These Traders Discovered The Power Of Philanthropy By Connecting With Other Investors

If you learned everything you know about Wall Street from movies, you probably think that most traders are like the guys in “The Wolf Of Wall Street.”

While it’s a stretch to paint the finance industry as a fountain of money for the public good, there are some traders who are dedicated to giving back their profits—and helping spread the good will of philanthropy to their fellow investors.

Traders4ACause throws a yearly charity conference designed to help traders not only become more profitable, but to use those profits to give back to the community through charitable causes. Two traders in particular have gone to the Traders4ACause event for several years running and feel compelled to share what they’ve learned.

A Learning Experience

Alexander Temiz just turned 23, but has already been trading for years. He’s gone through the expected crashes and burns every young trader experiences, but now has a handle on how to consistently profit from the market.

He attended the second edition of the T4AC conference to be in the company of more experienced investors—but then-19-year old Temiz clammed up.

“I started trading in 2014, but I didn’t have much success until I connected with some of my now good friends online,” said Temiz. “Then, I had a large winner in one day which I sort of attributed to my “ah huh moment” breakthrough day in trading. Nathan Michaud, President of Traders4ACause had reached out to congratulate me but also find out if I was considering attending the conference. I was nervous and didn’t talk to too many people. I was just a kid up against all these successful traders, but in the end he convinced me and was the best decision I’ve made!”

Finance conferences are hard enough for those of us in the industry, let alone a teenager. But Temiz was hooked by the opportunity to learn more from other traders and learn how to give back.

“I learned that shy is not the way you want to be at these events!” Temiz said. “When I came back, I learned to build wealth by focusing on your own trading niche, but also how to give back. All traders want the money, the Rolex—but if you’re not giving money to the people who really need it, what’s the point?”

"We're Blessed"

Another trader for a cause who’s worked in financial services for his entire career, Russell Valenti, already knows how to make money off the markets. Valenti, a former financial advisor who now focuses on his own trading, was looking to network with other traders and learn new tricks of the trade, so he went to the first T4AC conference despite knowing only one other attendee.

Valenti was inspired to return to each T4AC conference since, and has donated more and more to the associated causes each year.

“We’re blessed—many people in this room do this for a living, and I realized if I can come back every year, give a little more, meet great traders and great people, why not?” Valenti said. “Traders are used to losing a thousand dollars or more in a single trade, so why not spend a thousand or more to give back?”

Learn more about the Traders4ACause event here.

Photo credit: Traders 4 A Cause