AIC Mission

AIC's mission is to provide useful information about overseas financial services to Japanese individual investors giving them the opportunities make their investment portfolio more effective.

History

AIC (Alternative Investment Club) was founded in 1998 as a Gomi-Toshika investment book readers' club.

Gomi-Toshika are a series of how-to books introducing Japanese individual investors to the opportunities of overseas investment. They explained how to use banks and securities companies in the U.S.A, Hong Kong and Europe. Between 1998-2001, AIC edited 17 books, published by Mediaworks and distributed by Kadokawa Publishing Company, and have sold more than half a million copies to date.

Gomi-Toshika literary means "Rubbish Investor" which was a common and slightly derogatory expression referring individual investors who did not have enough money to invest in Japanese securities companies at the time.

Financial companies in Japan catered to only wealthy investors and disregarded others, especially younger investors. However, these younger investors were interested in new and exciting investment opportunities.

The Gomi-Toshika series taught them that it is not necessary to use Japanese banks or securities companies to build their investment portfolio as Japan had relaxed restrictions against foreign currency in 1998. As a result, Japanese can now open any overseas bank and securities trading accounts as they please.

The name of the club, "Alternative Investment" means another way for Japanese to invest, independent of the Japanese financial system. The "Alternative Investment" is not commodity trading or hedge fund investments but an alternative way of investing outside Japan.

Current

AIC now has over 15,000 members. As one of the largest readers' clubs in Japan and the largest regarding the theme of overseas investment, AIC runs alt-invest.com for members and give them various types of information about overseas financial institutions. AIC also helps members open accounts overseas.

So far AIC has introduced members to the following financial institutions.

BANKS
Abbey International (Jersey)
Bank of Hawaii (U.S.A)
F Sharp (Isle of Man)
Citibank Hong Kong (Hong Kong)
ABN AMRO Hong Kong (Hong Kong)

SECURITIES COMPANIES
Internaxx (Luxembourg)
BOOM Securities (Hong Kong)
KGI Securities (Hong Kong)
Sun Hung Kai Financial (Hong Kong)

Phillip Securities (Singapore)

Phillip Futures (Singapore)

AIC does not give members any investment recommendation nor introduce any financial products. AIC is a publishing / editing company and we does not register as a securities investment advisor in Japan (see "Legal Considerations").

(July 1st 2007)