Winners of the Portfolio Pitch Competition 2025
Celebrating the brightest minds in finance—highlights from the 2025 Portfolio Pitch Competition
A Nationwide Investment Challenge
The competition saw an overwhelming response with 80+ teams and more than 400 participants representing top universities across the UK, including:
- University of Warwick
- University of Cambridge
- Imperial College London
- King’s College London
- London School of Economics (LSE)
- University College London (UCL)
- University of Nottingham
Students were competing over the last three months for a chance to win from our £2000 prize pool and internship opportunities at UMushroom & Volcafe.
Sahil Jaiswal the Head of the Quantitative Investment Group at WBSS, transformed a local Warwick-based competition into a national-level event. The participation grew 8x this year!
Organized in collaboration with Warwick, Cambridge, LSE, Imperial, UCL, and KCL, the competition was designed to challenge students' financial acumen and ability to think critically. Thanks to this expansion, the Portfolio Pitch Competition has now become the UK's biggest portfolio competition.
The Competition Format
The contest was divided into two intense rounds:
- Preliminary Round: All participating teams competed in a rigorous first stage, showcasing their investment strategies and market insights. The top 20 teams advanced to the finals.
- Final Round: The top five teams presented their strategies live at The Shard, London, in front of an esteemed panel of industry professionals, academics, and investment experts.
Announcing the Champions
After a highly competitive final round, the top three teams emerged victorious, demonstrating exceptional financial knowledge, risk management skills, and strategic thinking. We are proud to celebrate their achievements and commend all participants for their dedication and hard work.
🎉 1st Place: Team: Nicole Pfirrmann, Warwick University
- Aaron Bird & Leo El-Asmar
🏆 2nd Place: Team Over The Hedge, Warwick University
- Taksh Shrivastava, Xiangtong Liu & Tudor Badea
🥉3rd Place: Team Pembo Capital
- Mikhail Sinev, Meet Lalwani, Irakli Imnaishvili, George Gui
A Transformative Learning Experience
This competition not only showcased the immense talent of UK undergraduates but also provided a unique opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world financial scenarios. Participants engaged in dynamic decision-making, refining their ability to analyze markets and construct robust investment portfolios.
The event would not have been possible without the collaboration of leading universities and industry experts, who provided mentorship and insights throughout the challenge. A special thank you to esteemed panel of judges— Dr. Luba Schoenig, Michel Maurice Noumair, and Vaibhav Ashwin Kumar—for their invaluable expertise during the finals.
Looking Ahead
With the resounding success of the 2025 Portfolio Pitch Competition, we look forward to continuing this tradition, inspiring the next generation of finance leaders. Congratulations once again to all participants and winners—your passion and dedication to investment strategy and risk management have set a high standard for future competitions!
Stay tuned for updates on next year’s challenge, and we hope to see even more aspiring investors rise to the occasion!
