THE TRADER MAIL
WEDNESDAY JUNE 19 2013
About the Challenge
Want full details on the ifs Student Investor Challenge? This is the story for you!
Cheltenham students race to victory in the ifs Student Investor Challenge 2011/2012
by our Staff Reporter
London, UK, 25 April 2012: Congratulations to the team from Pate's Grammar School in Cheltenham who beat over 10,000 other teams to win the prestigious ifs Student Investor Challenge. The Pate's Grammar team, called "Surplus Value" will now travel to New York on an all expenses paid educational trip, as well as winning £2,000 for the school and £200 each.
In a hard fought final, the Pate's Grammar team, comprising of Alex Walsh, 18, Olly Wilcock, 18, Sam Hart, 17 and Ryan Lee, 17, narrowly beat students from King Edward VI School Southampton into second place and The Leys School from Cambridge into third.
The free to enter annual competition started with students receiving a fantasy £100,000 to invest in the stock market over three months. The winning team made £12,460 in 3 months of trading, outperforming the FTSE 100 by 7% over the same period.
During the trading phase of the competition, Stochastic from Trinity School Croydon won £150 each for the best performing portfolio, making an incredible £148,268 profit. The achievement was an impressive repeat of last year when the same team topped the league table. Sadly for the Trinity School team, they failed to make the final, being beaten in the South East regional final.
In the national final the top eight teams debated the topic: "Responsible capitalism; what is it and can it work?" The Pate's Grammar team argued that by following examples set by organisations such as John Lewis, splitting commercial and retail banking in the UK and by taking a more long term approach to investment, responsible capitalism was an achievable goal.
Olly Wilcock from the winning Pate's Grammar team said:
"We have all really enjoyed taking part in the ifs Student Investor Challenge and have gained hugely from the experience. It was a case of third time lucky for us today and it goes to show that hard work and perseverance pays off in the end."
ifs Vice Principal Rod McKee said:
"The ifs Student Investor Challenge gives all students from across the UK the opportunity to experience share dealing, portfolio management and risk & reward in a safe and educational environment. Being able to understand and manage money is a key life skill and this challenge brings a sense of fun and competition to learning these increasingly important skills.
Congratulations to the team from Pate's Grammar School, their performance in the trading stage of the competition and again in today's final was truly excellent. I hope that they and indeed all the teams that took part will take away some important lessons about managing money which will serve them in the good stead for the future."
The final was attended by a host of senior figures, including ifs Chairman Dr Paul Fisher, Bank of England Executive Director, Markets, and Channel 4's Economics Editor Faisal Islam.
You can register your interest for the 2012-13 ifs Student Investor Challenge here.
On Other Pages
Prizes, Prizes, Prizes!
Win a trip to New York and much, much more with the ifs Student Investor challenge
This Year's Legislation
Everything you need to know about registering for and playing the ifs Student Investor challenge.
Bath Students Clean Up
King Edward's School, Bath Win ifs Student Investor Challenge 2010/2011
Watch the Highlights from the 2009/2010 Challenge
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
