Welcome to our #257 weekly newsletter.
“For women taking control of their financial future”
-Jana Hlistova
From The Purse
In this week’s newsletter, we spotlight our interview with Ayesha Ofori on The Purse Podcast. Ayesha is the founder and CEO of Propelle: a pioneering investment platform designed to empower women to achieve financial independence.
We focus on why women need to invest in order to build their wealth. And start early. And in the interview we talk about women’s relationship with money, closing the gender investment gap, launching Ayesha’s startup Propelle, what’s next and more+
Please enjoy! Listen to the full interview here.
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And you can review the news in brief so you stay on top of global financial, economic and investing trends.
I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.
Until next week,
Jana
Women, money and closing the gender investment gap
We interviewed Ayesha Ofori, founder and CEO of Propelle on The Purse Podcast to talk about women and money, closing the gender investment gap, starting a business, fundraising from female investors and more+
We interviewed Ayesha Ofori on The Purse Podcast.
Ayesha Ofori is the founder and CEO of Propelle, a pioneering investment platform designed to empower women to achieve financial independence.
As a former Executive Director and Private Wealth Adviser at Goldman Sachs, Ayesha personally managed over £500 million in client assets, working closely with ultra-high-net-worth individuals.
In this interview, we talk about women’s relationship with money, closing the gender investment gap, how women invest, the financial services industry, launching Ayesha’s startup Propelle, fundraising, female investors, challenges raising from VC, what’s next and more+
Here is a short extract from the interview
Jana: “…how would you describe women’s relationship with money in the UK and globally..”
Ayesha’s response: (this has been lightly edited for ease of reading)
“…So things are changing: Propelle exists.
There are other companies out there, even existing financial services companies are now starting to focus on women. So it's definitely an area whereby a lot of companies and a lot of people have woken up.
I think that generally around the world… one of the issues has been that, historically, money was never something that we (women) were encouraged to look at, to focus on, or really to be part of…
I can't remember the exact date, but I think it was in the 1970s, (when) women still needed permission to be able to buy properties and without their husband's permission.
It's just crazy.
That's not that long ago. So when I sit back and think, I'm just like, how on earth?
So then it's hardly surprising if you look at where we are today and our relationship with money, given that not too long ago, we had to go and seek someone else's permission to do certain things…
So we have made progress, but there's still a long way to go.
And I say that some of the myths that do exist around money and finances aren't helping.
And there are lots of them.
So (for example), a lot of women assume that investing is something that wealthy people do. Or it's something that rich people do..
A lot of women say, ‘oh, investing is not for me: you know, that's for wealthy people….maybe one day, when I have lots of money, then I'll start investing’.
Absolutely not. That is not the case.
You can open an account and get an ISA (Individual Savings Account) with a little as a pound. And what's really important is that we have to start investing as early as possible.
So it's not about waiting until you've accumulated wealth.
Investing can help you accumulate that wealth. But you've got to put the money that you have to work as soon as you possibly can.
There's actually a graph that I love to show, which has two women investing at different times. And essentially what it shows is, if they're both getting the same return from the investment, the woman who invests earlier, even though, she only invests for say five years and then stops.
The woman who starts investing later but invests for like 10, 20 years, she ends up with less money than the woman who started earlier but stopped.
And when you see that chart, it blows your mind because you're like: ‘But this woman only invested for a tiny amount of time versus the other woman. How on earth does that woman have more money?’
It's the power of compounding. And it works when you start as early as possible. So it's not about waiting until you become wealthy, whatever that is.
If you have a pound, you can invest.
It's about finding that amount that works for you and investing, ideally on a regular basis.
But as I said, even if you have to stop, it doesn't matter.
Starting is the crucial thing…”
Listen to the full interview here
News in Brief
Financial news
* Chinese stocks tumbled as Beijing stopped short of launching more major stimulus, disappointing traders looking for more fuel for a world-beating stock rally.
* To put US dominance into perspective: In 2009, the market cap of the US stock market was 30% of the global stock market cap. Today it is almost 50%, Apollo's Slok has calculated.
* Brent oil soared $80/bbl+ – its highest price since August – as mounting tensions in the Middle East raised speculation that Israel may attack Iran’s oil infrastructure.
* US September consumer price inflation data is hotter than predicted by a tenth of a percentage point for both headline CPI and core CPI (2.4% and 3.3% YoY).
* Blowout US jobs report: US economy created 254k jobs in Sept way above the estimated 150k, according to Establishment survey.
* UK economy returns to growth in boost to Rachel Reeves before budget. GDP rises by 0.2% in August after flatlining in June and July but rate of expansion slower than first half of year.
* Rachel Reeves considers raising capital gains tax to 39%. Rates of 33% to 39% being tested as Treasury source says tax-raising plans are in ‘complete disarray’.
* Ex-Darktrace CEO Poppy Gustafsson appointed UK investment minister.
* Meta's co-founder Mark Zuckerberg became the 2nd richest person in the world, taking the title from Amazon chairman Jeff Bezos. Zuck is worth $210bn and has become $83bn richer since the beginning of the year alone.
Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi
* BTC price eyes sub-$65K hurdles as metric hints Bitcoin 'going to rip'.
* ETH reclaims $2,395 support but risks inflationary pressure.
* S&P 500 has climbed more than 60% since a bear market in equities petered out two years ago. Over the same period of time, Bitcoin’s price has risen around 220%.
* MicroStrategy aims to be ‘Bitcoin Bank’ with trillion-dollar valuation. With nearly $16 billion worth of Bitcoin in the bank, MicroStrategy's Michael Saylor shares big plans ahead for BTC.
The Purse Podcast
We cover the following on our conversation:
* Women's relationship with money
* The gender investment gap
* How women think about investing
* Challenges in financial services for women
* Introducing Propelle: a female-focused investment platform
* Fundraising challenges and successes
* Understanding the gender gap in investment
* Bootstrapping and early funding challenges
* Navigating the VC landscape
* Building a strong team
* The importance of advisors and mentors
* Future roadmap and vision for Propelle
* Encouraging women to invest
* Final thoughts
Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+
Coffee Break? Read This
* Labour’s employment rights bill: what key changes will it bring?
* Women’s health tech ‘less likely’ to get funding if woman is on founding team
* Global cost of failing to invest in women and gender equality is $10tn a year – UN.
We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.
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