Year 9 Commerce Incursion

On Friday 26 May 2025, Year 9 Commerce students had the privilege of attending an investing panel, featuring a professional investor, Mr Charles Genocchio, as well as Mr Matthew Keane, an ex-banker turned mortgage broker who manages his own personal investments.

This incursion coincided wonderfully with Year 9’s Assessment Task, which sees students constructing a portfolio worth $1 million across various asset classes, including long-term debt, shares and property. Fortunately for them, these two experts were able to provide timely, actionable advice to our boys, prompting serious consideration as to how to optimise their portfolios to achieve their goals.

The panel was hosted in the Smith Auditorium and lead by MC, Leo Callanan. Whilst it was Leo’s first time hosting an event of this nature, he did an exceptional job, oftentimes making the teachers in the room forget it was a student leading the panel. Mr Genocchio and Mr Keane answered questions with grace, expertise and conversed easily to not only demonstrate their individual expertise, but also to show our students how they may incorporate effective investing practices into their day-to-day lives.

A big thank you is owed to Mr Genocchio and Mr Keane for taking time out of their busy schedules to discuss these interesting topics with our students. Year 9 is also to be congratulated on their attention, engagement and insightful questions which demonstrated an excellent level of understanding and interest.

For those Year 9 students interested in having a go at investing, keep an eye out for when the Economics and Business Studies department releases details regarding the next edition of the ASX Sharemarket game, which sees students from across the country battle it out to see who the best investor is over months. This will be open to all Year 9 students regardless of enrolment in Commerce!

Mr Nicholas Dudley
Economics and Commerce Teacher