“Their ability to comprehend and trade derivative products, which are relatively complex financial instruments, helped the winning teams to show good returns on their investments,” says Leila Fourie, group chief executive of the JSE.
Ralph Speirs, CSI officer at the JSE, says he is impressed with the effort, dedication and enthusiasm that learners and students have demonstrated in developing competitive strategies to get ahead in the competition this year. And building on the success of the JSE Investment Challenge at the school in the past three years, the school has pulled in pupils as young as those in grades 8 and 9. However, teams are mixed across the grades so that older pupils who have competed before can guide and mentor the younger ones.
“Part of our strategy was taking advantage of when the share price dropped and making 56% profit from that,” explains Sibeko. The Wall Street team, from Claremont High School in the Western Cape – which included Gerard Umegbolu, Lathita Caza, Litha Thembela and Muhammad Ridhaa Adams – walked away with the top prize in the high schools’ speculator category, with a portfolio growth of 4.01%.