A Worthy Investment: Wall Street in Harvard Square

Beardstown Ladies beware--the Harvard Investment Association (HIA) wants to help you make money.

With resumes that read like a who's who of Wall Street and plenty of training in the science of economics, HIA's student leaders say their goal is to educate group members in the art of finance.

At an introductory meeting last Tuesday, HIA President Mark G. Heiman '00 told a standing-room-only crowd in the Lamont Forum Room that joining the group is a great way to learn about all things financial--not to mention score a few business cards from prospective employers.

To that end, the club has lined up an impressive schedule of fall events, culminating in a Veteran's Day trip to Wall Street and the New York Stock Exchange. Among those speakers already confirmed are the founding partner of a billion-dollar venture capital firm and the former head of Harvard recruiting at Morgan Stanley, now chief financial officer at a Boston-based biotech firm.

The group also runs an investment game in which students invest a hypothetical $100,000 in stocks of their choice and vie for their portfolio's top performance.

But for fresh-faced students worried about being tied down to HIA responsibilities, club officers stress that members need not attend meetings every week to become a Motley fool. In fact, many of them said they only were occasional attendees in their first years--until they saw the light.

The one catch: HIA charges a $10 membership fee at the beginning of the year, mostly to cover printing expenses.

But members can apply the fee to the cost of the Wall Street field trip and also receive a copy of HIA's Guide to Investing in Stocks. Now that's high yield.