Top Member Benefits and Resources

The American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) was founded with the core belief that with the right education and information, individual investors are fully capable of becoming effective managers of their own assets. No special talent is required to become a successful investor, only some dedication and access to effective investment education that provides a framework for intelligent investment decisions. It is important for individual investors to play to their strengths, perform appropriate research, take a long-term perspective and not get caught up in the emotions of the market.

The programs, publications and offerings of AAII have evolved over time, reflecting the evolution of financial markets and the transformation that technology has had on the lives of individuals. This annual Member News is an opportunity to highlight member benefits and update our members on our initiatives and plans.

The AAII Journal

The AAII Journal provides you with a continuing stream of insight and ideas that focus on how you can improve your investment results. It features articles on stock selection strategies, mutual funds, bonds, portfolio strategies, financial planning, retirement and international investing. Special features include our annual guides to top mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in February, Guide to the Best of the Web in November and our Guide to Personal Tax Planning in December.

AAII has published this prestigious financial journal monthly for more than 40 years. Members have online access to an archive going back 25 years as well as thousands of evergreen articles, providing information and strategies appropriate for any developing market situation with a few clicks of the mouse.

We have recently rolled out the ability to save and organize articles into your personal online library. Saved articles can be organized into topical folders of your choice and accessed at the home page of AAII.com.

A special monthly AAII Journal Update email alerts members when the latest edition of the AAII Journal has been published on AAII.com, while also highlighting articles and features.

AAII.com

Association members receive unlimited access to our comprehensive website. Beyond news, quotes and company and fund snapshots, you’ll profit from proprietary tools and services that you can’t find anywhere else on the web. Members can access investment mini-courses, asset allocation models, portfolio tracking tools, the Model Shadow Stock Portfolio and much more.

Our weekly Educated Investor email provides a curated collection of articles to arm you with the knowledge and information needed to understand current events and how they could affect your investments.

Stock Screens

The Screening section of AAII.com provides members access to stock, fund and ETF screening tools and resources. The stock screens segment is dedicated to teaching members about screening and exposing them to a wide range of stock selection strategies based upon noted gurus and prevalent investing factors, while providing a list of current stock ideas generated by each approach.

AAII members have access to:

• Guru and factor stock screens with current lists of passing companies,
• The ability to construct and add to portfolios and watchlists with stock ideas passing any screen,
• Historical performance and risk analysis of the strategies going back to 1998,
• The ability to favorite screens and access them through the personalized My Screens feature and
• Performing Screen Power Rankings to see which strategies performed best in different market environments and obtain lists of companies passing each strategy.

Members can even sign up for a free weekly e-newsletter that highlights timely stock screens and industry and factor analysis.

Guide to the Top Mutual Funds and ETFs

AAII has provided members with an annual guidebook on the performance of mutual funds since 1982. The first Fund Guide included information on 100 no-load mutual funds. We expanded our coverage to include exchange-traded funds several years ago.

Our February issue of the AAII Journal offers performance listings of the most popular funds and ETFs, and members can access the complete universe of mutual funds and ETFs on AAII.com with data that is updated monthly. The mutual fund and ETF data enables members to examine individual funds. Our mutual fund and ETF comparison tools are helpful when deciding between two or more funds. Visit www.aaii.com/guides.

We have introduced Mutual Fund and ETF First Cut screening articles in the AAII Journal to highlight funds with attractive characteristics within their peer groups and illustrate how to construct meaningful fund screens.

My Portfolio Tool

We have been expanding the capability of the portfolio and watchlist tracker on AAII.com to create an integrated experience that allows you to your track holdings in a single location and perform analysis of those holdings.

The My Portfolio tool is integrated with the stock, fund and ETF guides and evaluators as well as with our screening tools.

Individual Investor Wealth-Building Process

Since AAII began, there has been a growing amount of research showing how systematic approaches lead to better outcomes. The very first issue of the AAII Journal noted the importance of “developing an investment philosophy and decision-making process based on individual objectives, capabilities and attitudes.”

The Individual Investor Wealth-Building Process is a five-step method to empower you to reach your financial goals by guiding you through the PRISM steps:

Charles Rotblut first introduced members to the Wealth-Building Process in 2020 through a series of worksheets published in the AAII Journal, plus we offered regular webinars to solicit feedback and illustrate the process with a range of scenarios for investors in different life stages.

We have established a Learn & Plan section on AAII.com where members can learn more through articles and videos, explore the toolbox and complete challenges to help master the process. We continue to expand upon the Wealth-Building Process through articles in the AAII Journal and plan on launching an online community.

Digital Events

Every Wednesday, AAII broadcasts a free digital event for AAII members. The format of the digital event has ranged from town halls where expert panelists answer member questions to how-to tutorials of various AAII offerings.

More recently, we have launched the Individual Investor Show, which combines lively interview segments with AAII analysts and outside contributors, plus the latest investing tips and answers to your questions.

Members can register for an upcoming live event and access the full archive of past events at www.aaii.com/webinars.

AAII Investor Update

This email, sent on Thursdays by AAII Journal editor Charles Rotblut, provides members with his perspective (and a simple illustration) on what is going on in the markets and economy that impact the individual investor.

You can see a full list of emails we offer and subscribe and manage your email subscriptions by visiting www.aaii.com/email.

Local Chapters

Local chapters offer members an opportunity to interact with other investors in a supportive, educational and social environment. There are powerful advantages to interacting with other investors and sharing perspectives to advance your information and education. Local chapters offer programs featuring expert speakers who provide timely and valuable presentations to help you improve your investment strategies and inform you about new tools and ideas.

In addition to regular chapter meetings, many chapters also organize special interest groups (SIGs) to plunge in-depth into one topic—such as mutual funds, retirement or technical analysis—or just connect in a more intimate gathering.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all in-person local chapter and SIG meetings were suspended last year. Thankfully, AAII and many chapter leaders responded quickly to the crisis by putting together engaging webinars. We are working with our local chapters to safely resume in-person meetings.

To find out more about the local chapters visit www.aaii.com/chapters.

Online Community

We are looking to establish online communities around topics of special interest to our members. Imagine sharing investing knowledge and ideas, asking and answering questions and discussing financial experiences with other members unrestricted by geography or time. We hope these online groups further connect and educate members who share a passion for investing. We believe online communities will work in concert with the local chapter program, strengthening chapter offerings and advancing AAII’s educational mission of reaching more individual investors wherever possible.

Go to www.aaii.com/community for more information.

Education Hub

We are developing a centralized educational hub on AAII.com that will cover a wide range of topics of interest from beginning to advanced investors. We are planning on incorporating both articles and videos.

Members will have a focused site section that answers their questions about investing concepts discussed in AAII Journal articles and our free webinars.

The education hub will help set investors on the road to achieving their financial goals. 

Academic Awards: Fostering Investment Education and Research

Four papers won awards for investment research from AAII in 2020. The awards are presented as part of AAII’s ongoing effort to encourage education and research in the area of investments and are given for papers that provide insight into investing.

The awards are made in conjunction with the meetings of major finance associations around the country. The best academic paper presented at these meetings is selected by a committee of investment research experts.

AAII awards the writers of winning papers. Papers are selected based on the quality and thoroughness of research and on the contribution to shaping effective investment decisions.

Since the program began in 1983, more than 150 awards have been presented. Recent award-winning papers and recipients include:

• “Don’t Take Their Word for It: The Misclassification of Bond Mutual Funds,” by Huaizhi Chen of University of Notre Dame, Lauren Cohen of Harvard Business School and NBER and Umit Gurun of University of Texas Dallas, awarded by the Financial Management Association.
• “The Smart Beta Mirage,” by Shiyang Huang of University of Hong Kong, Yang Song of University of Washington and Hong Xiang of University of Hong Kong, awarded by the Eastern Finance Association.
• “Shocks and Technology Adoption: Evidence From Electronic Payment Systems,” by Apoorv Gupta of Dartmouth College, and Filippo Mezzanotti and Nicolas Crouzet of Northwestern University, awarded by the Midwest Finance Association.
• “Crowded Analyst Coverage,” by Charles Martineau and Marius Zoican of University of Toronto, awarded by the Southern Finance Association.

These papers are technical; however, the AAII Journal does publish the findings of papers that are of particular interest to individual investors.

AAII Financial Summary

Annually, AAII publishes its year-end balance sheet for members and life members interested in the finances of the association. Prior years’ balance sheets can be found online in the Member News sections of past AAII Journals.

Note: Deferred membership revenue is recognized periodically as income over the membership period. Deferred life membership is recognized periodically as income over a 25-year period. This accrual method of accounting reflects the Association’s long-term obligation to its members.

Supplemental Benefits

AAII offers several supplemental benefits to members. These include discounts on financial publications and an insured money market deposit program from Discover Bank.

We view these programs as supplemental benefits and do not want to lose sight of our main purpose. However, many of these programs are helpful to a significant number of our members; in some cases, they provide AAII with additional income. For example, with the Discover money market program, AAII receives 0.05% per year on the outstanding deposits. These funds help us to support our investment research grants and to educate individual investors.

Future supplemental benefits will also be offered as opportunities, and not as recommendations. Only you can decide what is best for you.

Supplemental Benefit: The AAII Discover Bank Program

AAII is partnered with Discover Bank® to give you access to certificates of deposit (CDs), IRA CDs, money market accounts and online savings accounts earning preferred members-only rates that are higher than the nationally advertised rates on comparable Discover accounts.

Though you may know the company for its credit products, Discover has actually been in the banking business since 1911—and today, it’s emerging as one of the nation’s leading direct banks.

Visit www.aaii.com/discover or call Discover at (800) 347-7513 to learn more about these products and the preferred members-only rates you’ll earn.

As an AAII member saving with Discover, you’ll benefit from:

• Rates that have consistently exceeded the national average¹
• No minimum opening deposit requirement
• Easy and convenient online account management
• 24/7 customer service, both online and by phone
• Deposit accounts offered by Discover Bank, Member FDIC
• FDIC Insurance up to the maximum amount allowed by law

¹ Based on top 50 U.S. banks by deposit provided by Informa Research Services Inc. as of 5/19/2021.

AAII Privacy Policy

Our goal at AAII is to offer you the best investor education in a simple and secure manner via internet and print methods. As a publisher, we gather user and member information in order to provide an investor-friendly service. 

We request your email address as part of the registration process for AAII.com. We use this information to contact our members and guest users regarding updates to the website and to personalize the service.

AAII tracks website activity and usage through log analysis to produce a better web product for our members. Some measurements include click activity and time in site.

AAII.com uses cookies to remember login settings and facilitate navigation through the site. AAII may also use third-party advertising networks that employ cookie technology, but as a publisher we don’t control or have access to those cookies. We do not extract personal information through cookies.

AAII maintains a subscriber list. As a publisher/membership organization, we reserve the right to contact our users for our legitimate business needs, such as email and paper mailings regarding AAII products and services, or fulfilling a transaction initiated by the user. However, we do on occasion make portions of this list available to carefully screened companies that offer personal finance products and services that we believe may be of interest to those affiliated with AAII. To the extent we process your personal data for other purposes, we ask for your consent in advance or require that our partners obtain such consent. If you do not want to receive these offers, please let us know by contacting AAII Member Services at members@aaii.com.

You have control over your personal information and how it is collected, used and shared. To manage your account and the content contained in it, as well as edit some of your personal data and manage your privacy preferences, go to your My Account page. If you do not want to receive marketing materials from us, you can opt out at any time by simply clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link in any email, or updating your preferences in the email management section of your user account.

This privacy policy is subject to change. See the most current version here. 

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