Home - Election of Officers

The best advice about How to Start an Investment Club for Fun and Profit

Step 3 - Election of Officers

When the time arrives for the second meeting of your investment club you'll want to finalize some decisions that have to do with the way your club is run and organized.

You'll want to determine some of the responsibilities that need to be met and what officers are going to be elected to handle those responsibilities.

All positions should be clearly defined so that members can be elected to these positions. Keep in mind that all members of the club will have responsibilities but when you elect officers you'll have certain positions filled where members have a particular duty and task.

Most investment clubs will have the following officers:

· President. The president can also be known as the presiding partner. The president is the one who decides when the next meeting is going to take place (usually done with a mutual vote but made official by the president), presides over the meetings, and plans activities (usually done with a mutual decision by other members).

· Vice president. The vice president can also be known as the assistant presiding partner. The vice president is the member that stands in when the president is absent or needs help with presidential duties. The vice president is often the one who plans some of the educational information that is provided to the club at meetings.

· Treasurer. The treasurer is also known as the financial partner. The treasurer is the one who deals with the brokerage firm and does the buying and the selling of stock. The treasurer also is responsible for keeping accurate records of the financial holdings of the club, the financial contributions of each of the members, and any other records that concern themselves with money and financial matters.

· Secretary. The secretary is also known as the recording partner. The secretary is responsible for keeping the minutes of each meeting. The secretary also lets other members know of any upcoming meetings. If a member misses a meeting the secretary is the one who passes the minutes of the last meeting to the absent member so that everyone is kept up to date of all meeting decisions.

· Education officer. Many clubs have what is known as an education officer. This member of the club is responsible for organizing educational activities such as guest speakers, reading materials, field trips, and presentations that have to do with investing.

When you elect members to fill the above positions you're simply making sure that your club is run in an organized and efficient way.

Tips For the Second Meeting

After your first meeting has been a success you'll want to make sure that certain things have been completed for the second meeting.

These tasks include:

· Registering your investment clubs business entity with the state . This includes the name of your investment club. When the paperwork returns, the newly elected Secretary of your investment club should make sure that the paperwork is filed and that members of the club have access to the information.

· Tax ID Number. This is the time to file the information that is required to obtain a Tax ID Number . The newly elected treasurer will now be able to open up a banking checking account for your club as well open a brokerage account. If your investment club hasn't decided on what brokerage to use this task will have to be delayed until a later date.

· Education program. The vice president, or the education officer, should be planning the first education program that you're going to start learning.

· Accounting. The newly elected treasurer should have the accounting system set up by the time your second meeting rolls around.

· Software programs. If your investment club is going to use other types of software to keep track of stocks, profits, expenses, and other administrative information the newly hired secretary can purchase this software and have it installed. Remember to keep in mind that if more than one member of your club is going to use the software program on their computer that you'll have to purchase multiple copies of the software or buy multiple licenses for more than one user.

· Copies of last minutes. The secretary should be sure to have copies of the minutes from the last meeting available for all members of your club. This is so that each member, whether or not they are an elected officer, feels that they are a part of the entire investment club.

· Original copies. All original copies of official documentation should be kept by the secretary in a safe place. This includes any registration papers, member information, stock purchases, and any other official records that need to safe guarded.

Your investment group should be as well prepared as possible for the second meeting. If you find that one or two people from the first meeting have dropped out, but you still want to keep up the numbers of your membership, you should invite any new members to this second meeting.