In your experience, what is a good size for an investment club?
Kittie Caldwell on
We also tried 15 members and it did not work. We have 8 active members with $50 dues and things are working fine! The most we would consider is 11, one for each monthly meeting. We have a party with husbands in December.
-----Original Message-----
From: Lynn Ostrem To: club_cafe@bivio.com
Subject: Re: [club_cafe] In your experience, what is a good size for an investment club?
AMEN to Paul Madison's comment. I've said it for years. I'd rather have a club with 4-5 active members than a club of 20 where only 4-5 are doing all the work.
In our heyday, the Crow River club had 15 members. As a model club, we made sure that every meeting was "produced" to maximize everyone's experience. It was a lot of work! Somehow, the mix of people turned sour, and we had 3 people doing the majority of the work. We staged a coo, blew everyone else out, raised our dues from $30 to $50 per month, dumped the formal meeting agenda and now we have 5 very happy and productive members.
And to give you an idea about the contributions, just last month we took in $250 in dues...and $411 in revenue from selling 1 covered call and 2 cash-secured puts. With conservative options, we can keep our money working for us every month without having to add more people. Everyone is seasoned, to one degree or another, and we spend our entire meeting time (which we cut from 2 hours to 1-1/2) discussing stocks and managing our portfolio. We decided we would consider bringing on one more person if they met our criteria. Otherwise, we plan to stay small.
I've done it both ways now, and I definitely find a smaller club to be more intimate, more relaxed, and more fun.
On Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 2:30 PM, Paul Madison <madispa@gmail.com> wrote:
Four that are all engaged and pulling their weight is infinitely better than a club with 10 or more and only 1 or two that do all the work.
Energy is much more important than numbers.
On Jan 13, 2012, at 2:04 PM, Herb Lemcool wrote:
only 4 and it is working
On Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 2:50 PM, Laurie Frederiksen <laurie@bivio.biz> wrote:
We sometimes hear from clubs that say they are considering disbanding because a couple of members are leaving and they'll now "only" have 8-10 active members.
What club size works for you? It would be great to get some different perspectives we could pass along to clubs that are worried about not having enough members.
-- Laurie Frederiksen Invest with your friends! www.bivio.com
-- Lynn Ostrem Resource Management Group, Inc. 4439 McAllister Av NE St.Michael, MN 55376 Office: 763/497-5153
Fax: 763/497-5838 Cell: 612/750-4943 garbagecop@gmail.com
Dan Bailey, III on
We've been in existence since March 1988. We currently have
36 members and we have had as many as 50 something. As long
as we have good software for the financials, members aren't
a problem. I think as long as you stay 99 members and under
you don't have an IRS issue. Our philosophy is more
members, more money to invest. As with any organization
about 20% of the members do the work, but if they want us to
invest their money, no problem. Our minimum requirement for
dues is $25 per month, and there is no maximum limit.
Rip West on
It probably doesn't matter, but I hate to see misinformation spread in this
forum. Dan Bailey said......
<<
I think as long as you stay 99 members and under you don't have an IRS
issue.
>>
As mentioned before, there is no IRS regulation dealing with the number of
members in an investment club. Under certain circumstances, you might have to
register with the SEC if you exceed a minimum number.