Investment contest

It's important to have a basic knowledge of financial management and the stock market before you make an investment.

About 1,000 Form Four to Seven students from 102 schools have joined the Citigroup Youth Investment Education Programme 2007.

The programme is jointly organised by Citigroup, Hong Kong Economic Times, the Education and Manpower Bureau, and the Learning Society.

This year's programme is an enhanced version of the Citigroup Stock Challenge Programme. In addition to attending an investment education seminar and workshop, students will also get a taste of trading stocks.

Instead of trading in the real world, students, in groups of three, will be provided with a stock trading account where they can conduct online trading in the virtual online stock market from February 5 to March 31.

They can trade in a total of 73 HSI (Hang Seng Index) and CEI (Hang Seng China Enterprise Index) stocks, Hang Seng H shares ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) (2828) as well as the Tracker Fund (2800).

All the figures in the virtual market will be exactly the same as in the real market so students will get a 'first-hand' experience of Hong Kong's stock exchange.

'Students were very excited when they saw the advertisement [for the programme],' said Leung Kit-man, economics teacher at Kiangsu-Chekiang College (Sha Tin). 'They formed groups of three and asked teachers to sign up for them.'

Each team will be given a virtual capital of HK$200,000. After the two-month online trading game, students with the highest value in their accounts will be awarded the championship.

Before the participants do any online trading, they have to submit a short analysis of their investment decision. The analyses will be shared with other students at a Financial Quotient Workshop.

During the competition period, investment experts will give students advice and share with them their experiences. They will also evaluate the students' performance.

For details, go to www.econschool.com/invest0607