Scutify’s iOS game turns you into a hedge fund manager

Scutify, maker of apps for investors, is unveiling an iOS app that turns you into a virtual fund manager.

The New York company is launching its Hedge Fund Manage game and a contest in which players can win up to $20,000 in cash. The aim is to turn players into billionaire hedge fund managers, or at least have a chance to learn what these high-level investors managers do. The idea is to inform about stock investing and help junior traders to learn from the best.

In the app, you start out with a virtual $100,000 hedge fund. You learn some strategies and techniques to increase the value of your portfolio. The app displays fund status, including total, weekly, monthly, and year-to-date returns. Scutify launched its Google Play app in early February.

The contest starts on Monday, when managers will compete for $20,000 in cash and prizes, as well as bragging rights. The contest lasts a full year. You can also follow market “all stars,” including actual hedge fund managers, CEOs, executives, analysts, and journalists. A leaderboard shows who is in the top 100 at any given time.

Scutify was founded in 2013, and it has raised $1 million to date. It’s the idea of Kheang Ly, who woke up one morning and saw that his stocks had gone way up. He saw he was much richer, but when he searched the Internet and social media, he couldn’t figure out why. Cody Willard, former Wall Street correspondent for the The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, cofounded the company.

The company launched a site in the fall of 2013. Back in November, Scutify highlighted its social network for the finance community. That network is a hub for chatter about stocks, and it’s a way for it to spread the world about its Hedge Fund Manager app.

Rivals include StockTwits, SocialTradingGuru, eToro, and Kapitall. Scutify’s apps give investors real-time advice on why stocks may be going up and down, and it alerts them about news happening.