At the beginning of the year we took on a new initiative at Stockopedia HQ. We started an Investment Club for the team. I had a few goals as Chairman of the Club, but the main one was to find a way for the team to kindle a lifelong interest in stock markets and investing... and hopefully profit along the way.

You'd think that working at Stockopedia would be enough - that osmotically everyone would pick up everything you need to know to succeed in the stock market. But experience has shown that this doesn't necessarily happen. We've a strong team of specialists at their chosen profession - with of course investing specialists and CFAs - but for many on the team Stockopedia is the first time they've worked in an investing related firm.

Now anyone who has been an investor for some time knows that the fastest way to learn is to get some "skin in the game" - to get out there and put your savings to work in the stock market. So I tried to encourage staff to start an ISA or open a spread betting account and just get started. But the truth is that first time investing is really quite intimidating. It's hard enough getting the savings together, but then you are faced with platform selection, account choices, dealing forms, security selection, financial jargon and more. And that's before you face the volatility of the stock market - it's no wonder so many shy away from it.

So I thought back to a time when we started a family investment club. I brought all my siblings and cousins into the fold and we met once a month in a pub in the real world. There's something about investing together that gives you confidence - you can practice pitching ideas in a safe environment, and invest a larger collective pot than you might have available personally. My family investment club turned out very profitably with our best purchase, Domino's Pizza (LON:DOM) , more than 14-bagging.

We thought we could make something similar work for the team here. So we got cracking. We set up the accounts, nominated the Chairman, Treasurer, Portfolio Manager and Secretary and got the membership and investment process together. Little did we know we'd be starting the Club in some of the most volatile stock markets seen in a generation…

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