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.
Case Package
Liability Trading Case
The Liability Trading 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.
Algorithmic Market Making Case
The Algorithmic Market Making 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.
Algorithmic CAPM Forecasting Case and Algorithmic Market Making Case
Only one member from each team will be required to participate in the Algorithmic Cases. This member can be the same for both the cases or different for each Algorithmic Case. The final P&L of the participating team member will become the team P&L, which will be then ranked for each heat with first place awarded to the team with the highest dollar value. 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.
Based on the above, each team’s heat ranks will be averaged and then the resulting averages will be ranked to determine the final case rank. The team with the lowest average will be ranked first. This case ranking is then mapped to a point score where the lowest rank is given a score of n+1, where n is the number of teams below you plus the teams that tied with you.
Commodities Case and Electricity Trading Case
The final P&L of each team member will be summed to form a dollar value of the team P&L. The teams are then ranked for each heat by the dollar values of the team P&L, with first place awarded to the team with the highest dollar value. 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.
Based on the above, each team’s heat ranks will be averaged and then the resulting averages will be ranked to determine their overall case rank. The team with the lowest average will be ranked first. This case ranking is then mapped to a point score where the lowest rank is given a score of n+1, where n is the number of teams below you plus the teams that tied with you.
Volatility Trading Case and ETF Case
For each heat, the final profits and losses (P&L) [1] of all participating members [2] of a team are summed to form a dollar value of the team P&L. The teams are then ranked for each heat by the dollar values of the team P&L with 1st place given to the team with the highest dollar value. 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 for the top five teams would be 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, and 5th.
Each team’s heat ranks are then averaged. Teams are then ranked based on their average heat rank to determine their final case rank. The team with the lowest average will be ranked first.
This case ranking is then mapped to a point score where the lowest rank (best score) is given a score of n+1, where n is the number of teams below you plus the teams that tied with you (i.e. the first place team out of 52 teams will get a score of 52, the last place team will get a score of 1). To continue the above example, if you are tied for 2nd place with three other teams, you will get a score of 51.
[1] For the ETF Case, the Adjusted P&L will be used that can be seen in the RIT from “Trader Info” tab.
For the Volatility Trading Case, the P&L (as shown in the RIT) will be decreased by the sum of penalties received by each team member as described in this Case Package.
[2] Two team members for the Volatility Trading Case and four team members for the ETF Case.
Access Credentials
When registration closes, we will send you an email including your unique RIT Trader IDs & Password for the competition.
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
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 |
Commodities Case | 15% |
ETF Case | 15% |
Algorithmic CAPM Forecasting Case | 20% |
Electricity Case | 15% |
Volatility Trading Case | 15% |
Algorithmic Market Making Case | 20% |
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 | |||||
Commodities | ETF | Algo CAPM Forecasting | Electricity | MathWorks Volatility | Algo Market Making | ||
Team 1 | 49 | 50 | 50 | 49 | 52 | 50 | 50 |
Team 2 | 50 | 46 | 50 | 46 | 50 | 47 | 48.2 |
Team 3 | 49 | 50 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 47 | 48.2 |
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 4.17 while the variance for Team 3 is 2.17, 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.
Access Credentials
For Example:
Your RIT Trader IDs are like tickets to a movie. Your team is given four tickets, but team members may sit where they like.
- Seat (Trader ID) #1: ABCD-1
- Seat (Trader ID) #1: ABCD-2
- Seat (Trader ID) #1: ABCD-3
- Seat (Trader ID) #1: ABCD-4
- Team Password: apples
RIT Credentials give your team access to:
- Practice Server
- Practice Sessions
- Competition Day
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.
Commodities Case
- ABCD-1: Role of Producer
- ABCD-2: Role of Refiner
- ABCD-3: Role of Trader #1
- ABCD-4: Role of Trader #2
ETF Case
- ABCD-1: Role of Trader #1
- ABCD-2: Role of Trader #2
- ABCD-3: Role of Trader #3
- ABCD-4: Role of Trader #4
Algorithmic CAPM Trading Case
- ABCD-1: Role of Algo Trader
- Commodities Case: Each team member is required to trade in a specific role for this Case.
- ETF Case: All team members participate in this case, and all have the same role.
- Algorithmic Trading Case: Any one member may represent the team in the single role in this Case.
Electricity Trading Case
- ABCD-1: Role of Producer
- ABCD-2: Role of Distributor
- ABCD-3: Role of Trader #1
- ABCD-4: Role of Trader #2
Volatility Case
- ABCD-1: Role of Trader #1
- ABCD-2: Role of Trader #2
Algorithmic Market Making Trading Case
- ABCD-1: Role of Algo Trader
Commodities Case
- Manual trading case,
- REST API will be enabled for information retrieval,
- RTD Links VBA will be disabled.
ETF Case
- Manual trading case,
- REST API will be enabled for information retrieval,
- RTD Links VBA will be disabled.
Algorithmic CAPM Trading Case
- Everyone will be seated in the lab,
- REST API will be enabled for info ret and order execution,
- RTD Links VBA will be enabled for information retrieval and order execution.
Electricity Trading Case
- Manual trading case,
- REST API will be enabled for information retrieval,
- RTD Links VBA will be disabled.
Volatility Case
- REST API will be enabled for info ret and order execution using Python and MATLAB,
- RIT VBA Links will be enabled on only 72 machines (we strongly suggest using Python instead)
Algorithmic Market-Making Trading Case
- Everyone will be seated in the lab,
- REST API will be enabled will be enabled,
- RTD Links VBA will be enabled for information retrieval and order execution.
Important note about VBA:
Please note that VBA is unavailable for all cases, except for the two Algorithmic Cases. Also, there are limited seats for the Volatility case.
Students, please fill out this survey to indicate which technology you will use for the Volatility case by February 16th, 3:00pm (EST). Please only have 1 answer per team.
We understand the inconvenience caused by the changes in the cases. Going forward, participants are encouraged to use Python during the competition, VBA will be enabled on the practice server on a temporary basis to allow participants to convert their VBA code to Python. This decision stems from Microsoft licensing restrictions, which only allows licenses to be used by a single user (or terminal). This becomes unrealistic in a competition setting where multiple laptops must be set up. Due to the licensing obstacles, Excel is not installed on the temporary competition machines located outside the Lab. We must ensure all participants use the same tool (Python) throughout the event so all computers will be equipped with Python for the competition.
In previous years, Microsoft licensing operated differently, where an offline site license could be installed on any computer. Since moving to Office365, Microsoft licensing is based on single-user allocation. This creates challenges in a competition setting such as RITC. Alternatively, Python is openly supported and available on all competition computers (and publicly as well), therefore the use of Python was selected for that specific reason.
Furthermore, MathWorks MATLAB will be available for participants to use in the Volatility case, check the getting started Volatility case page for more details and sample codes.
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 will send you on January 27 2025.
The case structure on practice servers and during the competition will be the same, but 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, Electricity case, and Volatility case. ETF case and Algorithmic cases are randomized in each heat.
We will make the actual competition cases available on the Practice Server. See dates below.
Cases below will use the following server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
Current active port as of February 1, 2024.
- Case 01: Commodities Case - Port number: 16510
- Case 02: ETF Case - Port number: 16520
- Case 03: Algorithmic CAPM Case Server 1 - Port number: 16530
- Case 04: Electricity Case - Port number: 16560
- Case 05: Volatility Case - Port number: 16565
- Case 06: Algorithmic Market Making Case Server 1 - Port number: 16570
Additional ports below are now available.
Cases below will use the following server host name: flserver-test.rotman.utoronto.ca
Current active port as of February 5, 2024.
- Case 03: Algorithmic CAPM Case Server 2 - Port number: 16605
- Case 03: Algorithmic CAPM Case Server 3 - Port number: 16610
- Case 06: Algorithmic Market Making Case Server 2 - Port number: 16615
- Case 06: Algorithmic Market Making Case Server 3 - Port number: 16620
Practice Server Details
Practice Server (General) Period
- January 29th, 2025 - February 10th, 2025
Practice Server (Actual Competition Cases) Period
- February 10th, 2025 - February 20th, 2025
Note: Practice Server will close the morning of the competition
Liability Trading Case practice server details tbc
- Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
- Server port: 16510
Algorithmic Market Making Case practice server details tbc
- Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
- Server port: 16520
Algorithmic Market Making Case practice server details tbc
- Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
- Server port: 16520
Algorithmic Market Making Case practice server details tbc
- Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
- Server port: 16520
Virtual Practice Session
Please join us for a virtual practice session(s) via Zoom & RIT. The meeting link will be emailed to you.
- Virtual Practice Session #01 - 0900 - 1030
- Virtual Practice Session #02 - 1100 - 1230
- Virtual Practice Session #03 - 1300 - 1430
- Virtual Practice Session #04 - 1500 - 1630
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.
Each practice session will last approximately 1.5 hours and one heat will be run for each case.
Server host name: flserver.rotman.utoronto.ca
Port number: 16550
NOTE: The above port will only be active during the scheduled practice sessions
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 Schedule
February 19th, 2025
Day 0
- Virtual Practice Session #01 - 0900 - 1030
- Virtual Practice Session #02 - 1100 - 1230
- Virtual Practice Session #03 - 1300 - 1430
- Virtual Practice Session #04 - 1500 - 1630
*Zoom meeting link will be sent to you closer to the date
*Practice Sessions are optional
*All times in EST
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 - 1730 Travel to Hockey Hall of Fame
- 1730 - 2300 Reception & Awards Ceremony a Hockey Hall of Fame
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 either the Lab or one of two classrooms; in the lab, you will be provided with a desktop computer. In the classrooms, you will be provided with a laptop. You are not permitted to use your own laptop during the competition.
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 on your device.
- Mac users can install a virtual lab on their computer for free. Click here for more information.
- More information to follow upon registration.
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, 2024, 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.
Practice Sessions: On Day 0, February 19th, 2025, you may choose to attend the optional virtual 2-hour Practice Session where we will cover the Algo CAPM, Electricity & ETF cases. A Zoom meeting invitation will be sent to you closer to the date.
Welcome (and Lunch): On Day 1, February 20th, 2025, Opening Ceremony, please find a seat in Desautels Event Hall. This is an opportunity to network with other students, faculty, staff members and sponsors.
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 3 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.
Resume Links
Your resume links will be shared with our Sponsor team. Please ensure that the resume links you provided us with are public and/or not broken. If you have not sent us your resume yet, please email us your link no later than January 12th, 2025 to be included.
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.
Way Finder Plans
2nd Floor Way Finder
Toronto Transit Commission TTC subway map
