Two teams from the Mpumelelo Secondary School in Mpumalanga have excelled in the JSE Investment Challenge, claiming top spots in the Equity Portfolio and Income Portfolio categories for April.

‘MP Thee Magic Traders’ – comprised of eleventh graders Disebo Makhubed, Nompumelelo Mtsweni, Nokuthula Thomo, and Siyanda Ntuli – were able to raise more than R23,000 in virtual revenue for the Income Portfolio category of the competition. 

“Our strategy was to focus on growth before dividends. If you concentrate on dividends and make a loss, it can be difficult to recover, especially in the current climate of loadshedding, political activities, and high interest rates,” the team agreed.

Mtsweni said she now understands the effect of global economic headwinds on the local market.

“We have learned how foreign activities, like the war in Ukraine, impacts the economy and the market in our country and can lead to unemployment, hikes in fuel, and increases in food costs,” said Mtsweni.

Another team from the school, ‘MP To The JSE’, claimed the top spot for April in the Equity Portfolio category. Angel Nkabinde, Lethobuhle Mokoena, Thandolwami Hlongwa, and Thembelihle Mabena, all in Grade 9, achieved 4.18% growth in their virtual portfolio despite increasingly volatile economic conditions.

“We only invested in the JSE’s top 40 companies. We decided to go big or go home,” said Hlongwa.

Designed to highlight the importance of investing and to increase financial knowledge among South African school learners and tertiary students, the Investment Challenge provides high school and university participants with an opportunity to invest a virtual amount of R1 million on the stock market in actual JSE listed shares over a six-month period. Their performance is tracked and measured against other competitors, with top-performers eligible for outstanding prizes after the floor closes in September.

Monthly prizes are awarded to the best performing teams and overall winners win their share of R1 million in prizes including a trip to an international stock exchange for participants in the university game.

"This challenge presents an invaluable opportunity for our youth to gain real trading skills through an interactive platform. It is wonderful to see the level of engagement and the acumen displayed by this month's winners. We eagerly anticipate what the coming months will bring and are excited to see more young investors unlock their potential,” said Idris Seedat, Head: Transformation and CSI at the JSE.

The competition has been running for half a century and continues to be an asset in upskilling young people in the fundamentals of investing and the importance of financial literacy.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Challenge, the JSE is going down memory lane by running a competition targeted at all Investment Challenge alumni. Past participants are called to share their Investment Challenge stories and stand a chance to win their share of R10 000 in investment vouchers.

Submissions need to include the year in which the entrants participated in the competition, the school or tertiary institution they were enrolled in, what was happening in the country and the markets when they participated, their team members and how the game impacted their lives and future investment decisions.

Entries can be submitted on social media by way of a 30 second video clip and tagging the Investment Challenge pages on TikTok: @jseinvestmentchallenge, Facebook @JSEChallenge, Twitter: @JSE_Challenge and Instagram: JSEChallenge. Alternatively, written submissions of no more than 500 words can be sent via email to  [email protected].

The competition closes on 31 July and winners will be announced on 24 August. Terms and Conditions apply. To read the Terms and Conditions, please click here and to go through the JSE’s Privacy Policy, please click here.
 

Winners for the April 2023 monthly Investment Challenge competition include:

• Income Portfolio for schools: MP Thee Magic Traders from Mpumelelo Secondary School, Mpumalanga
• Equity Portfolio for schools: MP To The JSE, from Mpumelelo Secondary School, Mpumalanga
• Speculator portfolio for schools: The Inside Traders from Clifton College, Kwa-Zulu Natal
• ETF/ETN portfolio for schools: LAM-Castle bridge 3 from Castle Bridge School, Free State
• Speculator portfolio for universities: Healthy Profits from Stellenbosch University, Western Cape
• ETF/ETN portfolio for universities: ru-vacay from Rhodes University, Eastern Cape

Teams that are still keen to participate in the Investment Challenge can still register electronically at https://schools.jse.co.za and https://university.jse.co.za and to stay updated, follow the competition’s social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter , Instagram and TikTok (@JSEinvestmentchallenge).

ENDS

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