Leaders’ role

The Leader can lead the circle alone or alongside a co-Leader. One of the most important responsibilities for the Leader/s is the commitment to follow through and convene the circles. As a Leader, you can find our Toolkit, that will help you on your journey to engaging your participants and facilitating an inclusive session. You will also find sample agenda and other tips that may be relevant, including the core curriculum.

To give you a sense of the curriculum of ‘Invest for Better Climate EU’ take a look at the topics covered, which are accompanied with worksheets and other helpful resources you can explore during your circle sessions. You can choose to focus on only one topic in more depth, or follow the entire curriculum at your own pace.

How to compose your circle?

Circle Members can be drawn from your existing networks of friends, acquaintances, colleagues, family, and friends. The composition of the groups is an important element in bringing a broader range of perspectives into the group experience (diversity across age, ethnic background, wealth level, professional experience, etc.). Some circles may also wish to focus on the needs of a particular demographic like young professionals for example.

Depending on whether you wish to host the circle meetings virtually or in-person, you could utilise various free platforms to do so. When reaching out to acquire new circle participants, you should set the parameters (such as expected time commitment, proposed dates etc.) and mention what the participant should expect (opportunity to hear from experts, ask questions, share educational resources and ideas with broader group of like-minded retail investors).

Let’s talk about investing!

Similar to ‘Let’s get to know each other’ activities, talking about money is a sensitive topic in many cultures so it’s best practice to do another activity to establish a sense of safe space amongst attendees before inviting them to open up on this topic.

  • What’s the most important piece of advice you’ve received about money?
  • What cause are you particularly passionate about that you would like to invest in?
  • When money comes into your life, what’s the first thing you want to do: save it, spend it, or give it away?
  • What’s one thing you’ve done to manage your finances in the last year that you feel good about?
  • What was the last money mistake you made, and why?

Circles involve the following:

  • A group of 8 to 20 retail investors
  • Peer leadership consisting of 1 or 2 hosts who invite other members to join them and are committed to building the culture and cohesion of the group
  • A commitment to meet regularly
  • Use of a clearly structured or flexible curriculum designed to increase knowledge and promote action (you can find this on our website)

Circles do not involve the following:

  • A group investment vehicle, although members may elect to do some investing together
  • A place for individuals to promote their services or products
  • Passive learning – the expectation is to promote action