Asset Allocation Games, Part 1

Delivered July 16th, 2019. Contributors: Nehil S., Philip, Emmanuel A. and

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Asset Allocation Games, Part 1

Invstr, Stocks & Forex Trading Game, and Bux are software available on both Android and iOS operating systems, that simulate or teach about asset allocation. This spreadsheet contains further details of our findings.

S THAT SIMULATE/TEACH ABOUT ASSET ALLOCATION

PRODUCT #1: INVSTR BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PRODUCT
The Invstr app enables the placement of virtual bets on the stock market, and also offers a news feed of the latest financial information as well as social forums relating to certain stocks. 
The app is free to play on both iOS and Android, but additional information requires additional payment.
Here's a link to the official website.
WHY IT IS AMONG THE TOP
 It has been downloaded approximately 50,000 times worldwide as of June 2019.
PROS
 The product has been described as the “Turn Gaming into Investing” by FinTech Futures and “A game changer, demystifying the complicated trading markets” by the AppNews.co.uk 
CONS
Due to Canadian regulations, DriveWealth LLC, cannot on-board Canadian clients for this game. 
PRODUCT #2:
 STOCKS & FOREX TRADING GAME BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PRODUCT
Stocks & Forex Trading Game features a challenge that can be made against other people, where they compete against each other and trade on different markets around the world.
The game also uses cartoons to make it a bit more approachable and builds in a quiz to assist in learning about the game. The app provides pro tips, and all the trading simulations happen in real time.
Stocks & Forex Trading Game is a unique learning and simulation game that is free. It is a simple-to-use, forex learning application for beginners. 
Here's a link to the official website.
WHY IS IT AMONG THE TOP 
It has been downloaded approximately 10,000 times worldwide as of June 2019.
PROS
The app offers a user-friendly guide with rich illustrations, pro-trading tips, and expert strategy examples that induce novice traders and beginners to master the currency exchange market in a fun and easy manner. 
Stocks & Forex Trading Game has been ranked as the best by Forex brokers. 
CONS
The app has not been updated and has some bugs as experienced by the app users, which were not fixed on time.
PRODUCT #3:
 BUX BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PRODUCT
The app sets up an account with 1,000 Bux to trade on a host of well-known companies like Amazon and Facebook.
Bux also takes its data from the real-work performance of shares on the market with a transition to real-world cash.
Here's a link to the official website.
WHY IS IT AMONG THE TOP
 It has been downloaded approximately 9,000 times worldwide as of June 2019.
PROS
BUX X has more than 2 million users throughout Europe and is used by both beginners and trading professionals.
CONS
Consumers are often locked out for maintenance. Many have addressed the app as a "scam" and "fraudulent." 

RESEARCH STRATEGYWe started our search by looking for a pre-compiled list of top games, websites, tools, or software demonstrations that simulate/teach about asset allocation through Forbes, PCMag.com, IPE, Kurtosys, Mashable, Jagoinvestor, and Investopedia, among others. As such, websites generally provide lists of top apps in different categories. The data available from these sources provided the apps/tools/software related to asset allocation/portfolio and management/stock trading but did not highlight the apps that simulate or teach asset allocation. 

Eventually, we came across a report which showcased the "top 5 stock trading games" which simulate or teach asset allocation. Thus, we based further findings on this one. After finding information, we excluded the apps/games/websites/tools already listed in previous research, to avoid duplication. We used the Sensor Tower website and to rank the apps as 'top,' based on the number of downloads worldwide as per June 2019. From this ranking, we then selected the top three apps.

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Asset Allocation Games, Part 2

Some examples of games, websites, tool, or software demonstrations that simulate and teach about asset allocation are MyWallSt: Learn, Stock Wars: Virtual Investing, and Olymp Trade. The requested information is provided in the attached spreadsheet.   
1. MyWallSt: LearnLearn by MyWallSt teaches users how to "invest and trade on the stock market." 
 The app is equipped with "over 40 lessons of original content" tailored to teach users "the fundamental principles of investing in the stock market." 
 As of June 2019, the app had more than 10 thousand downloads globally.
The app has over a million installations on the iOS store. 
With the app features and tutorials, users are assured of a "clear path towards becoming an investor".
The apps features include "a progress wheel to track growth", "night mode and adjustable font settings", among others.
2.  Stock Wars: Virtual InvestingThe Stock Wars app is a "simulation and strategy game" that helps beginners to "learn about real-world investing and test practical stock trading strategies". Users can also compete and trade with friends.
With the App, the user can "create and manage a virtual portfolio" while also placing real-time orders,
The app has over 5,000 downloads globally.
3. OLYMP TRADEThe Olymp trade app is one of the "most popular stimulation apps for stock trading".
The app has more than 20 million downloads globally.
Users of the Olymp Trade app are "taught the risks involved in trading" and how to overcome them.
There are "online learning features" for starters on the app interface.
The app has a demo account for starters where they can learn trade with virtual money.
The app also offers "dedicated customer assistance which is tailored to an individual user's needs or request".

Additional findings can be found in the attached spreadsheet.
RESEARCH STRATEGYTo compiled examples of games, websites, tools, or software demonstrations that simulate/teach about asset allocation, we first defined the concept of asset allocation. From the information provided by several sources, we understood that asset allocation entails sharing investments among various assets which include stocks, cash, and bonds. From these findings, we were able to conclude that stock investment sharing could be correctly used to replace asset allocation without changing the scope of the research. Armed with this information, we then proceeded to commence our research.

We commenced the research by scouring through reports for a precompiled list that contained information, examples, and reviews of the top games, websites, tools, or software demonstrations that stimulate and/or teach about asset allocation(stock investment sharing). Sites hosting databases most commonly known for containing case studies and/or articles from various reputable news and media outlets were utilized in this attempt at uncovering precompiled information. The articles found on this search provided the research team with valuable data pertaining to some games and websites that simulate/teach about stock investment sharing. 

From the examples given, we made sure to exclude the websites and apps that have been used in the previous research. Then, we focused on obtaining the pros and cons of each of the apps and websites. We also tried looking for product overviews, reviews, ratings or profiles on reputable databases. We did not find any precomputed information on the pros and cons. Therefore, we resorted to extracting the pros and cons from other sources like blogs, forums among others. We searched for positive and negative views of these games from their descriptions and customers’ feedback on play store and apple store. From here, we picked the most recurring disadvantages as cons and advantages or positive features as pros.

Furthermore, to establish that the app game or websites provided were the best possible examples we could find, we search articles, press releases, featured stories, and publications. In this search, we looked for tools or software that can be used to simulate/ teach about asset allocation or stock investment. Unfortunately, the information found was related to investment, stock market and money management tools than asset allocation. Hence, we went ahead to present our findings on games, websites, tools, or software demonstrations that can be used to stimulate/teach stock investment because, from our earlier findings, these examples could also be used to learn asset allocation. 

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Asset Allocation Games, Part 3

Three additional tools that simulate or teach about asset allocation are Forex Game, TeleTrader, and Virtual Stock Exchange. Further details for the tools have been entered into rows 9-11, columns A-E of the attached spreadsheet, which is the same spreadsheet as the other 2 previous responses.

Forex Game
 Forex Game provides a free way for users to learn and develop their skills as a trader on the financial markets of stocks and Forex. It also includes trading on cryptocurrencies.
It has been downloaded over 1,000,000 times worldwide.
Its pros include being easy to use with only two buttons "Up and Down", while its cons include not adding trading safe guards like stop loss.
TeleTrader 
 TeleTrader is a free real time asset portfolio tracker for stock, cryptocurrencies, and commodities. It allows users to include or remove symbols with simulated trading transactions.
It has been downloaded over 500,000 times worldwide.
Its pros include making it easy for users to select most promising assets out of thousands available while its cons include allowing the selection of limited symbols.
Virtual Stock Exchange Virtual Stock Exchange is a simulation platform provided by MarketWatch which allows users to trade stocks in real-time using virtual portfolios. Users can either join existing games or create new games where they can compete with others.
It has over 300,000 monthly users.
Its pros include adding advanced trading options like limit and stop loss features and partial shares, while its cons include being visually disorganized and containing a lot of ads and sponsored information.