In the longest economic expansion in American history, filled with such stories as Internet opportunities turning dreaming kids into millionaires, one might expect that Dartmouth students would want to eat a piece of the investment pie.
And plenty of them do.
To encourage undergraduate investment efforts, several students have banded together in investment groups, such as Big Green Investors and the Dartmouth Finance and Investment Club, that provide them the insights and resources that would otherwise be unavailable to them.
Big Green Investors
With nearly 50 partners, the most popular investing group, Big Green Investors, is not officially recognized by the College and is a separate legal partnership.
The recent expansion of the economy has led to increased interest in the group --membership has nearly doubled this year. While in its 1999 founding the group's membership included mostly economics majors, it has attracted a much more diverse membership as of late.
"The whole idea of investment is to have the resources of a large pool," Club Vice President Jonathan Arbeit '02 said.
He explained that investors in the club are required to pay 50 dollars in their first month and then 20 dollars in each following month.
Many members deposit more than that in the hopes of making more money.
Arbeit said that when he founded the club with Hank Leukart '01, the president of Big Green Investors and an editor for The Dartmouth, they hoped to help students invest with the resources of a large portfolio, so that they could play the market better. With prices of some popular companies' stocks reaching over 200 dollars, founding a club made this more feasible.
The club serves the interests of students who desire some experience with the market and think that "investing would be a good thing to learn about," but do not have time to be serious investors, Arbeit said.
The group's relative inexperience has not hurt it thus far, according to Arbeit.
The students posted returns of nearly 50 percent last year, and they were not hit hard by the recent drop in the Nasdaq Exchange. Their portfolio lost about 10 percent of its value -- much less than the 20 to 25 percent losses experienced by some companies.
Arbeit said the group focuses on long-term investments and does not look for the next big, take-the-money-and-run type of investment.
"There's an important distinction between investing and gambling," he said.
To help its membership understand this distinction, the group presents an educational report at every meeting so that members can better comprehend how the market works.
Dartmouth Finance and Investment
Another organization on campus, the Dartmouth Finance and Investment Club, completely focuses on the education of its membership at its goal.
Founded by Kenneth Fischl '00 last fall, the club currently has 20 members and is the only investment club officially recognized by the College.
It does not actually invest money but instead seeks to educate its members and the community about investing.
The club's recognition by the College has helped it bring speakers to campus frequently.
With such clubs offering students information and opportunities to invest the stock market need not be a strange and mysterious entity to Dartmouth Students, they might even become the next in a long string of millionaires.
