The Purse

Welcome to our #73 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter we focus on why women, who are the predominant savers, need to invest their money to avoid inflation eroding the value of their hard-earned cash.

Women hold more ISAs (individual savings accounts) than men, but tend to prefer cash ISAs to stocks & shares ISAs.

And we spotlight Cathie Wood, the Founder & CEO of ARK Investment Management, actively managed ETFs and shed some light on her investment philosophy.

She’s an evangelist who believes in the transformative power of technology.

You can review the news in brief so you stay on top of global financial, economic and investing trends.

Don’t forget to share this with a female friend or colleague-it might help to think about their money differently.

Stay safe everyone & look after yourselves.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

Women: cash ISAs vs stocks & shares ISAs

Why saving and not investing puts women at financial risk

Women hold more ISAs (individual savings accounts) than men but prefer cash ISAs which offer lower rate of interest or return (compared to stocks & shares ISA).

Although this means that women are better at saving, this exposes women to more financial risk over the course of their life.

What is an ISA?

Individuals may put up to £20,000 in a tax free account, meaning no tax is due on share dividends, capital gains or interest.

As there is (relatively) no risk associated with saving in a cash ISA versus investing in the stock market (for example, via a stocks & shares ISA), the rate of return is small.

This is especially true in a low interest environment like the one we are in now. In the UK, the base interest rate is at a record low: 0.1%.

Inflation erodes your money

We are already seeing inflation rise as global economies rebound after the pandemic and governments continue to print money (swelling money supply).

Inflation in the US has jumped to an annual rate of 5% in May (the highest jump since 2008) whilst UK inflation is currently at 1.5% but likely to go up (at least in the short-term).

It is uncertain how long the central banks will let inflation rise before they step in by tightening monetary policy (for example, increase interest rates).

Therefore a lower rate of return means that women, as the predominant savers, are more vulnerable to inflation (or the rising cost of living) as it erodes the value of money overtime.

Here is an example-rate of return vs inflation:

According to analysis by The Financial Times, if women had invested their full ISA allowance each tax year (2014-2018) into a FTSE All Share tracker, it would have generated a total return of more than 25% (excluding charges).

Their total investment of £65,480 would have grown to £82,434.

In contrast, those who left their money in the average cash savings account would have grown their pot by just £290 (or a mere 0.44%).

Assuming the rate of inflation is 1.5% (UK) and the rate of return on savings is a mere 0.44%, it becomes fairly obvious not investing is a losing game.

For this reason, billionaire and hedge fund manager Ray Dalio often refers to ‘cash as trash’. And recently said in an interview, that individuals who hold assets such as property, stocks and cryptocurrencies are likely to be better off.

In fact, Ray Dalio recently went as far as to say that he’d rather buy bitcoin than a bond. (Bitcoin has gone up 200% per annum for the last 10 years).

The ISA gender gap

It is not surprising that the ‘ISA gender gap’ has doubled to £3000 over the last 10 years. And according to Sarah Coles (speaking to the FT), a personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, this number will to go up if women do not invest their money.

What next?

* Commit to investing your money

* Read up on stocks & shares ISAs here

* Also, check out the Lifetime ISA. You can put in up to £4,000 each year, until you’re 50. You must make your first payment before you are 40 years of age. The government will add a 25% bonus to your savings

* Research online investment platforms

* Connect with other women who invest and/or talk to a financial advisor.

News in Brief

Financial news

* World Bank sees strongest rebound in 80 years. Global GDP will expand 5.6% this year, up from 4.1% forecast in January. This will be fuelled by fuelled largely by a 6.8% expansion in the U.S. and 8.5% in China. Developing countries will be slower to recover.

* S&P 500 futures at all-time high, as investors shrug off inflation and bonds drop 3-month low. US inflation has surged 5% year-on-year in May (this is higher than the 4.7% expected).

* FTSE 100 posts best week in a month. That’s its highest closing level since the end of February 2020, and near to the 15-month high set in May.

* UK economy grew by 2.3% in April as the economy unlocked. However the GDP is still 3.7% smaller than in February 2020.

* UK housing market is on fire, warns Bank of England (BoE) Chief Economist. the recent rise in house prices – which topped 10% over the 12 months to March 2021, according to official data – was very likely to worsen inequality.

* UK women not told of pension age changes. The provisional ruling against the government opens door to potential compensation for thousands born in 1950s.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum & DeFi

* El Salvador makes bitcoin legal tender. This is the first country in the world to do this. The President, Nayib Bukele said in a tweet: ‘It will bring financial inclusion, investment, tourism, innovation and economic development for our country’.

* Bitcoin slumped to a two-week low (on Tuesday) to $31,036, with analysts pointing to technical issues and the recovery of Colonial Pipeline Co.’s ransom as evidence that crypto isn’t beyond government control. The bitcoin price (today) is approximately $36,000.

* State Street launches digital finance unit for crypto. State Street Digital will focus on expanding its capabilities to include crypto, central bank digital currency, blockchain, and tokenisation.

* Alan Howard leads $25m investment in crypto custodian Copper. The additional funding will be used to support traditional financial institutions adopt crypto and distributed ledger technology (DLT).

* (US) Coinbase partners with ForUsAll, a retirement investment platform for small businesses, to bring crypto to 401(K).

Cathie Wood and the transformative power of technology

Actively managed ETFs & Cathie Wood’s investment philosophy

Cathie Wood, the Founder & CEO of ARK Investment Management (US) has become a bit of a rockstar investor, as per Bloomberg.

Referred to as the first star in the ETF (exchange traded fund) industry valued at $6.3 trillion, Cathie’s company is made up of 8 funds, 6 of which are actively managed ETFs (a relatively new approach when she launched).

Investors have injected $34bn into ARK’s 8 funds (in the past 12 months) and withdrawn (only) $1.2bn since February, despite the ARK Innovation Fund (main fund) losing all its 2021 gains.

However the main fund is still up approximately 220% (despite the recent selloff).

What is an exchange traded fund (ETF)?

An ETF is a basket of companies which matches the market or index benchmark eg the S&P 500 or FTSE 100. It can track an index, sector, commodity, or other asset and can be purchased or sold on a stock exchange the same as a share.

ETFs can be passive or actively managed.

Their flexible, tax-efficient structure allows anyone to buy in and they are usually fully transparent and based on a set list of investments.

ARK’s 8 funds

ARK’s main fund is the ARK Innovation ETF which focuses on ‘disruptive innovation’, businesses with technologies that could change how the world works.

The company’s funds are focused on technologies which are bringing about a profound transformation of the economy.

These cover five technologies—artificial intelligence, blockchain, DNA sequencing, energy storage, and robotics.

For example, their Genomics Revolution ETF covers companies involved in Crispr, gene editing, therapeutics, agricultural biology, and health-care innovation.

The Fintech Innovation ETF focuses on mobile payments, digital wallets, blockchain technology, and other fintech advances.

And they even have a Space Exploration & Innovation ETF which focuses on enterprises that help enable space exploration, as well as those that benefit from aerospace activities.

Cathie Wood’s investment philosophy

Cathie evangelises how transformative technology will be in changing the way the world works.

In the depths of the pandemic, she talked about how technology will change everything.

Despite the market turning recently (for example technology stocks are down), Cathie’s focus is on the long-term; she likes to emphasise a 5 year time horizon for ARK investments.

She regards a ‘crisis’ like a pandemic or the financial crisis in 2008, as ‘an opportunity for innovation to take root and gain traction’.

The other reason Cathie is optimistic, is that she says: ‘lower stock prices now mean even bigger returns later for companies like Tesla with ie ‘exponential growth opportunities’.

Cathie on Bitcoin

Despite Bitcoin dropping in price from its all-time high at $65,000 in April to (currently) at approximately $36,000, Cathie is very bullish regarding the future and price of the world’s largest cryptocurrency.

Her prediction that her favourite cryptocurrency will get to $500,000-still stands.

Here’s more info

* Read the definition of an actively managed ETF

* Watch In the Know with Cathie Wood

* Cathie Wood: why bitcoin can not be shut down and rebuts ESG concerns

Coffee Break? Read This

* The death of the girlboss

* Feeling emotionally exhausted? 6 things you can do to release your stress

* Female entrepreneurs are being held back by old-fashioned ideas of who can start a company.

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and @janicka.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2021 & All Rights Reserved.

The Purse provides content for informational purposes only, we do not provide product recommendations or investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial advisor.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jointhepurse.substack.com

Welcome to our #72 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we focus on femtech and a female-led VC called FemHealth Ventures in the US raising $50m to invest in women’s health technology.

Billionaire and hedge fund manager, Ray Dalio was not a bitcoin or crypto supporter for a long time. But recently he confirmed that ‘he owns some bitcoin’ and that he’d rather buy bitcoin than a bond.

We explain how money printing is leading to inflationary pressures and why bitcoin is a hedge against inflation (as well as a store of value).

You can review the news in brief so you stay on top of global financial, economic and investing trends.

Don’t forget to listen to The Purse Podcast interview with Marina Spindler about women in crypto and how to start investing in crypto.

Stay safe everyone & look after yourselves.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

Ps thank you to everyone who gave feedback last week!

The rise of femtech

FemHealth Ventures: raising $50m for women’s health technology

A common misconception (aka gender bias) amongst investors is that the female market is simply too narrow or niche.

Put another way, mostly white, male investors are clueless (and embarrassed) talking about topics such as pregnancy, menopause or the pelvic floor.

This in part explains why women’s health technology or femtech (a term only coined in 2016 by Ida Tin) has been underestimated or neglected as a market opportunity.

We know that less than 3% of venture capital goes to female founders and 80% of healthcare VCs have never invested in women’s health.

But as more women step in to venture capital and set up their own funds, female-focused startups are accessing more capital than ever before.

And this is not only good news for female founders but for women in general.

The femtech market

Femtech spans a wide range of applications, from online screening for cervical and breast cancer to fertility tracking bracelets and remote medical consultations.

The segmentation (by indication) is:

* Maternal Health

* Fertility

* Menstruation

* Sexual Wellness

* Others

Research by Frost & Sullivan says that the female market is not only gaining more attention across the health care industry, but women have higher purchasing power.

Here are some stats:

* 80% of the household health care spending is done by women.

* According to recent research by Arizton, femtech is growing at a CAGR of 13.32% during 2021-2026 and the market is worth $75.74bn (up from an estimate of $50bn).

* In 2020, women’s health companies raised $1.68bn across 242 venture financings, up from $1.35bn in 215 funding rounds in 2019, according to market tracker CB Insights.

Perhaps an understated, but fundamental point here is, that as more women step into entrepreneurship, female founders are more likely to build products and services for a problem they have either personally experienced or intimately understand.

And this is unlocking pent up demand by women all around the world.

The market is also set for massive growth following femtech startup success such as Modern Fertility, a provider of fertility-hormone testing, which recently sold to Ro, a digital elective care and telemedicine provider, for an estimated $225m.

It is likely that recent successes in the field will spearhead an increasing number of larger investments.

FemHealth Ventures

Research shows that women are more interested in responsible investing, which includes ESG, education and health.

FemHealth Ventures, a new venture-capital firm is one such example.

The VC firm is set up by two women with diverse professional backgrounds: healthcare investor Maneesha Ghiya and Noraan Sadik, an attorney and startup founder.

They are raising $50m for an investment pool aimed at women’s health, backing companies targeting conditions:

* that only affect women, such as cervical cancer;

* diseases that mostly affect women, such as multiple sclerosis;

* and illnesses that affect women differently than men, including heart disease.

According to Maneesha, even though some investors consider that approach to be too narrow, it is this specialisation which allows FemHealth to attract the best deal flow in its field, vet opportunities quickly and provide support for their portfolio companies.

Maneesha expects to make 15 investments from the fund, including in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics and digital technologies (the debut fund will close end of July).

Women’s health has never looked better.

Examples of femtech & women’s health startups

* Elvie

* Maven

* Advantia Health 

* Wild.AI

* Gen M

News in Brief

Financial news

* The oil price has hit a new two-year high, with demand increasing as economies emerge from lockdown.

* China’s industrial input price inflation is its highest in a decade. This could have far-reaching implications for global growth and prices.

* Growth in America’s services sector has hit a record pace-further highlighting the strength of the recovery.

* The European Central Bank (ECB) balance sheet has reached a new record, inflation in the eurozone has risen to 2%, above ECB target.

* G7 nations reach historic global tax deal to make tech giants pay their fair share. The minimum tax is at a rate of at least 15%.

* UK jobless claims hit a new pandemic low. It shows that more firms are holding on to their current staff as well as hiring new employees.

* The UK economy is enjoying ‘eye-popping’ growth: activity at UK service providers jumped in May at the fastest rate in 24 years.

* Bank of England (BoE) monitors UK housing boom as it weighs inflation risk. The BoE expects the pressures to be temporary. Inflation is currently at 1.5% and is expected to rise above 2%.

* UK house price growth is at the highest level in nearly seven years at 10.9%. And available deals for a two-year fixed mortgage are almost the best since the Brexit vote (in 2016).

* Tour operators and airlines lost more than £2bn in value after the UK government removed Portugal from the ‘green’ list of countries exempt from significant travel restrictions.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum & DeFi

* Bitcoin price has slid after another tweet from Elon Musk who hinted at a potential split from the largest cryptocurrency. The coin dropped as much as 6.3% (Saturday morning) and it is currently trading at approximately $35K+. Bitcoin is up about 280% over the past year and ether is up approximately 1000% this year (ETH price is here).

* El Salvador’s president plans to make bitcoin legal tender. If backed by congress, the Central American country would be first in the world to formally adopt the digital currency. It would be used alongside the US dollar, El Salvador's official currency.

* Jack Dorsey on bitcoin: ‘I don’t think there is anything more important to work on than bitcoin’. The CEO of Square and Twitter believes that ‘bitcoin has the potential to create a new financial infrastructure that is more inclusive and supportive for underserved communities..’.

* Andreessen Horowitz's third crypto fund, a16z is in talks to raise $2bn. That is double the size what people were expecting.

* Cryptology Asset Group commits $100m to invest globally in crypto-related venture funds. Founded by Christian Angermayer and Mike Novogratz, the fund will focus on first time funds and emerging managers including seeding funds and taking stakes in GPs too.

* Cryptocurrency dealers face closure for failing UK money laundering test. Up to 50 companies dealing in cryptocurrencies may be forced to close.

Ray Dalio: ‘I’d rather buy bitcoin than a bond’

Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and a store of wealth

Traditional personal finance says that we should own stocks and bonds (the standard split is 60% stocks and 40% bonds).

Stocks tends to be more risky (therefore more volatile) but generate growth for investors.

Whilst bonds are bought to balance an investment portfolio (by being less volatile), they generate smaller returns.

But according to US billionaire and hedge fund investor, Ray Dalio this approach to managing your money may no longer hold true in an ‘inflationary world’.

He has said ‘Personally, I’d rather have bitcoin than a bond’.

Printing money and inflation

To avoid a global economic crisis (due to the pandemic), governments around the world continue to print money.

Currency is being devalued as more money is being pumped into the global economy. And the demand for labour goes up, as more people spend (but capacity is limited).

Ray Dalio describes this as ‘inflationary pressures’ which will cause a change in ‘the amount that is in the hands of individuals’.

So whilst the value of cash is eroded, it could be good for assets such as real estate, stocks and cryptocurrencies (specifically bitcoin). But only to a point.

The price of bonds

As the price of bonds rise, their future returns expect to go down. And as the price comes closer to the interest rate (which is close to zero), there is less incentive to buy bonds.

To raise interest rates (which would incentivise more bond-buying) could lead to a financial and economic disaster, which is exactly what the governments are trying to avoid.

Bitcoin as a store of value

Bitcoin is increasingly regarded as a hedge against inflation and a store of value.

It has a limited supply (21m bitcoin), which means that more bitcoin can not be printed. Because it is open source, decentralised and ‘permissionless’ money, the government can not generate bitcoin.

This is why bitcoin is often referred to as a store of value (like gold, but its properties are different to gold).

Many argue that bitcoin is too volatile and therefore risky. But it depends on your time horizon as an investor.

According to bitcoin evangelist and CEO of MicroStrategy Michael Saylor, most investors hold bitcoin for between 1-5+ years.

Bitcoin is up approximately 280% this year and has increased (on average) 200%+ per annum over the last 10 years.

More on bitcoin:

* Read The Bitcoin Standard

* Watch this interview with Michael Saylor with Robert Breedlove

The Purse Podcast

Global report: women in crypto

* We talk to Marina Spindler about her global report about women in crypto.

* Marina talks us through the key findings in the report including how women are changing the status quo and seeking financial independence, why self-directed learning in blockchain is key and how to start investing in crypto.

* Listen on all podcasting channels including iTunes, Spotify and Anchor.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Disaster patriarchy: how the pandemic has unleashed a war on women

* Meet the woman running the highest-ranking Fortune 500 company ever to be led by a female CEO

* How to stop worrying what other people think of you

* The extraordinary life of Malala

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and @janicka.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2021 & All Rights Reserved.

The Purse provides content for informational purposes only, we do not provide product recommendations or investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial advisor.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jointhepurse.substack.com

Welcome to our #71 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

Dear Female Investor,

It’s great to have you in the community and thank you for being here.

I’m trialling a different format this week and I’d love your feedback.

My goal is to inspire you about money and investing within an awesome community of women. I will continue to evolve the content and format so it tunes with what women want and need when it comes to money and investing.

Drop me a line on [email protected] after you’ve read this and let me know what you think? Or just get in touch-I’d love to hear from you.

Enjoy your weekend & talk to you soon,

Jana

Mind the Gap: women’s pension is 50% less than men’s, according to report

And the gender pension gap….is widening

Women are exposed to more financial risk over the course of their lives.

On average, women earn less than men and have less money to invest. Women have more career interruptions, work in part-time or temporary employment and live longer than their male partner.

And we don’t need to remind you, that many marriages end in divorce and women stay single for longer (if they choose to marry at all).

(That’s without accounting for a pension system designed for men).

It’s no surprise that the financial consequences which compound over time, can be harsh for women in retirement.

A report by Legal & General says that the pension of women over 50 is half the size of men’s.

Here are the numbers:

* Women have around £43,000 in private pots vs men who have £82,000.

* 25% of women over 50 have less than £5,000 (in their pension pot) vs only 15% of men who do.

* Outside of pensions, women over 50 have on average £29,000 in savings vs men who have £40,000.

The Pandemic Has Made Things Worse

Women have been hit hardest by the pandemic. Many have lost their job or have had no choice but to opt-out of the workplace.

According to Oxfam, women lost more than 64m jobs last year because of Covid-19 and it cost women $800bn globally.

Newsweek has calculated that the pandemic could cost the typical American woman nearly $600,000 in income. Women who are college educated, earning an average of $62,000, could stand to lose $785,759 over a five year period.

This calculation is based on a loss of wage earnings, future growth and money for retirement.

In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority found out that of those paying into their pension in February, 7% of women have stopped their contributions altogether compared to 5% of men.

The good news is, recent research suggests..

…44% of working aged women (UK) are ‘taking matters into their own hands’ (in the light of the gender pension gap), and 14% of women have already increased their monthly contributions as a result.

The report goes on to say that: ‘we need to consider fiscal, behavioural, and societal issues collectively, and work to create a more robust and inclusive pensions framework that offers fairer solutions for all’.

So what can women do to close the gender pension gap?

* Learn more about pensions-make it your priority

* Get clear on how much you have in your pension

* Check out this retirement & pension calculator (by Legal & General)

* Set a target and commit to (start) growing your pension

* Find support-reach out to other women or speak to a financial advisor

* Learn about other ways you can save and invest for your retirement.

Your future self will thank you for it.

News in Brief

Financial news

* US President Joe Biden’s first budget would raise annual spending to $6trn (£4.3trn). The wealthy (earning $1m+) would see higher tax rates.

* European stocks (Stoxx 600) hit an all-time high on Friday, as optimism over the economic recovery continues to lift share prices.

* UK April borrowing reaches the second highest ever (£31.7bn) but less than last year ie £15.6bn less than in April 2020.

* UK business is more upbeat about the economy (than anytime since 2016), according to a survey.

* UK retail sales slowed in May after April surge (sales in April surged 9.2%)

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum & DeFi

* Bitcoin slumped approximately 7% again, the price is trading around $35,000. Price across digital tokens, including ether, fell as Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda joined a growing list of central bankers casting doubt over the crypto industry.

* Iran’s government bans bitcoin mining and other crypto due to power outages (until 22nd September).

* Goldman Sachs says that bitcoin is now considered ‘an investable asset class. It has its own idiosyncratic risk, partly because it’s still relatively new and going through an adoption phase.’

* DeFi can transform global finance, says a report by Wharton School of Business. However the industry is exposed to risks because of the activity being concentrated on speculation, leverage, and yield generation among digital asset holders.

* Billionaire hedge fund boss Ray Dalio buys bitcoin. (He also said that the US dollar is on the verge of devaluation and China threatens its role as the world reserve currency.

* Todd Morley (co-founder & executive of investment powerhouse Guggenheim Partners) says that Ethereum has a higher utility than bitcoin through smart contracts.

* The Bitcoin Mining Council: Michael Saylor (CEO of MicroStrategy & bitcoin evangelist) said he worked with Tesla CEO Elon Musk and a handful of North American miners to create a loose organisation that could publish energy usage data in bitcoin mining.

ETFs: Women & the ESG investing boom

The 2020s is set to be a watershed decade for women’s wealth.

As women continue to accumulate wealth faster than men and have far more capital at their disposal than ever before, it is likely that they will steer focus and investment to ESG, healthcare and education.

Women invest with impact

Research shows that women are far more interested in responsible or ESG investing. In fact, over 80%+ of women surveyed have said they want to invest for impact (Morgan Stanley survey).

This coupled with the fact that female professionals lead in the ESG space, with a growing presence in the ETF (exchange traded funds) industry, and the shift becomes much more, well, obvious.

Cathie Wood, founder, CEO & CIO of Ark Investment Management and Rebecca Chesworth, Head of Equities, ESG & Sectors for State Street Global Advisors are great examples. Both women leading in the ETF & ESG ETF space.

It follows that as more women join investment management-ETFs and beyond-supply and innovation in sustainable financial products will be led by women.

Exchange traded Funds (ETFS) & ESG

An ETF is a basket of companies which matches the market or index benchmark eg the S&P 500 or FTSE 100. It can track an index, sector, commodity, or other asset and can be purchased or sold on a stock exchange the same as a share.

A well-known example is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF. ETFs can be passive or actively managed.

ETFs account for a substantial growing share of ESG, with the largest ever inflows in 2020 (inflows quadrupled).

ESG investing is booming

The data shows that sustainable funds outperform more traditional funds. This has helped to quash the argument that there’s a financial trade-off for investors who want to focus on ESG (which has helped draw in more funds):

* Since 2003, sustainable UK assets have grown almost 1,300%, from £2.9bn to £40bn at the end of the third quarter of 2020.

* Responsible investment funds under management now totals over £56bn, growing 66% over the past 12 months, in comparison to 7% across funds overall.

* In January 2021: £1.2bn was invested in responsible investment funds, £703m was invested in equity funds.

* However, the sector is still in its infancy: despite the growth in the sector responsible investing only makes up 3%+ of the industry’s funds.

But measuring ESG impact…can be difficult

There is no uniform way to track a company’s ESG metrics, especially in the US. Pay practices and diversity does not have to be disclosed, unlike in the UK.

And there are many approaches to ESG investing, which means that funds can have very different practices. According to a Morningstar report, it’s well worth your time to research these funds before ‘jumping into them’.

How can women get started in ESG ETF investing?

* Listen to the interview with Rebecca Chesworth for The Purse Podcast, Head of Equities, ESG & Sectors for State Street Global Advisors. We talk about ESG ETFs, responsible investing and how the industry is changing as more women invest their money.

* Research ESG ETFs online & read about how they work.

* Read Jessica Robinson’s book on sustainable investing (or listen to our interview on The Purse Podcast).

* Dig deeper: read this report on ESG investing

The Purse Podcast

Female founders, fundraising and the power of story

* I interviewed Corporate Storyteller, Donna Griffit about the ‘power of story’, how to build a good pitch, how to develop ‘the right mindset’ to raise millions, overcoming gender bias during fundraising and female investors.

* Listen on all podcasting channels including iTunes, Spotify and Anchor (don’t forget to subscribe).

And to complement the podcast interview, read this: Reclaim our voices: the rise of the female storytellers.

Coffee Break? Read This

* How to make a brand name more appealing: give is a feminine name

* Women can have a better menopause. Here’s how

* Diverse teams feel less comfortable-and that’s why they perform better

* The different words we use to describe male and female leaders?

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and @janicka.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2021 & All Rights Reserved.

The Purse provides content for informational purposes only, we do not provide product recommendations or investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial advisor.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jointhepurse.substack.com

Welcome to our #70 weekly newsletter.

Every week we curate key content and apply a gender lens so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing.

Stay in the know.

Keep on top of global economic, financial and investing news and trends. And read about what this means for you and your money in 2021 during Covid-19 and beyond.

If you’re short on time, listen to the audio for a brief overview.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

Credit: Starling Bank and Lensi Photography

From The Purse

Editorial from the Founder

Global stocks rebound on Thursday after a day of cryptocurrency turbulence and concerns that central bank policymakers were contemplating winding down crisis-era support.

However, on Friday China launched its second ‘verbal attack’ against bitcoin/crypto in three days. Crypto prices fell again and also appeared to spill over into the US stock market.

UK inflation more than doubled in April: the jump to 1.5% in April from 0.7% in March, means consumer prices are rising at their fastest rate since March 2020 at the outset of the pandemic.

The FTSE 100 fell on the inflation news, but rebound towards the end of the day.

Meanwhile, UK labour markets have turned a corner: employment is rising, unemployment is falling faster than expected and hiring is accelerating in the run-up to the economy reopening.

It’s been a difficult week for the cryptocurrency market.

Crypto markets swung in chaotic trading after Chinese regulators signalled a crackdown on the use of digital coins.

Bitcoin has lost approximately $500bn in market cap; its price dropping from an all-time high of $60K+ to currently trading at $33K+.

Ether, the world’s second-most valuable crypto, plunged by more than 50%+ to $2K+, from an all-time high of $4,360 on May 12. It is currently trading at $1.9K+.

Meanwhile, MicroStrategy has purchased another $10m of bitcoin and the CEO of Ark Investment Management, Cathie Wood believes we are in the ‘capitulation phase’ which means this is a ‘good time to buy’.

Elon Musk confirmed in a tweet that Tesla is not selling its bitcoin (aka it has ‘diamond hands’) and tweeted that he prefers crypto to fiat.

In the Future Focus section, read about a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) which says that energy groups must stop all new oil and gas exploration projects from this year if global warming is kept in check.

AT&T has announced a $43bn deal to merge WarnerMedia and Discovery. The merger is paving the way for one of Hollywood’s biggest studios to compete with media giants Netflix and Disney.

And in the Have You Seen This? section we cover research by Starling Bank and Brunel University about how stock imagery depicts women and money: it often either infantilises or mischaracterises women’s relationship with money.

We have included one of the license-free photographs created as a result of this study in this week’s newsletter. Let us know what you think?

We’re tracking Canadian e-commerce start-up founded by CEO Joanna Griffiths, which sells women’s underwear and apparel. Knix announced it has raised $53m in its funding round, led by New York-based private-equity firm TZP Group.

Joanna was pregnant with twins when she started raising investment. And she set an immovable ground rule: any investor who raised that as a concern would be immediately disqualified from bidding. Knix closed its funding round three days before Joanna gave birth in March. The timing was deliberate.

Stay safe, look after yourselves and your loved ones.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Jana

The Big Picture

Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators

* Global stocks rebound (Thursday) after a day of cryptocurrency turbulence (but dipped again on Friday)

* Positive US jobs data helped boost global stocks on Thursday, a day after markets were roiled by a sell-off in cryptocurrencies and hints that central bank policymakers were contemplating winding down crisis-era support.

* However, on Friday China launched its second broadside against bitcoin in three days. Crypto prices fell again and also appeared to spill over into the US stock market.

* The price of gold, which benefits in times of heightened uncertainty, rose to its highest level since January. Gold is also viewed as a hedge against inflation.

* The Federal Reserve: should ‘at some point’ start to discuss ‘a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchases’

* The implication taken: the US central bank is in no hurry to reduce $120bn of monthly bond purchases that have boosted financial markets since March last year.

* UK inflation more than doubles in April

* The jump to 1.5% in April from 0.7% in March, means consumer prices are rising at their fastest rate since March 2020 at the outset of the pandemic.

* Two weeks ago the Bank of England said that UK inflation is heading above its 2% target and is expected to hit 2.5% at the end of 2021.

* FTSE 100 falls, as UK inflation more than doubles month-on-month (but ended trading 1% higher)

* The FTSE 100 dropped 1.28% Thursday morning, ‘as the markets returned to last week’s inflation-fearing panic on Wednesday following a commodity-bloated CPI reading out of the UK’.

* But it ended the day trading 1% higher.

* UK labour markets turns a corner: employment is rising

* Unemployment falling faster than expected and hiring accelerating in the run-up to the economy reopening.

* The employment rate rose by 0.2% to 75.2%, but remained 1.4% below its pre-pandemic level.

Bitcoin & cryptocurrencies

Global news, trends and insights

* The crypto market & bitcoin plunges on fears of regulatory crackdown

* Cryptocurrency markets swung in chaotic trading and related stocks were hit after Chinese regulators signalled a crackdown on the use of digital coins, which have soared in price this year.

* On Friday, cryptocurrency prices took a renewed dive after China launched its second broadside against bitcoin in three days.

* Bitcoin fell by 12%, ether by 20% and dogecoin by 18%.

* A Friday statement from China’s vice-premier Liu He that restated Beijing’s determination to curb cryptocurrency mining and trading triggered the latest decline.

* Bitcoin, which soared past $60,000 last month, dived to nearly $30,000 at one point on Wednesday, before paring losses later that day.

* On Thursday, bitcoin bounced back above $40,000 as the crypto market attempted to recover. Bitcoin was last trading 1% lower at a price of $39,703 on Friday, according to Coin Metrics data.

* Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO and crypto enthusiast, last week made a U-turn on accepting bitcoin as payment for the company’s electric cars on environmental grounds, also sharpening worries about the long-term future of bitcoin.

* According to Richard Saperstein, chief investment officer at Treasury Partners: ‘Stocks and cryptocurrencies have been showing signs of froth over the past few months and were due for a pullback’.

* Approximately $500bn has been wiped from the bitcoin market cap.

* Bitcoin is currently trading at $33K+

* Ether has plunged more than 50% from its ATH

* Ether, the world’s second-most valuable cryptocurrency, has plunged by more than 50% to $2,050, from an all-time high of $4,360 on May 12.

* The digital coin was trading at $2,750 by Thursday morning, down, like Bitcoin, 38% from its recent highest-ever peak, but up more than 1,200% from a year ago.

* However, Friday ether fell by 20% after China restated Beijing’s determination to curb cryptocurrency mining and trading.

* Ether is currently trading at $1.9K+

* MicroStrategy purchased another $10m of bitcoin

* As of Tuesday, MicroStrategy is holding 92,079 bitcoins acquired for $2.251bn at an average price of 24,450 per bitcoin.

* In an interview with CNBC, Michael Saylor, the CEO of MicroStrategy, said that ‘bitcoin is coming to life as an institutional treasury asset’ and that ‘the volatility is the price you pay for it to be 10x, outperforming the S&P index over a decade’.

* Ark’s Cathie Wood says bitcoin will rise to $500,000 & bitcoin could accelerate the adaption of solar energy

* In an interview on Bloomberg, the CEO of Ark Investment Management, Cathie Wood said that she still believes that the price of bitcoin will go to $500,000.

* She also commented on the environmental issues regarding bitcoin: over 50% of bitcoin is mined with renewables and hydroelectric power in China.

* Bitcoin mining could accelerate solar energy adoption.

* Cathie Wood also believes we are in the ‘capitulation phase’ which means this is a ‘good time to buy’ ie bitcoin is ‘on sale’.

* Elon Musk confirmed in a tweet that Tesla is not selling its bitcoin (aka has ‘diamond hands)

* Tesla continues to hold its bitcoin (despite the announcement las week that Tesla will not accept payment in bitcoin).

* Elon Musk says bitcoin can shake off its bad climate reputation if top miners can prove they’re using green energy

* Elon Musk said crypto miners should post audits of the renewables they use to erase concerns over bitcoin's energy use.

* Elon Musk also confirmed that he prefers crypto to fiat

Future Focus

Keeping an eye on key predictions, innovations and what’s going to impact the future

* Energy groups must stop new oil and gas projects to reach net zero by 2050, IEA says

* Energy groups must stop all new oil and gas exploration projects from this year if global warming is to be kept in check, the International Energy Agency said (IEA).

* The proposal is part of a scenario outlined in a report on ways to achieve net zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050, a prerequisite to meet the Paris climate accord goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.

* Aside from drastically cutting fossil fuel consumption, an unprecedented jump in spending on low carbon technologies would also be required — around $5tn in energy investments per year by 2030, up from around $2tn today, the report said.

* It details an overhaul of energy supply and demand whereby coal demand would plunge by 90%, gas demand would halve and oil demand would shrink nearly 75% 2050. 

Companies: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* AT&T announces $43bn deal to merge WarnerMedia and Discovery

* The merger is paving the way for one of Hollywood’s biggest studios to compete with media giants Netflix and Disney.

* Under the agreement, AT&T will unwind its $85bn acquisition of Time Warner, which closed just under three years ago and form a new media company with Discovery.

* The deal would create a new business, separate from AT&T, that could be valued at as much as $150bn, including debt.

* AT&T said it would receive an aggregate amount of $43bn in a combination of cash, debt and WarnerMedia’s retention of certain debt.

* AT&T shareholders would receive stock representing 71% of the new company, while Discovery shareholders would own 29%, it added.

* If approved by regulators, the deal could close by the middle of 2022.

* The new company will be able to ‘offer.. a combination of news and sports on top of its entertainment properties like “Game of Thrones” and Harry Potter.’

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* Starling Bank calls for image equality around women and money

* Stock photography far too often either infantilises or mischaracterises women’s relationship with money, according to research from Starling Bank and Brunel University.

* The study looked at 600 images from three leading image libraries and found that women were four times more likely to be depicted as childlike with their money.

* The CEO for Starling Bank, Anne Boden, pointed out that it’s the subconscious impact of these images is to reinforce stereotypes that ultimately influence behaviour, to the detriment of everyone.

* Professor Shireen Kaji from Brunel, who co-authored the report, added: ‘These depictions really matter. They negatively affect not only how people are treated, but also how they feel about themselves in terms of money, which is typically used to symbolise power, influence and freedom’.

Know this: it is important to be aware of the biases and money myths that surround women and money. Much of this can be internalised and often explains why women feel ‘uncomfortable’ in managing and investing their money for growth. Becoming aware of our internalised dialogue and being intentional about our approach is often the first and crucial step to taking control of your money matters.

What We’re Tracking

Female and diversity-focused products or services, start-ups and businesses led by women/diverse founders, investment, research.

Knix: (Canada)-founded by CEO Joanna Griffiths, is a Toronto-based e-commerce company which sells women’s underwear and apparel:

* Knix announced it has raised $53m in the funding round, led by New York-based private-equity firm TZP Group, and including some existing Knix investors such as Germany’s Acton Capital. Supermodel Ashley Graham has also invested. Ms. Griffiths remains the largest shareholder.

* Knix plans to use its share of the proceeds (roughly one-third is going to buy out some early shareholders) to fuel an ambitious growth plan, including expanding further into the United States, opening more bricks-and-mortar stores, and launching more product categories.

* Its sales jumped to $75m in 2020 from $50m in 2019. In the past 12 months, as of mid-May, sales have hit $100m.

* Joanna was pregnant with twins when she started raising investment. And she set an immovable ground rule: any investor who raised that as a concern would be immediately disqualified from bidding.

* Knix closed its funding round three days before Joanna gave birth in March. The timing was deliberate:

* ‘I wanted to show myself and show other female founders that this is possible, that the world is starting to change, that you can raise money while you’re pregnant, if you build a business that has metrics and you have a community that supports you,” Joanna said ‘... I wish I’d seen this four years ago.’

Coffee Break? Read This

* How to close the gender gap

* Menopause study to uncover impact on senior women in the city

* The missing generation of women at The Washington Post

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and @janicka.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2021 & All Rights Reserved.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jointhepurse.substack.com

Welcome to our #69 weekly newsletter.

Every week we curate key content and apply a gender lens so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing.

Stay in the know.

Keep on top of global economic, financial and investing news and trends. And read about what this means for you and your money in 2021 during Covid-19 and beyond.

If you’re short on time, listen to the audio for a brief overview.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

Editorial from the Founder

The global stock markets fell sharply at the start of the week and rebound again (from mid-week). In the US, Big Tech took a hit Monday on concerns about rising inflation and high valuations. The selling then spread to the rest of the market and across the Atlantic.

US consumer prices have risen at the fastest rate since 2008. The 4.2% jump in inflation is a significant leap compared with the 2.6% reading in March.

This reflects a combination of government stimulus, supply bottlenecks and increased spending as economic activity picks up (following the rollout of Covid vaccinations).

The European Commission has upgraded its growth forecasts.

The governor for the Bank of England (BoE), Andrew Bailey has said that the drivers of inflation will not persist.

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk said Wednesday on Twitter that Tesla has ‘suspended vehicle purchases using bitcoin’, out of concern over ‘rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining.’ Over $365bn+ has been wiped off the market’s value following Musk’s decision to halt support for bitcoin payments.

Internet Computer, a new cryptocurrency was launched on Monday.

And UBS is looking into offering crypto investments to wealthy clients.

In the Future Focus section, read about the rising concerns regarding inflation and will central banks and investors hold their nerve?

Cathie Wood, the founder of Ark Investment Management LLC now controls $39.7bn in her U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs), down from more than $60bn at a peak in February. Throughout the downturn, Wood has said repeatedly that her strategies haven’t changed and that she invests with a five-year time horizon. 

And in the Have You Seen This? section read about women reaching a record share of S&P 500 bank boards due to retiring men.

We are tracking a global report about women, cryptocurrency and financial independence.

And don’t forget to listen to The Purse Podcast interview with Rebecca Chesworth, Head of Equities for ESG & Sectors for State Street Global Advisors.

We talk about the equities market, key trends, exchange traded funds, cyclical vs value stocks, sectors, and responsible investing. And Rebecca shares her thoughts on how women can engage more around their money.

Stay safe, look after yourselves and your loved ones.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Jana

The Big Picture

Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators

* The global stock markets fell sharply at the start of the week and rebound again (from mid-week)

* (US) Big Tech took a big hit on Monday on concerns about rising inflation and high valuations. The selling then spread to the rest of the market and across the Atlantic.

* The FTSE 100 suffered its worst one-day slump since February.

* The European markets slid 2%; the worst sell-off so far this year.

* ‘The spectre of inflation is the most central cause for concern at the moment, which in turn could lead to interest rate rises earlier than investors had been anticipating’.

* The markets rebound (from mid-week) again on US jobless claims boost and as inflation fears eased: the European markets rallied too & the FTSE 100 ended Friday with solid gains.

* Inflation fears rise on both sides of the Atlantic

* US inflation expectations jumps to the highest level since 2017.

* And Eurozone inflation expectations rose to the highest since 2018.

* US consumer prices rise at fastest rate since 2008

* The 4.2% jump in inflation (in the 12mths to April) is the biggest rise since 2008 and is a significant leap compared with the 2.6% reading in March.

* This reflects a combination of government stimulus, supply bottlenecks and increased spending as economic activity picks up (post the rollout of Covid vaccinations).

* EU Commission lifts growth forecasts

* The European Commission has upgraded its growth forecasts, pointing to progress with Covid-19 vaccinations and a massive public stimulus programme.

* It is predicting growth of 4.2% for the EU in 2021, and 4.4% next year. (This compares with its previous estimates in February of 3.7% growth this year and 3.9% in 2022).

* Bank of England (BoE) head says that drivers of inflation will not persist

* Governor Andrew Bailey is at odds with the bank’s outgoing chief economist warning of price inflation above 2% target.

* Chief economist Andrew Haldane used a newspaper article to warn of the need to prevent the ‘inflation genie’ getting out of the bottle.

* There is concern that a pick-up in inflation would force central banks to rein in the amount of stimulus they provide which continues to ‘prop up’ businesses and economies around the world (plus the added risk of raising interest rates which are at an all-time low).

Bitcoin & cryptocurrencies

Global news, trends and insights

* Tesla does a U-turn and will not accept payment in Bitcoin due to ‘environmental concerns’

* Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Wednesday on Twitter that Tesla has ‘suspended vehicle purchases using bitcoin’, out of concern over ‘rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining.’

* The price of bitcoin dropped about 5% in the first minutes after Musk’s announcement.

* In an SEC filing in February, Tesla revealed that it bought $1.5bn worth of bitcoin and it may invest in more of bitcoin or other crypto currencies in the future.

* $365bn+ has been wiped off the market’s value following Musk’s decision to halt support for Bitcoin payments.

* Internet Computer, a new cryptocurrency launched on Monday

* Internet Computer, a cryptocurrency launched Monday by blockchain non-profit Dfinity, is already the eight-largest digital asset with a market cap of $45bn, data from CoinMarketCap showed on Wednesday.

* The project, developed by founder Dominic Williams, is a result of five years of research.

* The token's promoters claim it can provide the core basis of a new, decentralised internet.

* Binance faces probe by US money-laundering and tax sleuths

* Binance Holdings Ltd. is under investigation by the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service, ensnaring the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange in U.S. efforts to root out illicit activity that’s thrived in the red-hot but mostly unregulated market.

* Bitcoin losses accelerated Thursday after Bloomberg reported the investigation into Binance.

* UBS explores offering crypto investments to rich clients

* UBS Group is in the early stages of planning to offer wealthy customers digital currency investments, joining U.S firms in seeking to give broader access in response to client demand.

* ‘We are monitoring the developments in the field of digital assets closely,” UBS said in a statement. “Importantly, we are most interested in the technology which underpins digital assets, namely the distributed ledger technology.’

Future Focus

Keeping an eye on key predictions, innovations and what’s going to impact the future

* (US) The summer of inflation: will central banks and investors hold their nerve?

* A summer burst of inflation was always inevitable once lockdown measures began to ease: a year ago the spread of Covid-19 had crushed economies around the world, sending commodity prices plummeting and even pushing the cost of a barrel of oil in the US below zero.

* Central bankers -particularly at the US Federal Reserve - have been at pains to insist the current bout of price rises is temporary and will not push them to an early unwind of the massive monetary stimulus actions they launched.

* Those assurances, however, have not deterred a growing number of investors from becoming unnerved that a groundswell of deeper inflationary forces.

* A prolonged bout of inflation could hamper the post-pandemic recovery, potentially forcing the Fed and other central banks to quickly tighten its monetary screws ie raise interest rates.

* Investors are concerned that they have been left guessing not only how the Fed defines ‘transitory’, but also the specific parameters that motivate a change in policy. 

* The Fed’s determination to stay the course could also see long-term inflation expectations rise even further — leading to sharper rate rises down the line.

* Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz and former co-investment chief at bond group Pimco said: ‘The last few years have been great for investors because everything went up — you gained on your equities and your bonds…Now you risk losing money on both sides. It’s a horrible environment, and I’m glad I’m not managing money.’

Companies: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* Flagship fund ARKK falls more than 35% from February peak

* Cathie Wood, the founder of Ark Investment Management LLC now controls $39.7bn in her U.S. exchange-traded funds (ETFs), down from more than $60bn at a peak in February, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

* A huge portion of the loss is due to the value of her holdings dropping sharply, as speculative tech names with soaring valuations and massive runs come back down to earth. 

* Her flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) has fallen about 35% from its high.

* The mass exodus some had anticipated during a period of underperformance hasn’t yet materialised, with traders pulling just $76m from the fund in April and $301m so far in May, compared to the $7.1bn added in the first three months of the year.

* In fact, the firm’s ETFs have still taken in a net $15.3bn so far in 2021. The eight-product lineup -six actively managed funds and two tracking indexes -has roughly only lost a net $800m since the end of February.

* Throughout the downturn, Wood has said repeatedly that her strategies haven’t changed and that she invests with a five-year time horizon. 

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* Retiring men lifted women to record share of S&P 500 banks boards

* Women gained a larger share of board seats last month at five companies in the S&P 500 Banks Index as four men retired or stepped down, and Zions Bancorp expanded its board to include a new female director.

* The shift, which increased the average number of women on bank boards to 4.5 from 4.4, highlights a tactic many companies are using to add seats for diverse members when male members depart.

* The 32.8% of women on bank boards rose from 32% in March and is the highest since Bloomberg began tracking the ratio in January 2019. That compares with 29.3% for the broader S&P 500 Index.

* The alternative to expansion would be to actively manage out directors who aren’t fulfilling their duties, even if they aren’t at retirement age. 

Know this: building a gender diverse company & culture is multi-faceted. However, one of the reasons change is slow, is that boards are made up of men of a certain age who are comfortable with the status quo. The data shows that women on boards and in the C-Suite (33% minimum threshold) drive financial performance and business transformation. Slow progress re gender equity on boards continues to limit maximum company performance.

What We’re Tracking

Female and diversity-focused products or services, start-ups and businesses led by women/diverse founders, investment, research.

* Global Report: women, cryptocurrency and financial independence

* The total number of global cryptocurrency users has surpassed 100m for the first time.

* Exchange platform surveys indicate women make up 15-55% of crypto users (depending on the region).

* Financial independence seems to be the key driver for women.

* Read more here.

Coffee Break? Read This

* How men can be more inclusive leaders

* Leading ladies leaving

* France unanimously votes for gender quotes for executive leadership

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and @janicka.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2021 & All Rights Reserved.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jointhepurse.substack.com

Welcome to our #68 weekly newsletter.

Every week we curate key content and apply a gender lens so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing.

Stay in the know.

Keep on top of global economic, financial and investing news and trends. And read about what this means for you and your money in 2021 during Covid-19 and beyond.

If you’re short on time, listen to the audio for a brief overview.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

Editorial from the Founder

The US stock market continues to rise: tech and cyclical stocks have rallied in tandem even after U.S. job growth significantly undershot forecasts in April.

According to strategists at JPMorgan Chase, now is no time to doubt equities - as long as Fed Chair Jerome Powell and President Joe Biden are in charge of the recovery.

The UK is on track for its best year since 1941: the Bank of England (BOE) sees a faster economic rebound and will be slowing its bond buying.

The FTSE 100 closed at a 14 month high on Thursday. This is its highest close since the last week of February 2020. It means the FTSE 100 has gained over 9% so far this year.

Ether (ETH), the world's second-largest cryptocurrency, has hit another all-time high Sunday morning at $3,900+.

The S&P Dow Jones brings bitcoin, ethereum to Wall Street; the new indexes will measure the performance of digital assets tied to them.

Meanwhile Citigroup has become the latest banking giant to look into crypto and Goldman Sachs executed its first cryptocurrency trades and formalised the set-up of its bitcoin desk on Friday.

In the Future Focus section, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has published a report about the tokenisation of all assets from stocks to bonds to commodities and read about gender bonds.

In the Have You Seen This? section, read about how Melinda French Gates could become the world’s second richest woman, after divorcing Bill Gates.

And we are tracking US baby and consumer products company Honest, co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, which debuted on the stock market on Wednesday, valuing the company at $2.1bn+.

Don’t forget to listen to The Purse Podcast interview with Jessica Espinoza, the Vice President for DEG and Chair for the 2X Challenge, a global initiative that has mobilised over $4.5bn of gender lens investments since its launch at the G7 Summit in 2018.

We talk about gender lens investing, why it’s not ‘niche’, the 2X Challenge, the investment criteria, measuring gender impact, female fund managers and more.

Please enjoy!

Stay safe, look after yourselves and your loved ones.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Jana

The Big Picture

Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators

* US: stock market continues to rise and time to look at ‘reflation’

* Tech, cyclical stocks have rallied in tandem even after U.S. job growth significantly undershot forecasts in April (Friday).

* Investors continue to assume that the Federal Reserve will support the US economy and markets for some time.

* According to strategists at JPMorgan Chase, now is no time to doubt equities - as long as Fed Chair Jerome Powell and President Joe Biden are in charge of the recovery.

* JPMorgan strategists are doubling down on the reflation trade (ie money managers are to switch gears from the deflationary playbook or risk an inflation shock).

* US: Dow Jones reaches ATH as weekly jobless claims fall to pandemic low

* The number of people filing new jobless claims dropped to a fresh pandemic low last week, at 498,000.

* That’s the lowest since the first wave of Covid-19 hit the US economy in March 2020.

* UK on track for best year since 1941: Bank of England (BOE) sees faster economic rebound, slows its bond buying

* The BoE raised its forecast for British economic growth in 2021 to 7.25% from February's estimate of 5.0% (the fastest annual growth since 1941 when Britain was rearming).

* Unemployment revised down to 5.4% from 7.8%.

* As a result, the BoE said it would reduce the amount of bonds it buys each week to £3.4bn ($4.7bn), down from £4.4bn now.

* FTSE closed at a 14 month high (Thursday)

* This is its highest close since the last week of February 2020, (during the early stages of the market crash caused by the first wave of Covid-19).

* It means the FTSE 100 has gained over 9% so far this year.

* Nearly every sector rose, led by utilities, consumer non-cyclicals, real estate firms, energy and miners.

Bitcoin & cryptocurrencies

Global news, trends and insights

* Ether (ETH) hits an ATH (again)

* Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency has hit a new all-time high on Sunday at $3,900+.

* It hit a new ATH on Monday ($3,000+), on Thursday ($3,600+), and on Saturday ($3,800+) this week.

* Ether is up 400%+ since the start of 2021.

* According to Fundstrat Global Advisors, Ether will reach a target price of $10,500 in 2021.

* Dogecoin is up nearly 25,000% in the last six months (market cap: $86m)

* Set up in 2013, the cryptocurrency was a way to make fun of bitcoin and the many other crypto boasting grand plans to take over the world. 

* The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO has spent years talking up the token. These posts have also helped drive retail investor interest.

* There are big question marks regarding its value.

* S&P Dow Jones brings bitcoin, ethereum to Wall Street

* The new indexes, S&P Bitcoin Index, S&P Ethereum Index and S&P Crypto Mega Cap Index, will measure the performance of digital assets tied to them.

* This further mainstreams digital currencies including bitcoin and ethereum by bringing them to the trading floors of Wall Street.

* Big banks move into crypto services

* Citigroup has become the latest banking giant to look into crypto: they are undecided whether it would offer its customers cryptocurrency-related services, but trading, custody and financing are all under consideration.

* Goldman Sachs executed its first cryptocurrency trades and formalised the set-up of its bitcoin desk on Friday.

* Bank of New York Mellon and State Street are among the large institutions that have recently announced plans to become active in different areas of the cryptocurrency market.

* Galaxy Digital to buy BitGo in crypto sector’s first $1bn deal

* Bitcoin-focused firm Galaxy Digital has agreed to buy BitGo Inc. for $1.2bn in cash and stock, the first $1 billion deal in the cryptocurrency industry.

* The acquisition will make Galaxy Digital a crypto-focused financial-services firm with more than $40 billion in assets under custody.

* Cryptocurrency investors should be prepared to lose all their money, Bank of England governor says

* The Bank of England Governor, Andrew Bailey has said that cryptocurrencies ‘have no intrinsic value’ and people who invest in them should be prepared to lose all their money.

Future Focus

Keeping an eye on key predictions, innovations and what’s going to impact the future

* World Economic Forum (WEF): blockchain could disrupt $867tn in traditional markets

* Based on a new report by the World Economic Forum, all assets will eventually be tokenised, from stocks to bonds to commodities. 

* The authors of the report have estimated the potential size of the traditional markets that might be ripe for disruption: it works out to $866.9tn, including equity markets: $95tn, debt markets: $106tn, Asset management/fund administration: $89tn.

* The total crypto market cap is currently ‘only’ $2.4tn+

* Read the report here.

* Gender bonds empowering women likely to improve issuers’ credit outlook: Moody’s

* Gender bonds primarily focus on expanding women’s economic participation and promoting equitable pay, with some funding female-owned enterprises or targeting higher board or executive-level representation.

* According to a report by Moody’s Investors Service, worldwide issuance of bonds linked to the economic empowerment of women or to increasing female representation on company boards will probably grow beyond the current $9.2bn total and prove credit positive’ for issuers.

* Issuance of various types of so-called sustainable bonds will likely hit a record $650bn in 2021, representing 8% to 10% of total global bond sales.

* Sales of gender and other ‘social bonds’ will probably increase this year to $150bn from $141bn in 2021.

* ‘Narrowing gender gaps can have macroeconomic benefits, while board-level gender diversity appears to correlate with higher credit ratings for corporate issuers’.

Companies: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* Coinbase plunges to an all-time low with IPO ETF in free-fall

* The largest US crypto exchange slumped 6% to $256.76 on Thursday, dropping for a fourth straight day (its reference April price was $250).

* It’s now down 22% from the close on its first day.

* An exchange-traded fund (ETF) that tracks shares of companies that recently went public plunged for an eighth day (ie fell by 3.8%).

* Coinbase’s drop in price comes as investors pour into extremely speculative cryptocurrencies such as Dogecoin and Binance Coin -tokens that the exchange doesn’t offer. 

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* Melinda French Gates could be the world’s second richest woman

* Melinda French Gates, a philanthropist and campaigner for female empowerment, could be about to become the world’s second-richest woman, with a fortune estimated at $73bn. Melinda has already received nearly $2.4bn in a stock transfer.

* In her divorce petition filed on Monday in Washington/US, Melinda Gates stated that her marriage to multibillionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, one of the richest men on the planet, had ‘irretrievably broken’ and called on the courts to divide up the couple’s combined $146bn (£105bn) fortune.

* A 50-50 split is likely as the couple did not sign a prenuptial agreement.

* Melinda and MacKenzie Scott (Jeff Bezos’ ex-wife) collaborated last year to launch a $30m project called the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge, to expand women’s influence in the US.

* Described by Forbes Magazine as the ‘most powerful woman’ in philanthropy, Melinda has also founded Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation firm focused on women, family and social progress.

Know this: Divorce among middle-aged and older adults is so popular now that researchers like me have a term for it: gray divorce. Over half of gray divorces occur among couples who have been married more than 20 years. Midlife is marked by major life transitions. Gray divorce is often not precipitated by a singular event, but is instead the result of drifting apart. Societal changes also mean that women are often less economically dependent on their husbands, and thus they can afford to get divorced.

What We’re Tracking

Female and diversity-focused products or services, start-ups and businesses led by women/diverse founders, investment, research.

* Honest: (US)- co-founded by actress Jessica Alba, is a baby and consumer products company:

* Honest debuted on the stock market on Wednesday (US). Its stock closed at $23 Wednesday after it priced the shares at $16 in its initial public offering. Alba’s roughly 5% stake is valued at $98 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. She also has exercisable options valued at about $24 million.

* Honest, founded in 2011, had been valued as high as $1.7bn in 2015 before controversy over some of its claims to be using only natural ingredients in its products. The Los Angeles-based company is now valued at almost $2.1bn, or $2.45bn when fully diluted to include employee stock options and restricted stock units.

* Honest has never been profitable, but its revenue rose from $236m in 2019 to $300m in 2020 as the pandemic fuelled a run on cleaning products and other household staples. Losses narrowed last year to $14m from $31m in 2019.

* The IPO marks an almost 260% return for L Catterton, the private equity firm backed by billionaire Bernard Arnault that invested $200 million in 2018. The company sold about half its stake in the offering.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Marriage certificates in England and Wales to include mothers’ names for the first time

* Women won’t benefit from flexible working until childcare costs falls

* Women face significant jobs risk during Covid pandemic, UK analysis finds

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and @janicka.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2021 & All Rights Reserved.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jointhepurse.substack.com

Welcome to our #67 weekly newsletter.

Every week we curate key content and apply a gender lens so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing.

Stay in the know.

Keep on top of global economic, financial and investing news and trends. And read about what this means for you and your money in 2021 during Covid-19 and beyond.

If you’re short on time, listen to the audio for a brief overview.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

Editorial from the Founder

The total US market cap is equal to 226% of the US GDP which is way above the 100% Buffett bubble threshold.

The Federal Reserve Chairman, Jay Powell has said that the Fed still has ‘a long way’ from withdrawing monetary support-the money printing continues.

The US economy has soared 6.4% in the first quarter. Rising vaccinations, a massive round of government stimulus and a steady recovery in the jobs market has helped reverse some of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, billionaire investor Warren Buffet, admits he is surprised at the economic rebound as his firm, Berkshire Hathaway has reported a $12bn quarterly profit. Buffett has said that they are ‘seeing substantial inflation’.

The UK economy is predicted to grow at the fastest rate since WW2 ie by 6.8% in 2021 – a sharp upgrade on the 5% growth rate estimated by EY Item Club (January). High levels of saving, the successful vaccination rollout and the easing of the lockdown set the stage for a surge in spending over the coming months.

And ETH, the second largest cryptocurrency, has reached a new all-time high again at $2,900+.

Nexon, the online games provider in Japan, has joined Tesla buying bitcoin worth $100m.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) plans to price bonds registered in the Ethereum network. And Germany opens up to institutional crypto funds.

In the Future Focus section, read about how Joe Biden’s $1.8tn tax plan could pave the way for women to power the US economic recovery.

Google parent company Alphabet said YouTube brought in revenue of $6.01bn (from advertising) during the first quarter (Q1) and at twice the growth of Netflix.

In the Have You Seen This? section, read about the results of a survey which says that the gender pensions gap is prompting women to take action (& invest more).

And we are tracking edtech startup Erase All Kittens (EAK), co-founded by CEO and Creative Director, Dee Saigal, which has raised $1m. The startup has created a ‘Mario-style’ web-based game designed for girls (kids) aged 8-12.

Don’t forget to listen to the The Purse Podcast interview with Founder & CEO, Wai Foong Ng, for impact startup called Matchable. We talk about how to build an impact startup, the fundraising journey as a female founder, the unconscious bias of investors, why networks are key and female angel investors. Please enjoy!

Stay safe, look after yourselves and your loved ones.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Jana

The Big Picture

Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators

* Total US market cap is equal to 226% of the US GDP (way above the 100% Buffett bubble threshold):

* Note: the US (& global economy) continues to be propped up by government stimulus, interest rates are low, investors are confident as the (US) economy is showing signs of recovery.

* Jay Powell says the Fed still ‘a long way’ from withdrawing monetary support

* The Fed chair confirmed that the US central bank was not yet ready to discuss reducing its massive programme of asset purchases.

* Interest rates are close to zero and debt purchases steady at $120bn a month.

* The US economy soars 6.4% (annual basis) in the first quarter

* Rising vaccinations, a massive round of government stimulus and a steady recovery in the jobs market has helped reverse some of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

* US: Warren Buffet says Berkshire hit by rising inflation amid ‘red hot’ US recovery

* Billionaire investor, Warren Buffet, admits surprise at economic rebound as group reports $12bn quarterly profit.

* ‘We’re seeing very substantial inflation,” the 90-year-old chair said in his address to investors that was held virtually for the second consecutive year because of the pandemic. “It’s very interesting. We’re raising prices. People are raising prices to us and it’s being accepted.’

* UK economy predicted to grow at the fastest rate since WW2

* EY Item Club has upgraded forecasts for 2021 after businesses adapted better to Covid controls.

* The group said it now expected UK GDP to grow by 6.8% in 2021 – a sharp upgrade on the 5% growth rate it had estimated in January.

* ‘The UK is primed for a sharp snapback in consumer activity,” said Ian Stewart, the chief economist at Deloitte. “High levels of saving, the successful vaccination rollout and the easing of the lockdown set the stage for a surge in spending over the coming months.’

Bitcoin & cryptocurrencies

Global news, trends and insights

* ETH reaches a new all-time high (again)

* ETH (ether), the second largest cryptocurrency has reached a new all-time high at $2,900+

* Investors point to increased institutional interest and upcoming upgrades to the Ethereum network.

* See the price of ETH

* Ethereum flips PayPal, nears top 25 global assets by market cap

* ETH is now trading $2900+ and it's market cap is now $337.35bn+ (which is bigger than the market cap for PayPal).

* Ethereum is currently in ‘price discovery mode’—meaning, since its price has never been higher, traders are still trying to sort out what its current value should be.

* Nexon joins Tesla in Bitcoin bet with $100m purchase

* The online game provider (Japan) acquired 1,717 Bitcoin at an average price of about $58,226 each, including fees and expenses.

* The purchase represents less than 2% of Nexon’s total cash and cash equivalents on hand, and is the largest-ever purchase of digital currency made by a company traded in Tokyo.

* The CEO, Owen Mahoney said in a statement: ‘Our purchase of bitcoin reflects a disciplined strategy for protecting shareholder value and for maintaining the purchasing power of our cash assets...’

* European Investment Bank (EIB) price €100m in bond on Ethereum

* According to a report by Bloomberg, the EIB’s inaugural blockchain bond sale will consist of €100 million in two-year notes.

* The sale of the Ethereum-based bonds is being overseen by investment banks Goldman Sachs, Banco Santander, and Societe Generale. 

* Jean-Marc Stenger, chief executive of Société Générale’s enterprise blockchain unit Forge, told The Block last year that the bank has a ‘natural preference’ for public blockchains. 

* Germany opens up to institutional crypto funds

* A new law means that around 4,000 existing institutional investment funds will now be eligible to invest in crypto assets. 

* 100,000 UK taxis to take crypto payments in Ethereum

* Mobile payments firm HIPS and Nordic taxi payment rail The Payment House have partnered to allow cabs in the UK and Scandinavia to accept cryptocurrencies over the Ethereum blockchain.

* The deal means that 10,000 taxis in the UK, and 20,000 in Scandinavia can use the payment gateway after it debuts in a beta test in November. 

Future Focus

Keeping an eye on key predictions, innovations and what’s going to impact the future

* Biden tax plan paves the way for women to power economic growth

* US President Joe Biden is betting an investment in child care and other social programs will spur long-term economic growth.

* Part of Biden’s new $1.8tn plan is aimed at increasing women’s labor force participation, boosting productivity and distributing benefits more equitably.

* Biden’s new plan includes universal preschool, guaranteed paid family leave and an extension of the expanded child tax credit. He’s also proposing subsidised child care for low- and middle-income families and a $15 minimum wage for the million-plus child care labor force.

* The U.S. lags rich countries in Europe and the rest of the world in providing paid maternity and paternity leave. Now, just 35% of U.S. workers get paid parental leave, according to a 2019 Kaiser Family Foundation survey.

Companies: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* US: YouTube earnings report vs Netflix

* Google’s YouTube is already the world’s largest online video platform. 

* The video platform saw usage grow from 73% of U.S. adults in 2019 to 81% in 2021 (the social media winner during the pandemic).

* Google parent company Alphabet said YouTube brought in revenue of $6.01bn (advertising) during the quarter (2x growth of Netflix).

* YouTube will book between $29bn & $30bn in revenue this year. Netflix is expected to report $29.7bn in revenue for 2021.

* Netflix revenue comes almost exclusively from its paying subscribers - (207m+ at the end of March) -while YouTube relies primarily on advertising.

* YouTube users watch 1bn hours of video per day while Netflix viewers tune in for 400m hours.

* YouTube growth has been driven by “direct response” (DR) ads and brand advertising: ‘YouTube is now best positioned to deliver on something we’ve talked about for a decade, which is two people watching the same live event, but getting different ads.’

* US: Amazon’s sales increased 44% to $108.5bn in Q1

* Amazon made a profit of $8.1bn for the quarter – $2.7bn a month – beating analysts’ forecasts after a series of better than expected results from tech companies and others.

* While Amazon profited throughout the coronavirus downturn, there are now signs that the (US) economic recovery is spreading.

* UK: PensionBee was admitted to the High Growth Segment of the Main Marker of the London Stock Exchange (Monday)

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* Gender pensions gap prompts women to take action

* The difference between pension contributions between men and women can be as high as 50% in some parts of the UK. More women take career breaks, work part-time and are more likely not to qualify for the UK pension auto-enrolment scheme (min £10,000 pa).

* According to a survey (of 433 pension-holding women) by Barnett Waddingham, 44% of working-aged women with a workplace or private plan have taken action after hearing about the gender pensions gap.

* Women have increased their monthly contributions into their pension, with 14% of women saying they’ve done this already. 

* The rate is highest among 18-34-year-olds, at 19%, and is higher among those working full time (16%) than part-time (14%).

* “It’s therefore not enough to simply say that women need to contribute more to close the gap. Instead, we need to consider fiscal, behavioural, and societal issues collectively, and work to create a more robust and inclusive pensions framework that offers fairer solutions for all.”

Know this: consider increasing your monthly contributions to your pension, even if this is only by 1%. If you are taking time off, for whatever reason, talk to your partner about making contributions to your pension. Become proactive about your pension to ensure you are clear on how much money you need to retire on, potential shortfalls and how you can make up the difference. Seek out a financial advisor who is skilled at providing advice to female clients.

What We’re Tracking

Female and diversity-focused products or services, start-ups and businesses led by women/diverse founders, investment, research.

* Erase All Kittens (UK)-co-founded by CEO & Creative Director, Dee Saigal is an edtech startup that created a ‘Mario-style’ web-based game designed for girls (kids) aged 8-12.

* It has raised a $1m seed funding led by Twinkl Educational Publishing, with participation from first investor Christian Reyntjens of the A Black Square family office, alongside angel investors.

* It has reached 160,000 players in more than 100 countries.

* EAK is currently being used in over 3,000 schools, mostly in the U.K. and U.S., and its traction increased by 500% during the lockdowns associated with the pandemic.

* According to EAK research, 55% of its players are girls, and 95% want to learn more about coding after playing its game.

Coffee Break? Read This

* How to change people’s behaviour?

* The free market is dead. What will replace it?

* Sofagate: EU Chief blames sexism for Turkey chair snub

* Metro mayors are all men-but women’s voices are needed for the best pandemic recovery

* 35 is glorious, let’s stop calling women geriatric mothers whose fertility ‘fell off a cliff’

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and @janicka.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2021 & All Rights Reserved.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jointhepurse.substack.com

Welcome to our #66 weekly newsletter.

Every week we curate key content and apply a female lens so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing.

Stay in the know.

Keep on top of global economic, financial and investing news and trends. And read about what this means for you and your money in 2021 during Covid-19 and beyond.

If you’re short on time, listen to the audio for a brief overview.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

Editorial from the Founder

The Buffett Indicator has hit an all-time high. Global stocks are now worth 128% of global GDP, moving further into bubble territory.

In the US, jobless claims fall again: first-time claims for unemployment benefit totalled 547,000, well below the Dow Jones estimate for 603,000.

Covid has pushed UK government borrowing to a peacetime record of £303bn, however the deficit was £24bn (2020/21) less than the £327bn pencilled in at the time.

UK retail sales jump 5.4% in March and the partial reopening of Britain’s locked down economy has stimulated the fastest private sector growth in more than eight years (in April).

Meanwhile, the price of bitcoin has plummeted $15,000+ since its all-time high (close to $65,000). Half a trillion has been wiped from the crypto market.

Ether reached a new all-time high at $2,645.97 on Thursday.

However, on Friday bitcoin and ether pulled back sharply on speculation that U.S. President Joe Biden’s plan to raise capital gains taxes will curb investment in digital assets.

Baillie Gifford, the institutional money manager which oversees $445bn in assets, has invested $100m in one of UK’s biggest crypto startups, Blockchain.com.

On Tuesday Venmo, the peer-to-peer payment service (US), started allowing users to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies on its app: this could inspire more mainstream adoption of the asset class.

Meanwhile three ether ETFs launched on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

And TIME has partnered with Crypto.com and now accepts payment for its digital subscriptions in crypto.

In the Future Focus section, read about the UK Chancellor announcing a taskforce on the Bank of England digital currency. And leading finance firms sign up to Mark Carney’s forum on low-carbon investment.

PensionBee has debuted on the London Stock Exchange at a £365m valuation.

And Netflix lost $20bn in market cap (Wednesday) after subscriber growth fell short of forecasts.

In the Have You Seen This? section, read about the gender credit score gap and why women’s lower credit scores mean they pay nearly £17,000 more to borrow.

And we are tracking Starling Bank: the UK digital challenger bank, founded by CEO Anne Boden. Last month the bank announced a £272m Series D funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research which valued it in excess of £1.1bn pre-money.

On Monday, Starling Bank said Goldman Sachs investment marked an extension of the oversubscribed round, taking the total raised to £322m.

Stay safe, look after yourselves and your loved ones.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Jana

The Big Picture

Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators

* The ‘Buffett Indicator’ has hit another ATH:

* Global stocks are now worth 128% of global GDP, moving further into bubble territory.

* According to Cathie Wood, in a world of network effects and exponential innovations, different standards apply.

* US: jobless claims fall again as employment picture gains strength

* First-time claims for unemployment insurance totalled 547,000, well below the Dow Jones estimate for 603,000. However, 17.4m Americans are still receiving benefits under various programs.

* Covid pushes UK government borrowing to peacetime record of £303bn

* However the deficit was £24bn (2020/21) less than the £327bn pencilled in at the time of the budget by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

* UK retail sales jumped 5.4% in March

* The partial reopening of Britain’s locked down economy has stimulated the fastest private sector growth in more than eight years (in April)

* Sales of clothes as consumers anticipated the chance to go out again were especially strong, rising by more than 17% in March.

* The easing of travel restrictions towards the end of the month led to an 11% increase in fuel sales.

* US: Tech ETF loses nearly $6bn over five day period

* Tech’s start to the earnings season has investors dumping billions.

* The $161bn Invesco QQQ Trust Series 1 exchange-traded fund (ticker QQQ) has bled nearly $6bn over the past five days in its worst stretch since the dot-com era of 2000 (according to Bloomberg data).

* Expectations for tech companies may be too high and earnings for sectors such as materials, energy, and financials are 80% or so higher (than tech).

Bitcoin & cryptocurrencies

Global news, trends and insights

* Bitcoin’s price crash and half a trillion dollars are wiped from the crypto market

* The price of bitcoin has plummeted $15,000 from its recent all-time high (close to $65,000), falling below $50,000 for the first time since March.

* The cryptocurrency reached as low as $48,500 on Friday morning but has since recovered slightly. See the bitcoin price today.

* Half a trillion ($500bn) has been wiped from the crypto market.

* Last weekend, bitcoin saw one of its largest days of long liquidations in history. The massive leverage that been in the Bitcoin derivates markets was wiped out and caused the rapid price decline (source: Pomp newsletter)

* See bitcoin price.

* Bitcoin and ether fall over Biden tax plans

* On Friday, bitcoin and ether pulled back sharply on speculation that U.S. President Joe Biden’s plan to raise capital gains taxes will curb investment in digital assets.

* On Thursday, Biden unveiled a raft of proposed changes to the U.S. tax code, including a plan to nearly double taxes on capital gains to 39.6% for people earning more than $1m.

* Ether plunged more than 10% to as low as $2,140 and bitcoin fell 3.44% to $49,903.71.

* Ether (ETH) reaches a new ATH, expected to raise further

* Ether (ETH) reached $2,645.97 a record all-time high (Thursday).

* Ether rallied to a new lifetime high on Thursday on speculation an impending blockchain upgrade might result in a drop in supply.

* The gains have pushed ether’s market cap above $300bn+, nearly one third that of bitcoin’s.

* ETH is expected to continue increasing towards $2,725 and potentially $3,210. Similarly, ETH/BTC is also expected to continue moving upwards.

* See Ether price

* Baillie Gifford backs crypto with $100m in Blockchain.com

* Baillie Gifford (money manager) oversees $445bn in assets, has been a prominent investor in some of Silicon Valley’s most high-profile names including Tesla. 

* Their $100m investment is the largest in Blockchain.com (a crypto wallet provider and one of UK’s biggest crypto startups) to date, according to Peter Smith (Co-Founder & CEO).

* According to Smith: ‘It’s also a validation that a balanced and diversified retail/institutional business has incredible growth potential in the coming years.’

* US: PayPal’s Venmo launches crypto buying and selling

* On Tuesday Venmo, (the peer-to-peer payment service) has started allowing users to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies on its app which could inspire more mainstream adoption of the asset class.

* Venmo users will be able to buy bitcoin, ether, litecoin and bitcoin cash for as little as $1 and publish transactions on the app's feed.

* Square rival Cash App, which has allowed cryptocurrency purchases since 2018, has seen user growth boom over the last year.

* More than 30% of Venmo customers have purchased crypto or equities, 20% of which started buying during the pandemic, the 2020 Venmo Customer Behaviour Study found.

* Three ether (ETH) ETFs started trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange

* Three ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Tuesday.

* The ETFs are by Canada-based asset managers: Purpose Investments, CI Global Asset Management, and Evolve Funds Group.

* All three ETFs — the Purpose Ether ETF, the CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF, and the Evolve Ether ETH — provide exposure to the price of Ethereum's native ETH without the need to possess it.

* (CI and Evolve have waived their management fees until June 15 and May 31, respectively. The former charges 0.40% and the latter charges 0.75% of net asset value, or NAV. Purpose charges a 1% management fee).

* TIME partners with Crypto.com to offer cryptocurrency as a form of payment for digital subscriptions

* On Monday, TIME began accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment for digital subscriptions through a new partnership with Crypto.com.

* TIME President Keith Grossman said: ‘As TIME continues to innovate and find new ways to build upon our existing community of 2.3 million subscribers, we are proud to offer this new payment option through our partnership with Crypto.com’.

Future Focus

Keeping an eye on key predictions, innovations and what’s going to impact the future

* UK Chancellor announces taskforce on Bank of England digital currency

* Rishi Sunak said a joint Treasury-Bank of England taskforce was being set up as part of a range of measures designed to boost the City following Britain’s departure from the EU.

* Leading finance firms sign up to Mark Carney forum on low-carbon investment

* Banks and financial institutions with more than $70tn assets have pledged to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and ensure their investment portfolios align with the science on the climate.

* In the initiative, chaired by Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England, 160 companies, including 43 banks from 23 countries, will set targets to cut the carbon content of their assets by 2030, in line with an overall goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

* The forum, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, aims to encourage the financial sector to divert investment towards low-carbon infrastructure and technologies, and to discourage high-carbon investments.

Companies: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* PensionBee IPO: fintech debuts on the London Stock Exchange at £365m valuation

* PensionBee (pensions provider) launched on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday with its shares priced at 165p, the mid-point of the 155-175p range. That gave PensionBee a valuation of £365m on admission.

* PensionBee is listed under the £PBEE ticker.

* PensionBee will begin unconditional trading on Monday 26 April, at which time the fintech will also be admitted to the High Growth Segment of the London Stock Exchange main market.

* CEO Romi Savova said: ‘We are delighted with the strong support that we have received from institutional investors and our customers, who understand the importance of our vision, to simplify pensions so that everyone can look forward to a happy retirement’.

* Netflix loses $20bn on market cap after subscriber growth falls short of forecasts

* Netflix shares tumbled as much as 8% on Wednesday, wiping $20bn off the video-streaming platform's market cap.

* Global paid memberships grew to 208m, missing its forecast of 210m.

* It added fewer than 4m subscribers - less than half the 8.5m it signed up in the preceding quarter, and a quarter of the almost 16m it attracted in the first quarter of 2020.

* Netflix also signalled its subscriber growth is yet to recover:

* It expects to add only 1m memberships this quarter, down from 10m in the second quarter of 2020.

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* Women’s lower credit scores mean they pay nearly £17,000 more to borrow

* Women have a lower average credit score (652) compared with men (705), according to new research from credit report and credit score provider Credit Karma.

* Over the course of a lifetime, this is estimated to cost women an additional £16,913 when taking out financial products such as personal loans, credit cards and mortgages.

* Why is there a gender credit score gap?

* Credit Karma’s research shows that 31% of women have some or all of their financial agreements in their partner’s name.

* Women were less likely to have credit cards (70% vs 76%), mortgages (40% vs 47%) and personal loans (29% vs 38%) than men.

* However, women were more likely to use ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) products compared with men (25% vs 19%).

* Credit Karma also found that financial disengagement was higher among women than men, with 41% of women saying they don’t know their credit score, compared with 35% of men.

Know this: make sure your bills or sources of credit are in your name. Don’t miss a payment and register to vote. Check your credit score regularly so that you know what may be adversely affecting your credit score and how you can fix it. Stay on top of your credit score and perhaps find an accountability partner who can support you in this process.

What We’re Tracking

Female and diversity-focused products or services, start-ups and businesses led by women/diverse founders, investment, research.

* Starling Bank (UK): a digital challenger bank founded by CEO Anne Boden:

* Starling Bank has extended its latest funding round with a £50m investment from Goldman Sachs.

* Last month it announced a £272m Series D funding round led by Fidelity Management & Research which valued it in excess of £1.1bn pre-money.

* On Monday, Starling Bank said Goldman Sachs investment marked an extension of the oversubscribed round, taking the total raised to £322m.

* It said the funding would be used to support its ‘continued rapid and now profitable growth’.

* Since launching in 2017 Starling has attracted more than 2m customers and is one of the few challenger banks to have turned a profit in the past year.

* Its gross lending now exceeds £2bn, while deposits have reached more than £5.4bn.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Women’s sport could generate £1bn by 2030

* These women are transforming what climate leadership looks like

* The best locations for women to work in the UK (research)

* To keep women in the workplace, men must do more at home

* The predictability of PinkyGate and why women deserve a bloody apology

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and @janicka.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2021 & All Rights Reserved.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jointhepurse.substack.com

Welcome to our #65 weekly newsletter.

Every week we curate key content and apply a female lens so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing.

Stay in the know.

Keep on top of global economic, financial and investing news and trends. And read about what this means for you and your money in 2021 during Covid-19 and beyond.

If you’re short on time, listen to the audio for a brief overview.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

Editorial from the Founder

Global stocks have gained $1.4tn in market cap this week: stocks are now worth $112.4tn which is equal to 128% of global GDP. Investors have reacted to strong economic data from the US and evidence that US consumers are spending their stimulus checks in stores.

The Federal Reserve chairman, Jay Powell, has said that the US economy is at an inflection point with growth and hiring set to accelerate, but he warned that new surges of Covid-19 could impede the recovery.

The UK economy returned to growth in February despite Covid restrictions.

And on Monday, England reopened non-essential shops as well as pubs and restaurants with outdoor space.

Bitcoin and ether hit new all-time highs on Tuesday ahead of the Coinbase direct listing on the Nasdaq. Ether hit a new all-time high for the second time this week at $2,500+.

Canada has approved three ether ETFs, and the funds will start trading this coming week. Canada is now the hotspot for crypto ETFs.

In the Future Focus section, we cover Apple launching a $200m ‘Restore fund’ to target carbon removal. And VC funds are increasing investment in blockchain startups and are bullish on crypto.

Meanwhile Coinbase closed at $328.28 per share when it debuted on the Nasdaq Wednesday, valuing the company at $85.8bn.

In the Have You Seen This? section, read about why experts say that the (financial) adviser community urgently needs to ‘improve gender diversity’ in order to close the gender retirement gap.

And we are tracking UK fintech PensionBee, co-founded by CEO Romi Savova. Her company is due to float on the London Stock Exchange on 26 April which could value the company up to £384m.

If you have time, read ‘7 pieces of career advice women should ignore’-it is co-authored by Founder & CEO, Cindy Gallop (who we have interviewed on The Purse Podcast).

Stay safe, look after yourselves and your loved ones.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

The Big Picture

Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators

* Global stocks have gained $1.4tn in market cap this week

* Investors react to strong economic data from the US and evidence that US consumers are spending their stimulus checks in stores.

* All stocks now worth $ 112.4tn which is equal to 128% of global GDP.

* Federal Reserve Chair says the US economy is at an inflection point

* Jay Powell, speaking on CBS’ 60 Minutes programme, said that the US economy is at an ‘inflection point’ with growth and hiring set to accelerate, but he warned that new surges of Covid-19 could impede the recovery.

* ECB seen slowing bond buying by July as vaccinations pick up

* The European Central Bank (ECB) will slow its emergency bond-buying by July and signal at the end of this year that the program will come to a halt in March 2022, according to a Bloomberg survey of economists.

* UK economy returns to growth (February) despite Covid restrictions

* The Office for National Statistics said GDP rose by 0.4% in February from a month earlier as the economy showed some signs of improvement after a revised drop of 2.2% in January.

* England ‘reopened’ to non-essential retailers on Monday

* In addition to the pubs and restaurants with outdoor space.

* It is a critical time for Britain as the country eases out of lockdown while trying to avoid a new wave of Covid-19 already taking hold in continental Europe. 

Bitcoin & cryptocurrencies

Global news, trends and insights

* Bitcoin & ether hit ATHs on the eve of the Coinbase listing (Tuesday)

* On the eve of the Coinbase direct listing on the Nasdaq, Bitcoin rose 6% (Tuesday) reaching $63,661 (CoinDesk data) and ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency overall, set a new high at $2,271.

* Analysts have signalled that the Coinbase listing might lead to an uptick in the pace of cryptocurrency adoption.

* Ether sets a new ATH (again this week) at $2,500+

* Ether is up 25% on last week.

* Ethereum has had various notable developments that have helped its surge this year, including its Berlin hard fork.

* At $2,500, ether’s market cap is now over $288bn. That’s more than Intel, Toyota, and Netflix. 

* Bitcoin plunged most in 7 weeks, after reaching an ATH

* Bitcoin is currently down approximately 7.3% at circa $56K.

* There is speculation that the US Treasury may crack down on money laundering that is carried out via digital assets.

* Dogecoin reaches an ATH on Friday, reaching $52.2bn market cap

* The value of Dogecoin jumped 203% in just the past 24 hours to an all-time high of $0.404, according to Coinbase.

* Dogecoin is now the seventh largest cryptocurrency in terms of market cap.

* The Dogecoin began as a ‘joke’ in 2013 and is based on the ‘Doge’ meme which depicts a cartoon version of a Shiba Inu, a breed of Japanese hunting dog.

* Elon Musk has long championed Dogecoin, often tweeting his support of the cryptocurrency, prompting subsequent price gains.

* A trio of ether ETFs set to launch in North America

* Canada has approved three ether ETFs, and the funds will start trading this coming week.

* The ETFs applications were filed by Purpose Investments, Evolve ETFs, and CI Global Asset Management.

* Canada earlier this year approved the first Bitcoin ETFs in North America.

* Canada is now the hotspot for crypto ETFs.

* ‘ETFs allow people to invest in the cryptocurrency ecosystem while staying on the financial guardrails—the traditional financial ecosystem’.

Future Focus

Keeping an eye on key predictions, innovations and what’s going to impact the future

* Apple launches a $200m ‘Restore fund’ to target carbon removal

* Apple on Thursday announced it is launching a $200m ‘Restore Fund’ that will ‘make investments in forestry projects to remove carbon from the atmosphere while generating a financial return for investors.’

* The move is the latest step by the world's largest tech companies to invest in climate initiatives.

* VC funds are bullish on crypto, increase investment in blockchain startups

* Venture capital funding for crypto and blockchain startups looks set to break records in 2021.

* Crypto firms received more funding in the first quarter of 2021 than the whole of 2020.

* In Q1 2021, 129 crypto and blockchain startups received about $2.6bn in funding, according to a Bloomberg report culled from data by business analytics firm CB Insights. This figure is already $300m more than the total funding for such companies in the whole of 2020.

* The potential for outsized returns continues to be a driving force behind increased equity investments in crypto startups both for blockchain and mainstream VC funds.

Companies: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* Coinbase closed at $328.28 per share on Nasdaq debut (Wednesday)

* The cryptocurrency exchange directly listed on Nasdaq valuing the company at $85.8bn.

* Coinbase’s market cap exceeded $100bn after its debut Wednesday morning on the Nasdaq, though the stock fell later in the day.

* Nasdaq provided a reference price late Tuesday of $250, but because it’s a direct listing no shares changed hands at that price.

* The shares opened at $381 and quickly shot up as high as $429.54, before reaching a low of around $310. The price was still well above the reference price of $250 set Tuesday night.

* Founded in 2012 as a way to simplify the purchase of bitcoin, Coinbase has emerged as the most popular crypto exchange and soared in value alongside digital currencies bitcoin and ether.

* The service now has 56m users, up from 43m at the end of 2020 and 32 million the year before that.

* In its last private financing round in 2018, investors valued Coinbase at $8 billion.

* Many regard the Coinbase listing as a ‘watershed’ moment for the cryptocurrency market.

* Analysts say that Coinbase shares are worth $500.

* Coinbase share price.

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* Experts say that (financial) adviser community urgently needs to ‘improve gender diversity’ in order to close the gender retirement gap

* Speaking at a virtual policy debate hosted by the Equity Release Council and Key, attendees discussed a range of factors impacting the gender gap in retirement savings.

* The debate follows a recent report by the Council and Key, which explored gender differences in retirement planning and the impact of the pandemic on financial confidence in later life. 

* Key’s FY 2020 data shows 26% of equity release clients are single women compared to 14% of single men, highlighting the importance of property wealth as a source of later life funds for single women. 

* Government figures reveal the annual average pensioner income for single women has increased by just 2% over the last five years, compared to an 11% increase for single men.

* The gender retirement income gap has more than doubled from £1,560 a year in 2014/15 to £3,276 in 2019/20.

Know this: women need to pay attention to how they will ensure they will have sufficient funds for retirement. Investing in a pension is one to do that. There are many more of course. And the point is that women need to consider all the options as early as possible with the support of a financial advisor, who is ‘tuned’ in speaking to female clients.

What We’re Tracking

Female and diversity-focused products or services, start-ups and businesses led by women/diverse founders, investment, research.

* PensionBee: (UK)-co-founded by CEO Romi Savova, is an online pensions company which could be valued up to £384m when it floats on the London Stock Exchange (April 26).

* The company, which helps people track down their old plans and consolidate them, has more than 81,000 customers who have moved pension assets to, or paid into, one of its investment plans.

* In the year to the end of March, the value of assets it administered grew by 123% to £1.65bn, and it said the flotation would allow it to grow its business further.

* The price range values the company at between £346m and £384m and Romi’s stake at £124m to £140m. PensionBee said it intended to raise £55m of which some would be used to fund future investment in its advertising and marketing initiatives and technology.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Women over 50 are having a moment

* The reason ‘Zoom fatigue’ hits women harder than men

* 7 pieces of career advice women should ignore

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and @janicka.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2021 & All Rights Reserved.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jointhepurse.substack.com

Welcome to our #64 weekly newsletter.

Every week we curate key content and apply a female lens so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing.

Stay in the know.

Keep on top of global economic, financial and investing news and trends. And read about what this means for you and your money in 2021 during Covid-19 and beyond.

If you’re short on time, listen to the audio for a brief overview.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

Editorial from the Founder

The Buffett Bubble indicator raises the alarm as the US market cap has risen 200%+ of US GDP. Money printing, vaccinations and the reopening of the economy is fuelling the market and investor confidence.

And it’s been a good week for crypto: the cryptocurrency market cap now exceeds $2tn+. Bitcoin crossed $60k for the seventh time this year, on Saturday. And ether reached a new all-time high (for the second time this week) at $2,197.

In the Future Focus section, read about the IMF lifting the global growth forecast but is warning about a diverging rebound.

Janet Yellen, the US Treasury secretary, has called on other countries to join Washington in setting a global minimum tax for companies.

Norway’s government, which oversees the world’s biggest sovereign-wealth fund, expects climate and social issues to dominate investment decisions in the coming decades.

Coinbase, the crypto exchange platform, will be listing on the 14 April (on the Nasdaq). The company released its Q1 financials and they were impressive: revenue generated in Q1 exceeded revenue for the whole of 2020.

New data have cast doubt on attempts to blame short-sellers for Deliveroo’s disastrous initial public offering last month and the share price fell by another 10% on Friday.

Meanwhile Asos profits have tripled as the pandemic has driven up sales.

In the Have You Seen This? section, read the report about women leading the way in responsible investing.

We are tracking Kim Kardashian who has officially become a billionaire due to the huge success of her two companies KKWBeauty and Skims (her shapewear company).

And don’t forget to listen to The Purse Podcast interview with Ulla Huotari, Investment Manager from FinnFund. We talk about gender equality, gender-lens investing in the developing world, how the FinnFund invest, measuring impact and more. I hope you enjoy it.

Stay safe, look after yourselves and your loved ones.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

The Big Picture

Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators

* The Buffett Bubble indicator raises the alarm as the US market cap has risen 200%+ of US GDP:

* Note: US stimulus (via money printing), vaccinations and the reopening of the economy is fuelling the market, as investors feel confident. This is inflating assets.

* US: S&P 500 hits an new all-time high Thursday (after setting a new record on Wednesday)

* The US stock market is high on hopes that the economy will roar back.

Bitcoin & cryptocurrencies

Global news, trends and insights

* Cryptocurrency market value reaches $2tn+ and ether reaches a new all-time high (for the second time this week)

* Bitcoin, the biggest digital currency, accounts for over 50% of the entire cryptocurrency market cap, and has been a big driver to $2 trillion.

* Bitcoin crossed $60k for the seventh time this year, on Saturday.

* Ether, hit a new all-time high of $2,151.25 on Tuesday and again on Saturday morning of $2,197.

* Ether’s market cap is now $250bn+, meaning that ether makes up an eighth of the total market cap of the global crypto market-now $2.07tn+

* State Street collaborates with Pure Digital to launch cryptocurrency trading platform

* State Street, one of the largest asset management firms, is collaborating with crypto startup Pure Digital to set up a cryptocurrency trading platform:

* ‘Pure Digital will be a fully automated, high throughput OTC (over the counter) market for digital assets and cryptocurrencies with physical delivery and bank custody’.

* Trading is expected to commence middle of 2021.

* Publicly listed Meitu now holds $100m in Bitcoin and Ether

* Meitu (Chinese tech company) announced Thursday that it has invested more cash in crypto with a $10m bitcoin buy. The publicly listed company now owns $100m worth of bitcoin and ether as part of its ‘cryptocurrency investment plan.’

* The company invested because: ‘the Board takes the view that blockchain technology has the potential to disrupt both existing financial and technology industries, similar to the manner in which mobile internet has disrupted the PC internet and many other offline industries.’ 

* Peter Thiel calls bitcoin a ‘Chinese financial weapon’

* Peter Thiel is ‘pro-crypto’, ‘pro-Bitcoin maximalist’ and a venture capitalist, urged the U.S. government to consider tighter regulations on cryptocurrencies. He said:

* ‘It threatens fiat money, but it especially threatens the U.S. dollar… [If] China’s long Bitcoin, perhaps from a geopolitical perspective, the U.S. should be asking some tougher questions about exactly how that works.

Future Focus

Keeping an eye on key predictions, innovations and what’s going to impact the future

* IMF lifts global growth forecast, warns of diverging rebound

* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgraded its global economic growth forecast again:

* The global economy will expand 6% this year, up from the 5.5% pace estimated in January (this would be the most in four decades of data).

* The IMF sees advanced economies less affected by the virus this year and beyond, with low-income countries and emerging markets suffering more (a contrast to 2009, when rich nations were hit harder).

* US: Jamie Dimon says economic boom fuelled by deficit spending, vaccines ‘could easily run into 2023’

* The long-time JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO, Jamie Dimon is bullish on the U.S. economy-at least for the next few years:

* “I have little doubt that with excess savings, new stimulus savings, huge deficit spending, more QE, a new potential infrastructure bill, a successful vaccine and euphoria around the end of the pandemic, the U.S. economy will likely boom,” Dimon said. “This boom could easily run into 2023 because all the spending could extend well into 2023.”

* Janet Yellen calls for global minimum corporate tax

* Janet Yellen, the US Treasury secretary, has called on other countries to join Washington in setting a global minimum tax for companies. She said:

* ‘Together we can use a global minimum tax to make sure the global economy thrives based on a more level playing field in the taxation of multinational corporations, and spurs innovation, growth and prosperity’

* The age of fintechs: banks are finding it hard to compete

* When Square (payments company) went public at the end of 2015, it was worth just under 6% of the combined value of storied giants Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank.

* Today, it's worth more than twice their combined value — although it's still a very long way from JPMorgan's $473 billion valuation.

* Norway: $1.3tn fund sees ESG dominating for decades

* Norway’s government, which oversees the world’s biggest sovereign-wealth fund, expects climate and social issues to dominate investment decisions in the coming decades (the fund returned 10.9%, or $123bn, on its total investments last year):

* The goal is ‘to increase the competence related to climate risk, investment opportunities, the consequences associated with the transition to the low-emission society’.

* About 25-30% of portfolio companies will be cut. However this only represents about 2% of the fund’s total market value.

* In February, the fund said it wants the companies in which it invests to start living up to explicit gender diversity goals. Boards on which women make up less than 30% of the total should consider setting targets for gender diversity, according to a position paper published Feb. 15.

* New York’s cannabis market means business

* Governor Andrew Cuomo on March 31 signed into law a bill that legalises recreational marijuana use-making New York the 15th state in the US to do so.

* The bill's ‘social equity’ clause creates significant opportunity for small business owners and aspiring founders.

* It recommends that 50% of cannabis licenses-go to minority-or women-owned businesses, distressed farmers, or service-disabled veterans.

* The legal market's first year of sales could deliver at least $1 billion in sales, according to both published studies and internal projections from cannabis companies, with the potential to reach $4 billion by the end of the decade. 

Companies: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* Coinbase: releases financials & direct listing set for 14 April (on NASDAQ)

* Q1: Coinbase profit more than doubles 2020 profit (in total).

* Q1: Revenue generated: $1.8bn vs $1.3bn (2020 total revenue)

* The company has 56m verified users in Q1.

* Investors regard Coinbase ‘fair value’ to range from $25bn to $150bn.

* The company is expected to debut on 14 April under ticker COIN.

* Read 8 predictions ahead of Coinbase’s IPO

* “Coinbase will win regardless of which crypto asset emerges as a winner, and their revenue is tied more to trading volumes, which are often less volatile than asset values,”

* UK: Deliveroo shares slide (again) as data does not show evidence of short-selling

* New data have cast doubt on attempts to blame short-sellers for Deliveroo’s disastrous initial public offering last month.

* The stock price dropped more than 30% on the first day of trading. And the stock fell by another 10% on Friday.

* Many observers now believe the deal was either badly timed or mis-priced by its joint global coordinators, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, missing last year’s tech stock growth spurt and overestimating London investors’ appetite for a loss-making business with growing regulatory challenges. 

* UK: Asos profits triple as pandemic boosts sales

* Asos has more than tripled first half profits to a record £113m and raised full year expectations as the online retailer continues to prove to be a major winner during the pandemic:

* Asos reported a 253% year-on-year increase in pre-tax profits to £106.4m in the six months to 28 February.

* Total group revenues climbed 24% to £2bn.

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* Client survey reveals growing interest in ESG and responsible investing, especially among women

* A recent client survey conducted by RBC Wealth Management shows that responsible investing, namely Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG), is gaining traction. 

* Client respondents who identified as women are more than twice as likely as men to say it is extremely important that the companies they invest in integrate ESG factors into their policies and decisions.

* The survey also found that 74% of women were interested in increasing their share of ESG investments in their current portfolios and were significantly more likely than men to have an interest in learning more about ESG investing.

* Read the report here.

Know this: global research indicates that women (& millennials) are the driving force behind ESG or responsible investing. Whilst we know that women consider performance important, women tend to think more holistically about how to invest and therefore the wider impact this will have.

What We’re Tracking

Female and diversity-focused products or services, start-ups and businesses led by women/diverse founders, investment, research & crowdfunding campaigns.

* Kim Kardashian: is officially a billionaire -thanks to the huge success of KKWBeauty & Skims:

* KKWBeauty was reportedly bringing in about $100 million every year since its launch in 2017 and valued her company at $1bn when she sold a 20% equity stake. According to Forbes, the company is worth around $500 million on its own.

* Kim launched her line of shapewear, Skims in 2019.

* Last year, Skims pivoted to cosy loungewear and matching sets (due to the pandemic and lockdown), though the 'sculpting bra' and 'Fits Everybody range' have been the brand's latest viral successes.

* Kim holds a majority stake in the company and Forbes estimates her ownership to be valued at $225m.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Why Silicon Valley’s most astute critics are all women

* How to disrupt a system that was built to hold you back

* Research: adding women to the C-Suite changes how companies think

* Women reach 40 and hit their stride…only to be cruelly shoved aside at work

* Women’s pain is routinely underestimated, and gender stereotypes are to blame

* Stress from work and social interactions put women at higher coronary heart disease risk

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and @janicka.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2021 & All Rights Reserved.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jointhepurse.substack.com