Sheffield Business School’s financial trading competition saw local A-Level economics students given a taste of life as both financial markets traders and financial economists.
Using the Business School’s Bloomberg professional terminals the students bought and sold equities on UK, European and US markets with the aim of making sensible financial decisions.
Following some training from the Business School’s financial services lead Damion Taylor and an economic forecast from senior economics lecturer Dr Drew Woodhouse, the students were given ‘£1 million’ to trade and then lock in to generate profit over a 1-month period.
Dr Drew Woodhouse said: “It’s a real privilege for us to invite King Ecgbert’s to the University and give them a chance to put their economic and financial knowledge into practice. This is at the heart of what we do as a civic university.”
After the month-long holding period, the student that has grown their £1m the most will receive a prize at a ceremony sponsored by the Sheffield Business School’s Department of Finance, Accounting and Business Systems.
Dan Sharp, Head of Economics at King Ecgbert School said: “We are hugely grateful to Sheffield Business School for providing our students with the opportunity to gain a first-hand insight into how financial markets work. Students were able to apply the economic knowledge they’d gained in the classroom into a real-world simulation which is invaluable for them when making choices about future pathways. The department provided them with a short tutorial in the morning and then supported them in the afternoon when making trades. All students thoroughly enjoyed the experience and spoke very highly of the staff and facilities. We look forward to developing our relationship with Sheffield Business School in the coming years.”
Damion Taylor, Lecturer in Finance and Banking, and Financial Management at Sheffield Hallam, said: “It was great to spend time with some of our local Economics A-level students and see their excitement as they placed trades into fast moving markets. Sheffield Business School is a world leading provider of financial markets trading education and has been offering BSc and MSc programmes in this area for many years. We are passionate about careers in trading and investment management so our hope is that the trading competition will ignite a similar passion in our local school and college students”.
