The blue-chip boy: 13-year-old graduates in share

 Dubai: While his school friends are absorbed in the latest football results, Madhav Sharma has his eyes trained on the ups and downs of the stock market.

Certified trader

A certified trader at the tender age of 13, the Jumeirah College Indian student is still too young to take up his passion professionally just yet, so he spends his time advising his dad on where best to invest his money.

Sharma graduated following a week-long course at the Online Trading Academy at the Knowledge Village in July, having made more money than anyone else in a class of 18 grown-ups.

He said: "Everyone else was in their 20s and 30s so I was the youngest there and it felt a little strange but I learned a lot."

Students were given a small amount of real money to trade for a couple of hours and Madhav made a profit of Dh80 - the highest amount for the class.

Despite his success he is not planning a career as a stock trader and would rather follow in his father's footsteps as an engineer.

He said: "It's something that I enjoy doing for a few hours during a week to help my dad and we have been successful but I don't think I'll do it full-time."

Financial skills

The skills he learned during the course will help him in future as he gains more experience.

His proud father Mahabir said: "For us, it is more the fact that this experience will broaden his horizon rather than see him become a trader. He still has to do his homework and still plays football with his friends so we don't feel it's putting any more pressure on him."

Tareq Abu Hantash, the academy centre manager, said Madhav was the youngest person to ever be given a certificate in the five years the course has been running. He said Madhav had a keen financial mind and he asked a lot of relevant questions.