Calling all Canadian MBA (and related graduate business program) students to compete in the RBC x Rotman Sustainable Finance Case Competition!


REGISTER HERE

Registration extended to February 10, 2024 at 11:59 pm (the case will be released to earlier entrants on February 4)

• What is this?

  • The Lee-Chin Institute at Rotman is proud to host the  RBC x Rotman Sustainable Finance Case Competition (online) for MBA students at Canadian business schools (and students of related graduate business programs like MFin, MMA, MScSM or joint MBA programs).
  • Teams from across Canada are eligible - please join in with your team of up to 5 members. Last year 23 teams from coast to coast registered.
    
     

  When is this happening/what are the key dates?

  • The Case Competition is part of the RBC x Rotman Sustainable Finance Week, March 2024.
  • The registration deadline has been extended to February 10, 2024 at 11:59 pm (the case will be released to earlier entrants on February 4).
  • The first round will be conducted by video presentation, due by March 1, 2024 at 11:59pm PST.
  • The final round of the case competition will be held online on the afternoon of March 9, 2024.
    

  How does the competition work?

  • The competition case will be released February 11, 2024.
  • All teams will be required to prepare a recorded presentation in response to the case and submit online by March 1, 2024 at 11:59pm PST.
  • The top 5 teams will be selected by end of day March 4, 2024.
  • The final round of judging will be held online on the afternoon of March 9, 2024. All finalists will be required to present their case solution to a team of industry experts for judging.
  • Winners will be selected by 5PM EDT on March 9, 2024 and announced online.
    

  What are the prizes for the winning teams?

  • The top team will receive $10,000 as well as an opportunity to speak with key RBC staff about possible internships, rotational programs or other positions relating to their expanding sustainable finance mandate!
  • The second-place team will receive $5,000.
    

  When are videos due for the preliminary round? What format? How will they be used?

  • Video entries in response to the case are due by Friday, March 1, 2024  at 11:59PM PST.
  • Early submissions are welcomed (and encouraged).
  • We recommend that your recorded video presentations are hosted on YouTube, which our judges are familiar with and can access easily.
  • Videos and live presentations are used by judges to evaluate/judge the responses.
  • We do not claim rights to entries, but videos and presentations will be shared with a range of industry and faculty judges so will in effect be made public. If entrants have an IP concern, they should protect what they deem to be their IP before entering, or not include any such IP.
  • To celebrate the finalists' achievements and help competitors in future years, we will make the finalists' videos public after the competition with their permission. We will reach out to after the competition for this purpose.
    

  How should we identify our teams?

  • Please present and mark your slides using the team name you entered with. DO NOT REVEAL which school/program you are from in your video, your remarks or your presentation slides.

  Should teams balance all members when presenting?

  • A team of judges will review all entries and decide on the top five finalists between March 1 and March 4, 2024. The top 5 teams will be contacted by end of day March 4, followed by all other entrants. Given the large number of entrants, please be patient.
    
     

  How will the finals work?

  The five finalist teams will present live online on Saturday, March 9, 2024 between 1 pm - 4 pm as follows:
  
  
  -1:10 Team 1
  -1:40 Team 2
  -2:10 Team 3
  -2:40 15 minute break for judges
  -2:55 Team 4
  -3:25 Team 5

• Details (Zoom rooms and protocol, as well as the order of presentations) will be sent to the finalist teams in advance.
• The order of finalists' presentations will be determined randomly.
• Teams will each have 15 minutes to present to the judges, then 10 minutes for Q&A.
• After all teams have presented, judges will then take an hour to deliberate and choose the top two teams - a winner and a runner-up.
• The announcement of winners will take place online at on Saturday, March 9 at about 5:00pm EST. Emails will also be sent to the finalist teams shortly following the announcement.

Case Competition FAQs - Questions From Teams

Contact us with questions at rlohin@rotman.utoronto.ca . Answers to questions will be posted here for the benefit of all teams.

What are the judges looking for? 

• Judges will look for the best approaches to the case. The top teams will best demonstrate their understanding of the challenge and the client's needs, propose a defensible approach consistent with the client's financial and ESG objectives, and provide a clear, compelling presentation (not just glitzy slides).

Are example videos from previous competitions available?

• Example videos from previous years are available at https://www.youtube.com/@lee-chininstitute4399/playlists.

How many teams from each school can participate?

• There is no limit on the number of teams from any school. All teams are welcome to join the competition and the top teams (from whichever schools are chosen) will be invited to the finals.

Our team doesn't have access to historical information about one of the indices. How should we proceed?

• You should be able to find returns info for all of these indices. If detailed info isn't available to you, estimate as best you can. If you can't find detailed ESG info, you could do worse than assuming this class hasn't clearly met the client's new priorities (or, better, to whatever extent you estimate).

The case notes that SCD invests in entire indices currently - does that mean they have selected assets within the indices?

• No, it means they own an instrument that is a perfect representation of the whole of an index. You should not assume that only some portion of the assets within it are owned. If you wish to use an instrument that tracks these indices for the purposes of better understanding returns, risks, fees, reinvestment as appropriate (given that nothing has been sold in the last 5 years), and ESG issues, please specify which one you use. 

The case states that asset mix and geography should remain "roughly" the same. Can you elaborate?

• Your selected assets should be within +/- 10% of the asset mix and geographical distribution of the current portfolio. You will need to find assets that better reflect the client's new priorities and parameters but within these constraints. 

How should we interpret "no more than 10% of the portfolio can be invested in any asset from a single issuer" ? 

• You can hold no more than 10% of the total portfolio in any one security. So, you cannot buy one stock for all of your equities portion, or one single bond if the total is over 10% of the whole. You can, of course, buy an ETF or other product that comprises more securities as long as its total value is no more than 10% of the whole. 

What period should we use for "the past 5 years" ？

• You can use January 1, 2019 - December 31, 2023. if you prefer and have access to those data, you can choose a more recent 5 year period, e.g., up to the end of Jan or Feb).