School takes investment prize for second time

(CNS): Students from St Ignatius have once again proved to be savvy investors. After more than six months of intense competition the winners were announced at the awards presentation Tuesday at George Town Library. Five Star Investments of St. Ignatius Catholic School were confirmed the winners of the grand prize followed closely by The X Factor of St. Ignatius and Modern Age Investors of International College of the Cayman Islands (ICCI). In the high stakes virtual investment game the winning students managed to more than 54% return. During the second year of the event more than 50 students aged 14 to 19 gained hands-on experience in the world of investing, maintaining a virtual portfolio by picking stocks in accordance with the current market.

Originally slated to award prize money totaling USD $3,000, the education ministry offered its support and upped the prize money offerings by pledging an additional USD $1,000 and $500 to the second and third place teams respectively. First place won USD$2,500 to be split amongst team members, and similarly the second and third place teams won USD $1,500 and USD $500.

On hand to celebrate in the successes of the students, as well as recognize the hard work and determination demonstrated over the course of the competition by all students, were Rolston Anglin, the Minister of Education, Training and Employment, as well as guest speaker Edwin Holmes, former manager of Hip Hop artist Nelly.

In addition to the presentation of the awards, Saxon also presented stock certificates of a publicly traded Cayman company to all of the students as a keepsake of their experience.
The awards event included a short strategy presentation by each team, and special guest speaker, Edwin Holmes, shared his insightful words along with Anglin who encouraged the teens to continue on the journey of educating themselves.

CEO of Saxon Brian Williams said it was incredibly rewarding to see how far the students had come. “They have gained invaluable insight to the world of investing at a young age, paving the way to financial success. Saxon is committed to investing in our youth for we recognize that there is no better investment in Cayman’s future than instilling young minds with knowledge and wisdom,” he added.

At the close of the competition St. Ignatius Five Star had succeeded in earning a net worth of $154,518.22, with a total return of +54.52%. The X Factor and Modern Age Investors were neck and neck, closing with a net worth of $135,367.97 and $132,176.91 respectively, and total returns of +35.37% and +32.18%.

“Trades were executed online as if the students had their own brokerage accounts, making the experience all the more real-life. Impressively, they were able to short sell and buy on margin. Average investors don’t use those options,” Williams said. “When buying on margin you can lose big, but when done correctly and carefully you can pull in big earnings – and ultimately their aggressive, albeit risky, strategy paid off.”

Offering his congratulations to the three victorious groups he also acknowledged the hard work of all the students who participated.

“It was a journey that we took together, and on behalf of Saxon – we are proud of each of them. While this club certainly evokes a healthy level of competition, the most valuable reward is certainly the insight gained from the hands-on experience,” Williams added.
First place team Five Star Investments included Cristian Crescente, John Fawkes, Alex Hennings, Michael Testori and Yannick Whorms. Second place team The X Factor included Celina Russell, Gabriela Roberts and Andrel Harris. And third place students of Mordern Age Investors were Ralston Thorpe, Valdin Bailey and Michael Ebanks.