The Falcon Fund Flies High!
The Falcon Fund is a new student-led umbrella fund (one which only invests in other funds) with 30+ members, aiming to increase financial literacy. Officially forming next school year, the Fund will use real money to invest in stocks, and members are currently participating in investment competitions and reaching out to communities within and outside the school. One of the main components of the Fund is the newsletter, which the Fund releases once per eight-day cycle, and it includes stock recommendations and analyses. The Fund additionally plans to start a community outreach program to teach groups and kids about financial literacy and certain topics of investment.
One special aspect of the Falcon Fund is that students will work with real money. “Unlike competitions or clubs that talk about investing in general, this [potential] club will actually have results that we can measure and look back on,” says Mr. Jeremy Clifford, the Fund’s to-be faculty advisor. “You truly can measure your results and see what recommendations ended up working out, and what didn’t go so well. There’s a lot to be learned from that.” According to sophomore William Liu, the Falcon Fund’s founder and president-to-be, “No club [in Riverdale] has done real money investing or outside-of-the-school stock contests.” Additionally, this profit money will be used for further investment and, if not, for a charitable cause. “Most will stay in the fund to grow it,” says Liu. “Occasionally, we might donate to other activities in Riverdale - maybe around 5% of our earnings. Because the scale’s large enough, once we reach that point, we may be donating around $300 to a workshop, $100 to a club, and so on.”
The Fund will likely receive most of its money through donations from club members’ parents. Since the club is still pending approval, the Fund’s brokerage account for trade has not yet been set up and finalized by Riverdale’s Finance office.
Currently, the Falcon Fund plans on working with other clubs in Riverdale or with local communities. “We might ask several other clubs to pitch us on why they think their club would be deserving of the funds, which is almost the way a charitable endowment works,” says Mr. Clifford. “Our club members would have to decide which organizations would get the funding for that year or a certain period of time.” Continuing with aspects of community service, the Fund also plans to hold financial literacy workshops with middle schoolers, both inside and outside of Riverdale.
“To be an effective adult, you should have a basic understanding of how investing works,” says Mr. Clifford. “Between your own family providing you some education in investments or your school, I do think young adults should have this information. You don’t have to be a professional investor, but you should have at least a background to manage your own money wisely.”
