In a joint effort, the Laker Asset Management (LAM) club and the Mercyhurst Competitive Intelligence Club co-hosted an informative overview on the stock market Feb. 20. Titled “Stock Market Nuts and Bolts” and presented by financial adviser Joellen Nelson of Edward Jones, the event saw 43 people pack into the Center for Academic Engagement Boardroom to attend the presentation.

Nelson, who has worked with the Competitive Intelligence Club in the past, told attendees the dos and don’ts of investing.

She covered a wide variety of topics from the 2008 recession to the implications of today’s technology-heavy stock market. Her main message to students, though, was to be disciplined, to have a wide portfolio of stocks and to invest early.

Nelson’s background was not always in finance. She attended Lehigh University and received a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and worked for many years within the field.

“After 13 years, I found I was more interested in investing and finances just from doing my own investing,” said Nelson. “I was a client of Edward Jones. I liked their business, I liked their philosophy, and decided to make a mid-life career switch.”

Since then, Nelson has worked with a variety of people and has spoken to groups ranging from Boy Scouts to AARP members. She currently operates from an office in North East.

The main purpose of bringing in Nelson was for LAM to bring the larger Mercyhurst community in on its message and goals.

“We were trying to spark some interest in the club, show them that there’s people out there, that there’s positions out there that are what we are trying to teach in the club,” said LAM board member Arseniy Sklyarov. “We wanted to see if there was anyone that knows more about markets that maybe hasn’t heard of LAM.”

Each Tuesday, LAM members meet to discuss the current events of the week and their financial implications.

About 30 people are members of the club.

“We’re encouraging students to come,” said LAM president Adrian Larsen. “We invite everyone from the Mercyhurst community to come and join our meetings. We are trying to be very engaging at our club meetings.”

In addition to this discussion forum, members also have an opportunity to present thematic research that they are conducting outside the club.

In these presentations, students recommend what stocks they feel LAM should be investing its $100,000 worth of school endowment into. To date, LAM has invested about a quarter of the total.

LAM is looking for students of all majors who are willing to learn about the stock market.

The club is continuing with its thematic research breaking down the different sectors of the stock market by industry to paint a clearer picture of where LAM’s money should go for maximum returns.

As Nelson’s talk highlighted, anyone can and should invest in their future.

“Everyone has a portfolio. Everyone has investments,” said Sklyarov.

The Laker Asset Management club meets Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in the Center for Academic Engagement. They also operate a Facebook group (Laker Asset Management) and an Instagram (@laker_asset_management).