC Registration Desk located in the Fleck Atrium (Rotman School of Management at 105 St. George St., 1st floor, North Building).
Photos: On Day 1 and Day 2, please be prepared to take your professional team photos. Additionally, you will have the opportunity to take a professional individual headshot which will be sent to you after the event to use for your new LinkedIn profile photo, resume etc. Don’t miss this! Please see schedule above.
Welcome : On Day 1, February 20th, Opening Ceremony, please find a seat in Desautels Event Hall. This is an opportunity to network with other students, faculty, and staff members.
Food and Beverage
Meals, snacks, beverages, and water will be provided throughout your time at the competition.
Dress Code
RITC is a professional business competition, so participants are expected to dress in business casual or business formal attire.
Coat Check
A self-serve coat check will be provided in Desautels Event Hall. Although supervised, you should NOT leave any valuables such as laptops or briefcases unattended.
Case Study Seat Allocation
For each case study, team members will be rotated among different classrooms. It is extremely important to follow the seat allocation given to you at registration and for you to arrive at the space on time. We recommend students bring headphones to communicate with each other during the case studies. For the final case, students will be assigned to use the Lab. If you intend to use the desktop computer to communicate with your team members, headphones need to have 3.5mm jack or USB-A or UBC-C cable.
Transportation
Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) bus one-way tickets will be provided to you to use to travel to the Hockey Hall of Fame. See map of the Subway system below.
- The TTC ticket is valid to use anytime throughout your stay in Toronto
- You can only use this ticket for one person per trip.
- Tap your Ticket to enter any TTC subway station, streetcar or bus and to transfer.
- Keep it with you as you ride as your proof of purchase for TTC fare inspections.
Toronto Transit Commission TTC subway map
