The Wizdom CRM Virtual Stock Market Game gives hundreds of students across Trinidad and Tobago and the wider region an opportunity to develop financial literacy and artificial intelligence skills.
While participants in the recently concluded 12th cycle were praised for their performance, speakers at Sunday’s awards ceremony highlighted that the initiative goes beyond simulated trading, focusing instead on building discipline, decision-making and communication skills that prepare students for real-world success.
Chief Executive Officer of NCB Merchant Bank, Marli Creese, urged students to master a new set of skills.
“Based on the pattern of excellence I have observed over the last three years, I think that while congratulations are always in order, the time has come for me to challenge you. At future iterations of this event, the award ceremony, what I want is to hear from you. What I want is for the students themselves to teach me about what your trading philosophy is.”
Mr Creese also encouraged participants to invest in the real stock exchange, even if their investment is small.
“And in so doing, you would practise public speaking skills, presentation skills, persuasiveness and no matter how technically brilliant you are, if you do not master that particular set of skills, there is an invisible ceiling in terms of how far you would reach, not just within the world of the financial services industry but in any profession that you choose.”
Meanwhile, General Manager of National Enterprises Limited, Charles Maynard, noted that the Wizdom CRM Virtual Stock Market Game is geared towards teaching more than financial literacy.
“This programme is something that, it’s very close to my, not just my heart but to me, the very core of why most of us are here. We are here in the business of creating wealth, right? And wealth is really defined as superior income that lasts generations. So that means it must be transferred from one generation to another.”
History was made at Sunday’s awards ceremony for the competition’s 12th cycle, with Kaveri Lalla becoming the first female champion in the game’s history. Meanwhile, St Benedict’s College, San Fernando, captured the award for the most trades executed on the virtual platform.