Registrations remain open throughout the challenge, so even if you missed the starting date, you can still enter.

The challenge is the JSE’s educational programme designed to introduce learners and students to the fundamentals of investing on the JSE. Teams 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 Vuyo Lee, JSE director of marketing and corporate affairs.

 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 each team must be supervised by a teacher.

University students must form a team with a minimum of two members and maximum of four members registered at the same institution. Each team must have a minimum of two and a maximum of four members.

“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 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 the programme reaches every corner of the country to drive financial literacy and expose the young people of South Africa to the 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,” explains Lee. “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 winning cash prizes?”

Thokozani Sindane was one of the winners in the University Speculator category in 2019 as part of the Arbitrage team from the University of the Western Cape (UWC). The other Arbitrage team members were Justin O’Ryan and Daniel Kaluiba and, in 2019, all three were third-year students.

“We were already part of the Young Investors Programme, which is a joint initiative by UWC and Coronation and is now known as the UWC Investors’ Society. The JSE Investment Challenge presented us with the perfect opportunity to practically apply what we were learning,” he says.

Three years later, Sindane clearly picked up an affinity for asset management and is currently a performance analyst at Ninety One, while Kaluiba was considering a job offer from another asset management firm and O’Ryan works at advisory firm PwC.

“The challenge highlighted the importance of saving and the more I invested, the more I wanted to learn. We already had Easy Equity accounts before the competition, but it encouraged us to start looking at different investment strategies. If you are hungry for practical application of university theory, the JSE Investment Challenge is the perfect platform and a great stepping stone in your investment journey,” Sindane says.

Trading begins in March and ends in September. Teams can register at schools.jse.co.za or university.jse.co.za. DM168

Business maverick is a media content partner with the JSE in the exchange’s Annual Investment Challenge. Participants can contact us at [email protected]

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper which is available for R25 at Pick n Pay, Exclusive Books and airport bookstores. For your nearest stockist, please click here.