A Calgary investor has won the grand prize of Horizons ETFs Biggest Winner 5 Trading Competition, Toronto-based Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc. announced on Wednesday.
For having the highest six-week cumulative return of 20.99% in the competition, Daniel Tsang was awarded the grand prize of $7,500.
The competition, which ran from April 13 to May 22, had its highest number of registrants ever, Horizons says, with more than 1,600 registrants.
Participants opened up a fantasy brokerage account, which began with a balance of $100,000 in notional Canadian dollars (no actual money was traded). They then used those fantasy funds to make simulated purchases and sales, of the more than 350 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) available to Canadian investors, throughout regular trading days during the competition.
More than 20,000 individual trades were made during the contest period, Horizons notes, an increase of more than 78% from the previous contest.
Another notable finding was the number of female registrants, which increased more than twofold over the last competition.
“Despite the fact that this this is the fifth edition of the competition, this was by far the highest number of participants we’ve had who had never traded an ETF,” says Howard Atkinson, president of Horizons ETFs, noting “this only underscores the growing interest in ETFs amongst Canadian investors, particularly women”.
Nancy Kelly, from Cobourg, Ont, won $2,500 for having the second highest six-week cumulative return of 18.68%.
In addition, six weekly prizes of $500 were awarded to each of the best single-week returns.
“While one group of competitors was clearly focused on winning the competition, the majority of registrants are by and large using this as a learning experience,” says Atkinson.
“We think for the most part, it’s a very positive experience, where participants not only learn about the benefits of ETF investing, but also have fun!”