TheCable

Aderemi Adeoye, founder of Alpha Trust Investment Club (ATIC), says his investment hub founded will transform the financial woes of Nigerians into gains.

He stated this while speaking on the foundation and prospects of the hub in a recent interview.

According to the police officer, the urge to establish ATIC was born out of a drastic drop in stock prices which ensued at around mid-2018.

“ATIC started in June 2018 when the prices of stocks had dropped drastically. As a stock trader with 30 years of experience, I saw an opportunity to make money in a legitimate way on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange,” he said.

“Not just for myself but also for as many friends who buy into the idea. I shared this dream with my friends on Facebook. 186 members who joined as at then pulled a total amount of N56.6 million together in less than three months. That was how the journey started.”

Adeoye, who currently serves at the African Union Commission, explained that the trajectory for ATIC wasn’t always rosy as he recounted how he had to announce a 28 percent loss to members knowing that many might quit and demand a refund.

“I realized I couldn’t fulfill a return on investment promised to members as earlier promised due to political uncertainty and huge funds withdrawn from the Capital Market by foreign traders which caused great devaluation of high-value stocks like GTB, Dangote Cement, Nestlé, Seplat among others,” he said.

“I went ahead to prepare a full-year financial report and made it available to members on our platforms. As promised at the beginning of our venture into the Stock Market, I promised to return the full capital of those who might not want to continue with us in case we experienced any loss.

“I said to myself, ‘what if more than half of the members wanted to quit, how do I ensure my integrity is not tarnished?’ Apart from the N5 million set aside from my remuneration at the AU, I made plans to put up for sale a plot of land I bought at Kolapo Ishola GRA six years ago at N6.5m which appreciated to N14 million.

“When the time came for those who wanted to quit to indicate, only 19 members out of 186 indicated. Meaning I had to refund their full capital invested totaling N8.7 million. That was how I bought over the shares of 18 members while few members bought over the shares of the last high-value investor.

“We diversified into real estate. Adron Homes and Properties were doing Ileya promo at the time and we got a 50 percent discount on plots of lands bought from the company, that was how we recovered our losses and a whopping increase in net worth in few months.”

Talking about his goals for the hub, Adeoye said he intends making ATIC welfare-focused to create a club that would become a cooperative society big enough to help members “mitigate against the effects of poverty, deprivation, diseases, and want.”

According to him, ATIC would also be opening up its membership in October to accommodate more people willing to partake in the benefits of being a member — which include health insurance and loan schemes.

“By the time we have a contribution of N250 million, our net worth should be over N1 billion. Individual members’ investments would be a minimum of times four of their value. And that begins to really cushion against the harsh impact of unforeseen sickness and expenditure,” Adeoye added.

“The car importation scheme will help members own a car and pay in installments. The ATIC plaza is to add value and boost the financial standing of the club, while the ATIC Estate will give members the opportunity of a free plot each, with more to generate revenue.”