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Market masters: JSE Investment Challenge sees record participation as Eden College and UWC excel

30 Apr 2025

The March winners of the JSE Investment Challenge have been announced, showcasing the sharpest minds in South Africa’s investment landscape.

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) has revealed the March winners of its 2025 Investment Challenge. The University of the Western Cape (UWC) and Eden College Durban took top honours in two of the competition’s four categories.

Growing investment talent

With a 52-year history behind it, the JSE Investment Challenge has seen remarkable growth, attracting 6,911 school teams and 1,761 university teams, with a total of 28,304 participants this year.

The competition offers a simulated trading environment, where teams manage a virtual R1-million portfolio across four risk-based categories:

Income portfolio (low risk)

Equity portfolio (moderate risk)

Speculator portfolio (high risk)

ETF/ETN (exchange-traded funds/exchange-traded notes) portfolio

Read more: The JSE Investment Challenge is back again

Teamwork and tenacity pay off

Eden College Durban’s Rupee Renegades clinched the top spot in the income category, earning R13,923.65 in virtual income. After previous attempts in the competition without a win, the team’s persistence and collaborative approach proved pivotal this year.

“I think our teamwork is very good. We split up and did a lot of research for different portfolios,” said Priyesh Pramjee, the group’s team leader.

Another team member, Kuvendren Govender, added that: “One of the most important things to do is to just watch the market, see what the current trends are, and see if there’s a big dip or not. You have to assess for yourself when you think it’s worth taking that risk.”

While the team was tight-lipped about their specific strategies, they cited a range of influences on their decisions, including global trade tensions, tariffs, the national Budget, and the performance of state-owned enterprises like Transnet.

Their teacher, Ashmikka Supkaran, highlighted the team’s self-reliance. The students tackled the challenge independently — an approach Supkaran believes ultimately worked to their advantage.

Supkaran added that the team applied lessons from last year’s experience, stressing the importance of monitoring market trends in stock trading, as these trends ultimately determined investment outcomes.

Learning from experience

In the university speculator category, UWC’s Investment X team — comprising Diteboho Tshabalala (LLB, third year) and Sisonke Mfeketho (BCom in Financial Accountancy) — secured victory with a portfolio growth of 17.93%.

Returning for their second year, the team credited their improved understanding of the competition’s nuances for their success.

“Last year we did not understand the actual context about some of the categories,” they reflected.

Their key takeaway for fellow participants: “Invest in single stock futures and Top 40 companies,” Mfeketho said.

The March winners were:

Schools

The CEK-Circle of Trust from John Bisseker Secondary School in the Eastern Cape won the equity category, with growth of 11.19%.

The Broker Jokers of Afrikaanse Hoër Seunskool in Gauteng won the speculator category with 9.10% growth.

CGN-Los Santos Incorporated of Bloubergrant High School in the Western Cape won the ETF/ETN category with 2.33% growth.

University

ShortSaleSharks of Stellenbosch University in the Western Cape won the ETF/RTN category with 2.27% growth.

What this means for you

Think you’ve got what it takes to out-trade the current winners? The JSE Investment Challenge remains open for 2025, offering high school learners and university students a risk-free platform to build practical investment skills using a virtual R1-million portfolio.

Whether you’re new to trading or refining your strategy, the competition provides hands-on experience with real JSE-listed shares, backed by monthly prizes and the chance to compete nationally. Last year’s winners demonstrated how trial, error, and persistence lead to growth; now it’s your turn.

Schools and universities can register for the challenge at schools.jse.co.za/ or university.jse.co.za DM

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