The recently held Season 5 of the ICICI StockMIND saw Armaan Kumar, a student of the TKW’s IBF in Delhi win the Undergraduate category beating 2.48 lakh participants from 579 colleges. They included the prestigious IIM, MDI, IIFT, SRCC and other leading commerce and Management institutes of India. A student from IIM-Sirmaur grabbed the Graduate category award. Each of the winners received Rs.50,000 and a trip to Goa.
Professor Amit Goyal, Founding Director, IBF, who received the revolving trophy said that since its inception, the aim of the Institute has been to establish IBF as IIM of banking and it has done so to a very large extent. He believed that this Award has proved that their students have all the capabilities to be recognised for their trading skills amongst the IIMs and all this was possible because of the Institute’s relentless focus on Experiential Learning and the persistent efforts of the faculty and students.
Expressing his gratitude towards the Institute, Armaan Kumar made it a point to mention that the Institute and its faculty played a very big role in helping him win this competition as they always encouraged the students to prepare well for the industry and not just for the exams.
Why ICICI StockMIND matters
It is to be noted that StockMIND (an initiative of ICICIdirect Centre for Financial Learning (ICFL) incepted in 2012) is considered to be India’s biggest virtual stock market competition for the students and is also recognised in Limca Book of Records. This competition is designed in a way to teach students the nuances of investing in the stock market by using virtual money. For the same, every student is given Rs.15 lakh virtual currency. They then trade in live stock markets for seven trading sessions. The participant who earns highest returns is declared as the winner.
Typically, the competition serves as a net practice for the students before they trade in the stock market. Vineet Arora, EVP, ICICI Securities believes that if students start early, then they can benefit from the advantage of long-term compounding.
The Rise of IBF: The IIM of Banking
IBF was started in 2002 by TKWs Group with the vision of creating a knowledge centre of excellence for the banking sector. The institute offers Government recognised diploma and degree courses for Graduate & Post Graduate level students. TKWs’ IBF key offering includes Experiential Learning Techniques (ELT) and strong industry orientation. The Institute is governed by an industry advisory committee comprising of acting and retired Chairmen, MDs and Directors of leading banks and financial institutions. The Institute has been a pioneer in offering a combination of regular and professional courses to the students in India.