Fortrose Academy girls crowned winners of prestigious Growing Future Assets Investment competition
Four Fortrose Academy girls have been crowned the winners of a prestigious national competition, which aims to carve out space for young women in a male-dominated industry.
Growing Future Assets is an annual competition challenging teams of girls in Scottish schools to pitch a company to a group of investment professionals, in a bid to introduce more young women to the world of investment.
• WATCH: Fortrose Academy girls inspired to carve out space within a male-dominated industry
Taking place in Edinburgh on the day before International Women’s Day, the finals saw the Fortrose Academy team, who pitched Robotic Assisted Surgery company Intuitive, named as the senior category champions.
The team of four — made up of S5 Business Studies pupils Allysha Cameron, Sarah Finlayson, Loreta Vitola and Alex Macdonald — have received £1000 for their school as their prize.
As a part of the competition, the Fortrose team have also received the specialist help of Colin Dishington from equity specialist company, Martin Currie.
Colin managed to secure a trip to Glasgow for the girls, to see the da Vinci Surgical System in action — aiding their knowledge of the work Intuitive Surgical carries out.
• Read our full interview with the Fortrose team from back in February here
Fortrose Academy Business Education teacher, Claire Robertson said: “The four girls did an amazing job. They really pulled together as a team and took onboard constant feedback to improve their presentation and their skills.
“They went above and beyond by contacting the Scottish Health Secretary for information, and went to see robotic surgery as part of their research.
“The judges said their win was a unanimous decision. Their mentor, Colin Dishington from Martin Currie, said that their win went down as a career highlight for him – I must agree it is one of mine too.”
Jen Mair, CEO of Martin Currie and Chair of Future Asset said: "This year's International Women's Day theme of 'Accelerate Action' perfectly captures what we're doing. By supporting these talented students, we're actively working to create a more dynamic and inclusive industry. Our goal is to ensure no girl believes being female is a barrier to her career ambitions."
