THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 21, 1997 TAG: 9701210024
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAM STARR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 157 lines
TWENTY-THREE older women, all well dressed and freshly coiffed, sit around a conference table in the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce building in Virginia Beach.
Spread before each one are their tools for the afternoon - the treasurer's report, an investment strategy outlook, the stock market pages and various other papers. Glasses perched on their noses, they scan the material and discuss what they find.
These women are here to do one thing: make money. And they aim to have fun doing it. As members of the 20-year-old Women's Investment Group, or WIGS, they contribute $25 apiece each month to buy carefully researched stocks.
They own shares of General Electric, Disney, McDonald's, Microsoft, Motorola, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pepsico, Circuit City. While they may not be the next Beardstown Ladies - the 15 women from Illinois who formed a successful investment group in 1983 and wrote a best-selling book - the WIGS have achieved a respectable track record.
Their 11-stock portfolio of 1,900 shares is worth about $100,000. While most investors are happy with a 10 to 15 percent return rate on their investments, the WIGS enjoyed a whopping 27.53 percent return in 1996.
Not bad for a group of self-described ``gray-haired old ladies,'' all older than 55, who barely knew the first thing about the financial market when they started the club in 1977. Floating officer Shirley Kehoe says that before she got into the club she never followed the stock market.
``Twenty years ago, I never dreamed I would turn first to the business section of the paper instead of the obituaries,'' she says with a laugh. ``But I was young when I started - messing with money has given me gray hair!''
WIGS is part of a national trend of investment clubs, which have tripled in the last 10 years with people trying to cash in on the current bull market, says Bob O'Hara, vice president of development for the National Association of Investors Corporation, which is based in Royal Oak, Mich.
But WIGS is one of the first women's investment clubs in Hampton Roads.
Founder Anita ``Blos'' Crawford says she was reluctantly talked into it in August 1977 by the late Jim Taylor, stockbroker for the Cape Henry Men's Investment Club.
``When men die, their wives don't know what to do with all of the money,'' says Crawford, who along with 15 other members are also involved with the Retired Officers' Wives Society (ROWS). ``So many women lack the knowledge. He convinced me it was worth a try.''
Crawford placed an ad in the Rambling ROWS newsletter and was surprised to see 40 women come to her home for an introductory meeting. At the next meeting, they discussed how to proceed and the club's purpose.
``We had each member put in $50 and that cut the men from the boys,'' she says, chuckling. ``Quite a few of the 40 dropped out.''
Twenty-three stayed and incorporated themselves into the WIGS. Dues then were $10 a month per member. The club's first order of business was to buy 20 shares of Nalco Chemical stock for $540.50 and 50 shares of Pic 'n Pay Stores for $418. The market value per share in 1977 (for 23 members) was $66.31.
Over the years, they've sold those and added more for the present portfolio. Dues increased to $25 a month. And now the market value per share, for 23 members, is $4,221.65. That, plus 5 percent of the market value at the time they enter, is how much it costs a new member to buy into the club.
But that doesn't happen often. The women, who like to socialize together, want to limit the club to 25 members. Eight of the original 23 members remain, and there have been 53 different members in the club's history.
Lillian Youell, the genial president of the club, bangs her gavel against the table.
``This meeting is called to order,'' she drawls. Youell, a writer, joined the club last year. ``Let's start with the roll call and then read the minutes from our last meeting.''
Once those mundane tasks are completed, the members discuss different companies that each has been assigned to investigate. Ginny McCrone holds up a colorful folder on Motorola. The group increased its shares of Motorola from 100 to 150 last month.
``Motorola has come out with a little tiny cell phone that you can put in your purse or wear it around your neck,'' she says breathlessly. ``It's really kind of neat.''
The members nod in agreement. ``How much?'' one asks, as everyone laughs.
``Well, a couple of hundred dollars,'' McCrone answers. ``I'll pass around this booklet here. It has everything you wanted or didn't want to know about Motorola's cell phones.''
Mary Lee Lowe enthusiastically begins talking about Smithfield Foods.
``They had a good year,,'' she says. ``They're up about $10 a share. The fresh-meat market is up for 1997. But they are having problems with pollution.''
The room becomes quiet. Tiny Jean Brown, sitting in the back, pipes up in a strong voice.
``I personally am against owning stock in a company that pollutes the environment,'' she states. ``I make a motion that we sell our 100 shares.''
Another member seconds the motion. Youell, not expecting this kind of action, asks all in favor of divesting to say ``aye,'' those who don't wish to sell to say ``no.'' It is too close to count, so Youell asks for a show of hands. Ten want to sell and eight want to stay. They agree to sell Smithfield Foods.
``We can always buy it back later,'' Evelyn Salop adds.
Shirley Kehoe stands and passes out an article from Better Investing magazine on real estate investment trusts, or REITs.
``This is a good article on REITS - I want you to read it this month and consider it for next month,'' she says.
The group's stockbroker, Charles J. Zondorak Jr. of Dean Witter, who has been almost silent the whole time, gives a short recap of each stock. Then he stands and tells the women what he thinks is going to happen this year.
``We're looking for a little more volatility in the market and we're preparing ourselves for that,'' he says. ``Interest rates are going to remain flat and perhaps move up. If we get 10 percent (return) on the market this year, we should pat ourselves on the back and go home.''
The ladies don't go into the stock market green. Zondorak and stockbroker Gail Partain of Dean Witter have been advising the women since 1988 in their selections and attend their meetings. But Zondorak is uncomfortable discussing their portfolio. As a stockbroker, he's not allowed to divulge privileged client information, he says.
``I don't try to run meetings or bring ideas - they buy what they use, they see and they hear,'' he says. ``That's what they know. What I try to do is keep the group focused on what they're investing.
``My role is to keep them from making a stupid mistake and not to be too aggressive.''
A 20-year-old portfolio worth not even $100,000 does not seem to be a lot of money. Zondorak agrees but points out that the WIGS never has been a ``Beardstown Ladies kind of thing.'' These women like to get money back every now and then. Lillian Youell says that they've received several bonuses through the years, the last one being $2,500 per member. They do this periodically so it's not so expensive for a new person to come in.
``This is not a performance-driven club,'' Zondorak says. ``They don't do it with the passion of other clubs, but they've done OK. Their goal is to have fun, get along and make some money.''
That's why original member Marjorie Babb is in the club. A widow for 13 years, Babb says she'd be lost without the WIGS.
``It's a learning process,'' she says. ``We didn't know how to read stock quotations then, but we do now.''
Retired registered nurse Janet Knight paid almost $4,000 to join in 1995 and religiously reads every piece of material that comes to her.
``Initially it was kind of a chore,'' she says with a laugh. ``It's getting to be fun.''
Perhaps the best part about being in the club for founder Anita Crawford is using her acquired investing skills to start a trust fund for her 11-year-old grandson, Joe. He told his grandmother one day that he would like to see where his money went, so Crawford took him to see Zondorak.
``Chuck (Zondorak) asked Joe if he likes Scotch Tape - he has stock there,'' Crawford says. ``And he asked if he likes Sara Lee - he has stock there. It made it real for him.''
Crawford, whose husband died in 1984, acknowledged that starting an investment club was an unusual venture for her.
``It's amazing that we have all stayed together,'' she says. ``But we have a good time. Our goal is to learn the stock market and make money, and that's what we have done.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot
Original members include, front row, from left: Betty Steere, Hope
Scherrer, Ginny McCrone and Marjorie Babb. Back row: Evelyn Salop,
Anita Crawford and Shirley Kehoe. Jeanne Preston, not pictured, is
also a founding member.
Lillian Youell is president of the group, whose 11-stock portfolio
of 1,900 shares is worth about $100,000.