Stock-picking success has led a team from Warwick Academy to the top of the KPMG Investment Challenge, as things stood at the end of January.“The Wolf of Front St” team has grown its imaginary portfolio of $100,000 of shares to $111,615.Saltus Academy’s “Hayek Holdings” and “Birdbrains” are second and third respectively, with totals of $108,833 and $107,767.There are 22 teams in the Challenge, and they are keeping a close eye on the stock market and economic news as they each manage an imaginary portfolio that started out with $100,000 worth of shares.Matthew Mitchell, assistant head of Key Stage 4 at Warwick Academy, said The Wolf of Front St team “originally took ownership of different markets to diversify the portfolio”.He said: “This was to reduce risk and potential loses, but also to benefit from the growth opportunities in different markets. However as the weeks passed, it was clear some markets were experiencing growth more than others and responsibilities were reassigned.“Whilst analysis of the companies’ fundamentals was helpful, changes in share price could not always be clearly explained using this data. Students started paying more attention to the news about firms to make decisions, and this seems to have paid off.” He added: “There is still a long way to go, with the competition finishing at the end of April, but the opportunity provided by KPMG for students to experience the highs and lows of investing has been priceless.”The teams competing in the KPMG Investment Challenge, and are pitted against other senior schools to see who can invest and grow their portfolio the most during a six-month period.At the end of the contest, the top three teams win cash prizes for their school, to be used for educational initiatives.