- Over 10,216 number of students from 197 colleges across 75 cities participated in one of theuniquepersonal finance education initiative organized by a Mutual Fund for college students
- 2nd edition in association with Money Wizards sees a 32% increase in participation (in terms of students) nationally
India 20 July 2016: The winners of the 2nd edition of the Youth Money Olympiad held by Principal Mutual Funds in association with Money Wizards, were felicitated at an event in Mumbai. The event was attended by professionals from the personal finance and education sector. This year, the YMO reached out to 10,216 students across 197 esteemed colleges, 550 corporates in India with an aim to help students evaluate their personal finance awareness versus their peers.
The 1st prize of the national round was awarded to Mr. Prathmesh Sonawane from IIM Indore while the 2nd spot was awarded to Ms Niveditha K from Ethiraj College for Women - Chennai and 3rd position shared by Mr. Srikrupa Sadagopal from Stella Maris College – Chennai, Mr. Rajesh Rao from NIT – Surathkal and Mr. Piyush Gaurav from IIM Raipur. The students were assessed on the basis of a personal finance IQ test conducted first at the college level and then at a national level. The participants were given exhaustive personal assessment reports and were provided with educational material to help them understand personal finance better.
Mr. Lalit Vij, Managing Director, Principal Pnb Asset Managementcommented on the successful completion of the 2nd edition of YMO as he said, “At Principal Mutual Funds our aim is to inculcate financial literacy amongst the youth which will help them take informed financial decisions once they start earning. Our attempt is to reach out to the masses and educate them about finance and how they can contribute to the wellbeing of the nation. YMO is one of the unique personal finance education initiative organized by a Mutual Fund for college students.We stay hopeful and make bigger plans to reach the mass for the 3rd edition with a target of reaching 200+colleges across the country.”
Echoing Mr. Vij’s sentiments, Mr. Venkatesh Varadachari, co-founder and Managing Director, Money Wizards said, “Financial education is the need of the hour and with the Youth Money Olympiad initiative we have been able to educate the students about the importance of understanding and managing their personal finances. With every passing year of the YMO, we will utilize our learnings and strive to make the upcoming editions much more effective and beneficial.”
2nd edition was rolled out country wide in July last year. The 3rd edition of YMO was announced on the occasion; which promises to be much bigger in scale and outreach. The 2nd edition includes added focus centres, an online version for the campus level test, direct online participation outside campus and inclusion of corporate freshers in addition to students. The 3rd edition aims to reach about 15,000 participants including 200+ colleges and corporate participation of 2,500 participants across various centres.
Over the next few years, YMO aims at achieving its objectives of financial literacy by extending the program at Corporate Level.
For more information on YMO visit: www.youthmoneyolympiad.org
About the Principal Financial Group
The Principal Financial Group® (The Principal ®)[1] is a global investment management leader offering businesses, individuals and institutional clients a wide range of financial products including retirement services, insurance solutions and asset management through its diverse family of financial services companies. Founded in 1879 and a member of the FORTUNE 500®, the Principal Financial Group has $519.3 billion in assets under management[2] and serves some 19.6 million customers worldwide from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. Principal Financial Group, Inc. is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PFG. For more information, visit www.principal.com (data as on 31-Dec-2015)
About The Principal® in India
Principal PNB Asset Management Company Private Ltd. is an Investment Manager to Principal Mutual Funds (a SEBI registered Mutual Funds) specializing in investment management. The company is a Joint venture between The Principal Financial Group Inc. [through its wholly owned subsidiary Principal Financial Group (Mauritius) Limited] and Punjab National Bank has been in existence since 1994. The Group’s advent in the company was in the year 2000. The company has a nation-wide presence and offers a wide bouquet of Mutual Funds schemes targeted towards various customer segments.
About Money-Wizards
Money-Wizards is a senior IIM alumni venture and is a pioneer company in financial literacy and investor education. The company provides money and financial education to a variety of market segments like school students, college students, working and stay at home adults. Money-Wizards is a pure education company with a high level of editorial independence, which is reflected in its world class educational products.