In line with its mission to broaden the base of participants in the Philippine stock market through the Internet, online brokerage firm CitisecOnline has partnered with the Philippine Stock Exchange to sponsor the second PSE-CitisecOnline MBA Stock Market Investment Challenge, which begins on Nov. 19.
Graduate business students are invited to compete in buying and trading stocks and manage a virtual portfolio by using PSE’s Online Stock Trading Game.
The PSE educational tool mimics the workings of the actual stock market and allows students to experience firsthand what it is like to trade online in the bourse.
The Internet has been responsible for expanding the base of stock market participants in the country’s Asian neighbors such as Japan, Korea and Hong Kong.
Since it formally launched its site in October 2005, CitisecOnline has significantly expanded its client base, which now includes numerous traders from the Visayas and Mindanao.
To help graduate business students formulate well-informed investment decisions, CitisecOnline will make available research and analysis on stocks and listed companies through a direct link from the PSE site to its website, www.citiseconline.com.
In preparation for the event, CitisecOnline will also conduct seminars focusing on the basics of stock market investing on Nov. 6, 8, 13, 15, 22 and 27, from 2 to 6 p.m.
As an added treat, these seminars will be held right at the PSE trading floor at the PSE Center in Ortigas Center, Pasig City.
The seminars will be free-of-charge for all graduate school students.
Conrado Bate, president of CitisecOnline, says, “We are inviting all graduate school students to sign up and participate in the investment challenge so that they can experience first-hand what it’s like to trade in the Philippine stock market and at the same time, they can practice their investment theories in the bourse.”
Registration period is ongoing until Nov. 26. The tournament runs for around 12 weeks from Nov. 19 to Feb. 15, 2008.
Awarding ceremonies will be on Feb. 29 which will be attended by senior officials of the PSE and CitisecOnline.
Reaching out to potential investors
Part of CitisecOnline’s education program is to reach potential retail investors like graduate students using creative methods.
“The investment challenge offers insights into the stock market which you would never pick up simply from straight lectures,” Bate says.
The first MBA Investment Challenge had over 200 participants from over 20 of the top graduate schools in Metro Manila and top provincial cities.
Some of the winners of the first challenge have graduated from the virtual stock market to the real thing, Bate discloses.
For the second MBA Investment Challenge, participants will be ranked with 80 percent based on their portfolio value and 20 percent based on the number of transactions or trades during the tournament.
The player who has the highest score based on the 80-20 criteria by the end of the game will be declared the winner.
The first placer will received a P25,000 trading account with CitisecOnline, while the second and third placers will get COL 101 Starter accounts of P10,000 and P5,000 each, respectively.
Mentors of the top three players also get a P10,000 starter account for the first placer and P5,000 each for the next two top placers.
CitisecOnline launched the COL 101 Starter Account this year to provide college and graduate students an opportunity to gain actual online trading experience. The minimum amount needed to open a starter account is P5,000 only. It is open to students aged 18 and above.
All graduate school students are encouraged to join the 2nd PSE-CitisecOnline MBA Stock Market Investment Challenge by simply logging on to www.pse.com.ph or www.citiseconline.com. Or call CitisecOnline’s customer relations at 633-3777.