A financial markets trading game run by the Colombia Stock Exchange (Bolsa de Valores de Colombia, BVC) has found a winner in Emanuel Diaz from Piloto University, Bogota.

The stock exchange game, which was run by the Colombia Stock Exchange over four weeks, started off with over 3,200 student participants, from 116 universities across Colombia.

 The participants were all given 200,000.000 Colombian pesos (approximately £46) to start with. Additionally they had a credit of £12 that they could use if they lost the original stake, with which to trade stocks.

 The final round of the game was played by five students, live, in front of an audience of the general public.

 This Colombian financial education initiative was supported by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) who’s Latin American representative is Waldo Maticorena.

 Mr Diaz’s winning portfolio achieved 306,518.354 Colombian pesos (approximately £70.50), which was a 53.25% gain on his starting portfolio and reflected stocks including futures contracts from Ecopetrol, the largest and primary petroleum company in Colombia.

 Of his achievement, Mr Diaz said: “To me, participating in BolsaMillionaria was the opportunity to apply on a daily basis the knowledge I gained throughout my financial engineering studies. Winning the contest was the result of all the hours I spent studying and analysing during the whole duration of it. It is an experience that motivates me to keep loving my study path and my university. The contest also helped me to make myself known in the stock market and to confirm that when we set goals in this life, if we work hard and with dedication every single day, the results will come.”

 Mr Diaz is studying Financial Engineering at Piloto University, Bogota and hopes to work at a brokerage firm when he graduates.

This was the thirtieth Colombian Stock Exchange game. In addition to support from the CISI, the Game was supported by Portafolio newspaper, Youth Credit Card from Banco de Bogotá and teachers and universities throughout Colombia.

 Waldo Maticorena, CISI’s Latin America representative said: “We at CISI are very pleased to contribute, for the first time, to this Colombian Stock Exchange excellent initiative to enhance stock market knowledge among university students. Following the contest results was an exciting journey and we were amazed to see over 3,000 students and teachers participated.

 “As CISI’s Latin America representative I was thrilled to have the opportunity to give away many certificates to the winners offering them the opportunity to sit our exams. I extend a warm regard to BVC and wish all the winners every success in their exams and future endeavours.”

 CISI has been working with the Colombia Stock Exchange in Bogota promoting its *Spanish qualifications to the Colombian market and is also working with the Universidad delNorte in Barranquilla, northern Colombia, offering its Spanish qualifications to students on relevant finance-related programmes. These CISI qualifications are available via self-study using CISI workbooks.

 Those interested in finding out more about studying for CISI’s professional qualifications in Spanish should email [email protected]

 *CISI qualifications available to study in SPANISH are:

• Fundamentals of Financial Services.
• International Introduction to Securities & Investment.
• Risk in Financial Services.
• Combating Financial Crime.
• International Certificate in Wealth and Investment Management (ICWIM).
• International Certificate in Advanced Wealth Management (ICAWM)