Investor Education
Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Foundation for Investor Education (SIFMA Foundation)
The Foundation for Investor Education (FIE), The Bond Market Foundation (TBMF), and the New York District Economic Education Foundation, merged to form the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Foundation for Investor Education (SIFMA Foundation).
For more than 33 years, collectively the Foundations have administered an array of award-winning, instructional programs that have advanced the financial knowledge of millions of Americans of all ages, supported the efforts of the nation’s fourth through 12th-grade teachers, partnered with many key leaders and organizations in the field, and provided tools to help individuals increase their understanding of personal finance.
The SIFMA Foundation continues to support programs of the merged entities. The Foundation board will be establishing a long-term strategic plan, a mission statement and recruiting an executive director.
Programs include:
The Stock Market Game – A curriculum-based program where student teams in grades 4-12 learn long-term saving and investing fundamentals with a hypothetical brokerage account. The program serves 20,000 teachers and 700,000 students annually. Teachers receive grade-level specific curriculum guides, lesson plans and newsletters to incorporate the program into their core mathematics, social studies, business, economics and language arts programs.
InvestWrite – The national essay competition, a culminating activity for the Stock Market Game, requires students to draw on logic, critical thinking and writing skills to demonstrate how concepts learned in the classroom respond to a specific real-world investing situation.
Path to Investing (www.pathtoinvesting.org) is the Web’s premier source for objective and practical financial information. From the ABC's of Investing to setting your course for retirement, covering core topics such as Investing Goals, Investment Choices, Portfolio Management and Investment Markets, Path to Investing is designed to help individuals begin to save and invest for their retirement. Path to Investing, an award winning website, features industry experts who give a thorough grounding in investing concepts and strategies for beginners to more experienced investors.
Tomorrow’s Money – Financial education Web sites (www.tomorrowsmoney.org; www.ahorrando.org; www.unwantedchange.org; and www.cambiosinesperados.org) which are geared toward women, young people, Spanish speakers, and people experiencing the financial impact of unwanted life changes.
State Treasurers Gateway Initiative Partnership and Network – A partnership with the National Association of State Treasurers Foundation, and its more than 40 state treasurers, providing state-based financial education through Web sites, e-newsletters, publications and seminars.
Investing in Bonds – Just named one of Kiplinger's Top 20 Investor and Financial Services websites for 2008, Investinginbonds.com provides the public with valuable information and real-time market data about bonds and how the US bond markets work. Whether you are just beginning to learn about bonds, are knowledgeable about equities but new to bonds or a seasoned investor, www.investinginbonds.com can provide tools and knowledge about the US bond markets.
InvestinginbondsEurope -- A groundbreaking new financial website, InvestinginbondsEurope.org, offers retail investors free access to comprehensive, non-commercial and unbiased education providing fixed income market information in English, German, French, Italian and Spanish in a pan-European context. The site covers a range of comprehensive, easy-to-use educational topics such as “Bond Basics,” “Types of Bonds,” and “Investor’s Checklist” to help visitors learn about bonds. It also provides market-at-a-glance data, end of day price information for selected bonds, indices, economic indicators, benchmark rates, news, in depth analysis, calculators, a glossary, commentaries and a resource centre. Data provided by the site focuses on the European government, sub-sovereign, corporate and collateralised bond markets. Content and market data are being donated by SIFMA European member firms.