Money Talks with CFA Society Nigeria

You check your investment portfolio and notice that the value has dropped. Suddenly, you wonder whether to sell before you lose more money. Then, when the market starts rising, the fear of missing out makes you consider buying more. How do you know when to act and when to leave your investments alone?

Markets rise and fall for different reasons, and reacting to every movement can make it harder to stay focused on your financial goals. Selling when prices drop or buying when everyone seems optimistic can have consequences, especially when you do not fully understand what is driving the market or how your investments fit into your long-term plans.

So, what should you do when the market turns against you? How can you tell whether an investment is worth holding or whether it is time to sell? And is waiting for the market to become stable really the safest way to invest?

Eno Atoyebi, CFA, Managing Director of ValuAlliance Asset Management, brings over 20 years of investment management experience to Money Talks to help you think more clearly about market movements and the decisions that follow.

If market volatility has ever made you question your investment decisions, this episode will help you approach those moments with a clearer head.

You transfer money into an investment account, get confirmation, and wait for your returns. But have you ever wondered what actually happens to your money after you invest it?

Who decides where it goes? What does an asset manager do with it? And where do the returns you eventually receive come from? Understanding what happens behind the scenes can help you make better investment decisions, ask the right questions, and know what to expect from the people managing your money.

Whether your money is invested in a money market fund, fixed-income securities, or equities, it is important to understand how the investment works, the risks involved, the fees you pay, and the information your asset manager should provide. After all, an attractive return means little if you do not understand what you are investing in or what could put your capital at risk.

Mrs Nkoli Edoka, Vice President at Cowry Asset Management, brings over 15 years of experience in the capital markets and investment industry to this conversation about what happens to your money once it leaves your account and goes to work.

If you invest through an asset management company, or are considering it for the first time, understanding what happens to your money is a good place to start.

You have been saving consistently, watching your money grow little by little, and doing what you were told was the right thing with your finances. But at what point should saving become investing?

Keeping money aside is important, but money sitting in savings and money invested for a specific goal serve different purposes. Knowing when to make that transition, how much you can afford to invest, and where to put your money can feel overwhelming, especially when you are investing for the first time.

Should you start with a money market fund or government securities? When does it make sense to consider stocks? How should the goal you are saving for and the amount of time you have affect your decision? And can you build a diversified portfolio even if you are starting with a small amount?

Doyinsola Toye, Chartered Accountant, personal finance educator, and founder of Wealthtiv, joins Money Talks to help you think through the move from simply saving money to investing it intentionally.

If you have been saving but keep telling yourself, “I will start investing later,” this might be the conversation you need.

You might think of climate change as an environmental issue, but its effects do not stop there. Flooding, extreme weather, changing regulations and the transition to a lower-carbon economy can affect businesses, investments and the wider financial system.

That is why this year’s Investment Professionals Walk for Sustainability centres on Navigating Climate Risk, bringing together professionals from across Nigeria’s investment and financial services industry to highlight the link between sustainability and financial resilience.

The 7KM walk is now in its third edition, bringing together CFA Society Nigeria, FMAN, ASHON, PenOp, AIHN, ICMR and EnterpriseNGR under the Financial Markets Integrity Group. But beyond the walk itself, the bigger question is what climate risk means for the people and institutions responsible for allocating capital, managing investments and supporting businesses.

How should investment professionals think about climate risk? What role can the financial sector play in promoting sustainability in Nigeria? What does it mean when leading professional associations come together around an issue that affects the economy's future?

Representatives from the participating associations join Money Talks to take you behind the scenes of the 7KM Investment Professionals Walk for Sustainability and the thinking behind this year’s theme.

If you work in finance or want to understand why climate risk matters to the economy and your investments, this conversation is for you.

You can budget carefully, save consistently, and invest wisely, but your ability to build wealth is still closely tied to your ability to earn.

The skills you have, the problems you can solve, and your understanding of where demand exists can all affect how much you are able to earn. Sometimes the next opportunity is not about starting something completely new. It could mean developing a skill that the market values, seeing a gap that others have missed, or finding a way to create more value within the career you already have.

But how do you know which opportunities are actually worth pursuing? How do you separate a viable business idea from something that simply sounds exciting? And before putting your money into an opportunity, what should you know about the customer, demand, competition, costs, and potential returns?

Tomie Balogun, private capital investor, entrepreneur, and Amazon bestselling author, joins Money Talks to unpack how you can strengthen your earning power and become better at recognising opportunities to earn more.

Because financial security is not only about what you do with the money you have. It also starts with your ability to create more of it.

An Initial Public Offering lets you buy into a business as it opens its ownership to the public. That opportunity can be exciting, especially when the company is one that millions of Nigerians already know. But a familiar name is not enough to make an investment decision.

Before you buy, you need to understand why the company is going public, what you are paying for the shares, how the business makes money, and what could go wrong after listing. The Dangote Refinery IPO also raises bigger questions about what this could mean for the Nigerian capital market and for investors looking to participate.

Layi Olaleru, CEO of CSL Stockbrokers Limited, Authorised Dealing Clerk of the Nigerian Exchange and member of the Council of the Association of Securities Dealing Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), joins Money Talks for a closer look at what investors should know before buying into an IPO.

If you are thinking about buying shares in an IPO, what should you check before putting your money in?

People often think about insurance only after a loss has already happened. But its real value lies in preparing for the financial risks you cannot always predict, from illness and accidents to the loss of income, property damage, and other events that can put a household under serious financial pressure.

How do you decide what is worth insuring when money is already tight? How much cover is enough? And beyond protecting individuals and families, how does the money paid into insurance support investment, infrastructure and economic growth?

Oyelami Adekola, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at EnterpriseNGR, joins Money Talks to unpack the role insurance can play in protecting the wealth we work so hard to build and strengthening financial resilience across Nigeria.

If you have ever wondered whether insurance is really necessary, this is a conversation worth having.

You want to invest, but your salary is already spoken for before it even arrives.

Rent. Food. Transport. Bills. Family. Debt. By the time everything is covered, there may be very little left to put away, so investing keeps getting pushed to the next salary increase.

But what if waiting to earn more is keeping you from starting altogether?

Starting with a small income does not mean ignoring your immediate needs or putting your last naira into an investment. It means knowing what to prioritise, where to start, and how to build the financial room to invest over time.

How much should you save before investing? Can ₦5,000 or ₦10,000 a month really grow into something meaningful? And when money is tight, how do you avoid falling for investments promising unrealistic returns?

Dr. Seyi Abiodun, wealth advisor and founder of Fundora HQ, joins us for a practical conversation about starting your investment journey when your income is not quite where you want it to be.

If “I will start investing when I earn more” has been your excuse, this one is for you.

You earn the same naira, but somehow it buys less. Your savings earn interest, but prices are still moving faster. Then the exchange rate changes and suddenly the cost of everyday things feels different again.

These things may seem like separate economic stories, but they are closely connected, and all affect what happens to your money.

In this episode, we break down inflation, interest rates and the exchange rate in simple terms and connect them to the decisions Nigerians make every day. What happens to your savings when inflation rises? When does a high interest rate work in your favour, and when does it make borrowing more expensive? And why should you care about the naira-dollar exchange rate even if you earn and spend only in naira?

We also look at how these forces interact and what they mean when you are deciding whether to save, borrow, spend or invest.

A business can have customers, make sales, and still be running out of money.

Sometimes, the problem is not one big financial decision. It is the small things that happen repeatedly: using business money for personal expenses, paying yourself whenever you need cash, losing track of what is coming in and going out, or spending on growth before the business can support it.

For a small business, these decisions add up quickly. Knowing your numbers, managing cash flow, separating personal and business finances, and deciding what deserves your money first can be the difference between growing and struggling.

In this episode, Evelyn Castle, CEO and Co-Founder of EHA Impact Ventures, brings her experience as a founder and impact investor to a conversation about the financial habits that can quietly put a small business at risk.

If you run a business, are building one, or plan to start one, this is a conversation worth having before a small money mistake becomes a big business problem.