It has been a winning year for several teams that clinched the title of being the 2024 top traders in the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Investment Challenge.
Over the year, these teams’ investment portfolios not only showcased their financial prowess and savvy, delivering better returns than the All-Share Index, but also recorded solid gains amidst a challenging macroeconomic environment.
The competition once again brought together individuals who share a competitive spirit, willingness to learn and nerves of steel as they navigated managing investment portfolios comprising financial instruments listed on the JSE. In 2024, the challenge attracted an impressive 49 000 participants, following from 29 000 participants in the previous year.
The tremendous growth in participation has provided further motivation for the JSE to expand the Investment Challenge footprint to more South African schools and institutions of higher learning.
Ralph Speirs, senior CSI Officer at the JSE, says he is impressed with the energy, strategic thinking and fervour that learners and students have demonstrated in developing competitive strategies to get ahead in the competition this year.
The JSE Investment Challenge, now in its 51st year running, is designed to cultivate an investment culture and improve financial literacy across South African educational institutions, from schools to tertiary institutions. Teams are given an opportunity to invest a virtual amount of R1-million on the stock market in real stocks listed on the JSE over a six-month period.
“The JSE Investment Challenge remains a crucial component in learners and students across the country accessing practical investment experience. We are proud that the JSE has become a consistent vehicle through which financial literacy can find expression and expansion in the country,” says Speirs.
In addition, this year the JSE collaborated with several stakeholders, including Standard Bank, Nedbank, a number of universities and the Western Cape Education Department to drive the reach and impact of the Investment Challenge. These collaborations have enabled some of South Africa’s leading corporates to assist in supporting schools and in empowering more youth to understand financial literacy and investment.
Koffie & Beskuit 2.0, from Stellenbosch University, in the Western Cape, took the top spot in the university Speculator Portfolio category. Team members included Marnus Kotze and Thomas Theron. The team achieved a growth of over 18% on their portfolio, securing them a R30 000 prize which they will share as a group and a trip to an international stock exchange.
In second place was the ‘NED – Group 53’ team from the University of Pretoria (17,15% growth) third place was the ‘UZ- eXcape Holdings’ from the University of Zululand (17,12% growth). These teams won R20 000 and R10 000 respectively.
The top performing teams in the university competition’s spectacular category attained a growth of 18,79% percent, while the all-share Index performances was 14,06% percent during the period when the competition was underway.
In the ETF/ETN category, ‘UP Capital’ – a team from the University of Pretoria – took top position. The team members comprised of: Brett Thomson, David Thomson, Josh Mckay, and Liam Armstrong. They too took home a R30 000 prize.
Meanwhile, team ‘Sosh econ 101’ from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and the University of Cape Town’s team ‘Lady Luck’ nabbed second and third place respectively.
Schools Category winners
In the Income Portfolio category, Mpumelelo Secondary School reigned supreme for the second year in a row, with respective teams taking all top five spots within the category. In the lead, however, was team ‘MP the Unpredictable’ followed by ‘MP Undefeated Girls’, followed by the ‘MP Unbeatable Traders’ in second and third place respectively.
Meanwhile in the Equity Portfolio, Tlakula Secondary School’s ‘MW-The Quad Squad’ won the first prize in the category. The school from Gauteng was followed by Liberty Community School’s ‘Liberty 8’ team and Tsogo Secondary School’s team the ‘Accountaholics’ in second and third place respectively.
Coming out on top in the schools Speculator Portfolio was the ‘Elons Musks Traders’ team from Paul Roos Gymnasium, Western Cape, registering a 15% growth on their portfolio. In second place, was Parel Vallei High School’s team ‘JJAS’ and, in third place, Herzlia High School’s ‘StockShockers’ team and they achieved a 14,47% and 13,63% growth on their portfolios respectively.
In the ETF/ETN category for schools, Buren High School from the Western Cape emerged victorious as its ‘AGN-Gandalf’s Merchants’ team won first place securing R26 000 which will be shared amongst the team members, teacher and principal.
Two teams from Zola High School in the Western Cape showed off their dominance and took both second and third place respectively. In second place was team ‘Thee Assets’ and in third, was team ‘Camdeboo’. The JSE joined forces with the Western Cape Education Department once again this year, with 45% of the overall winning teams coming from the province.
Teams can register electronically for next year’s challenge on https://schools.jse.co.za and https://university.jse.co.za/.
Overall annual winners of the 2024 Investment Challenge are:
Schools Income Portfolio:
1st : MP the Unpredictable, Mpumelelo Secondary School (Mpumalanga Province)
2nd: MP undefeated girls, Mpumelelo Secondary School (Mpumalanga Province)
3rd: MP unbeatable traders, Mpumelelo Secondar School (Mpumalanga Province)
4th: MP the untouchables, Mpumelelo Secondary School (Mpumalanga Province)
5th: MP THE SHINING Stars, Mpumelelo Secondary School (Mpumalanga Province)
Schools Equity Portfolio:
1st: MW-The Quad Squad, Tlakula Secondary School (Gauteng)
2nd: Liberty 8, Liberty Community School (Gauteng)
3rd: Accountaholics, Tsogo Secondary School (North West)
4th: Equity Growth, Paul Roos Gymnasium (Western Cape)
5th: MW-The MG5Z, Tlakula Secondary School (Gauteng)
Schools Speculator portfolio:
1st: Elons Musks Traders, Paul Roos Gymnasium (Western Cape)
2nd: JJAS, Parel Vallei High School (Western Cape)
3rd: StockShockers, Herzlia High School (Western Cape)
4th: CEG LMK, The Settlers High School (Western Cape)
5th: RBG Catch me if you can, Hoërskool Oosterlig (Gauteng)
Schools ETF/ETN portfolio:
1st: AGN-Gandalf’s Merchants, Buren High School (Western Cape)
2nd: Thee Assets, Zola High School (Western Cape)
3rd: Camdeboo, Zola High School (Western Cape)
4th: Capital Crusaders, Lebone College of The Royal Bafokeng (North West)
5th: FPC – JYZ Investments, Star College Bridgetown (Western Cape)
University ETF/ETN portfolio:
1st: UP Capital, University of Pretoria (Gauteng)
2nd: Sosh econ 101, University of KwaZulu-Natal (KwaZulu-Natal)
3rd: Lady Luck, University of Cape Town (Western Cape)
University Spectacular portfolio:
1st: Koffie & Beskuit 2.0, Stellenbosch University (Western Cape)
2nd: NED – Group 53, University of Pretoria (Gauteng)
3rd: UZ- eXcape Holdings, University of Zululand (KwaZulu-Natal)