History

If you ride public transportation in the Delaware Valley today, it seems fair to say you’ve got an unacknowledged stake in the transit system; and it’s likely that a member of our Club issued or traded the bonds and other securities associated with the formation a hundred years ago of the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company, the old PTC, now known as SEPTA!

The Bond Club of Philadelphia was founded in 1922 by brokerage house owners to encourage a spirit of cooperation among traders of investment securities (bonds), as well as to provide professional educational opportunities and to promote and maintain high standards in the profession.  Today, it is the oldest such organized group in the region, espousing the very same mission.  

As you would expect, many changes have transpired in our investment business over the past hundred years as members have risen to challenges in society and the market.

 A notable acknowledgement of change was offered by Ralph Demmler, Chairman of the SEC in the 1950s. In recognition of our members’ contribution to the investment community, he said, “Philadelphia from time immemorial has been both an industrial and a financial center.  You who are leaders in the field of finance in this great metropolis must contribute of your talents to preserve its integrity”.

Helping form the future of Philadelphia’s investment profession, in the 1980s we established the Bond Club of Philadelphia Scholarship Fund as a non-profit entity to award financial scholarships to local university students majoring in Finance or Economics.  We seek to identify and offer opportunity and encouragement to students striving for academic excellence while negotiating challenging backgrounds, and so diversify the pool of industry talent beyond the traditional. We’ve provided scholarship grants to scores of worthy students some today who are members and contribute their talents and zest to our Philadelphia investment community.

A glance at our list of past presidents and governors since 1922 will show a panoply of famous traders, advisors and citizens from our Philadelphia investment community who contributed to transforming the national business of securities trading.  

In 2022 we will celebrate our Centenary Year with a series of events marking this milestone, recommitting our Club to the ideals and standards which have sustained it for the past one hundred years.