On December 22, 2016，the final of the first "Weixin Cup" Financial Modeling Competition, jointly held by the School of Statistics and Management at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and Shanghai Weixin Huizhi Financial Technology Co., Ltd., took place at the School of Statistics and Management. The contestants mainly came from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, Shanghai Normal University, and Tongji University. The contestants from the School of Statistics and Management continued their strong performance in modeling competitions over the years, securing the top three positions.
This competition is organized in the form of teams, mainly targeting students from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. It aims to provide a platform for many modeling enthusiasts to exchange and practice, enhance students' teamwork abilities, and allow more students to understand the application of data modeling in the field of intelligent finance.
The preliminaries are based on financial data provided by Wei Xin Jin Ke, using SAS for modeling and submitting a modeling report. Finalists submit their work in PPT format and present their research results live to the guests.
On the day of the final, Shanghai Weixin Huizhi Financial Technology Co., Ltd. sent a professional team as guest judges for on-site commentary. Wu Chunjie, the Deputy Dean of the School of Statistics and Management, delivered a speech in which he stated that the Financial Modeling Competition is beneficial for cultivating students' practical skills and innovation abilities. It is a strong attempt at school-enterprise cooperation and encourages students present to participate more in subject competitions.
After fierce competition in the preliminary round, only 8 teams entered the finals. In the defense session, each group showcased impressive presentations, responding fluently to the judges' questions, demonstrating a solid foundation in statistics as well as strong language expression skills.
During the competition, two senior management trainees shared their understanding of financial modeling with the students. "The abstract and rigid data became so concrete and vivid in their stories, as if they were opening the door to a new world of big data for us," the audience expressed.
After repeated discussions among the expert judges, contestants Zhang Yi, Chen Xuan, and Yang Lihua from the School of Statistics and Management won the first prize, contestants Li Peiyao and Li Xuanxuan from the School of Statistics and Management won the second prize, and contestants An Lu and Yao Yiting from the School of Statistics and Management won the third prize. Mr. Luo Sheng, the Risk Control Director of Weixin Jinke, gave high praise to all the contestants. The competition prepared generous prizes and corresponding job (internship) opportunities for outstanding students.
The cooperation between schools and enterprises to build a competition practice platform is, on the one hand, beneficial for the dissemination of corporate culture and provides a channel for enterprises to discover outstanding talents; on the other hand, it is conducive to cultivating college students' practical innovation abilities and is an effective way to cultivate outstanding financial application talents.
