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I have been highly anticipating “Introduction to Investing” seminar offered by TD Waterhouse. First off, let me start off by saying that these free of charge weekly seminars offered by TD are a gift from God. It is a very good marketing strategy with a focus on public education. When you go to their website, you have the option to search through the seminars by location and by your education level. And by education, I don’t necessarily mean formal education. It is divided into Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced investors. They are sort of set up like a course. Your can start off with beginner seminars if you are not familiar with the world of investing and then move up as you learn more.

I got there a few minutes early. There was this huge board with updates on stock and bond prices. The room was connected to the Commerce Court. As I was nervously waiting for the seminar to start, I saw all these people wearing suits hurrying to get their lunch before returning to their work. It felt so elegant and professional. The presentation was very clear and organized. I am always in awe with these banking professionals. They have this aura of confidence, intelligence and ease. I felt more comfortable and even raised my hand to ask a question. The rest of the audience seemed more familiar with investing. Majority of them had their investment accounts with TD.

Our presenter, who shall remain nameless, went over the different types of options for investing and their pros and cons. And then he went on an actual account and showed us how to read the screen and what symbols meant. The main concepts I learned are:

Diversify your portfolio with the level of risk and different investment options such as bonds stocks, GICs etc. Also, consider different geographic locations and industries. However, invest the majority of your funds in companies you know. The type of portfolio you want depends on the type of investor you are. Are you a long term investor? Short term? Do it for fun? Stocks are more high risk then bonds. Options with higher level of risk tend to give higher rewards. Personal tip: Invest in stocks that offer dividends. Stocks are risky investments. There is no point in holding a stock if you are not getting some returns which I think was a very good advice and one that I will be sure to follow. The bottom line can be summed up as “Never put your eggs in one basket”.

Although I am not an expert on investing just yet, I strongly believe that investing requires a degree of risk. When there is a potential of losing money, only invest what you can afford to lose. Anyhow, we actually went over our hour mark with half an hour. It was a very interactive seminar. Our presenter handed out his business card at the end for any further questions or if we wanted a copy of the PowerPoint he used, which was a cherry on top.

TD Seminars Click on this link to browse through seminars.