Fantasize this: Invest virtual millions

Combine elements of fantasy football with social networking, and three entrepreneurs with Harvard ties think they might have a recipe for a hedge fund that would attract student and young investors.

Just emerging from beta testing is a website titled theupdown.com, a concept dreamed up by Michael Reich and Georg Ludviksson, two students at the Harvard Business School, and Harvard University graduate Phuc Truong.

The UpDown is a free "fantasy investing" website where anyone can join, create a portfolio, and start building and managing a virtual portfolio with a million bucks of virtual money, the three said in a statement.

Virtual managers whose portfolios beat S&P benchmarks could win real cash prizes of as-yet unspecified amounts, thanks to the backing of an angel investor, said a publicist for the founders.

In their press release, the three said that adding "a new and exciting twist to the frenzy created by fantasy sports leagues and incorporating a social website to their website, they will achieve great success in a new demographic market catering to financial investors."

Reich added in a statement, "We feel that the UpDown will bring together a community of passionate investors who will be driven to the site to share collective wisdom and compete amongst their friends with real-time stock investments."

The hope of the UpDown founders is that the website will generate collective wisdom that ultimately could be used to create a real-life hedge fund or mutual fund aimed at young investors, the publicist said.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)