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8 Apr 2007

Hedge Fund Investors of Tommorow Compete

Over 2,000 post-secondary students acted as hedge fund managers for the InvestYoung National University Stock Market Competition which ran from October 16, 2006 to March 9, 2007. Approximately 20,000 trades were executed on over 2,800 symbols across all major North American markets.

All ten finalists posted returns that more than doubled the performance of the RBC Capital Markets Hedge 250 Index, which is a representative benchmark of hedge fund performance. The most actively traded securities were Apple, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo! and Sony.

Students were given the opportunity to invest a simulated portfolio of $1,000,000 Canadian (US $869,000) in securities traded on major North American exchanges.

Jason Mah, 26, a fourth year student attending University of Victoria triumphed in the competition. He placed first with a final portfolio value of $1,451,619 representing a 45% return on investment. His strategy was to invest in distressed companies ahead of quarterly earnings announcements. Mah notes, "It is important to always look out for opportunities. I had an incredible time networking and discussing strategies with competitors across the nation." Mah is graduating in the fall with a Bachelor of Economics and looks forward to working on Wall Street.

The InvestYoung Online Stock Market Competition is Investors of Tomorrow's flagship program allowing students to learn about money management through hands-on experience managing a virtual investment portfolio. Investors of Tomorrow also operates a keynote speaker series that has brought some of Canada's most prominent financial industry leaders back into the classroom.