Johannesburg, 30 June 2026: The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has announced the May winners of the 2026 JSE Investment Challenge, the financial literacy initiative that has run for more than 50 years. The Challenge is an online trading game that simulates live market conditions, giving high school and university students hands-on investment experience. Each team receives a virtual portfolio of R1 million to invest in JSE-listed shares, putting strategy, decision-making, risk assessment and portfolio management into practice.

In the school categories for this month, Team NC-MSH from Morakolo Secondary School in Limpopo Province won the Income Portfolio Award, while Team Hudson House from Maritzburg College in KwaZulu-Natal secured the Equity Portfolio. Team RDC-The Stock Sharks from Paul Roos Gymnasium in the Western Cape won the Schools Speculator Portfolio category, and the ETF/ETN Portfolio Award was won by Team NMB-UNITED TRADERS from Phakamisa High School in the Eastern Cape.

In the university categories, the UNISA-ALE Traders from UNISA Western Cape won the University Speculator Portfolio Award. In the university ETF/ETN category, Team BHK-Lex et Ordo from the University of the Witwatersrand won first place.

Team member Sisanda Maikano, UNISA - ALE Traders, said, “The investment challenge taught me that I have a big risk appetite and am a little bit emotionally invested in stocks: I’m always hoping that I am making good decisions. It also taught me that the stock market is volatile, and no matter how much research you do or how much you stick to safety, sometimes things just fall apart. You have to be patient as well.”

The Challenge is about more than picking stocks. For many participants, it is where financial confidence begins; where budgeting, risk awareness and disciplined thinking stop being abstract ideas and start proving useful, whether or not they ever place a real trade.

His teammate, Sibonelelo Mdelwa said, as an economist, the Challenge made him recognise that markets don’t trade in a vacuum. “When you model investment decisions on technicals alone, you implicitly assume ceteris paribus—all other things being held constant. But at the JSE, and globally, “all else” is never constant. Geopolitics, liquidity conditions, supply chains and sentiment drive price as much as RSI or moving averages.”

Ralph Speirs, Senior Corporate Social Investment Officer at the JSE, said: "Financial literacy is one of the most valuable life skills a young person can develop. The Challenge turns abstract ideas like risk and return into practical knowledge, and watching participants grow in confidence over the months is exactly why we run it. Our hope is that every one of them walks away with a foundation they'll draw on for the rest of their lives."

Participation in 2026 reflects a real and growing appetite for investment education among South Africa's youth. Hundreds of students from all nine provinces took part, fielding strong teams across universities, colleges and schools alike.

Mdelwa said young South Africans need to understand that investing in shares isn’t as costly as they think. “It’s crucial to learn how to make smart investment decisions,” he said. “Many spend excessively today because they lack financial knowledge and access to reliable information, essentially using tomorrow’s money now.

By letting participants learn decision-making in a low-risk setting, the Challenge offers a practical route into understanding financial markets — and leaves them with lasting money management skills. As Maikano said, the challenge is a good initiative as it’s “given me exposure and opportunity to know how the stock market works — hopefully one day I can invest with real money”.

Schools and universities who are keen to participate in the challenge can still register electronically at https://schools.jse.co.za and https://university.jse.co.za. To stay updated, follow the competition’s social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

Overall category winners for May are:

Schools Income Portfolio: NC–MSH,  Morakolo Secondary School, Limpopo Province

Schools Equity Portfolio: Hudson House, Maritzburg College, Western Cape

Schools Speculator Portfolio: RDC-The Stock Sharks, Paul Roos Gymnasium, Western Cape

Schools EFT/ETN Portfolio: NMB–UNITED TRADERS, Phakamisa High School, Eastern Cape

University Speculator Portfolio: UNISA-ALE Traders, UNISA Western Cape, Western Cape

University ETF/ETN Portfolio: BHK-Lex et Ordo, University of the Witwatersrand, Gauteng

ENDS

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