Aberdeen Sponsors High School Investment Competition

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Aberdeen Asset Management Inc. ("Aberdeen"), a global asset management firm with U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia, has partnered with the Wharton School's Knowledge@Wharton to run an investment competition for high school students.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121106/NE07292LOGO)

This is the second consecutive year that Aberdeen has partnered with Knowledge@Wharton High School, a Wharton School initiative to promote financial literacy, entrepreneurship and leadership among high school students and teachers, on this annual investment competition. The competition began in November, 2012 and will run until May, 2013 when the winning team's school will be awarded $5,000. This year's competition has grown from its initial Philadelphia focus to include schools from 11 different states across the country. A total of 18 schools are participating, including six Philadelphia charter and public schools.

"We anticipate this year's Investment Competition to be as successful as the last, and we are very proud to extend the scope and reach of this great program to more students from across the country," says Gary Marshall, Chief Executive Officer at Aberdeen. "The knowledge that these students will develop in the competition will not only be applicable to financial decisions, but also to other choices affecting their outlook on savings and investment, like choosing a college."

The investment competition promotes financial literacy through extensive free classroom resources that encourage students to think strategically about investments. Students work in teams to design investment strategies and then implement those strategies using the Wharton School's online investment simulator.

"While understanding how to buy and sell stocks is one component of our investment competition, it is not the fundamental goal," notes Diana Drake, managing editor of Knowledge@Wharton High School. "As with all our KWHS business resources -- including lesson plans, articles and our video glossary --we want to give teachers and students the tools to become more financially literate and, in this case, learn the concepts that support sound investment decision making."

"Since partnering with Aberdeen Asset Management and Knowledge@Wharton HS, we have explored various areas of investment and personal finance," says Ryan Baxter, STEM teacher at Martin Luther King High School. "This was a perfect fit with our project-based curriculum in terms of the research and ongoing collaborative efforts and as an educator, this experience has been uniquely valuable in helping to show the value of finance in a traditional curriculum."

Over the course of the competition, Aberdeen representatives will meet with participating classes, facilitating class activities and discussing their careers. Aberdeen hopes that the competition will not only enhance participating students' financial literacy, but also their career awareness.

"Many talented high school students in Philadelphia and across the country might not be aware of careers in financial services," says Marshall.  "Though we hope that this competition will inspire some students to think about careers in investment management, the most important thing is for the students to have fun, and learn skills that will serve them well throughout their lives."

About Aberdeen Asset Management Inc.
Aberdeen Asset Management PLC, the parent company of Aberdeen Asset Management Inc., is an independently run asset manager listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1991, and operating from 31 offices in 23 countries (the "Group"). The Group invests on behalf of institutional and wholesale clients, primarily in equities, fixed income, alternative investment strategies and property. The Group manages more than US$302.4 billion of assets for both institutions and private individuals as of September  30, 2012. "Aberdeen" is a U.S. registered service mark of Aberdeen Asset Management PLC.

About the Wharton School and Knowledge@Wharton
Knowledge@Wharton is the online business analysis journal of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.  The site, which is free, captures relevant knowledge generated at Wharton and beyond by offering articles and videos based on research, conferences, speakers, books and interviews with faculty and other experts on current business topics. The Knowledge@Wharton network – including Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, Indian, Arabic and High School editions – has more than two million subscribers worldwide.

SOURCE Aberdeen Asset Management Inc.

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED