Establishing Investment Club
Rules
Investment
clubs are a great way to get into investing and to learn more
about investing. It is also a way for you to develop some great
friendships and have fun with your finances. One of the most
important parts of an investment club is the
rules.
Investment club
rules cover
everything from the actual act of investing to how the club is
run. The rules help to keep everything orderly and help to
ensure that everyone has a good investment
experience.
One of the
first rules about an investment club is that membership is
usually limited. In order to keep the numbers low so that
everyone can get the attention needed and investments can be
well managed most investment clubs are limited to around 15
members maximum.
An
investment club is all about business. It is not just a hobby
but an actual business venture where you will all be working
together on investing your money. For this reason having some
clear cut rules is very important.
From the
start it is important that an investment club has some set
rules. These initial rules should cover some important aspects
of the club and how it works.
The meeting
time and place should be discussed and established. It is
really important that all members are together in deciding this
point. This should be a rule that is taken very seriously.
Missing meetings could greatly effect members ability to stay
on board with the investment club.
Next thing
is the name of the club. This is something that be fun and
something that should be played around with. It is not
something that needs to maintain the serious nature of the
club, but rather should reflect its members and the whole
atmosphere of the club.
The next
rule should be forming a partnership and drawing up the club
agreement. This is an important task. This is the actual
establishment of the club and of the financial end of the club.
It will help when tax time comes around and help to ensure
everyone is in agreement about how the club
works.
The next
rule would be to set up the financial particulars. There should
be a minimum monthly contribution by each member into the
investment budget. This can be based upon a mutual agreement by
all members.
Lastly the
club should draw up some goals and finalize any loose ends to
make sure everyone is on the same page.
Your
investment club may wish to draw up other rules. They may want
to establish rules involving new members or other rules that
will help the club run smoothly and ensure that anything in the
future that may come up will already be governed by the club
rules.
The club
may also want to establish officers and the particulars about
elections and terms. Some groups may choose to not have
officers, which is also fine. This is a choice for each club
depending on how formal or casual they want the club to
be.
Other
things to consider when it comes to investment club rules is
about bringing in outsiders to help, like accountants, lawyers
and even a stock broker. Haring professionals to work with the
club is something that may be needed in order to ensure
everything is done in a professional way. It can also help to
avoid problems with legal issues or taxes.
By the end
of the first meeting, though, the club should pretty much have
a good set of ground rules and clearly define the nature of the
club and their investment strategies. Rules just help the whole
club work and move along nicely.
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