Maritzburg College wins top honours in the JSE Investment Challenge for the month for August
(from Laure Joseph; Account Executive | Edelman Africa
“Have a sleuth sense of research, but don’t overthink it. Sometimes one good trade can make a big difference”.
So said ‘Alpha Q’, August’s winning school team from Maritzburg College in KwaZulu-Natal, when asked what advice they would give other high school teams aiming to win the monthly top spot in the prestigious Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Investment Challenge.
“Focus on learning, be patient and don’t be afraid to take calculated risks. Always keep researching and adjusting your strategy based on the market trends,” added the team who clinched top spot in the Equity Portfolio category.
Team ‘Alpha Q’ which is made up of four team members including Elroy Hamandziripi, Seth Redlinghys, Jevad Maharaj and Milan Greef, registered an impressive 4.43% growth in their investment portfolio in the month of August.
The 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 universities. 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 Grade 11 team credit their economics teacher, Mr. Nithia Pillay and the famous Wallstreet Trader Jesse Livermore for being the source of their inspiration in entering the competition and grabbing the opportunity to learn about the investment ecosystem.
“The school Economics Department encourages all economics learners to participate in the JSE challenge. A lesson is periodically used to trade in addition to us using our own time… our favourite subjects are Economics, Maths and English. These subjects have helped us understand financial concepts, statistics and human behaviour in investing,” the team stated.
Team Alpha Q’s strategy was simple: focus on careful research and portfolio diversification. Their strategy also involved investing in undervalued stocks with high potential, monitoring market trends, and making slight adjustments when needed to reduce risk and increase returns. Market volatility was the team’s biggest challenge, but they remained patient. Instead of panicking during market dips, they altered their strategy and made calculated adjustments to the portfolio to stay on track. Alpha Q said: “The challenge has deepened our understanding of the stock market and taught us valuable lessons in timing, risk management, and decision-making. We now feel more confident navigating investments and believe these skills will benefit us in the future.”
Ralph Speirs, Senior CSI Officer at the JSE, congratulated the winners saying: “We’re encouraged that through the challenge, more schools are helping their learners garner practical experience in investment and risk management. This experience, coupled with their school theory stand this team in good stead for making sound future financial decisions.”
Overall category winners for August are:
Income Portfolio: NC-Texts from Borakanelo Secondary School, North West
Equity Portfolio: Alpha Q from Maritzburg College, KwaZulu-Natal
Speculator Portfolio: NB-Universal Heroes from Lukhasa Secondary School, KwaZulu-Natal
ETF/ETN Portfolio: Elizabeth Keckley – ACCP from ACUDEO College Crystal Park, Gauteng
Spectacular Portfolio University: WSU – ESAW from Walter Sisulu University, Eastern Cape
ETF/ETN Portfolio University: Sosh econ 101 from University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, KwaZulu-Natal
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