Thomas (Tom) E. O'Hara was a founding member of BetterInvesting (then the National Association of Investment Clubs) and currently serves as chairman emeritus of the board of directors. Tom is considered an expert in the areas of personal finance, basics of the market and investment clubs. Many consider Tom the "grandfather" of the investment club movement - he was an original member of the Mutual Investment Club of Detroit in 1940. Under Tom's leadership, BetterInvesting and Wayne University held four annual meetings of national investor relations officers which led to the formation of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), and Tom served as a founder and director of the Detroit chapter.
Tom was instrumental in developing BetterInvesting's investment education programs, including Investing for Life, a program to educate teenagers about investing. To honor his dedication, he received the Distinguished Service Award in Investment Education from the Investment Education Institute. Tom championed BetterInvesting's sponsorship of the NYSE's "Own Your Share of America" program, and inaugurated BetterInvesting's Low Cost Investment Plan. He continues to serves as consulting editor of BetterInvesting Magazine.
Tom co-authored two books, Starting and Running a Profitable Investment Club, and Taking Control of Your Financial Future: Making Smart Investment Decisions with Stocks and Mutual Funds. Tom created the "Main Street versus Wall Street" annual stock performance review, which measures investment club stock performance against the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500. From 1973 to 1975, Tom served as a public director of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and later was the first Chairman of its Individual Investor Advisory committee.
Tom also was chairman and director of the World Federation of Investment Clubs, which took investment education and investment clubs to Europe. Tom served as an advisor on the Securities and Exchange Commission's Consumer Affairs Advisory Committee and Brokerage Compensation Practices Committee. From 1987 to 1990 Tom was chairman of the board of William Tyndale College. In 1987, Tom received the Roalman Award from the National Investor Relations Institute, and in that same year, Wayne State University Business School named him Alumnus of the Year. He also holds a Beta Gamma Chi Scholarship Key.