Newport 8th Grader Places First in SIFMA Foundation’s InvestWrite State Middle School Competition

SIFMA Foundation and McGraw Hill Financial Announce Rhode Island State and National Winner of InvestWrite®

 Student Beats the Market And the Competition!

•  MaryAnn Rompf of St. Michael’s Country Day School, Newport, Rhode Island wins state and national distinction in the SIFMA Foundation’s InvestWrite® essay competition with McGraw Hill Financial.
•  InvestWrite, made possible in 2013 by McGraw Hill Financial, challenges 4th - 12th graders to analyze investments and recommend portfolio allocations targeting financial goals.
•  MaryAnn Rompf is among 20,000 students nationwide who take the InvestWrite challenge each year, developing the personal financial savvy needed to make real-world financial decisions.
•  Rompf and teachers Kenneth Hileman and Megan Sullivan will be recognized at the SIFMA Foundation Stock Market Game Awards Ceremony to be held at Salve Regina University on Thursday, May 30, 2013, from 11 – 1 PM, attended by students, faculty, and representatives of the SIFMA Foundation and RBC Wealth Management.

Newport, Rhode Island, May 30, 2013 – It takes years to build up the financial savvy to navigate the markets. But MaryAnn Rompf is decades ahead of the game. She just won distinction as the Rhode Island first place winner and the eighth place national winner in the SIFMA Foundation’s InvestWrite® essay competition with McGraw Hill Financial. Rompf, an 8th grader at St. Michael’s Country Day School, Newport, Rhode Island claims this recognition in the middle school division in the Spring 2013 competition.

The SIFMA Foundation's InvestWrite competition, launched in 2004 and made possible in 2013 by McGraw Hill Financial, challenges 4th to 12th grade students to analyze an investment scenario and recommend portfolio allocations targeting short- and long-term financial goals. The competition serves as a culminating activity for the 600,000 students nationwide who compete in The Stock Market Game™ program each year.

InvestWrite invites students to develop the personal financial savvy needed to make real-world financial decisions with confidence and a deeper understanding of opportunities, consequences, and benefits. Students consider real-world economic events and trends, conduct research online, develop investment recommendations and, in the process, gain the skills to prepare for their own financial future. They work in groups during the Stock Market Game program but then write essays individually about their experience. Rompf is one of 20,000 students across the nation who take the InvestWrite challenge each year.

In her essay, Rompf was asked to write about a purchase or sale that her Stock Market Game team had agreed upon and what might have happened to their portfolio if they had taken the opposite action. Rompf’s team decided to short sell the stock of healthcare giant Johnson and Johnson. Due to the stock’s slow growth reputation, they believed it was at a high, but after a loss of $600 they realized they did not do their homework well enough. Rompf writes about her lessons learned, “The next time I choose to short sell a stock, I know that I will put a lot of my time into researching not only the single stock, but the entire sector as a whole. I have learned that to minimize risks I have to research thoroughly, find a stock that pays a dividend, diversify my entire portfolio, and perform in a good economic environment.”

The Spring 2013 winning InvestWrite essay composed by Rompf was chosen through rigorous judging by thousands of teachers and industry professionals who evaluate students’ understanding of asset allocation, the stock market, and factors that drive investments as well as their expression of investment ideas in essay form. Rompf will receive a $150 AMEX gift check, a trophy, and a certificate.

"A greater emphasis on financial essentials is absolutely crucial to empowering people and communities and creating stronger economies and financial markets. Congratulations to all of the students, teachers and judges who learned and taught these valuable lessons,” said Harold McGraw III, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of McGraw Hill Financial. 

With a goal of having an impact in the community by teaching financial essentials, McGraw Hill Financial made a three-year commitment to underwriting the program.  “Acting as a good corporate citizen is at the core of everything we do, from the dedicated volunteerism of our employees to the spirit that drives our commitment to building better lives and stronger communities,” McGraw said.  

“SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game and InvestWrite are transformative programs that prepare students like MaryAnn for college, career and life,” said Melanie Mortimer, Executive Director of the SIFMA Foundation. “Our students do measurably better on math, economics and personal finance tests. They also learn to work in teams, manage change, monitor and analyze the impact of global business and economic activity, and become smart consumers. We are proud to partner with McGraw Hill Financial and applaud their longstanding commitment to providing young people a better future.”

The SIFMA Foundation’s InvestWrite competition bridges classroom learning in mathematics, social studies, language arts, business and economics with the practical research and knowledge required for long-term personal financial planning. Students are, in fact, building on what they have learned through their participation in the Stock Market Game, which has reached more than 14 million students since its inception in 1977.

An independent study by Learning Point Associates found that students who participated in the Stock Market Game scored significantly higher on mathematics and financial literacy tests than their peers who did not participate. They also found that teachers who taught the Stock Market Game reported that the program motivated them to better plan for their own financial futures. The Stock Market Game has been named the only program that successfully increased scores on the Jumpstart Coalition’s test of high school students’ financial literacy.

Rompf’s teachers, Kenneth Hileman and Megan Sullivan, say that in addition to her award-winning InvestWrite essay, Rompf also authored an essay on Gandhi that was awarded 2^nd place in a Rhode Island middle school competition. Rompf is an accomplished junior tennis player ranked #2 in New England singles. Hileman, the school’s math teacher, says this is St. Michael’s second top 10 finish in the last three years.

Hileman, Sullivan, and Rompf will be recognized at the SIFMA Foundation Stock Market Game Awards Ceremony at Salve Regina University on Thursday, May 30, 2013, from 11 – 1 PM, which will be attended by students and faculty, along with representatives of the SIFMA Foundation and RBC Wealth Management.

Text of MaryAnn Rompf’s Winning Essay:

It is extremely important to choose a good stock, mutual fund, or bond because depending on how it does determines the outcome of your portfolio. Most importantly it is best for your investments to be well diversified in several different ways. Your portfolio is completely based on your sales and purchases, and as sales and purchases are made the portfolio is altered. The essence of investing is purchasing investments that you believe will grow, and selling them when you think the time is right. In order to effectively make decisions on selling or purchasing specific stocks one must do some research. You must figure out the company’s competitors, market cap, recent activity, how the sector is doing  and if the stock pays dividends. Market conditions can change any investment regardless of the research and planning. The performance of a stock, good or bad, can impact any portfolio because the portfolio is affected by each of its investments.

The stock that our group disagreed on short selling was Johnson and Johnson. Johnson and Johnson, part of the healthcare sector, is currently selling at $81.53 (Friday, March 29, 4:00 PM). Its average volume is 9.7 billion. Its market cap is 227.9 billion. Johnson and Johnson owns several companies that are part of research development, producing, and selling products in the healthcare area. This was a difficult decision because short selling is always risky especially in an up market. Johnson and Johnson has a reputation for slow growth. When we purchased the stock we thought it was at a high, but clearly we were wrong. We would’ve made 8.007% (Friday, March 29) on our 100 shares of Johnson and Johnson, that is equivalent to $604.40. Obviously, we shouldn’t have short sold this stock. We didn’t do enough research. The next time I choose to short sell a stock, I know that I will put a lot of my time into researching not only the single stock, but the entire sector as a whole.

The stock that our group agreed to buy the most is Hewlett Packard. Hewlett Packard, part of the technology sector (cyclical), is currently selling at $23.84 (Friday PM). Its average volume is 28 million, and its market cap is 46.3 billion. Hewlett Packard provides products, technologies, solutions, software, and services globally for individuals and small to large businesses. We agreed to buy Hewlett Packard because it was at one of its lowest points in the market during the stock market game. When we purchased it, it was only at $19.39 per share. We bought 150 shares of it. We did some research on some stocks that are competitors of Hewlett Packard in order to make our decision. Apple, being one of its major competitors, has been having some trouble lately. Once we knew that we couldn’t buy Apple because of its high price, we chose to purchase HPQ. If Apple wasn’t doing too well then we knew that we shouldn’t buy it. This was a good decision on on our part. To make our decision even more valuable, Hewlett Packard has been doing the best among others in the technology sector in the past three months. It has gone up 64.51% in the past three months. It has gone up 16.34% in the past month. This was a great choice for our team because it has helped our portfolio tremendously.

If we hadn’t agreed to buy Hewlett Packard, we would not have had the stock in our portfolio. That would’ve been bad for our portfolio because it has gained us a large percentage of our money. We have made 22.937% ($667.20) on it as of March 29, 2012. There are many factors that may have caused the stock to behave as it did. The entire market is coming back, and it has been positive for the last six months. As of January 2013, unemployment in the United States is around 7.9% according to Trading Economics. It has gone down tremendously since July 2011 when it was at 9.1%. Corporate profits have increased a lot. Hewlett Packard performed with the stock market as a whole.

I’ve learned that in this economy with historically low interest rates, making investments in the stock market is one of the only ways to make money in today’s financial environment. I have learned that to minimize risks I have to research thoroughly, find a stock that pays a dividend, diversify my entire portfolio, and perform in a good economic environment. There is never any guarantee, but by using this strategy, I decrease my risks and I increase my chance for making a good return on my investment.

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The SIFMA Foundation is dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of the financial markets for individuals of all backgrounds. Drawing on the support and expertise of the financial industry, the SIFMA Foundation provides financial education programs and tools that strengthen economic opportunities across communities and increase individuals' access to the benefits of the global marketplace. Notable Foundation programs include The Stock Market Game™, which has enabled more than 14 million students to become financially literate, the InvestWrite® national essay competition (www.investwrite.org), and the Capitol Hill Challenge™. For more information on the SIFMA Foundation, visit www.sifma.org/foundation.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) brings together the shared interests of hundreds of securities firms, banks and asset managers.  SIFMA's mission is to support a strong financial industry, investor opportunity, capital formation, job creation and economic growth, while building trust and confidence in the financial markets.  SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA).  For more information, visit http://www.sifma.org.

McGraw Hill Financial is committed to empowering people by teaching the financial essentials necessary to navigate and thrive in the world. The company has supported The Stock Market Game™ since 2000.