Halftime Leaderboard - ETF Global® Portfolio Challenge

March 25, 2017 – We have reached the halfway point in the Spring 2017 ETF Global® Portfolio Challenge and there has been no shortage of competition thus far.  As our participants continue to jockey for position atop the leaderboard, let’s observe who is in the lead as we enter the second half of the competition.

Spring 2017 ETFG Portfolio Challenge Top 10 – through 3/24

Name	School	Return
Ethan O’Donnell	St. John Fisher College	15.33%
Dan Dang	St. John Fisher College	14.04%
Vlad Shevtsov	University of Georgia	12.97%
Phat Huynh	St. John Fisher College	12.23%
Steven Barber	Rochester Institute of Tech	11.84%
Sagar Jain Prabhakar	University of Manitoba	10.25%
Catherine St. Clair	St. John Fisher College	9.54%
Kyle Reid	St. John Fisher College	9.09%
Jennifer  Amezquita	University of Utah	9.05%
Cole Smith	St. John Fisher College	8.32%

A few key takeaways from the first half leaderboard - St. John Fisher College boasts 6 students in the top 10, as it continues its impressive run as the Spring 2017 portfolio challenge’s top performing school!

We have a new leader, with Ethan O’Donnell supplanting Steven Barber for the number one spot this week.  Vlad Shevtsov made his first appearance in the top 5 this week, as he currently sits 3^rd overall in the competition. Kyle Reid, Jennifer Amezquita, and Cole Smith all made their debuts in our top 10, ending the week in 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th place respectively.  Jennifer represents the first student from the University of Utah to appear in our leaderboard!

Outperformance this week was powered by bets on precious metals, emerging markets and oil ETPs. Political turmoil helped reverse the Trump market rally and increase the appeal of previously out of favor defensive assets, like precious metals. The flight to defensive assets helped boost ETPs, like Direxion Daily Gold Miners Index Bull 3x Shares (NUGT), VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ), and VelocityShares 3x Long Silver ETN (USLV), which were positions held by several students in our top 10.

Amid this domestic upheaval, emerging market assets have outperformed. Our student leaders took advantage of this momentum with positions in ETPs such as Direxion Daily Russia Bull 3x Shares (RUSL), Direxion Daily Brazil Bull 3X Shares (BRZU), and Direxion Daily MSCI India Bull 3X Shares (INDL).

Our leaders also benefited from bearish positions in oil, as swelling U.S. inventories weighed on the price of sector. ETPs like DB Crude Oil Double Short ETN (DTO) and Direxion Daily S&P Oil & Gas Exp. & Prod. Bear 3X Shares (DRIP) were key sources of outperformance for some of our leaders.

Looking ahead into the second half of the portfolio challenge, we expect to continue to see change atop our leaderboard and look forward to seeing who emerges from the competition!

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