Washington, DC, May 11, 2018—Today, Rep. Rod Blum visited Iowa BIG students participating in the SIFMA Foundation’s Capitol Hill Challenge^™ program, supported by Charles Schwab.  This national 14-week financial education competition pairs individual members of Congress and financial capability programming with public schools in every congressional district nationwide to teach middle and high school students about saving, investing, and government.

Rep. Blum met with the student teams who are investing a hypothetical $100,000 in listed stocks, bonds, and mutual funds and learning about the capital markets. The national top 10 teams will be recognized at an awards reception in Washington, D.C. on June 13.

“For more than a decade, the SIFMA Foundation’s Capitol Hill Challenge^™ and Stock Market Game^™ have helped students from around the country become financially capable,” said Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA President & CEO. “Our industry is committed to giving students the necessary tools to build a solid foundation so they can one day achieve their financial goals. I’d like to give special thanks to lawmakers like Rep. Blum who are making personal visits to engage students on these important issues.”

“Since day one, Schwab has been committed to making investing and financial education accessible to everyone,” said Jeff Brown, Senior Vice President, Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, Charles Schwab. “Our sponsorship of the Capitol Hill Challenge^™ is an extension of our commitment to advocating for more financial literacy programs and to giving people the education and tools they need to take control of their financial futures. We applaud Congress for its commitment to advancing students’ understanding of personal finance.”

The competition uses the SIFMA Foundation’s curriculum-based Stock Market Game^™, a program that helps students develop a better understanding of fiscal policymaking, the role of the capital markets, and global economic trends. The program is proven to raise student scores on tests of mathematics, economics and financial knowledge and improve students’ and teachers’ personal financial behavior.

“We thank Congress for its support of youth financial capability through participation in SIFMA Foundation’s Capitol Hill Challenge^™ program,” said Melanie Mortimer, President of the SIFMA Foundation. “And we commend the personal commitment of Rep. Blum for visiting his Capitol Hill Challenge^™ students and teachers to bring their learning to life.”

Since the Capitol Hill Challenge^™ began in 2004, the program has made more than 4,200 matches of U.S. representatives and senators with schools, reaching more than 113,000 students. Middle and high school students from all 50 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Washington, DC are participating in this year’s Challenge.
For more information, visit the Capitol Hill Challenge^™ website at  www.stockmarketgame.org/capitol-hill-challenge.html.

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About SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game^™

SIFMA Foundation’s Stock Market Game is a curriculum-based program where student teams in grades 4-12 learn about the global marketplace and long-term saving and investing fundamentals by using a hypothetical brokerage account. The program serves 15,000 teachers and 600,000 students annually. Teachers receive professional development and grade-level specific curriculum guides, lesson plans and newsletters to incorporate the program into their core mathematics, social studies, business, economics and language arts programs. For more on the Stock Market Game, visit www.stockmarketgame.org.

About the SIFMA Foundation for Investor Education

The SIFMA Foundation is dedicated to fostering knowledge and understanding of the financial markets for individuals of all backgrounds, with a focus on youth.  Drawing on the support and expertise of educators and the financial industry, the SIFMA Foundation provides financial education programs and tools that strengthen economic opportunities across communities and increase individuals’ access to the benefits of the global marketplace. Notable Foundation programs include the Stock Market Game^™, which has served 17 million students since it began in 1977, the InvestWrite^® national essay competition, the Capitol Hill Challenge^™, and Invest It Forward^®. For more information on the work of the SIFMA Foundation, visit www.sifma.org/foundation.

About SIFMA

SIFMA is the voice of the U.S. securities industry. We represent the broker-dealers, banks and asset managers whose nearly 1 million employees provide access to the capital markets, raising over $2.5 trillion for businesses and municipalities in the U.S., serving clients with over $20 trillion in assets and managing more than $67 trillion in assets for individual and institutional clients including mutual funds and retirement plans. SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA). For more information, visit http://www.sifma.org.

About Charles Schwab Foundation

Charles Schwab Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization funded by The Charles Schwab Corporation (Charles Schwab). Its mission is to create positive change through financial education, philanthropy, and volunteerism. More information is available at www.aboutschwab.com/community. The Charles Schwab Foundation is classified by the IRS as a charity under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Foundation is neither a part of Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC) or its affiliates.

About Charles Schwab

At Charles Schwab, we believe in the power of investing to help individuals create a better tomorrow. We have a history of challenging the status quo in our industry, innovating in ways that benefit investors and the advisors and employers who serve them, and championing our clients’ goals with passion and integrity. More information is available at www.aboutschwab.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn.