CIBC Investor’s Edge has launched its “Beat the Street” Investment Challenge, giving investors a simulated online brokerage experience that closely mirrors real life.

“Beat the Street” is being offered in partnership with Simvest Solutions Inc. The challenge simulates real-life investing within a mock portfolio and provides participants with an opportunity to compete against others based on their ability to increase a fictional portfolio of $100,000 over the duration of the contest.

CIBC Investor’s Edge is running four, one-month online investment challenge segments from August through to November, 2001 on the discount brokerage Web site at www.investorsedge.cibc.com.

The objective of the challenge is to build a mock portfolio that outperforms the TSE 300 index over the four-week period by trading equities and/or options listed on major North American exchanges. Similar to an Investor’s Edge client, players have access to a selection of investment information, support and tools such as delayed quotes, BigCharts and Zacks.

More than $20,000 in cash prizes is available to be won. A grand prize of $10,000 will be presented to one individual game participant randomly selected from all participants, over all four games. The winner’s mock portfolio must outperform the TSE 300 Index over the Challenge timeframe to qualify for the draw. Other cash prizes will be awarded to randomly selected participants from each of the four game segments and to the participants with the highest overall return on their initial investment over the course of each challenge.

“The Investment Challenge can provide participants with valuable insight into investing in today’s difficult market conditions,” says Donna Lalumière, president & chief executive officer, CIBC Investor Services Inc. “While history has shown that it makes sense to take a long-term approach to investing in the stock market, current market conditions can test the patience of even the most committed long-term investors.”

All four “Beat the Street” challenge segments run for four weeks. Participants can still register for the first segment that began August 13. Subsequent segments begin September 10, October 8 and November 5. To sign up, participants should visit www.investorsedge.cibc.com to obtain an account number, password and user ID.