Online Investing Clubs Evolve Thanks to New One-Stop
Internet Shops

By Danny Hakim, Staff Reporter for the New York Times

The full text is available from The New York Times.

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The Dart Throwin' Monkeys could not be confused with the Beardstown Ladies. After all, some of the Ladies, affable elders from Beardstown, Ill., who created a cottage industry around their investment club in the mid-90's before an accounting error deflated their returns, say they still do not even have computers.

No, the Monkeys are a new breed, taking advantage of a new crop of Internet companies offering one-stop shops for investment clubs at no cost. These companies merge communication tools with software engines that handle complex administrative bookkeeping and compile tax returns. And although sites like Motley Fool have long provided a forum for investment club members, the new sites take the clubs one step further.

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"It's a natural evolution that clubs would move online and do most of their organizational work online," said Nancy M. Smith, a securities lawyer and former director of the S.E.C. Office of Investor Education and Assistance, who now works for Foliofn.

There is reason for the N.A.I.C. to see bivio as something of a threat. While the N.A.I.C. primarily considers itself an educational organization, it does sell accounting software. bivio gives it away.

Even so, Phyllis Pawlovsky, a former president of the New York chapter of N.A.I.C., sits on bivio's advisory board and thinks the two are complementary.

"As a member of both organizations, I feel that both do their share in increasing investment opportunities for the little guy," she said. "N.A.I.C. teaches you how to evaluate companies. bivio lets you do it online and join an online community."

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