Savvy Post-Secondary Investors Trounce Hedge Funds

InvestYoung National University Stock Market Competitors Outpace Bay Street 2:1

Mississauga, ON (PRWEB) April 7, 2007 -- Investors of Tomorrow - Over 2,000 post-secondary students acted as fund managers for the InvestYoung National University Stock Market Competition which ran from October 16, 2006 to March 9, 2007. Approximately 20,000 trades were executed on over 2,800 symbols across all major North American markets. The most actively traded securities were Apple, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and Sony. Involved in the competition were over 25 leading investment and business associations at universities and colleges across the country including the University of Western Ontario, Queen's University, York University and University of British Columbia, and University of Manitoba, among others.

The InvestYoung National University Stock Market Competition is a hands-on approach to educating students on the importance of financial literacy and investor education. The competition is hosted by Investors of Tomorrow, a Canadian federally accredited charity focused on giving youth the education and experience necessary to make better financial decisions for the future. Students are given the opportunity to invest a simulated portfolio of $1,000,000 (CAD) in securities traded on major North American exchanges. All ten finalists posted returns that more than doubled the performance of the RBC Capital Markets Hedge 250 Index, which is a representative benchmark of hedge fund performance.

Jason Mah, 26, a fourth year student attending University of Victoria triumphed in the competition. He placed first with a final portfolio value of $1,451,619 representing a 45% return on investment. His strategy was to invest in distressed companies ahead of quarterly earnings announcements. Mah notes, "It is important to always look out for opportunities. I had an incredible time networking and discussing strategies with competitors across the nation." Mah is graduating in the fall with a Bachelor of Economics and looks forward to working on Wall Street.

Dean Petrovic, 19, a second year Schulich School of Business student at York University placed second in the competition. His final portfolio value of $1,373,006 represents a 37% return on investment. Petrovic reflects, "The importance of learning to diversify one's holdings could not have been more effectively stressed than over the course of these last 6 months: the income trust taxation announcements and China's stock market plunge stand as vivid examples of just how volatile the markets can be. Learning to protect one's portfolio from these hurdles was InvestYoung's greatest lesson."

To mark the end of the competition, the University of Western Ontario's Western Day Traders club transformed the atrium of the University Community Centre into the New York Stock Exchange for a live trading floor simulation.

"Investor education is the cornerstone to developing a generation of youth that can take charge of their future," says Paul Jun, President of Investors of Tomorrow. "The InvestYoung competition is an innovative program that provides the opportunity for students to build financial literacy skills in an engaging environment."

Official Results of the InvestYoung National Post-Secondary Stock Market Competition Session 2 (2006-2007):

1. Jason Mah - $1,451,618.98 - University of Victoria
2. Dean Petrovic - $1,373,006.01 - York University (YIC)   
3. Behrooz Mackvandi - $1,347,171.57 - University of British Columbia
4. Freddy Tsai - $1,237,812.33 - University of British Columbia
5. Chris Mundie - $1,229,810.53 - Okanagan College
6. Yu Gu - $1,228,888.29 - Simon Fraser University
7. Brad Canario - $1,222,443.04 - York University (YIC)
8. David Cai - $1,221,349.04 - Simon Fraser University
9. Al Henry - $1,217,924.61 - Malaspina University College
10. Marcus Wijaya - $1,206,136.01 - University of British Columbia

About Investors of Tomorrow:
Investors of Tomorrow is Canada's largest federally accredited, student-run charity providing e-learning programs on financial literacy and investor education to youth. Founded in 2002 as a single after-school club, the organization has grown its operations to include over 25 leading investment and business associations at universities and colleges across the country, in addition to numerous secondary schools. The InvestYoung Online Stock Market Competition is Investors of Tomorrow's flagship program allowing students to learn about money management through hands-on experience managing a virtual investment portfolio. Investors of Tomorrow also operates a keynote speaker series that has brought some of Canada's most prominent financial industry leaders back into the classroom.

For Media Inquiries:

Andrew Tai
Investors of Tomorrow
Phone: (416) 889-8282
Email: a.tai (at) investyoung.org
Web Site: http://www.InvestYoung.org

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