By Kate Luce
Integrated New Media Studies students are working together with business students, investing real money in ever-changing stocks through the newly-formed campus Investment Club.
Students with an interest in investing, learning about stock dividends, and 401K benefits are welcome to join the club, No monetary money is necessary.
Hanah Gerencer, Integrated New Media Studies, is serving as club president, and started the Investment Club at IU South Bend. Gerencer and some business students developed an interest in starting the club after taking a class with retired business professor, Mark Bradford.
Gerencer has ties to the world of business, as she originally was a business major before she switched to an Integrated New Media Studies degree. She decided that the Investment Club was needed on campus.
Bradford, the club’s advisor divided the club into groups and gave real money to each group. The groups then were asked to invest their money into many different businesses, but it was up to the students to decide where they would put the money. Currently, students have put their money in a variety of companies from Walt Disney to Tesla to Chipotle.
“At a typical meeting, the club will break up into our respective groups and discuss the stocks we are currently holding in our portfolios. For example, many teams hold around 5 different stocks at a time in which they are able to buy or sell at our weekly meetings. After learning the best practices of performing stock research, students have the ability to successfully research and choose the stock they are interested in,” Gerencer says.
At the end of the Spring 2020 semester, the club will total up how much they made with their investments and donate the money to a campus charity. So far, the team has a gain of $1,013 but the stocks are ever-changing.
The Investment Club seeks to help students learn how to invest in the stock market. The club invests Bradford’s money to help understand the workings of the market, and to help students gain the necessary skills to pursue their personal investment goals.
“There is not another club like this on campus that gives students the ability to invest real money in real time. Risk-taking is part of the fun of this club as it allows students to experience real-life investing before trying it out [with their own money],” Gerencer says.
Although the club has only recently started in September, they are open to collaborating with other clubs and having guest speakers.
The Investment Club has meetings in EA 1015 every Wednesday, starting at 5:30 p.m. Most meetings last less than an hour. Keep up to date next semester with the club because meeting times and dates might change.