Investment competition launched

A new investor programme offering students an all expenses paid trip to New York is launched today.

15:04 13 October 2004

The 2005 ProShare Student Investor programme is launched today with teams of students all over the country invited to compete for an all expenses paid trip to New York and 2,000 for your school as well.

Sponsored by financial companies such as Bloomberg, HSBC bank, Foreign & Colonial Investment Fund and the Financial Times, ProShare's latest programme grants a fantasy fund of 100,000 in shares to student teams who then 'invest' in the real stock market. The most successful team is rewarded with the star prize, while all competitors are hopefully bestowed with a greater knowledge of the world of investment.

Tara Golshan, ProShare's head of education, explains: "Introducing students to the basics of personal finance is an essential process for securing a financially fit future." The 2005 competition is backed by a new interactive website: www.studentinvestor.proshare.org.

ProShare, a not-for profit educational organisation, has been running since 1992 and is now widely used by teachers up and down the country. Some 23,000 students from over 800 schools took part in the 2004 Student Investor competition. Reservoir Stags, from Plymouth College, headed the field of 5,600 teams by making a massive 55 per cent gain on their 'investment'.