J.P. Morgan introduces fantasy gaming to derivatives trading
Amanda Thomas, WG'07
Issue date: 10/2/06 Section: News
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Missed out on the start of the Fantasy Football season in the chaos of classes starting? J.P. Morgan's Fantasy Futures may provide an alternative, bringing together fantasy gaming, recruiting, and your Finance 601 or ACF homework. On October 3rd, the company's simulated interest rate derivative trading contest will kick-off.
The competition, which will last for seven weeks, allows graduate and undergraduate students to create and manage a simulated futures trading account and bet on interest rates in global markets. The movement of the market is based on simulated real-time market prices updated twice a day. Players can buy or sell up to 100 contracts and trade as often as they want using fantasy money. Each week weekly winners are announced, and at the end of the competition, one grand-prize winner will emerge based on his or her profits at the end of the game.
The first round took place this past spring and served as the game's soft launch. According to Deborah Korbe of J.P. Morgan, over 1,000 students participated and the grand prize winner, David Lin, was offered a summer internship with the company and later, a full time offer. Lin, then a junior at Princeton University majoring in math, commented, "The game was really a fun way to learn about [financial] products and trading strategies."
All of this spring's weekly winners were flown to New York City, where they spent a day with J.P. Morgan traders at the company's midtown headquarters, receiving a behind-the-scenes tour and seeing first-hand what life is really like on the bustling trading floor. The grand prize this fall will include a choice of attending the Super Bowl, the Grammys, or a designer fashion show during New York's Fashion Week.
This year, Korbe remarked, the company is actively seeking women traders, and a group of high level women within the firm will be following the game.
The extent to which the competition is an educational game and the degree to which it is a recruiting tool is unclear. The competition is sponsored by the Patrick Edsparr, Head of Global Rates & Securitized Products and Matt Zames, Head of North America Liquid Rates Trading, who see the game as a unique way for the firm to attract talented traders and help students gain exposure to the trading world.
In a time when the students, administration, and employers are looking for creative alternatives to the traditional EIS (Employer Information Session) recruiting strategies, Fantasy Futures offers an interesting talent or performance-based approach.
For more information, visit jpmorgan.com/careers or fantasyfutures.net.
The competition, which will last for seven weeks, allows graduate and undergraduate students to create and manage a simulated futures trading account and bet on interest rates in global markets. The movement of the market is based on simulated real-time market prices updated twice a day. Players can buy or sell up to 100 contracts and trade as often as they want using fantasy money. Each week weekly winners are announced, and at the end of the competition, one grand-prize winner will emerge based on his or her profits at the end of the game.
The first round took place this past spring and served as the game's soft launch. According to Deborah Korbe of J.P. Morgan, over 1,000 students participated and the grand prize winner, David Lin, was offered a summer internship with the company and later, a full time offer. Lin, then a junior at Princeton University majoring in math, commented, "The game was really a fun way to learn about [financial] products and trading strategies."
All of this spring's weekly winners were flown to New York City, where they spent a day with J.P. Morgan traders at the company's midtown headquarters, receiving a behind-the-scenes tour and seeing first-hand what life is really like on the bustling trading floor. The grand prize this fall will include a choice of attending the Super Bowl, the Grammys, or a designer fashion show during New York's Fashion Week.
This year, Korbe remarked, the company is actively seeking women traders, and a group of high level women within the firm will be following the game.
The extent to which the competition is an educational game and the degree to which it is a recruiting tool is unclear. The competition is sponsored by the Patrick Edsparr, Head of Global Rates & Securitized Products and Matt Zames, Head of North America Liquid Rates Trading, who see the game as a unique way for the firm to attract talented traders and help students gain exposure to the trading world.
In a time when the students, administration, and employers are looking for creative alternatives to the traditional EIS (Employer Information Session) recruiting strategies, Fantasy Futures offers an interesting talent or performance-based approach.
For more information, visit jpmorgan.com/careers or fantasyfutures.net.
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