Student Investor Challenge
Matthew Turnbull, Year 13 Finance student writes:
Mrs Ramsamy’s Finance classes had another successful year with the ‘Student Investor Challenge’. The competition involves teams of four investing £100,000 of virtual money on the London Stock Exchange.
We had to keep our two portfolios healthy by following the ups and downs of the market, judging when to buy and sell in order to make a profit. Portfolio one was the ‘Active Investor Portfolio’ which allowed us to trade on each working day. Each month, the team with the most improved portfolio was rewarded with a prize. Portfolio two was the ‘Strategic Investor Portfolio’ which allows only a limited number of trades per month, therefore, encouraging long-term strategic thinking.
Based on our knowledge gained from studying personal finance and Mrs Ramsamy’s strong advice to invest the full amount of cash we had at all times helped us to avoid a daily Windfall Tax of £1,000. This year my team and I were in the top 10 teams out of over 6000 teams and received an email from the organisers LIBF stating: “Your team is about to enter the semi-finals! This is such a fantastic achievement – well done for navigating the markets which were even more competitive this year.” This means now we will have a new challenge against the top teams in the UK to try and reach the live finals.
Mrs Ramsamy, Business & Finance Leader writes:
The ‘Student Investor Challenge’ aims to improve financial capability, and encourage engagement with the finance sector. It gives students a positive and practical experience of what it’s like to invest in the real-life stock market, gain team-work skills and strengthen their maths knowledge. It’s a joy to see year on year our students making it to the semi-final. Making it into the top 10 makes this the best year ever for one of our teams namely Jack Joyce, Matthew Turnbull and Andreas Andreous. Good luck in the next round!
“This Challenge is a fantastic way to get yourself into stocks and shares which I find very interesting and it really challenges you to think about how real life events and occurrences will affect the market. Also with the Student Investor Market being based only 15 minutes off real time it keeps you on your toes at all times.” Matthew Turnbull
