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THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 2 2010
About ifs Student Investor Challenge
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Ladies go Long win
ifs Student Investor Challenge 2009/2010
by our Staff Reporter
London, UK, 12 May 2010: A team of four students, the Ladies Go Long team from Plymouth College, has beaten over 27,000 other teenagers to take first place in ifs Student Investor Challenge and win the all expenses paid educational trip to New York and £2,000 for their school.
The national final was in two parts - a business challenge in the morning and an afternoon presentation asking "How socially useful is banking?" The students presented analysis and recommendations on the highly topical subject to a judging panel that included Lawrence Gold, from BBC's the 'Bank of Mum and Dad', Mr David Budworth, Deputy Personal Finance Editor at the Times and Revd Dr Giles Fraser, Canon Chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral. Whilst the students drew attention to the dangers of excessive risk taking they unanimously agreed that banks made a useful contribution to society overall. Ladies Go Long, consisting of Jessica Evans, Susannah Kellagher, Bobbie Moore and Tom Watkins won the 2009-10 ifs Student Investor Challenge - a financial education challenge operated by the ifs School of Finance and supported by Bloomberg. The students were awarded their prize by ifs School of Finance Chairman, Sir James Sassoon. Ladies Go Long narrowly defeated second placed IN IT TO WIN IT! from Oakham School and third placed team, LGSchool 1 from Loughborough Grammar School.
Luke Johnson, Financial Times columnist and Head of Risk Capital Partners was guest speaker at the event. In his speech, Luke talked about his experiences as an entrepreneur and the importance of understanding risk, embracing change and learning from mistakes for investing.
Rod McKee, Director of Financial Capability at the ifs School of Finance said:
"From an educational standpoint, the ifs Student Investor Challenge provides an excellent opportunity for young people to engage with the reality of the market and understand the impact of investment decisions across the board, from stock markets to personal finance. The issues facing economies and the financial industry today underline the importance of financial education in schools more than ever and we are delighted to run a competition that reflects this. The high numbers of entrants show students' enthusiasm for finance and the team from Plymouth did incredibly well to beat off stiff competition this year. All the finalists can take great pride in their achievements."
Ladies go Long member, Tom Watkins said:
"We are delighted that all our hard work has paid off. The ifs Student Investor Challenge has been a truly wonderful experience. Although every stage was trying and challenging it really helped improve my teamwork and presentation skills and made me much more aware of financial issues."
Team mate, Susannah Kellagher added:
"The ifs Student Investor Challenge has given me a very practical insight into the world of finance and allowed me to explore the many issues and challenges it faces today. I have enjoyed every step of the programme, from learning how to research companies and markets to understanding the wider impact of financial decisions on the economy."
Their economics teacher, Mr Jonathan Shields said:
"The ifs Student Investor Challenge has been an invaluable aid in helping us prepare our economics students, not just for their examinations, but also for the real world. Their financial awareness, their overall understanding of our economy and the wide-ranging skills needed for the presentation will stand by them for the rest of their lives."
Ladies Go Long celebrate their win
On Other Pages
Prizes, Prizes, Prizes!
Win a trip to New York and much, much more with ifs Student Investor Challenge
Watch the Highlights from Last Year's Competition
New Legislation
Everything you need to know about registering and playing ifs Student Investor Challenge.
