Bloomberg Olympiad 2024

The TAPMI Bloomberg Olympiad, an event which is held in collaboration with Bloomberg Inc, is the flagship finance event of the TAPMI Finance Forum and India’s largest inter-college Bloomberg competition.  

In this event, the financial acumen and critical thinking of the participants are tested as well as their ability to solve the problems using the Bloomberg terminals is also tested. The participants must go through multiple stages of challenges where students from across the country as well as students from international colleges participate to win the coveted title of the Bloomberg Olympiad. 

With a rich history of 10 years, the last edition of this event was held in the January of 2024 where 20 teams across India competed in a hybrid format where the first two rounds were held in an online format. After an intense battle, 9 teams qualified for the finals which were held on campus where the participants competed to find out who is the ultimate champion.

The competition unfolded in three stages: an initial online quiz involving over 60 teams, followed by a second round of industry analysis with 20 teams and culminating in the final round on campus with nine teams.

The ultimate phase of the contest comprised a challenging 36-hour marathon, divided into three distinct sub-rounds, all of which leveraged the capabilities of the Bloomberg Terminal. The first sub-round consisted of a brisk 30-minute quiz, focusing on extracting pertinent economic and financial data from the diverse resources of the Bloomberg Terminal to answer a series of questions.

The second sub-round required in-depth economic and industry analysis to identify promising investment sectors under two specific economic conditions. Participants undertook detailed, data-backed analysis of past economic and financial data using Bloomberg. Additionally, they were tasked with completing a valuation exercise for a listed entity, taking into account given scenarios. Following this, participants were required to present their comprehensive analysis and findings.

The final overnight sub-round presented the challenge of crafting a multi-asset portfolio, encompassing 15 to 20 Indian equities and another asset class. The portfolio had to adhere to various predefined criteria and aim to outperform benchmark returns significantly. Participants optimized this portfolio within the given constraints and subsequently subjected it to a five-year backtesting process to assess its relative performance. The culmination involved a presentation detailing the methodology employed and the outcomes achieved.