
Attending Investment Courses? Identify Only Those Which Genuinely Benefits You. Here’s How
There will be a point in life when we have a decent amount of savings and want to grow it to achieve our pot of gold. My previous article https://bit.ly/2N00yqS introduced the various platforms where you can do so. If you have resonated with my point of investing in yourself, Congratulations!
Sadly, for every curious cat, there’s plenty of predators waiting to pounce on your thirst to learn. Outright fluffy courses promise you a get-rich-quick formula, humongous returns and benefits you can only dream of — these are for the greedy and uninformed. The worst are those who conduct courses behind a facade of genuine care and concern for its students, only to upsell other courses AFTER the students sign up for their basic one. There are those who inflate the trainer’s capabilities and often publish ‘genuine’ reviews.
Like a cat, those who are unfortunate enough to attend such sham courses can only keep taking a leap of faith by signing up for a next one. Until all 9 lives are up with their capital wiped out, or until they decide enough is enough and give up altogether.
Not anymore! After reading this article, you will be empowered with the right knowledge to spot scammy investment courses. Take this as a checklist before registering for an investment course, or any course for that matter.
The profession of the trainer
This is the simplest but most overlooked factor by people. We automatically assume the profession of the trainer to be no less than a “trainer”, someone qualified to teach. However, in investing, there is no hard and fast theory which will make you a profitable investor/trader. Profitable traders get where they are through their experiences-constant trading and learning from each trade. If there was ever a “formula” to be discovered, the big banks and corporations will always be profitable. The truth is far from this, Singapore’s very own GIC lost money too, reported by Reuters here https://reut.rs/2CwjBUT
So do a background check on the trainer, is he a full-time trader who is doing this for a side income or to educate people? Or is the trainer a businessman, or retired trader/investor? If he was trading or investing profitably, why stop to hold courses?
Because holding courses are more profitable than investing/trading for him! Duh!
LinkedIn is a good way to get a free look at a person’s CV, if the trainer doesn’t have a LinkedIn account and he can’t be found anywhere on Google, move on and continue your search for other courses.
The trainer’s CCAs
If you find that trainer was once listed (or presently) on the board of directors of a company known for scams, it might be a better idea to stay away.

Class size
Remember when the teacher to student ratio was 1:40 in Secondary School? How easy was it to clarify your questions? When you have your questions answered, more questions surface. Some companies conduct their courses for hundreds of people at once. Are classes of this size beneficial to you, or the pockets of the company?
Question the syllabus in detail
It’s easy to sell ideas. Use the name of a famous person in your marketing and voila~ you have the course that cannot be missed. Is it really? Find out what does the lesson actually teach. How much of Fundamental or Technical Analysis do they use when executing and evaluating trades. If the course teaches only Fundamental Analysis, remember as mentioned above it’s not a secret success formula, it’s simply because you are paying to learn only Fundamental Analysis or vice versa. Weigh this against the course price, is it worth it?
Follow up training
Learning investing or trading is not a one-off affair; it’s an ongoing process. Challenges will arise as you learn the ruthlessness of the market. You should be given direct access to the trainer to be able to clear any doubts with him given the high prices of investment courses, not his secretary.
Reviews? Nah
In this day and age, it can be difficult to trust reviews, plenty of reviews or testimonials can be faked.
Scammers prey on those who are ignorant. With the information above, use it to your advantage to analyse which course is the best for you, even if they are recommended to you by a friend.
Thank you for reading. I will be posting regular content on my page, your shares and comments are greatly appreciated. It will help me with improving my content and even inspire me to write even more. Cheers.
