USA Holds 9th Place

Discussion (pairs, 5 min): Why would a hedge fund with $17 billion under management run a free public competition? What does WorldQuant gain from 80,000 participants building alphas on their platform?

1. Have you ever participated in a competition where the prize was a career opportunity rather than just money? How did it feel?
2. WorldQuant was founded on the belief that “talent is global, but opportunity is not.” Do you agree? Give an example from your own experience.
3. Why do you think countries like Kenya, Vietnam, and Nigeria consistently rank in the Top 10 of a global quantitative finance competition?

Note on the data change from Stage 1: In Stage 1, the leaderboard measured individual participants and aggregate score. In Stage 2, it measures teams and IS Score (Investment Score). This is not a drop in performance — it is a different metric for a different round. The USA’s ranking stays at #9.

Comprehension Check — Data Questions (pairs, 8 min):

1. China has 11,058 teams and an IS Score of 93,697,462. Calculate the average IS Score per team. Do the same for the USA. Which country has a higher score per team?
2. The gap between the USA (#9) and the UK (#10) is 14,199 IS Score points. If one USA team submitted a strong alpha worth 15,000 IS Score points, what would happen to the gap?
3. Kenya has 3,100 teams and ranks #3 with 25,166,034 points. Vietnam has 1,172 teams and ranks #4 with 9,045,823 points. Which country has a higher IS Score per team? What does that suggest about the quality vs. quantity of their submissions?
4. WorldQuant was founded by someone who worked as a video game programmer and a scientist before founding a hedge fund. What does that tell you about what kinds of backgrounds succeed in quant finance?

Students write independently. Choose one:

Option A — Strategy Memo: You are advising the US IQC team. Write a 150-word memo proposing one specific, realistic strategy to move the USA from #9 to #7 before June 22. Use data from the Stage 2 leaderboard. Use comparative language: more than, fewer than, higher, lower, twice as many. Your proposal must include at least one number.

Option B — Company Profile: Write a 150-word summary of WorldQuant for someone who has never heard of it. Who founded it? What do they do? Why does the IQC exist? Use at least four vocabulary words from Stage 3.

Option C — Personal Connection: You are one of the 202 US teams. You have just submitted an alpha. Write what you would tell a friend about what you did today and why it matters. Use present perfect: “I have just contributed to...”

Students open platform.worldquantbrain.com → Competitions → IQC 2026. Find the USA. Find their country (if available). Record the current numbers in their notebook.

Discussion (whole class, 5 min): Has anything changed since the June 2 data? Did the UK overtake the USA? Did another country enter the top 10? What does that tell you about how live this competition is?

Stage 3 — Singapore: Remind students: Stage 2 closes June 22. Stage 3 is a live event in Singapore in September 2026. Top-scoring teams compete in person for the championship and a share of $100,000.

Forward link — Lesson 07: “In two lessons, you will write your own alpha and submit it to this platform. Your formula will have your country’s name on it. Today you read the score. That day you will change it.”

Homework: Check the leaderboard once between now and next class. Write down the USA Stage 2 score and rank. Note if the UK overtook the USA or if the USA climbed. Bring it to class.