Sharemarket Game news
Read the latest tips and updates for the Sharemarket game
Prize | Participant name | State | Final Portfolio |
|---|---|---|---|
First | Bazza123 | VIC | $75,818.38 |
Second | Shareguy | NSW | $70,687.45 |
Third | KingKong | NSW | $70,486.92 |
| Top university portfolio | Chicken Nugget | NSW | $63,404.84 |
| League 10 or fewer members | rogue jpm rejects | NSW | $60,975.76 |
| League 11 or more members | Green Bulls Sky High | NSW | $52,438.83 |
Holding on through the highs and lows
Bazza123, aka Dominic C from Victoria, took out the coveted top spot of the Sharemarket Game, with a portfolio valued at $75,818.38 – more than $5,000 ahead of his closest competitor and beating more than 11,000 other participants. A previous participant in the School Sharemarket Game, this is Dominic’s first time in the public Sharemarket Game.
Dominic chose a buy-and-hold strategy, retaining his original picks to the end. He chose highly volatile stocks that appeared underpriced but would likely have a large upside in what he expected to be a bullish market.
So, did he stick to his strategy?
“While I was very tempted to sell my stocks and hold cash, given my considerable lead in the Sharemarket Game, I put emotions to the side and held on to my stocks,” he says.
His persistence paid off – even though the volatility in his portfolio was unnerving.
“Volatility delivers the biggest returns and the worst losses,” Dominic says. “Trying to find your way through the highs and the lows is crucial in playing in any market.”
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Shareguy is cashed up
In second place with $70,687.45 was Shareguy, or Adam P, who hails from New South Wales and is a first-time participant in the Sharemarket Game.
He spent a few hours at the start of the Game searching for companies that in his view had been oversold (at least in the short term) during the big market downturns in 2022.
His choices included cloud services company Megaport, Xero, and homewares e-commerce business Temple & Webster, all of which did exceptionally well during the 2020-21 lockdowns, but experienced significant corrections in 2022. Adam also invested in Pilbara Minerals, hoping it would have some short-term momentum after a price drop on the back of a softer Chinese economy.
While Adam’s strategy turned out to be correct, he modestly attributes this success to luck.
He says although he tried to ignore market volatility, that’s easier said than done with the Sharemarket Game’s three-month investment horizon.
“It gave me more of an appreciation for the slow-growth type of investing that I'm more accustomed to,” he says. “It's less stressful, and takes far less brain power!”
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It runs in the family
In third place with $70,486.92 was David H from New South Wales, who participated under the name KingKong. David had big shoes to fill – his father won the Sharemarket Game a few years ago.
David said the Game allowed him to take bigger risks than he would in real life. His strategy was to find stocks he believed were undervalued and experiencing downward volatility, then cash them out for a quick 10-20% profit. He admits the strategy didn’t always work, as some stocks continued to worsen.
“I would normally stay away from this strategy for long-term investing,” he admits.
His biggest takeaway from the Game was the importance of risk management.
“I discovered the power of diversifying my portfolio and the need to carefully analyse market trends before making investment choices,” says David. “These insights will undoubtedly guide me in future investment endeavours.”
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University winner, winner, chicken …
Chicken Nugget, aka Jackson H, was a triple winner. He topped the university participants with a portfolio valued at $63,404.84 – and was part of the winning league team in the Less than 10 members category. He’s also a previous winner of the Schools Sharemarket Game.
Jackson used a buy-and-hold strategy, performing a quantitative analysis of the macroeconomic conditions for the industries and economies in which he invested. And even though one of his companies significantly underperformed, he stuck to his guns.
“The broader market did not seem to decline significantly until immediately after the ASX game concluded, which meant that I never had to strategise how to exit positions,” he says.
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Playing for fun (and to win)
Rogue jpm rejects, Shrey B and Chicken Nugget, started their league for a bit of fun – but when they realised that had a chance of winning the Less than 10 members category (and the cash prize), their motivation increased – helping them win in this category.
“The benefit of playing in a league is that it emphasises the importance of teamwork and also enables you to work with one another to structure your portfolio,” says team member Shrey B.
The league based their stock picks on the results of their research. They chose crypto and geared hedge fund ETFs as they believed their volatility had potential to provide high returns. They also chose blue chip mining stocks with high dividends. Finally, they took advantage of a temporary dip in the price of the big banks, enabling them to buy low and eventually sell high.
Throughout the Sharemarket Game the team noticed the impact that world events had on their shares – a lesson they’re keen to apply in real-world investing.
“Being an investor requires you to research and keep up with geopolitical news across the globe, to ensure you are able to make informed investment decisions.”
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Aiming for the sky
The winning league for our More than 10 members category was Green Bulls Sky High, which ranked 48 overall in the league leaderboard. The best performer of the league, Brian L, finished 17th in the national ranking with a final portfolio value of $64,482.86.
They saw the Game as a great way to gain experience and test some unconventional strategies without risking their own money.
The league threw themselves into the Game, monitoring stock and commodity prices, reading financial reports and following industry developments. Their stock choices were based on readings of chart graphs and company research.
Participants used a range of investment strategies – from choosing fundamentally strong companies with growth potential, to choosing mining companies experiencing high volatility.
They admit they were swayed at times from their original strategy, influenced by short-term market fluctuations or changing sentiment – especially during unexpected market volatility.
“Some members in the league employed strategies to navigate through it, such as holding specific stocks throughout the whole game,” the team says.
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