For a young friend who, so far, doesn't have to work for a living, who
DOES want to learn about managing and investing his portfolio . . .
how can he go about doing this?   The family money has been in a trust
and is about to be disbursed as he turns twenty-one.  It's old family
money; the bank has been the trustee all these years.  Family had a
very hands-off approach; not much experience to
rely on there.

He doesn't necessarily want to get a college degree, but if there was
a degree program that specifically taught only personal money
management and investing, that would be good.   What does a
professional money manager who is lisenced by the SEC have to do to
prove his/her competence?  Beyond this, what other resources are
valuable in this?  Trainings?  Programs?  Books? 

It seems to me that the most successful investors usually have a
mentor, someone to show them the ropes.  Of course  there are all
kinds of 'millionaires' out there selling their 'secrets'.  He wants
to avoid that sort of thing.  Even if he were not able to be
personally mentored by someone, who would be  -- say  -- three or five
well known people who he could read up on and learn from their
example?  (preferably investors who have a scruple or two, best would
fall in the catagory of 'ethical' investors)


***

How do you make a small fortune in the stock market?

PAUSE

First, start with a large fortune....

Old stockbroker joke.



There are two basic ways to play the market.  

The Warren Buffett way, based on business fundamentals.

And the follow the crowd or guess where the crowd will go next way.

You need to choose one before looking for a mentor.

As to your question about what brokers need to know, they have to pass
a test, and I saw from one site, that the SEC is or was auditing them.
 This site may give you an idea of what they should know:
http://www.made2measure.biz/red/copying.html

There must be serious courses available, and certainly he should
have/develop enough interest to read books and the financial news.  In
my opinion, he should not make finance a career unless he is really
interested in the field, independent of his inheritance.  It might be,
that the trustee bank would consider a trainee program for him, an
internship (little or no salary), but tailored to what he should
learn.  The bank can, probably, still continue to act as trustee for
him after his 21st birthday.

I'm kind of amazed that no researcher has accepted this question, but
then I look on the list of questions in the Money/Finance catagory and
very few are being answered . . .  seems like back in the Golden Age
of GA things were a bit different.

It's not exactly rocket science, eh?  Anybody?

And myoarin-ga, if my young friend needed a tailor I think he'd find
his own, thank you.


***

Back in the 70's, it was found that a bunch of monkeys throwing darts
at the stock pages of the WSJ beat the markets.

Sounds like a plan to me.

You cannot get a good answer to your question until you tell us how
much ur friend already knows.

If he knows nothing, start simple.  The WSJ has a very good guide on
money and Investing and another on Personal Finance.  Each can be read
in about an hour, but it lays a great foundation.

If your friend wants to sell on his own behalf, he need not be licensed.  

Perhaps the best way to begin is funding a portal like Yahoo and set
up a fictional account and let him learn the ropes that way.  In fact,
set up several so he can try different echniques.  (of course, there
is a chance a major market shift might not occur during this
experimentation period.  Still, let him get his feet wet.

Money managers are judges based on their track records; which means
comparing their performance to a benchmark.  Your friend might think
about getting his CFA or CFP, but you might need a degree for that,
and it requires some intence training.  However, to trade his own
fund, why must he demonstrate performance to others?

thank you, ubiquity-ga   --- your comments are appreciated!

I think I'll close this question and try anew, with a more specific focus.

I remember hearing about the monkeys and the darts; ha!   well, I
would hope that my friend expands his investment horizons far wider
than just the stock market . . .


thanks again,

ts

***