Coronation and two school investment competitions, run by the JSE, are using simulated markets to teach learners and students about risk, patience, diversification and the noisy business of separating headlines from long-term value.
South Africa has a savings problem, a youth unemployment problem and, often, a money education problem.
It's this weird triangle into which school investing challenges are trying to squeeze a small but practical problem: giving young people a safe space to make decisions about money, before those decisions involve real rent, real debt, real salaries, or real regrets.
The two current competitions, Coronation Top Investor Challenge: Schools Edition and JSE Investment Challenge, are part game, part classroom, part career window. Both use simulated investing to introduce learners to the discipline of markets, risk, decision making, and thinking beyond immediate reward.
The Coronation Challenge, now in its second year, is open to high school learners across South Africa and offers R120,000 in prizes. Learners participate in teams, receive a virtual pot of money and choose investment options based on future scenarios presented via short videos. The team whose portfolio grows the most by the end of the challenge wins.
The JSE Investment Challenge, which began on 16 March and ends on 15 September 2026, gives high school learners and university students a virtual R1-million portfolio to invest in JSE-listed shares in a simulated trading environment that mirrors the real stock market…