The Founding of NTU Investment Interactive Club

IIC is still in its infancy and has much potential for development. Through progressive leadership, we've matured over the years and all this could not be done without maintaining the same vision and passion set by the club's founders.

Below is an account of the birth of IIC, given by the Founding President, Mr Yap Boon Leong:

The Very Beginning

The initial idea stemmed from strong urge to do something apart from normal school activities; after all, education is definitely more than just classes and tutorials. Having a strong interest in finance, I toyed with the idea of setting up a finance club. Being a novice in this area, some research on my part was essential.

Upon surfing the web sites of Ivy League schools in the United States to see if they had anything of interest that Nanyang Technological University lacked. It turns out that most Ivy League schools had an ECA called an Investment Club. E-mails were sent to the respective presidents of the investment clubs at both Yale and Cornell to find out more about their activities in detail.

It soon dawned upon me that the students there managed a portfolio of money. As such, slight disappointment set in because it would not be feasible to start such a club. At that time, it seemed as if the situation here did not support this kind of risk-taking. Therefore the idea was put on hold for a while.

The 'X' Product for the Set Up of an Investment-Based Club

During the course of my work with my previous ECA to seek sponsorships, I had the opportunity to meet up with Standard & Poor's Com Stock. The sponsorship was ultimately not possible due to some unforeseen change of the activities in the ECA. However, it then struck me that their real time financial products would be a good platform to start up an investment sort of club instead.

Gathering the Initial Brainstorming Committee

Without hesitation a call was made to a friend, the current Vice President of the club, to tell him of the idea. He responded enthusiastically as we discussed its viability in greater detail. We concluded that more people were needed to brainstorm for ideas. We started to think of the people to pull into this project. The main criteria were that whoever came in should add value to the club and most importantly, should share the same passion for finance.

In the midst of doing my final year project on the 'Feasibility of Having a Global Central Bank', I came across this 'conspiracy theory' which suggested that the Federal Reserve System was formed by a group of seven bankers. Although this theory remains more of a myth than a fact, I was captivated by the number 7. There was a conscious effort on my part to get another 5 more persons together, totaling 7. What a coincidence!

The members are friends and acquaintances from my secondary school and junior college; the criteria for their involvement was their ability to work closely together. More importantly, each of them had specific skills that would add dimension to the club.

Working Out the Aims of the Club

The first meeting was held at Burger King, Holland Village. Items discussed were the operations of the club. The vision and objectives of the club were also finalized. All agreed that the club should be operated on a fun basis, for people who share passion in finance to come together and interact and exchange knowledge. The membership would also not be exclusive to finance students in NTU. We would reach out to the students from other faculties like Engineering, Communication Studies etc. During the meeting, a detailed proposal was worked out for Standard & Poor's approval.

Details of Subsequent Events that Led to the Formation of the Club

When we met up with Standard & Poor's, they expressed strong interest in the proposal and agreed to provide real time financial information service on the commencement of the club. A proposal was sent to the Dean of Nanyang Business School, NTU to lobby for his support. He was keen to support the club's activities. He kindly arranged with the school to give us a computer lab to receive real time information feeding from Standard and Poor's. Thanks to the dean, the process was certainly made easier with his endorsement.

The rest of the committee appointment holders like Publicity Director, Honorary General Secretary and the Financial Games Director were roped in. Further meetings took place; details such as the club's name, logo, web site and events (like investment fairs, Stock Exchange and Futures games) etc. were discussed. We approached the Senior Assistant Director of Student Affairs Office, SAO to formally seek the formation of this club.

After some time, we were informed that the club was accepted by NTU and the next step for was to register the club with the Registry of Societies (ROS). We were informed that the official approval from ROS takes approximately 2-4 months. As at 31 Jun 99, the club is officially approved by ROS.

The Uniqueness Of The Club

We will be utilizing real-time financial information service as a platform to facilitate discussion on financial issues. Although no comprehensive research was done, a look around the web sites of regional universities suggests that it is one of the first in South East Asia.

Membership is not exclusive, and is not subjected to any criterion. Everyone is welcomed to join. We aim to reach out to students of all disciplines to come together to exchange financial information, provided they show strong interest in finance. We believe through such activities, there will be greater awareness among the student population of financial issues. That is why our vision is to work towards a "knowledgeable investing student population".

Since such an investment club is unprecedented in Singapore, there are a lot of opportunities to explore. For example, we are very keen in setting up a similar club in the National Universdity of Singapore (NUS), and even in the upcoming Singapore Management University (SMU). We also have a lot of room for working out partnerships with private corporations, especially those in the finance industry.

Although this club is still in its infancy, we believe the future of this club is promising. This is because it has a dynamic and formidable team capable of delivering the best services.