Virtually make money with OSK

OSK Investment Bank Berhad (OSKIB) recently launched the OSK Investment Challenge (OSKIC), a virtual investing competition.

The OSKIC is open to Malaysian students from local universities and colleges. Recruitment will remain open throughout the duration of the competition, from Aug 16 to Oct 1. Registration is free, upon which participants will be given virtual money worth RM100,000 to trade based on actual real-time stock prices.

Director of e-Broking for Finexasia.com (a subsidiary of OSKIB), Paul Ong commented: "The OSK Investment Challenge is developed to educate 18 to 30 year olds on investing in the Malaysian Capital Market by providing them with the opportunity for real-life trading without the accompanying financial risk."

"By providing this platform, we aim to build a new generation of potential investors and to create awareness on stock market investing as a viable alternative to generating returns," he added.

Seventy campuses nationwide, which offer business or finance programmes, have been invited to participate, with 30 campuses within the Klang Valley selected as locations for road shows during which students will have a taste of the competition through demos conducted by the OSKIC organising team.

As incentive, the competition awards prizes in the Individual and Campus categories. For the Individual Category, the Top 3 individuals with the highest score at the end of the game will receive the grand prizes of RM25,000, RM10,000 and RM5,000 respectively. In addition, internship opportunities will also be made available for participants selected from the Top 20 winners. Also, as weekly prizes, two Aspire One AOD260 Netbooks sponsored by Acer worth RM1,299 each will be awarded to the Top 2 participants with the highest absolute gains for the week. For the Campus category, the prize will be a Computer Lab worth RM100,000 to be awarded to the campus with the highest portfolio value. This will be calculated based on the total scores of the top 20 students in each campus. Other sponsors include Shares Investment by Pioneers & Leaders, Café 21, Next View, Personal Money Magazine, EquitiesTracker.com and Swiss Garden Hotel and Residences, Kuala Lumpur.

On-going recruitment drives and workshops at campuses around the country along with a concerted online engagement effort via Facebook, Twitter and the OSKIC website (www.oskic.com) will provide students with all the resources they need to get involved. Throughout the competition, OSKIB and its partners, will also develop a support fabric for participants in the form of tips, analyses, forum discussions and constant updates.

The OSKIC was initiated in response to findings of a survey spearheaded by Bursa Malaysia and conducted by Synovate Malaysia which revealed that the younger Malaysian generation is not active in the stock market, with only 12 per cent of investors represented by the 20-29 age group, while 59 per cent involved those 40 years and above.

The OSKIC is expected to benefit young Malaysian traders and investors of the future.  Winners of the competition will be announced in October.