By Nutnicha Sankosik, BBA#15
The third annual “ThaiBMA Bond Star Challenge 2009” was jointly arranged by ThaiBMA and Thanachat Group. The purpose of the competition is to provide an opportunity for university students to learn about the bond market, and to develop the skills that are necessary to work in this business.
This year, the participants in this highly competitive event included top students from all the leading universities in Thailand, such as Thammasat university, Chulalongkorn university and NIDA. Each of the 115 teams that participated in this competition consisted of three students from the same faculty and university.
After submitting the application in early October, candidates were given a one-day seminar on the bond, the bond market and the bond trading strategies. After the seminar was completed, the participants took a test on what they have leant. Only the top 25 teams who got the highest scores would pass to the final round.
|
In the final round, each team competed with each others in a virtual bond market using bond trading simulator program. Each team acted as a trader in this virtual market, which consisted only of other 24 teams, and a market maker. Each team was given 50 million Baht start-up capital to invest. In this virtual market, there were many kinds of bonds like in the real world, including government bonds, corporate bonds and T-bill. The final competition was divided into 3 sessions of 15 minutes each, covering a virtual trading period of one full year. Teams would trade according to the market information, which was given periodically throughout each trading session. The team that generated the highest trading profit won.
The top three winning teams would get awards in form of T-Money investment unit, a capital market mutual fund managed by Thanachart. For the first price, the award is Baht 50,000 T-Money investment unit, and Baht 30,000 and Baht 20,000 for the second and the third price, respectively. This year, the first price went to Bond Berry Team from Thammasat University , which consisted of three senior students from BBA program. The team members are Patcharachai Puttikulsathit, Sunapa Sangnapaboworn, and Nutnicha Sankosik. The second, third prized went to teams from MIF Thammasat and NIDA. The awards were given by the Finance Minister.
From participating in this competition, we learned a lot about bonds through the seminar and activities, especially the trading simulator. We had a like-real experience in bond trading, and learned what skills are needed. The final round was quite short and stressful. Each team had to analyze and react fast to the news. The rank of each team moved up and down quickly so everyone was excited throughout the 45 minute. We have a lot of fun and we get one of the most valuable experience.
Posted date: November 2, 2009 – 15:20 hrs. |
