Club of the Month: April 2002

WOW: Women Obtaining Wealth

CHICKS: When did you start your club and how did you all meet?
WOW: We started March 4, 2001. Our initial group was from the office -- Karen, Andrea, Judy and Joy -- and we've known each other for five years. We asked Joyce, Emily, Heidi and Tammy to join us, and now we have our eight!

Where are you all located?
We are all in the Atlanta, Georgia area.

What prompted you to start a club?
It began with Karen’s friendship with Chick Jana. Andrea and Karen were intrigued with the idea and began talking about it a few months before the book came out. We got together with a couple of the members of our book club (we already knew we liked getting together) and discussed the investment club idea. It was very easy for us to agree/negotiate our ideas, plans and operating procedures. We knew it was going to be great.

How do you meet? Online, or face to face?
We meet mostly face-to-face. We’ve tried the on-line meetings a couple of time, but poor Andrea keeps getting bumped off and missing half the meeting by the time she gets back on, so she’s offered her house forever so we can do it face-to-face.

How did you come up with your name?
We wanted something catchy relating to women (of course) and also relating to making money (wealth). We chose Women Obtaining Wealth for the optimism of the name.

Tell us about your portfolio.
We own Pfizer, Coca Cola, UPS, Budweiser, Novartis and Estee Lauder. Our portfolio is up 7.8% right now. Our first purchase was in May, 2001. Our biggest performers, Budweiser and UPS, are up 20.6% and 23.9%, respectively.

What has been the greatest benefit of being together as a club?
It is definitely learning about the different companies, how they contribute to our society and deciding together if we should invest in them. We are a very social club. That, along with the educational value each of our meetings brings to all of us, is our greatest benefit.

Any good club stories to tell?
Our first on-line meeting... We thought it would be such a time-saver. It was not. We were not disciplined enough to stop chatting! Also, we had trouble getting in sync with the typing. One person would ask a question and by the time someone answered it, another question was on the board and everyone was confused. Also, it’s hard to get the communication right. At one point we thought one of us was pregnant, when she really was not!

Any advice for new clubs?
Begin with people you know you can get along with. Also, know that everyone isn’t as knowledgeable on computers as some others, and that sometimes the learning curve regarding the financial statements, etc. is not as fast for some as for others. Be easy with everyone, knowing that we all have frantic lives and we have chosen to be a part of this club. We try to stay motivated, helping each other, and we have the common thread of the law firm we work for. We also ask for accountability and follow through on assigned tasks. Everyone knows the expectations. And if that doesn’t work, well... we whine about it.