On Monday 27th June, seven Year 10 girls (Isabelle F., Sunny W., Ruby R., Josephine C., Megan H., Elysia G. and Jyothirmayi Su. represented Howell’s in the inaugural GDST Stock Market Challenge held at Streatham & Clapham High School.
The girls were split into two teams and competed against 5 other schools (12 teams in all). It was an early start, leaving school at 6 am! Yet this didn’t dampen the spirits of our intrepid stockbrokers who fully embraced the experience, despite it being alien to most of them.
The girls were tasked with investing an initial £15,000 into nine fictitious companies over five days of trading. After some initial confusion both teams soon found their confidence and took a number of calculated ‘risks’ which thankfully paid off! We were delighted that both teams increased the value of their portfolios substantially by the end of trading. The outcome was fantastic – Team A (Jojo, Megan and Issy) finished as overall runners-up with a final portfolio of £86,800, whilst team B (Jyothi, Elysia, Sunny and Ruby) finished with a successful portfolio of over £50,000, which saw them comfortably placed amongst the top six teams.
Both teams displayed a real aptitude for investment and risk taking which was pleasing to see. They represented Howell’s perfectly and have all commented on how much they enjoyed learning new skills and having their ‘eyes opened’ to previously unrealised career paths. London, New York and Shanghai had better watch out – the Howell’s traders are coming for you!
