Spotted in the Library: Seventh Grade Accepting the Portfolio Management Baton!

Last week, we kicked off Speyer’s Financial Literacy Program! Our Seventh Grade students were joined by members of the Eighth Grade in the library to officially hand over management of Speyer’s Financial Literacy Fund Portfolio. One could say the seventh graders are very invested in this aspect of their curriculum (I mean, the pun was right there, we had to do it)!

The centerpiece of the Seventh Grade financial literacy curriculum is their role as managers of a real investment portfolio, which was a gift from the Harada/Peterson family. Let’s break down how it works: each incoming grade has a gift of $20,000 and over their nine years at Speyer, this portion grows with investment returns. At the time of their graduation, the original $20,000 rolls forward to the incoming Kindergarten class. The increase in total value from their original $20,000 is then split into two: first half is donated to Speyer by the eighth graders in the form of a graduation gift of their choosing, and the second half is gifted pro rata to the students themselves to further their education.

Last year’s portfolio managers explained what the Seventh Grade will tackle throughout the school year. They shared what it was like to manage the portfolio and gave advice on how to handle volatility in the market. The eighth graders also explained what sales and investments they made and what stocks are currently in the portfolio.

The seventh graders were then joined by their Wells Fargo advisors. They examined trends of the stock market and discussed the definitions of stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, diversification, trading costs, hyper-inflation, and oligopolies.

Then it finally was time for the always-exciting stock picking simulation game! Seventh graders were split into small groups and had four rounds to choose how to allocate their investment among a group of five imaginary stocks (as well as an index fund and a value fund). The goal: to have the highest percent return from their picks at the end of the game. The results announced at the end of each round, were met with high-fives and cheers or groans and gasps as teams saw how their investment strategy worked…or didn’t work!

We all wish the seventh graders well with this new responsibility as they begin to manage the Financial Literacy Fund Portfolio (which totaled more than $320,000 at the end of the last school year). As we say every year, may the market be ever in their favor!

Special thanks to Speyer’s CFOO Michele Glazer, Head of Middle School Dorothy Meyer, Lauren Matles and Michael Katz from Wells Fargo Advisors, portfolio advisor Alexander Ho, and the Harada/Peterson family for supporting and helping our Middle Schoolers with this fantastic and unique part of our curriculum!