WIC2025 champions, LMU Investment ClubThe champions from LMU Investment Club in Tokyo, on the trip to Japan they won.
In their words
From our interviews with WIC2025 teams, February–March 2026.
It's a pretty cool way for a team, or even for an investment club, to build more unity. It's more like a team sport. … And also to show your investment club, to present it to the world.
With the Interactive Brokers account, we have a lot of capital and can buy professional products. … For the students, it's a perfect place to dig into new topics.
I always wanted to see if I'm good at this or not. This was a good opportunity to see if I actually have what it takes to maybe work in sales and trading someday.
Judges
Two seasoned market professionals scored every investment report submitted in WIC2025.
Nobuhiko Shimura
CEO, Skye Investment Managers Co., Ltd.
Visiting Fellow, Stanford University
Based in the United States since 2023, where he has served as a visiting scholar and fellow at Stanford University. Before that he went independent and founded his own firm, working internationally out of Malaysia.
He built his career at Nissay Schroders Asset Management (London), Nissay Asset Management and Shinkin Central Bank. As a fund manager, trader and analyst he managed assets for major pension funds and investment trusts in Japan and abroad, and worked on projects to overhaul market and risk management operations.
Since 2001 he has specialized in the active management of global equities, with hands-on experience ranging from individual stock selection to options-based strategies, for institutional portfolios and in practical trading alike.
He currently serves as Chief Strategist at First Partners Inc., advises business owners, researchers and individual investors on asset management, and is working on new frameworks for long-term wealth building.
He appears regularly in financial media, including TV Tokyo's News Morning Satellite, Nikkei CNBC, BS TV Tokyo's NIKKEI NEWS, Radio NIKKEI and the Wall Street Journal.
Published work: "Investment Strategies of the World's Wealthy That Individual Investors Can Also Use" (Diamond Inc.) - Bestseller
Yasuji Yamanaka
Director, Ascendant Inc.
Graduated from Keio University in 1982 and joined Bank of America. He engaged in proprietary trading operations and was promoted to Vice President in 1989.
In 1997, he moved to Nikko Securities, and in 1999 became Deputy General Manager of the Foreign Exchange Division at NikkoCiti Trust & Banking.
In 2002, he founded Ascendant Inc., a financial consulting firm, where he serves as Director. Since 2019, he has been the Head of Japan Market at TradingView.
Published work: "How to Read and Use Technical Indicators" (Nihon Jitsugyo Publishing (2015)) - and other publications
Participating universities
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich — LMU Investment Club (Germany)
Technical University of Munich — TU Investment Club (Germany)
RWTH Aachen University — Aachen Investment Club (Germany)
University of Geneva — IFSA Geneva (Switzerland)
University of Sheffield — Investment Society (UK)
University of Alberta — The Business Finance Association (Canada)
University of Toronto — Rational Capital Investment Club (Canada)
University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Roger Williams University — MBA Program (US)
Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee — Finance Club IITR (India)
University of Delhi — Alpha Research & Investment Cell (India)
University of New South Wales — Alternative Investment Society (Australia)
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia — Bursa Young Investor Club (Malaysia)
Waseda University — Forward Investment Club (Japan)
Keio University (Japan)
Meiji University (Japan)
WIC2024
The first edition ran for two months with 12 universities from 9 countries. TU Investment Club of the Technical University of Munich won with a return of 28.4%, growing its portfolio from $300,000 to $384,000.
