Chicago-based hedge fund manager Citadel LLC and market maker Citadel Securities LLC partnered with education technology specialist EVERFI Inc., Washington, to create MarketWorks, a digital investment learning tool.
The program — a self-guided simulation — teaches high school students about finance and investing, said Zia Ahmed, a Citadel spokesman.
"Understanding how markets work, how capital is formed, how marketplaces function, how companies and people access this is critical and almost entirely missing from the school day," said Thomas Davidson, EVERFI's CEO, in a joint news release with the two Citadel entities.
The MarketWorks program will be introduced into high schools in the Chicago area and Dallas in October, with Citadel providing the funding. The plan is to have the program available to students in 160 high schools in the two metro areas.
"MarketWorks is an innovative program that will provide students the knowledge and confidence to build and manage their savings over the course of their lives," said Gerald Beeson, Citadel's chief operating officer, in the news release.
Citadel managed $30 billion in hedge fund strategies as of May 31.
