Jillan Yan, a commerce and law student at the University of Auckland, says in a press release her strategy in the virtual challenge was “to take big risks with leveraged trades early on, then ease back with more conservative trades to maintain my position”.

Top challenge: From left, Chris Smith, General Manager at CMC Markets New Zealand, first place winner Jillin Yan, and Amaan Merchant, Finance Events Co-Lead at MCC.

“The competitive aspect of the challenge motivated me to follow global market news and real-time analyst recommendations to make informed rather than speculative trades,” Yan says.

Yan is the first female winner in the history of the event, and dominated from the outset.

“The biggest learning for me was about emotional management and discipline – how often bad trades are made on reactions, and good trades are made on decisions. I’m far more conscious of that now, and how emotions may impact my trades.”

The competition, in its eighth year, gives students the chance to experience real market trading via the CMC Markets platform.

Around 170 teams (of one or two people) took part in the three-week challenge, with each given a NZ$10,000 virtual fund to trade across a range of financial derivative instruments – including Forex, shares, global indices, and commodities such as oil and gold.

Putting their various trading strategies to the test, the ultimate goal for participants was to secure the greatest return on investment.

Chris Smith, General Manager at CMC Markets New Zealand, says in a press release the competition in the challenge this year was of an “incredibly high standard”.

“The Trading Challenge is a real highlight for us, because it’s about offering invaluable practical learning experience. The challenge allows participants to get a feel for the markets, how different asset classes perform under different conditions, and to test out their investment strategies in a safe environment, before they embark on their careers.”

First published 21 May 2018.

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