Value Investing College Review From a Batch 400 Graduate

One of our VI Bootcamp International graduates (Batch 400) generously wrote a thorough review of her learning experience, and here's what she has to say about VI (Value Investing) College.

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“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you feed him for his lifetime,” says a famous proverb. The same, I’d say, is my greatest takeaway from the 5-day VI Bootcamp (International) I just graduated from.

A programme by VI College or Value Investing College, the Bootcamp is held once a month for beginner and experienced investors. It’s the second course at VI College that I attended. The first was a preview class on “Passive Income for Families.”

So here's my Value Investing College review for those of you interested to join the same course.

Why I signed up

Let me tell you one thing: I’m a noob. I know what investing means but my knowledge is limited to real estate investment, having had two-year employment in the industry and a few properties. When it comes to the stock market, I have, literally, zero knowledge.

At 28, I’m exploring new ways to grow my money. At this time when we don’t know when the world will be able to bounce back from the pit it’s currently in, we exhaust all possible means to secure a stable future for ourselves and our families.

My friends who graduated from Value Investing College recommended the course, all the while emphasising how investing should be done with the proper knowledge and support. I didn’t need a lot of prodding. Hence, I signed up.

As a first-time participant, I decided to review the course using four criteria: content, duration, instructors, and value.

1. Value Investing College Review: Relevance of Content

The Bootcamp was divided into 5 training days: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. SGT) and Saturday, Sunday (10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. SGT).

We started with some contextualisation on Day 1, i.e., why we must invest, stock market 101. The discussion then flowed to money management, i.e., how to protect our capital and how value investors make money.

The second day was more specific. We were taught how to evaluate companies through their financial statements and how to set up a watchlist of stocks. This was also when I was able to better appreciate how VI App works.

VI App is a tool that Value Investing College developed to help investors with their stock analysis. All figures we need to analyse to determine the company’s performance, business model, and intrinsic value are there.

What’s great is that it presents the information in easy-to-understand graphs and charts. The app even allows you to filter stocks according to exchanges, value, and animal types (assessment of each stock, i.e., either slow-growing or fast-growing).

Day 3 was dedicated to identifying economic moat and doing risk analysis. It continued to a more serious topic on Day 4 when we were taught all about valuation.

The last day was about how to get value from VI App using the available screener tools, how to build a watchlist, and how and when to sell shares.

As a beginner, these topics prove relevant as I start my stock investing path. I also believe the content sufficiently covers the basics that I felt ready to start investing as early as Day 3!

So, content-wise, the VI Bootcamp (International) is a 9.5/10 for me.

2. Value Investing College Review: Course Duration

I get you. I was also frustrated when I first learned the course will take 5 days or approximately 12 hours in total.

Why not compress to one entire day? Right?

But guess what, after Day 1, I was grateful they cut the programme into 5 separate days. Otherwise, it’ll be extremely overwhelming, not to mention mentally exhausting, and I’m not sure I’ll be 100% present throughout the duration.

It’s indeed a great move to make it a 5-day instead of a 1-day programme. Ergo... 10/10!

3. Value Investing College Review: Instructor Effectiveness

One of the primary factors that make or break our willingness to sign up for a class is the effectiveness of its instructors.

VI College has several trainers. Pauline and Eric (and Ken on Day 5) were the master trainers in the program I attended.

I was an instructor once, so I know how difficult it is to keep a physical class engaged and participative. Imagine how hard it will be to do the same for an online class of 300 participants! But hats off to the VI College trainers for succeeding in this very aspect.

The class was very much alive even though we weren’t seeing one another face-to-face. Everyone was so enthusiastic typing their comments, raising their questions, and expressing their agreement throughout the 5-day course.

I guess this also made the instructors more motivated, as they acknowledged every reaction and addressed every question. But I know the audience wouldn’t be as lively if not for the speakers’ unparalleled energy.

Pauline and Eric also broke down complicated concepts so everyone in the class can understand and relate. This was one of the things I really loved about the course. The speakers understood the demographics of their audience, so they paced their explanations accordingly.

The verdict? 11/10!

4. Value Investing College Review: Value Provided

The promise of VI Bootcamp (International) goes like this: “This masterclass will teach you the safest strategy to create wealth in the stock market consistently.”

I was immediately sold!

While I appreciate the case studies shared by the speakers, I admire even more their passion to inculcate in us, their students, the value of thorough analysis in informed decision-making.

One thing is for sure, the programme isn’t a shortcut to investing.

Even though we can use the VI App to do faster and easier stock analysis to guide our investment decisions, we are still taught the fundamentals of investing -- something, which I believe, will be a better advantage coupled with using the app.

VI Bootcamp (International) doesn’t spoon-feed you with the best stocks to buy.

It teaches you how to evaluate the market for yourself and be confident in your investment decisions. In other words, it teaches you how to fish so you’re able to get a bountiful catch on your own. And I guess this, too, says a lot about Value Investing College.

If you’re interested to join this same course, here's the link I used to sign up: https://8vi.link/VIB-signup

[shared by Jessica, VIB International & VIB Full Edition Batch 400 Graduate]