Student Investor Challenge: semi-finalists

Team from Churcher’s College beats 5,000 in stock market challenge to be in running for trip to New York.

A team of Sixth Form students – from Churcher’s College, Petersfield have battled their way into the Student Investor Challenge semi-finals, beating over 5,000 teams from schools around the UK and abroad.

The Student Investor Challenge, run by The London Institute of Banking & Finance, challenges teams of schoolchildren to invest virtual money on the London Stock Exchange and trade stocks and shares to make a profit.

Students Arthur “Craig” Dinham-Peren, Elliot Dewdney, Sam Mearns and Tom Radford successfully invested virtual money in the first round of trading. Only the top 500 teams progress to the semi-finals. They’ll now go on to battle the remaining 499 teams to try and reach the final in London.

Alison Pask, Managing Director of Financial Capability and Community Outreach at The London Institute of Banking & Finance, says:  

“This competition is a powerful way of engaging young people with how the finance sector works and relating it to everyday life.

“The movement of stocks and shares, currency fluctuations and central bank activities can feel quite remote and difficult to get to grips with. By bringing it to life through a trading game, young people have proved they can grasp how economies work and the basics of investment. So, congratulations to the semi-finalists for making the top 500, it’s a great achievement!”

About the Student Investor Challenge

The Student Investor Challenge is an online investment simulation for students aged 14-19 years old. It helps students increase their understanding of how stock markets work and hone their investment skills by investing virtual money on the London Stock Exchange.

It 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.

How it works:

• Teams from schools around the UK compete against each other by trading two virtual portfolios worth £100,000 in the stock market over a four-month period. They trade their shares, trying to predict how share prices might move, bearing in mind market and economic conditions, to make the most profit. 
• Trading replicates reality, with feeds from Bloomberg and the real costs of trading included. Students are challenged to make both long and short term trades, encouraging both day-to-day and strategic thinking.
• The top 500 teams progress to the semi-final.
• The semi-finalists battle to reach the final in London. Only 8 teams will go through to the final stage.

1st prize is an all-expenses-paid trip to New York, including a trip to the New York Stock Exchange, hosted by Asset TV.

Competition statistics:

• 23,540 students traded in 5,885 teams of four (22,276 UK students in 5,569 teams, 1,264 international students in 316 teams) 
• 856 schools are taking part (800 UK, 56 international)

About The London Institute of Banking & Finance:

• The London Institute of Banking & Finance has been at the heart of the finance sector since 1879. They are an education body and registered charity, incorporated by Royal Charter.
• They are the only specialist provider of personal finance qualifications for children and young people, helping them to develop vital money management skills for life as part of the national curriculum.
• They have their own university, providing undergraduate and postgraduate degrees for students aiming to pursue a career in banking and finance.
• And they are an awarding body for industry qualifications covering a wide range of subjects, including banking, investment and financial advice in the UK and internationally.