Join An Investment Club

Joining an investment club, or Share Club, is a great way to increase your knowledge of finances.  The stock market can be intimidating and confusing for a beginner just learning how to invest your money, so getting together with a group of people who have similar interests and goals can be educational and fun.

There are two types of investment clubs – formal and informal.  Decide which kind will suit your needs.

Informal Investment Club

An informal investment club is a group of like-minded friends that get together to talk about finances.  In a non-threatening atmosphere, people can talk about the basics of investing, the stock market, mutual funds, bonds, the financial alphabet of RRSP’s, TFSA’s, GIC’s and ETF’s, as well as other financial matters such a budgeting, credit, mortgages and insurance.

When investing, the people in the group use their own money and make decisions independent of each other.

Formal Investment Club

A formal investment club is, well, more formal and usually deals solely with investing.  It is set up like a corporation and elects club officers.  Legal and/or accounting advice may be required to set it up and some costs are involved.  Each investment club has its own agenda developed by its membership.  The group determines a name for the club, how often to meet and what the cap should be on membership.

The elected officers are headed by the president who presides over the meetings and plans activities.  The secretary keeps the minutes of the meetings and informs the group of upcoming meetings and events.  The treasurer is responsible for opening both a bank account and discount brokerage account and does the buying and selling of stock.  The treasurer also keeps accurate records of holdings and the contributions of each member.

Someone is usually selected to plan the educational aspects such as guest speakers, field trips and reading material.  Investment decisions are made after a series of discussions.

Benefits of Joining an Investment Club

Being part of an investment club, especially a formal club, is a great way to break into the stock market by taking advantage of the combined investment knowledge of the whole group.  There is reduced risk as your own personal contribution can be small while you learn how the market works.  As part of a group you can diversify your holdings.

You can make some great investments and the potential profit is usually greater than when individuals make their own decisions.  Profits are distributed throughout the membership according to contribution.  You can build confidence while receiving support from like-minded people.  Regular meetings provide structure and the social aspect keeps it fun.

There is likely an investment club close to you that fits your style.  If not, consider starting one yourself with some friends, family and co-workers.  Social networking sites are a good way to attract members.  If you want to start a formal investment club, make sure potential members are serious and committed.

Make sure your group is not too large.  I would say ten people should be the maximum.  You want to make sure everyone is comfortable and not too intimidated to share his or her opinions by more aggressive members.

Investment clubs offer a great learning opportunity.  Have you considered joining an investment club or forming your own?

8 Comments

  1. youngandthrifty on June 23, 2011 at 12:43 am

    One of my colleagues is in an investment club. They did so well recently with their REITs (they sold them) that they all splurged and took a trip to Dubai!

    It sounds like a great idea and I have been interested in joining a non-formal investment club for a while. It’s just the matter of finding the time to meet! 🙂

  2. The Dividend Ninja on June 23, 2011 at 10:37 am

    @Boomer,
    Good post! I to have been wanting to join or create an investmetn club for a while now here in Vancouver… I see a lot of value in connecting with other people to learn in this way.

    @youngandthrifty
    Well there are a few of us like-minded financial bloggers here in Vancouver. Would be pretty cool to start an informal type group with some “prominent” financial bloggers. What say you?

    • Boomer on June 23, 2011 at 4:17 pm

      @youngandthrifty
      @The Dividend Ninja
      Sounds like a match! Let me know how you make out, whichever way you decide.

  3. My University Money on June 23, 2011 at 9:10 pm

    This sounds like something I would definitely be interested in; however, I live in a fairly isolated area. Have any of you financial bloggers out there heard of an informal online investment club in any format?

  4. Boomer on June 25, 2011 at 8:09 am

    @My University Money: If you can’t find an on-line group, why not start your own?

  5. KnowMoney.ca on June 25, 2011 at 4:20 pm

    @Boomer Great post! I’ve heard of investment clubs, but don’t know much about how they work. Thanks for sharing!

    @youngandthrifty @DividendNinja I’ve been interested in joining an investment club in Vancouver, too. It seems like there is quite a lot of interest in this city, especially among us PF bloggers. I’m thinking of checking Meetup to see if there is one established, or maybe setting one up?

  6. mwr2011 on June 26, 2011 at 10:06 pm

    I would love to join an investment club. Does anyone know any clubs?

    thanks

  7. Investing Online on October 16, 2011 at 10:36 am

    For centuries, investors have known of the benefits presented by joining investment clubs. With the advent of today’s current technology, online investment clubs are now gaining in numbers by the thousands. Unfortunately, this poses an increased risk of falling prey to unscrupulous people just waiting to pounce on unsuspecting inexperienced investors to take their hard earned money.

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