(FEB NEWS) Students of the Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Airlangga(FEB UNAIR) have once again achieved a proud achievement through the team The Chosen One who won 1st place in the 2026 UNAI Virtual Trading Competition (VTC). The competition, organized by the Investment Gallery of the Indonesian Stock Exchange, Adventist University of Indonesia (GIBEI UNAI), was attended by 80 teams (±300 participants) from the general public and universities throughout Indonesia, which were then selected until the 3 best teams remained in the final round.

The Chosen One team consists of three undergraduate students from the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) UNAIR Management program, class of 2024: Nurul Alfiandy, Muhammad Affan Wiragungsatya, and Armand Dhiya Rayyan Saputra. In this competition, they successfully demonstrated superior performance and secured first place among the finalists.

The competition will be held in two stages: an online preliminary round from March 30 to April 17, 2026, and a final round on April 24, 2026, at the Indonesian Adventist University in Bandung. In the preliminary round, participants will simulate stock trading using the POEMS ID platform by Phillips Securities, known as a credible and secure trading competition platform free from fraud.

Team leader Nurul Alfiandy stated that his interest in participating in this competition was based on the quality of the platform used. He believes a secure and transparent system is crucial in ensuring the honesty of participant transactions, given that bug exploitation issues are a frequent challenge in similar competitions.

In practice, the team implemented a centralized decision-making system under the command of the team leader. Alfiandy was solely responsible for stock portfolio management, while two other team members monitored and studied the analysis process. Interestingly, he intentionally invited teammates who hadn't yet fully mastered trading theory and practice, with the goal of growing and learning together.

Alfiandy's preparation wasn't instantaneous; he'd been immersed in the world of finance and investment since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Armed with approximately six years of independent learning experience through learning by doing and trial and error, he was able to hone his analytical skills. During the three-week competition period, he also had to juggle VTC, other competitions, and academic activities, including midterm exams.

In this competition, judging is based on each team's Return on Investment (ROI), making portfolio management a key factor. Alfiandy relies on technical analysis based on historical stock price data and smart money, employing an approach that follows the transaction flows of major market players to determine buying and selling momentum.

The journey to victory wasn't always smooth. On the first day of the competition (March 30, 2026), the team experienced a drawdown of up to -10% due to a strategic error in overtrading. However, this situation became an important learning point regarding discipline in executing a trading plan. The turning point occurred between April 7 and 9, 2026. When the buying strategy focused on a single leading stock, it successfully boosted portfolio performance by +40% from its lowest point, equivalent to a net ROI of approximately +30% of the initial capital.

In the analysis process, the team relies entirely on freely available public data, without the use of insider information or market manipulation. All investment decisions are based on theoretical understanding and practical experience built over many years.

At the end of the preliminary round, The Chosen One team finished third out of 80 teams, advancing to the final round with two other teams. In the final individual presentation, Alfiandy impressed the panel of judges with his confident delivery, coherent explanation of his thinking process, and simple logic that was easily understood even by a lay audience.

This competition also involved a professional panel of judges, including Francis Hutabarat, MBA., Ph.D (Head of the UNAI Undergraduate Management Study Program), Johnston Barnes Sagala (President of GIBEI UNAI 2026), and representatives from Philips Securities.

This success is also due to the support of the learning process within FEB UNAIR and the contributions of mentors outside the campus. Alfiandy expressed his hope that the presentation material published via the Universitas Advent Indonesia (UNAI) YouTube live stream would benefit the wider community, particularly in understanding the analysis and decision-making process in stock investment.

Going forward, he is committed to continuing to deepen his knowledge in the fields of finance and investment in order to continuously improve his personal quality.

This achievement is concrete evidence that FEB UNAIR students are not only academically superior, but are also able to compete and excel at the national level through practical competencies that are relevant to the industrial world.