After a year of team work and following the markets, the JSE has announced the final winners of the 2013 JSE/Liberty Investment Challenge. The annual competition - aimed as school learners and university students - is South Africa’s largest financial literacy initiative.
 
“We are very excited to congratulate the winners of this year’s JSE/Liberty Investment Challenge as well as commend every team that has taken part. There is a growing interest in the Challenge and it’s very encouraging to play a part in helping young people become financially responsible. Some participants go on to work in financial services while many more continue investing,” says Idris Seedat, Manager: CSI at the JSE.

In the Schools Challenge the winning teams across Income, Equity and Speculator portfolios receive prize money of R60 000. In the University Challenge the top three prizes are valued at R60 000 plus an all-expenses paid trip to an international stock exchange.
 
Team Thabo Directors, from Thabo Senior Secondary School, has claimed first place in the Income Portfolio, with learners Dialy Mohlokoana, Refloe Bopape, Sebabatso Kgame and Tebogo Hlatshwayo. This team, led by their teacher Maria Moshoane, raised an income of R57 926.15 in the Challenge. In second place, we have BTM Traders from Beang Tse Molemo Secondary School a stone’s throw away from first place with R52 714.72. Naledi 1 from Naledi Secondary School took third place.
 
In the Speculator Portfolio, the winning team is Everest from DF Malan High School with team members Luke Nel, Tonia Schoeman, Kara Nel and Morne Pienaar, with an impressive growth on investment of 39.63%. This is closely followed by RM 22 from Montarena Secondary School with 39.13 % growth. Third place goes to PBHS Sur + Traders V2.0 from Pretoria Boys High School.
 
In the Equity category, Marketing Marauders from DF Malan High School took first place with team members Benjamin Du Preez, Werner Hanekom, Martin Rossouw and Bernard Stals with a portfolio growth of 38.11%. The Bishops Investorpreneurs from Diocesan College came second with Super Traders from Matrizburg Colleage in third place.  

For the high schools, in first place each of the four team members will receive R4000; second place team members receive R2500 each, third place R2000 each and in fourth as well as fifth place receive R1000 each. In addition to the learners being rewarded, successful schools and their mentors also take home winnings.
 
In the University Challenge, the winning team in the University Speculator portfolio is the team Sky Divers from the University of Western Cape, with the students Abonga Sodawe, Athenkosi Mjebeza, Mzwakhe Dube and Trevor Chatukuta. This lucky team walks away with R25 000 in winnings and can look forward to visiting an international stock exchange. Tripod Traders from the University of Witwatersrand scooped second place and win R20 000 and in third place is White-Hare Capital from the University of Cape Town with winnings of R15 000. The universities and colleges participated in the Speculator Portfolio only.
 
The JSE/Liberty Investment Challenge is run by JSE Limited jointly with Liberty annually, with the sole purpose of teaching South African youth about the fundamentals of investing. Registrations for next year’s challenge commence again in March 2014.
 
For more information:
 
Schools Challenge
 
The schools challenge is targeted at secondary school learners.
 
• Any South African secondary school may enter one or more teams.  
 
• Team members must be in grades 8, 9, 10 or 11 to be eligible to participate (it is recommended that learners in grades 8 and 9 participate in the income game).  
 
• Grade 12 learners may also participate with the permission of the school principal.  
 
• A team must consist of four members only.  
 
• Each school must have a supervising teacher or mentor.  
 
To register go to: http://schools.jse.co.za
 
University Challenge
 
The university challenge is targeted at all tertiary institutions.
 
All university students are eligible, but they must be currently registered with the same institution and may form teams - irrespective of field of study of team members. Each participating team may not be less than two members or more than four members at a time.  
 
To register go to: http://university.jse.co.za