Bahrain Bourse (BHB), a self-regulated multi-asset marketplace, has announced the kick off of the 24th Edition of the TradeQuest Programme for high school and university students for the academic year 2022-2023. 

 

The programme’s aim is to stimulate relevant learning through practical experience by grasping the rules and regulations implemented in financial markets, analysing and selecting shares, and managing a portfolio of investment instruments listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Bahrain Bourse.

 

Kick-off of the 24th edition was attended by the participating students, along with their school and university representatives, in addition to the investment advisors who will be mentoring and coaching the students during the programme. Following a rigorous six-months training and mentoring period, the top 3 finalists from each category, representing a total of 9 teams, will be provided with cash rewards totalling BD30,000 ($79586). 

 

27 participating teams

The 2022-2023 TradeQuest Programme includes a total of 27 participating teams broken down into 10 private schools, 10 Government schools and 7 universities.  

 

Private school teams include Abdul Rahman Kanoo International School, Bahrain Bayan School, British School of Bahrain, Al-Hekma International School, Ibn Khuldoon National School, Naseem International School, New Millennium School, Al Noor International School, St. Christopher's School, and Al Wisam School. Government School teams includes Sh. Abdulla bin Isa Al Khalifa Secondary Industrial Boys School, Ahmed Al Omran Secondary Boys School, Ghazi Al-Gosaibi Secondary Girls School, Al Hidd Secondary Girls School, Al Ma’arifa Secondary Girls School, Sh. Moza bint Hamad Al Khalifa Comprehensive Girls School, Al Noor Secondary Girls School, Saar Secondary Girls School, Sitra Secondary Girls School, Al Ta’awon Secondary Boys School. For the first time, the programme witnesses participation from technical and vocational government schools. 

 

University teams include Ahlia University, American University of Bahrain, Bahrain Polytechnic, Bahrain Institute of Banking & Finance (BIBF), British University of Bahrain, University of Bahrain, and University of Technology Bahrain.

 

Flagship programme

Shaikh Khalifa bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, CEO of Bahrain Bourse, stated: “Bahrain Bourse spearheads a number of flagship programmes focused on financial literacy and aimed to achieve SDG Goal number 10, and is aligned with our ESG framework under the ‘Social’ element to ensure sufficient contribution towards ‘Community Investment and Financial Literacy’. Financial Literacy has been identified as part of our materiality matrix topics within the ESG framework, and hence significant emphasis and focus is placed on the full suite of financial literacy programmes, of which TradeQuest is our flagship.”

 

Shaikh Khalifa added: “The Trade Quest programme complements other financial literacy programme offerings including the Smart Investor Programme, the Investment Academy, and Capital Markets Apprenticeship Programme, which underlines our commitment to towards financial literacy. In addition, the full scale of programmes also complements global initiatives that Bahrain Bourse participates in including the World Federation of Exchanges’ annual ‘Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy’ initiative.”

 

Strategic sponsors include the Labour Fund (Tamkeen) and Khaleeji Commercial Bank. Platinum sponsors include Ahli United Bank, Bank ABC, and National Bank of Bahrain. Gold sponsors of the programme include Ithmaar Holding and SICO BSC (c). Silver sponsors include Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), BBK, Gulf International Bank (GIB), Kuwait Finance House - Bahrain, and United Gulf Bank and the Knowledge Partner, the Bahrain Institute of Banking & Finance (BIBF).

 

Simulated business education

TradeQuest is a simulated business-education partnership programme that focuses on investment trading in world financial markets, which operated for the first time in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 1997 in cooperation with financial institutions and educational parties. The programme has been highly supported by various banks and financial institutions throughout the past years. The programme is held over a duration of six months and includes three progressive stages. 

 

The programme consisted of three trading periods where the teams were required to present their strategy, objectives, and performance to the Investment Review Committee at the end of each trading period. During the programme, participants attend a practical workshop on the mechanism of trading in stock markets that is held at BIBF’s Dealing Room.-- TradeArabia News Service