Schoolchildren's investments outperforms traders

A group of teenagers from Chesterfield College have traded school books for portfolios to make a staggering 201 per cent profit.

09:15 27 May 2004

A group of teenagers from Chesterfield College have traded school books for portfolios to make a staggering 201 per cent profit on the stock market.

Students from the Derbyshire school made the gains as part of "The Portfolio Challenge", an annual competition aimed at teenagers to raise awareness of the world of finance.

The challenge, run by the ProShare Student Investor Programme, gave students a fantasy portfolio of 100,000 in November 2003, and over a seven-month period they managed to increase this to a final figure of 300,779.42.

This beat the FTSE All Share Index, which only rose by four per cent during the same period.

Seventeen year-old Nicola Webb, a member of the winning team said: "We chose companies that sold everyday products which people would buy regularly. We felt these products would sell well over the Christmas period and the companies would have good trading figures."

The chief executive at ProShare, Michelle Doughty, commended the scheme, saying: "It is very important that personal finance education is introduced to young people as early as possible. The ProShare Student Investor Programme is a creative way of engaging students' interest as it makes financial education accessible to everyone."

The team mentor, Janice Mather, added: "Our students have really enjoyed the competition as it helped them relate their business course to the real world. We are very proud of them."

The team "Garlic Bread" will be presented with an award for the Portfolio Challenge Online Trader of the Year, and 500 in prize money for their school.