Baruch College Clinches Second Place at Global Trading Competition

April 3, 2025

Baruch College students continue to showcase their financial firepower on the global stage, earning an impressive second-place finish at the 2025 Rotman International Trading Competition (RITC), held earlier this year at the University of Toronto.

Widely regarded as the world’s premier collegiate trading competition, RITC brought together top-performing mathematical finance teams from 35 universities across 11 countries, including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

A powerhouse in the competition’s history, Baruch has previously claimed the championship title eight times—an unprecedented streak that includes five consecutive wins prior to this year.

Representing Baruch College in 2025 were students Edgar Gonzalez-Gascou, Shawn Roy, Nick Serkes, Shuhao Liu, Shaofan Wu, and Junhao Yu. Under the seasoned leadership of Professor Jarrod Pickens, the team reaffirmed its place among the best in the world at the competitive. Baruch’s participation at the RITC was sponsored by Virtu Financial.

“I am extremely proud of the effort and performance of this year’s team,” said Dan Stefanica, PhD, director of Baruch College’s top-ranked Master of Finance Engineering (MFE) program. “Their result reflects not only their commitment and skill, but also the world-class preparation our program provides. RITC gives students a rare opportunity to put their academic knowledge to the test in high-pressure, real-world simulations—and this team truly delivered.”

Inside the Competition

The two-day RITC event challenges students in a series of high-stakes trading simulations that test skills in market making, sales and trading, algorithmic strategy, and more.

Baruch’s team won two of the five competitive cases—Algorithmic CAPM Forecasting and Commodities Trading—and placed in the top five in two others.

In the Commodities Trading Case, students were tasked with navigating a tightly controlled supply-and-demand market for crude oil, requiring not only deep market insight but also seamless collaboration and communication under pressure.

The Algorithmic CAPM Forecasting Case tested programming skills by developing complicated algorithms using the RIT API to forecast future asset prices and automate trading strategies.

Other highlights from Baruch’s performance included a third-place finish in the Mergers and Acquisitions case and fifth in Algorithmic Quantitative Arbitrage Trading.

A Top-Ranked Program Delivering Top-Tier Talent

Baruch College’s MFE program has been ranked #1 globally by Risk.net for two consecutive years—an achievement that continues to be reflected in competitions like RITC.

Over the last eight years, the MFE program saw a 100 percent employment success rate for its students within three months of graduation. The program has more than 300 alumni, with over 85% working in the financial industry at some of the world’s and nation’s top firms such as Barclays, Bloomberg, Citadel Securities, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, IMC Trading, Millenium, Point72, RBC Capital Markets, TD Securities, UBS, and Wells Fargo.

Learn more about Baruch’s MFE program and its global recognition.

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