The GAIN Investment Challenge 2024 has been won by The Abbey – a truly magnificent achievement. Out of the 108 teams from 45 schools across the GSA, we were the only one to have two teams finish in the top 10 – the first time this has ever happened.
The GAIN challenge aims to provide young women and non-binary students in Years 10 to 13 with a unique insight into the world of investment management and the skills needed to analyse a company.
Each participating team, consisting of 3-5 students, were assigned a company to research and recommend whether to buy, hold or sell the stock. Guided by industry experts and supported by an investment mentor during the spring term (consisting of a launch event and six online sessions), the competition finale saw each team upload an investment pitch including a persuasive 5-minute-long video presentation showcasing their findings and a written research report. Submissions were then judged by a panel of professionals within the investment industry.
Team M&S, consisting of Aanya, Abbie, Charlie, Hayley and Kashvi, and supervised by Mr Grant, were crowned overall winners after researching Marks & Spencer. Their recommendation to sell, along with a magnificent video was enough to persuade the judging panel. Congratulations also go to Team Ocado (Ananya, Ahana, Riya, Zaara and Natalie who were supervised by Mr Fabinger) and Team Sainsburys (Nia, Sophie, Jasmine, Olivia and Darcy who were supervised by Mr Lovibond). The Abbey are extremely grateful to industry expert and mentor Naomi Dickinson from Bluestone Financial Planning Ltd, who was also on hand to provide advice to the girls during the competition.
The winning team will receive £1000 for the school and £200 in vouchers per team member. They will also enjoy an afternoon at Apollo Global gaining insights into investment management and meeting inspirational women from across the industry. This will be followed by the awards evening on 26th June at 5pm in London.
This real-world experience has been an incredible learning curve for the girls, and further demonstrates the exciting enterprise work ongoing at The Abbey across all the year groups, including the Social Enterprise Hub, Microloan, Tycoon and the Small Business Challenge.
