Contestants Jacobus Rossouw, Evan Engelbrecht, and Frank Stevens have been named as the three top winners of the inaugural Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) Virtual Trading Game competition.
The top winners are from Gauteng, Eastern Cape, and Western Cape respectively.
The winners were announced during a virtual awards ceremony that was broadcast live on Facebook, on Wednesday, 8 December.
They received a share of R60 000 in Satrix vouchers – R30 000 for first place, R20 000 for second, and R10 000 for third.
“I would like to congratulate our top three winners. They did really well, and I wish them all the best in their future trading activities,” said Vuyo Lee, Director: Marketing and Corporate Affairs at the JSE.
The JSE online trading competition simulates a real trading environment and gives members of the general public a risk-free opportunity to trade shares.
The initiative is part of the JSE’s efforts to be a leading socially responsible integrated exchange on the African continent, inspired to build a prosperous future for all who are within reach of its influence.
To this end, the exchange said it aims to play an active role in creating a financially literate society in South Africa.
“This was the main inspiration behind launching the VTG initiative that enables the average South African to gain real-life financial skills while also participating in an exciting competition,” said Lee.
“Earlier this year, we encouraged all South Africans to take advantage of this great opportunity to find out more about trading shares online and to learn about the stock market in general.”
The competition was launched on 1 September and ran until 30 October.
All prizes were in the form of Satrix vouchers, enabling winners to start their real investment journey.
Prize winners may choose which exchange-traded fund(s) to purchase on the Satrix platform or choose to withdraw the cash.
To qualify, participants in the VTG needed to ensure that they place at least one trade between 1 September and 30 October, trade (buy and/or sell shares) at least 15 times between 1 September and 30 October and spend R750 000 of their virtual money during the competition.
“We believe that the VTG is a highly practical and great way to open doors to those who are interested in trading, helping them to take the next step and create their own accounts,” said Lee.
“As the JSE, we recognise the key role we must play in promoting financial literacy, as well as growing retail investment on the JSE. We want to send out a strong message that investing on the exchange is not as intimidating or complicated as many people think.
“We hope that through the VTG, South Africans will begin to appreciate that investing on the JSE is accessible to everyone willing to set time aside to learn about investments.
“I strongly encourage anyone interested in becoming financially self-sufficient to take up this opportunity in future to learn and earn while gaining an appreciation of the workings of a well-regulated market for financial instruments.”
