On Monday 27th February, 80 of our Sixth Form economists gathered for an afternoon on Finance and Investing with the Amplify team (who run finance simulations and training for universities including  Oxford, Cambridge and LSE and a range of banks including Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan and Credit Suisse). The students heard about why investing matters and the different forms that investing could take, while considering the need for ethical finance rather than simply prioritising profit. This was then followed by a very fast-paced trading simulation where the room was transformed into a trading floor with everyone playing the role of portfolio managers with $20 million to invest. New headlines came in every 30 seconds and the students had to quickly decide whether to buy or sell, go long or short, and ultimately manage risk whilst maximising returns. 

Particular congratulations to Peter W for achieving first place with his diversified portfolio and highly effective risk management. This was followed by Nico R, who had the highest portfolio value of $37.7 million by the end - the highest that the Amplify team have seen from a Sixth Form student this year.  Mitchell T took third place followed by Connor D and then Noah W . Well done to all ‘traders’! 

Overall, the students saw how events on both a macro-economic and micro-economic level shaped markets and everyone left with a much greater understanding of the financial sector and how it works.