Johannesburg, 09 February 2022: The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) is excited to announce that registrations are open for this year’s JSE Investment Challenge and all high schools and tertiary institutions are encouraged to participate in the competition.

The JSE Investment Challenge is the exchange’s educational programme designed to introduce learners and students to the fundamentals of investing on the JSE. Teams that participate in the competition are given R1 million in virtual funds to invest in various portfolios, with the aim of outperforming the portfolios of other participating teams.

“Since the R1 million is virtual, participants have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Take on the challenge, invest in yourself and learn how to make your money work for you so that you can build a financially secure future for yourself,” says JSE Director: Marketing and Corporate Affairs Vuyo Lee.

Develop and test your trading skills

High schools may enter one or more teams, with the challenge being open to all learners. A team must consist of four members from Grades 8 to 12 and a teacher must supervise each team.

University students must form a team and all team members must be registered with the same institution. Each team must have a minimum of two and a maximum of four members. All students are eligible, regardless of their field of study.

“As in previous years, participating teams get to test their share trading skills through an ongoing simulated trading programme in which their performance is tracked and measured over six months. Teams can choose to manage one or more investment portfolios,” says Lee. “With the 2022 academic year kicking off and learners and students returning to normal learning schedules, we encourage them to take this opportunity to also learn about the principles of investing and the fundamentals of the stock market.”

Each month, the best performing teams and schools in each portfolio will win R500 per team member, R500 for the school and R500 for the supervising teacher. There are also five annual cash prizes per portfolio up for grabs, amounting to R60 000 per portfolio. Teams are eligible for a maximum of two monthly prizes for the duration of the competition. For university teams, there is a R3 000 monthly cash prize up for grabs for the top performing team, as well as three prizes to the value of R60 000 for overall winners of the annual prize and a trip to an international stock exchange for the first place winners.

Reaching more students

The JSE is amplifying its efforts and engagements with schools and universities to ensure that the programme reaches every corner of the country in order to drive financial literacy and expose the youth of South Africa to the exciting world of finance and investment.

“As the continent’s biggest stock exchange and a responsible corporate citizen, the JSE would also like to play an active role in creating a financially literate society. What better way to do this than to allow South Africans to gain real life skills in investing and trading on the stock exchange while participating in an exciting game and stand a chance to win cash prizes?” says Lee.

“We are very excited to start this year’s JSE Investment Challenge and we look forward to bringing the competition to more South Africans.” Trading begins in March and ends in September. Teams can 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 and Instagram.
 

ENDS

ABOUT THE JSE

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has a well-established history operating as a regulated marketplace for trading listed securities. The JSE is a pioneering, globally connected exchange group that enables inclusive economic growth through trusted, world class, socially responsible products, and services for the investor of the future. It offers secure and efficient primary and secondary capital markets across a diverse range of securities, spanning equities, derivatives, and debt markets. It prides itself as being the market of choice for local and international investors looking to gain exposure to leading capital markets on the African continent.

The JSE is currently ranked in the Top 20 largest stock exchanges in the world by market capitalisation, and is the largest stock exchange in Africa, having been in operation for over 130 years.

As a leading global exchange, the JSE co-creates, unlocks value and makes real connections happen.

www.jse.co.za