MoneyShow looks forward after 40 years of sharing investment knowledge

Keeping financial education interesting and relevant by partnering with leading experts has helped build MoneyShow into the world’s largest global network of investment and trading expert education over the last 40 years.

“It's important to enjoy your education,” Kim Githler, the founder, CEO, and chair of MoneyShow, said in an interview with Advisors Magazine. “We work hard to find fascinating personalities and people who are genuine about wanting to create a better tomorrow and making a difference. We believe in our mission and our vision to educate but, more importantly, we believe in the impact that we have on our constituents.”

Founded in 1981, MoneyShow is one of the pioneers in empowering individual investors and traders by sharing expert advice and strategies, Githler said. More than 1,500 presentations from 1,000-plus financial experts are available to the public on its newly expanded website. The range of experts includes Steve Forbes, Jim Rogers, Arthur Laffer, Anthony Scaramucci, and John Bollinger.

MoneyShow has approximately 1.2 million clients – primarily individual investors, but also some 50,000 financial advisors. The company offers digital courses, online articles, investor cruises, and virtual and face-to-face conferences. Clients who participate in virtual shows have an average net worth of $3 million, Githler said, while those who attended live events average $1 million. When MoneyShow started 40 years ago, participants skewed 90 percent male. Today the membership is split almost 50/50 between males and females, and includes people from virtually every walk of life.

Prioritizing Online During COVID-19

Like many similar firms, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated MoneyShow’s shift to more online events. Previously, the company ran 10 virtual conferences per year, but doubled that number during 2020.

In March 2020, Githler said, “business as usual” came to a halt. MoneyShow worked with its technical team to create a robust virtual platform so it could offer more online conferences.
“When we were doing live conferences, we would have up to 5,000 people attend,” she said. “In May, we put a simple email out to our community for our first virtual conference, and we had 19,000 registrations.”

MoneyShow now offers virtual events on a bi-weekly basis. The events feature some 25 experts talking over several days on topics ranging from COVID vaccine progress to new U.S. government policies to global macro trends and emerging markets.

MoneyShow has made a particular effort to ensure that its virtual presentations provide in-depth information. It also provides opportunities for participants to pose questions to the experts as well as talk with each other during events.


“The demand for diverse information continues to grow,” Githler said. “They want to know about gold and mining and global investing, about emerging markets and overvalued U.S. stocks and what’s happening in the index markets. “

After cutting back on live events last year, the company expects renewed growth once live conventions and face-to-face meetings resume later this year. The company is currently planning two investor cruises in August, returning to a popular venue that was postponed last year. The company also expects to hold a new series of live events this year in Orlando or Las Vegas.

“We have a tremendous contingent of people in the Western Hemisphere that we feel like we have not been able to touch recently,” Githler added. “We would prefer Las Vegas, but meetings in Las Vegas are limited to 50 people. Otherwise, we will be in Orlando, as Florida is an open market.”

Growing MoneyShow University

Five years ago, the company launched MoneyShow University to empower young people through financial knowledge. Sarasota-based MoneyShow has partnered with 14 Florida colleges (including the University of South Florida, Indian River State College, and Rollins College) plus a handful of high schools. MoneyShow buses 500 to 1,000 students from the colleges to its live events in Orlando, and the program has been highly successful.

Spanning the generations, Githler observes that the investment strategies being pursued by young people are less conservative than those among older Americans.

“Baby boomers, who are a large core audience of ours, are more buy-and-hold oriented,” Githler said. “They take a longer-term view. They're more careful with their money. They're not as comfortable in the options world or with futures trading strategies.”

However, she continued, the demographic groups that include millennials, Generation X, and Generation Z encompass more self-directed investors.

“They are extremely option-oriented. They want to dive into new products like Bitcoin. They're willing to take those opportunities through a more short-term approach. Trading can be very heady and exciting. You can have Tesla buying $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin and see it go up two thousand dollars in a day, and that's terrific – but don't hold your breath.”

The firm’s goal with financial education for young people is ensuring they understand the entire scope of diversified investment strategies. Githler said young investors need to be more than opportunistic, leveraged traders. They should simultaneously pursue a buy-and-hold approach through long-term portfolios they can nurture and grow for decades to come.

For 2021, the company is expanding MoneyShow’s virtual platform to college investment clubs. While Githler noted that MoneyShow already has tens of thousands of students who come online, the continued growth of the internet and the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated interest in online sessions.

“We create no barriers to entry; most of our education is free,” she said. “Students were initially a bit overwhelmed with the subject matter but in reality, it is not that difficult. We offer a lot of great resources for students, individual investors, and financial advisors to educate themselves.”

Serving Financial Advisors

Financial advisory firms also comprise a small yet significant segment of MoneyShow’s audience. Over the years, Githler noted, the firm’s constituents have long relied on one or more advisors to help them with investments. In recent years, those advisors have largely evolved from the wire house brokers of 20 years ago to the independent advisors today.

“They have moved away from selling stocks or products to a more holistic, approach more like education,” Githler said. “They talk about how many working years clients will have, where they should invest, and how they should diversify their long-term trading account. They've done a great job.”

Githler added that advisors continue shifting their focus to address emerging client demands. For example, a number of advisors are responding to demand from retail investors for more choices by moving into the growing number of alternative investments coming into the market.

She added advisors are also dealing with a number of nervous investors who realize the market has become somewhat irrational, particularly in terms of how much money governments print to address current challenges.

“I’m advising my friends to look at it their underlying asset values,” Githler said. “You should have five or ten percent of your portfolio in gold as your insurance policy. I believe we are going to see an evaporation of purchasing power. I don't know that we'll see inflation because we're seeing actually deflation going on, due to the level of debt around the world. When you print more money, it has to go somewhere.”

Linking Government Policy, Investment

Githler added that advisors are also getting calls from clients asking about how their finances may be affected under the new presidential administration. They are concerned about taxes rising, or that direct interest rates will go up.

“Policy is a big driver,” she added. “As a platform, MoneyShow features a number of policy experts, such as Gary Shilling and, within a few months, Larry Kudlow.”

Githler said she feels it is important to provide knowledgeable advice to help MoneyShow clients understand the big picture. The platform includes speakers who address macroeconomics; how policies in Washington can affect the economy over time; and then tie that directly to specific strategies that range from passive investments such as ETFs to a portfolio-managed account like a mutual fund. Making those connections benefits both financial advisors and individual investors.

While many investors are more interested in U.S. stocks, Githler said MoneyShow is also encouraging its viewers to look internationally. She quoted John Templeton (a MoneyShow speaker for many years) as saying, “There is always an opportunity somewhere in the world.”

Looking ahead, she said, India and China offer significant economic opportunities (despite lingering transparency issues in China). With a combined three billion people, Githler added, China and India are expected to drive the emerging Asian Century.

Technology is another powerful force that is changing the investment environment. Githler said she is a strong believer in artificial intelligence and data-driven decisions. However, she favors interacting with human advisors rather than relying on robo-advisors and automated financial planning platforms.

“I do not believe that you will get your best return by putting your money in something and then closing your eyes,” she explained. “I wasn't a believer of putting your money with a broker and closing your eyes, or with a financial advisor and looking away. You want to learn from them. You want to be a part of the conversation, and you want to make a decision on why this is happening.”

Githler suggests investors can expand their knowledge by creating their own personalized mentorship program. She proposes surrounding yourself with a half-dozen experts in different fields. Reading their books, following their newsletters, and watching presentations to expose you to a vast array of current, in-depth expertise.

“I would include at least two economists who have their ear to the ground on both a global and a U.S. basis,” she said. “Another mentor could be an options strategist. Then I would look for a good value and small-cap investor, and another for large-caps and dividends. Finally, I would look for an advisor with skin in the game – someone who is putting their own money to work, who has other clients as well as himself. I want advisors who are knowledgeable, so I can learn from them as we go along.”