The Bermuda Institute is leading the pack in the annual KPMG Investment Challenge.

The school’s two teams, Profit Bulls and Investables, are in first and second place respectively and are two of only three teams in the 18-team competition to show a profit.

The Profit Bulls had grown their $100,000 portfolio by 2.74 per cent by the latter half of March, bringing it to $102,738.27.

Meanwhile, the Investables had $101,320.71, a profit of 1.32 per cent. In third place is Berkeley Institute’s TopSquareTradingPosse, with a 0.26 per cent profit.

Aliana King, 16, from Warwick, is a member of Profit Bulls. She said her chart-topping formula was sticking to what she knew.

“First, I’ve gone for things that I like, then I went for things that are popular,” she said.

“It’s different stores I knew were popular, things like Netflix and Facebook, things I know people are interested in and interested in buying.”

Ms King, who plans to study business, added: “I did research on things that were steadily going up and bought them.”

Eighteen school teams are entered in the six-month challenge and were each given an imaginary $100,000 in November to invest in the stock market. The competition ends this month.

Investables’ Aaron Spencer, 16, of Hamilton Parish, said he wanted to train as an accountant when he leaves school. He said the team is still aiming for the top spot in the KPMG Investment Challenge.

“We went for popular things like Walmart and McDonalds, which we knew were popular,” he said.

HSBC and technology giant Apple also featured in the Investables’ picks.

“We would like to get first, but a team from our school is first, so that’s good enough,” said Mr Spencer.

Team-mate Jaki-da Richardson, 16, from Paget, said the team had also favoured cheaper stocks. He explained: “I want to be an underwriter and this is a useful experience for further on in my future.”

Tanya Warner, the manager for the Bermuda Institute teams, said the teams were hoping to match the double success the school achieved last year.

“We were first and second then and we’re aiming for that again,” she said.

Ms Warner is the school’s business manager and also teaches accounting. She said: “There is no secret, we followed the rules of the game.

“We look at the stocks and the history of the stocks we may want to pick. They usually pick the companies they shop from, so it’s mostly retail.”

She credited the Seventh-day Adventist school’s success to a tactic that many in the world of high finance might not have tried — prayer.

Ms Weeks said: “It’s our secret weapon. It’s like a gamble, but we don’t particularly believe in taking risks. It’s a very cautious approach.”