ASB Securities to sponsor 2004 NZX Stockmarket Challenge

22 April 2004 – New Zealand Exchange Limited (NZX) is pleased to announce that ASB Securities Limited will be the exclusive sponsor of the 2004 NZX Stockmarket Challenge.

ASB Securities will sponsor the secondary school students’ challenge, which runs for 10 weeks from May 24 this year, and the Open Challenge which begins on June 1.

ASB Securities managing director Tim Preston said his firm was pleased to be associated with the NZX Stockmarket Challenge.

“We’re very happy to put our name behind a venture that encourages new investors into the New Zealand sharemarket,” he said.

“The Stockmarket Challenge is highly popular among secondary school students and in that regard we’re proud to support it, as this age group will be tomorrow’s businesspeople and investors. The Open Challenge also offers a great opportunity for people of all ages to gain investing knowledge and experience.”

The NZX Stockmarket Challenge is a virtual share trading game designed to promote interest in investing in the sharemarket among secondary school students and other beginner investors.

It is a practical education tool that encourages teams to research companies listed on NZX’s markets, keep up with the business news and make decisions on diversification and capital growth.

Teams are allocated a theoretical $50,000 with which to buy shares and create an online portfolio. They can trade or hold their portfolios for the duration of the challenge, with the aim of making the biggest capital gain of all the teams.

NZX marketing and communications manager Melissa Jenner said this year’s NZX Stockmarket Challenge is a new and improved offering, developed as part of a broad series of investor education initiatives.

“We’re offering an enhanced product to schools and other challenge participants and we think entrants will enjoy the upgrades and the re-developed website,” she said.

“The Stockmarket Challenge is part of our increased focus on investors this year, and is a great education tool for anyone who wants to learn about the sharemarket through having a go at investing without putting any money at risk.”

The teams with highest valued portfolios at the end of the challenges will win $2000 worth of NZX exchange traded fund (ETF) units. The runners up will receive $1000 worth of ETFs.

ETFs are funds that track a market index by holding a basket of shares made up in the same proportions as the shares in the selected index. ETFs can be bought and sold through a broker just like company shares. Because they track an index, ETFs are passively managed which makes them cheap to own compared to managed funds. Find out more at www.nzx.com/products.

Visit the NZX Stockmarket Challenge website at www.challenge.nzx.com.

For more information, please contact:

Bridgit Vivian
New Zealand Exchange Limited
04-496-2874
027-472-7599