The Purse

Weekly newsletter for women who want to be smart about money: financial news, personal finance and investing

Welcome to our #28 weekly newsletter in 2020.

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 2020 during Covid-19 and beyond.

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

“Our mission is to help women take control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

Source: Vlada Karpovich 

From The Purse…

Editorial from the Founder

Global stock markets gained $2tn last week despite a resurgence of Covid-19 cases. The Nasdaq hit an alltime high and Big Tech topped $7tn (which is the combined GDP of Germany, Italy and Indonesia).

Meanwhile the price of gold reached $1800 for the first time since 2011.

During economic uncertainty and because central banks are printing money at an unprecedented rate, investors look to gold as a store of value.

We may also see faster adoption of blockchain technology and crypto as a result of the pandemic.

Goldman Sachs has cut the US GDP estimate in the third quarter. Revived state restrictions and stay-at-home activity will slow economic recovery.

In the UK, unemployment could soar to 15% if there is a second wave of the pandemic.

UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has introduced a £30bn package of measures to cushion the economy.

Read about the stamp duty holiday boost for buy-to-let investors, 71% of UK households have saved money during the lockdown and apparently money can buy you happiness (but it’s not as much money as may think).

We spotlight how much the highest paid female CEOs in the US are earning compared to Elon Musk. And the gender pay gap is widening for women during the pandemic.

Tesla is making headlines again and read about why online fashion retailer Boohoo lost £1bn in value.

We’re tracking female-led investment firm Operator Collective which connects industry operators making it easier for them to invest in early-stage businesses.

And check out my podcast interview with Lauren Winfield, the Founder & CEO of Signum City, a mobile app which illuminates the power of money by gamifying the stock market. Or listen here.

Stay safe, look after yourself 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 Coronavirus Effect:

* UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, unveiled a £30bn package of measures to help the economy. This includes:

Source: The Guardian

* Global stock markets gained $2trn in market cap last week as investors continue to pile into Big Tech despite a resurgence in Covid-19 cases. Global market cap is now 98.5% of global GDP.

* Gold price hit $1800 for the first time since 2011

* During economic uncertainty, where central banks are printing money at unprecedented rates, investors are looking to gold as a store of value.

* The gold price is expected to reach $2000 (and higher) in the coming months.

* The Nasdaq closed at an alltime high with a 4% increase this week

* Big tech tops $7tn this week (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia) which is equal the combined GDP of Germany, Italy and Indonesia.

Future Focus

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

* US: Goldman Sachs cuts GDP estimate

* GDP growth, in July-Sept, is expected to be 25% vs 33%.

* Revived state restrictions and stay-at-home activity will slow economic recovery.

* Consumer-spending is slower than expected. And the recent resurgence of coronavirus cases is hampering a V-shaped recovery.

* Several economists have said that an effective virus treatment is key to a fast recovery.

* The European Commission expects a deeper GDP decline in 2020

* The Eurozone will contract by 8.7% this year not 7.7% as predicted in May.

* The EU now forecasts the Eurozone to decline by 8% in 2020.

* UK unemployment could soar to 15% (if there is a second wave of the pandemic). Currently UK unemployment stands at 3.9%:

* If the UK avoids the ‘second wave’, the unemployment rate is likely to rise to 11.7% by the end of 2020.

* “In the UK, new online job postings for middle-skill occupations contracted twice as much between February and April 2020….and 40% more than for high-skill occupations- Covid-19 shock will reinforce the existing trend of employment polarisation.”

* Covid-19 could accelerate the adoption of crypto

* Coinbase’s former CTO, Balaji Srinivasan, has said that the pandemic could end up accelerating blockchain and crypto adoption.

* As governments around the world increase and centralise their control, people and businesses seek decentralised alternatives.

* Women-led activist firm bets on ESG reforms in emerging markets

* ESG is gaining traction as an investment strategy and have driven outperformance during the recent coronavirus-led market turmoil.

* Cartica Management LLC is a majority women-owned activist investment firm which manages about $1.2 billion in assets.

* The firm sees opportunities for ESG investment in countries where such principles are less advanced, such as China or South Korea.

* BlackRock noted that 88% of sustainable indexes did better than their non-sustainable counterparts in the first four months of 2020.

Your Money

Insights, trends and what this means for you and your purse

* UK: stamp duty holiday boost for buy-to-let investors

* The stamp duty threshold has increased from £125,000 to £500,000 (England and Northern Ireland) and will apply until end March 2021.

* The Treasury estimated that the changes meant 9 out of 10 purchasers would pay no stamp duty, with an average saving of £4,500.

* Landlord investors can transfer their properties to a limited company structure and take advantage of tax relief on mortgage interest.

* Read more about stamp duty here.

* Investing for two or more children?

* Junior ISAs are proving popular for parents who invest for their kids.

* HMRC revealed £419m was subscribed into stocks and shares JISAs in 2018/19, up from £385m in 2017/18 and £333m the year before.

* 71% of households have saved money during lockdown

* Spending was reduced by an average of £2,879 each across the 13 weeks that Brits were told to stay at home during the peak of the pandemic.

* The average weekly saving of £221.50 was achieved by people cutting back on their spending habits, such as drinking less and buying less clothes.

* UK: How much money can buy you happiness

* Raisin UK suggests that the happiest people are in Winchester:

* where the life expectancy reaches 83.5 years of age

* and where the average salary is £35,346 ,only a few thousand pounds higher than the national average of around £29,000.

* According to a study by UCL, having a total household net worth of approximately £488,000 (including your home, savings and pension pot) by the time you reach your 50s can add nine years of good health to your life.

* US: Personal finance lessons from the pandemic

* Keep even more cash on hand

* Manage personal debt more aggressively

* Make a plan for social security benefits

* Save more

Companies to Watch: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* Tesla share price is now $1.5K+. Market cap is now $287bn, which is 3x more than Volkswagen’s market cap.

* Tesla’s shares have risen by more than 580% this year and is on the verge of joining the S&P 500 July 22.

* Some predict that the Tesla share price could reach $7000+.

* Boohoo, lost £1bn in value over ‘Leicester garment factory scandal’

* The online fashion retailer, which owns brands such as Pretty Little Things and Nasty Gal, has been working with a supplier in Leicester which exploits its workers.

* An uncover investigation revealed that workers were not being paid a minimum wage nor were they wearing protective masks.

* On Monday, shares slumped by 23% and reduced the company valuation to £3.7bn.

* “It bothers me greatly that the emergence of a new garments industry in the UK is being built around the same production model and lack of accountability that we’ve seen leading to big problems with exploitation in the global south,” said Peter McAllister, the executive director of the Ethical Trading Initiative.

In the Spotlight

Is there a topic you'd like us to Spotlight? Please tweet @jointhepurse

How much are the highest paid female CEOs earning compared to Elon Musk?

* Elon Musk, the space and electric-car chief, is the highest paid executive in the US in 2019, earning $595.3 million.

* This is based on a deal he agreed to bring in 10s of billions of dollars if Tesla Inc, became one of the world’s most valuable companies.

* How do the highest paid female CEOs in the US compare?

Source: Bloomberg

* Know this: The gender pay gap is a complex topic and is subject to many variables. According to the World Economic Forum, women will have to wait 257 years before gender parity is achieved. Some good news: female CFOs buck the pay gap trend: they earn on average 132% more than their male counterparts.

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* How the coronavirus is widening the gender pay gap

* Britain sacrifices about £123bn a year because of lost productivity associated with unequal compensation.

* Women are paid less because: ‘… hostile men, and the institutions they create, keep finding ways to frustrate gender equality.’

Know this: The UK’s Equal Pay Act of 1970 contained a provision that there could be no different treatment of one sex versus the other. However it has not accounted for gender bias, mothers being frozen out of the economy, and men being in the position to determine career advancement and they can in fact hold women back.

* Men are more ready for unexpected expenses than women

* Based on a report by Aegon, 30% of men are confident they could deal with a surprise cost vs 21% of women.

* 33% of female employees said they feel under-prepared for a financial emergency compared to 26% of men.

* Know this: mothers are 14% more likely to be furloughed than men. Women tend to be in lower paid jobs and work in industries that have been impacted by the pandemic. 41% of women work part-time and women are more likely to take career breaks. It should not come as a surprise that women’s financial wellbeing is more likely to suffer. It is crucial for women to seek advice and support for how to make up for any shortfalls in income.

* Top employers urged to disclose parental leave and pay

* The 2020 Parental Fog Index found there was a small increase (from 18% in 2019 to 24% in 2020) in the number of employers that published detailed policy details including:

* pay and duration of parental leave and flexible working arrangements.

* Know this: organisations which offer visibility tend to be larger and more established including Unilever, EY, Santander, KPMG & Deloitte. The quality of information on parental benefits will be an “increasingly critical tool in attracting and retaining the right talent to thrive and compete”.

What We’re Tracking

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

* Operator Collective: (US)-an investment firm for people who didn’t have a voice. Founded by Mallun Yen and Leyla Seka:

* They connect operators, mostly women and people of colour, who have experience building and running companies, but who may not previously been involved in early stage investment or venture capital.

* Rigid buy-in requirements have been removed: LPs can contribute as little as $10,000 all the way up to millions of dollars.

Money Habits of the Week

Do you have a money habit you would like to share with us? Tweet @jointhepurse

Technology stocks in the US have grown exponentially over the last 10 years.

If you had invested $1000 in Netflix 10 years ago, your investment would be worth approximately $70,000 today (annual compound rate of 47.5%).

Research online platforms or mobile apps where you can buy shares or fractional shares in US companies. Use the discovery tool in the app to look up Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft.

Take note of the share price today and trace back to what the share price was 10 years ago.

Spend some time reading about about how you might be taxed on any gains you make when you sell these shares (or fractional shares).

Reach out to a financial advisor or a financial coach for advice or support.

And don’t forget to connect to your tribe of women.

What We’re Watching

* Chris McKnett helps institutional investors put money toward sustainable and socially-forward assets.

* Watch this TED talk about sustainability and why institutional investors can make significant environmental progress by choosing to invest in this way. And why investors need to look at a company's environmental, social and governance structures too.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Stop doing low value work

* Hair sample tests may give women more accurate fertility predictions

* Why so many women take their husband’s last name

* Neuroscientist: Covid brain is real. Here’s how to deal with it

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 2020 & 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

Weekly newsletter for women who want to be smart about money: financial news, personal finance and investing

Welcome to our #27 weekly newsletter in 2020.

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 2020 during Covid-19 and beyond.

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

“Our mission is to help women take control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

Photo: Bruce Mars

From The Purse…

Editorial from the Founder

The global stock market was up 18% at the end of the second quarter, the biggest surge in 11 years. The FTSE 100 index had its best quarter since August 2010.

Ray Dalio, in an interview with Bloomberg has warned that the Federal Reserve is artificially inflating asset markets and the US dollar is at risk of being displaced as the world reserve currency.

Christine Lagarde, president for the European Central Bank, said that recovery from the pandemic will be asymmetric, transformational ‘but the hardest is yet to come’.

The time is now for investing in a green economy, according to Joseph Stiglitz, who argues that investments in a green transition will create a healthier and more sustainable economy.

We spotlight what sustainable investing is and share findings from a survey by Morgan Stanley.

Tesla is now the largest car maker by market cap valued at $210bn.

According to research, women who divorce have a quarter of the pension pot divorced men do. A pension is the second most valuable asset after a property but it is often ‘forgotten’ and women stand to lose unless they negotiate.

Women entrepreneurs could turbocharge an economic recovery in the EU post-pandemic. We think that probably applies the world over.

And we’re tracking female-led startups: The Mom Project, Mirror and Lay London all making waves (we can’t stop looking at Lay London’s instagram).

Watch the TED talk on economic value by a leading economist and read about how to stop obsessing over your mistakes.

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 Coronavirus Effect:

* China’s service sector bounces back:

* Chinese companies reported their strongest growth in a decade (since August 2010). Business activity has risen since May.

* China has become ‘a proxy’ for how fast economies can expect to recover from the pandemic.

* UK GDP slump in the first quarter is the biggest since 1979:

* The British economy shrunk 2.2% in the first quarter (Jan-Mar) vs the projected 2%.

* US added 4.8m jobs in June:

* The unemployment rate fell to 11.1% in June.

* This is the second consecutive month of growth after more than 20 million jobs were wiped out in April during the pandemic lockdown.

* However new infection surges means that the economy is still fragile.

* Eurozone unemployment at 7.4% vs the projected 7.7% in May:

* The unemployment rose less than expected in May which indicates the government measures (eg furlough schemes) are successful.

* Euro-27 unemployment is at 6.7% for June.

* Global stock markets surge:

* the MSCI All Country World Index is up 18% in the second quarter (Apr-June), the biggest advance in 11 years.

* The financial markets recovery reflect the huge stimulus packages, low interest rates and central banks printing money.

* However there is concern that valuations are too high.

* FTSE 100 index has best quarter since 2010:

* It ended 8.8% higher for the second quarter (Apr-Jun).

Future Focus

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

* The recovery from the pandemic will be asymmetric, transformational but ‘the hardest is yet to come’

* Christine Lagarde, president for the European Central Bank, joined women economists at the United Nations ‘Rebirthing the global economy to deliver sustainable development’ online conference.

* She cautioned that the recovery from the pandemic will not be easy.

* Watch the conference here

* Investing in a green economy can help us recover from the pandemic

* According to Joseph E Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics, now is the time for people to demand that companies contribute to social and racial justice, improved health and a shift to a greener, more knowledge-based economy.

* Stiglitz argues that these values should be reflected in how public money is spent and in how recipients can use that money.

* Investments in a green transition will create a healthier and more sustainable economy.

* Read the working paper here.

* US: ‘The capital markets are not free markets allocating resources in the traditional ways’

* In an interview with Bloomberg Thursday, Ray Dalio warned that the Federal Reserve is artificially inflating asset markets, normal valuation metrics no longer apply and the US dollar is at risk of being displaced as the world reserve currency.

* It’s no secret that central banks and governments around the world are propping up the economy: they are printing money, purchasing government and corporate bonds within a low interest environment.

* This explains why we are seeing a stock market largely disconnected from the global economy.

* Watch the Bloomberg interview here.

Your Money

Insights, trends and what this means for you and your purse

* How to protect your pension and investments during a stock market panic

* Stock markets usually rebound after a shock once immediate issues are resolved.

* Stock markets usually trend upwards but it’s not uncommon for them to fall by 10% over short periods.

* It’s important investors avoid panic selling.

* UK: record fall in household spending

‘Households’ consumption spending decreased by £9.5 billion (negative 2.7%) in Quarter 1 2020, the largest quarterly fall in nominal household spending of this type ever recorded’

* UK: one in 20 people cut or pause pension contributions

* Economic uncertainty and pay cuts means that people reduce their long term savings.

* The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) research: the impact of coronavirus on household finances and financial distress. The key highlights include:

* The crisis has so far impacted the earnings of the poorest households the most.

* Non-payment of household bills increased sharply after lockdown, and increased further between April and May.

* In some cases, these unpaid bills will be important and sensible ways of weathering the storm, but they still mean additional debt that will be carried forward. 

* Read the full report here

Companies to Watch: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* Tesla is now the world’s largest carmaker by market cap, valued at $210bn:

* No more burgers? Byron to go into administration

* The chain and its owners are said to be confident a pre-pack sale can be arranged before mid-July, meaning they will attract a buyer of the business (or parts of the business).

* Last year the company recorded a turnover of £70.9m, with a gross profit of £31.6m.

In the Spotlight

Is there a topic you'd like us to Spotlight? Please tweet @jointhepurse

What is sustainable investing?

* This is where social and environmental impact is considered alongside financial returns, when investing in companies or funds.

* According to a survey by Morgan Stanley, most institutional investors have a preference for the following themes (climate change comes out on top):

* Areas of interest for investors: gender diversity is at 44%, multicultural diversity is at 25% vs climate change at 72%.

* 8 in 10 investors believe that companies with strong ESG practices will have better long term returns. (Research proves that ESG funds outperform traditional funds).

* Source: Morgan Stanley

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* EU report: women entrepreneurs could fuel economic recovery post-pandemic

* If more women are encouraged to work and to start businesses:

* 10.5 million jobs could be created by 2050

* This could boost the EU economy: €1.95trn to €3.15trn.

* Know this: women-owned startups have a higher return on investment. Financial backers should regard women founders as a better bet. But women still only get less than 3% in venture capital funding globally.

* Now: Pensions report: divorced women retire on a quarter of men’s retirement pots

* On retirement, divorced women’s pension pot is £26,100 versus £103,500 for men who have divorced.

* For couples who stay married, women’s pension is equal to £51,000 and men’s pension pot is £156,500.

* Working part-time has the biggest impact on women’s pension pot.

* Introducing ‘fairer pensions’ will help close the gender pension gap for women.

* Know this: A pension is the second most valuable asset after the family home and should be negotiated during divorce proceedings. Women need to save for retirement as a priority because they live longer and their retirement costs are higher. And we agree: the government needs to introduce ‘fairer pensions’ to help close the gender pension gap.

What We’re Tracking

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

* The Mom Project: (US), co-founded by Allison Robinson in 2016, connects women and parents to organisations. It seeks to help employers become more inclusive by accessing a diverse pipeline of highly skilled (mostly female) talent.

* The startup has just raised $25m and Serena Williams is a strategic adviser.

* The platform has grown from 75,000 users to 275,000 and 2000 employers have posted a job.

* The Mom Project has acquired a people analytics platform called Werks.co which is focused on building a better workplace for all.

* In a recent survey the company said that women are twice as likely to leave their employer within a year of the pandemic.

* Mirror: (US), founded by Brynn Butnam in 2016, is a home exercise startup and it has just been acquired by Lululemon for $500m. Never heard of Mirror? Don’t worry, neither had we. But exercising at home is all the rage, especially when pandemics strike (ahem).

* The New York startup’s guided workout machine costs $1,495 and allows you to stream on-demand workouts and classes.

* Lululemon invested $34m late last year and Mirror had raised $74.8 million from other investors, including Karlie Kloss.

* Female Ventures Fund (FVF) to invest £10m in female founders in the first year

* The Seed Enterprise Investment Fund wants to address the historical inequality of only 1% of venture capital going to female founders.

* FVF already has 35 companies signed up in its portfolio including a sustainable fashion brand marketplace.

* Lay London: (UK), is a rental, table laying company founded by sisters Alice and Jemima Herbert. Launched last year, they are catching on to a big trend #tablesetting. Check out their Instagram-we’re kinda obsessed!

Money Habits of the Week

Do you have a money habit you would like to share with us? Tweet @jointhepurse

Money invested early through the magic of compounding grows on its own making you wealthier by the year.

When you start to invest, you are buying yourself time. And a life.

Commit to your money goals and values. Decide how you’re going be consistent and who can help you on your journey. Stay curious and keep learning.

Remember-investing doesn’t have to be something you do on your own.

Find your tribe and connect.

What We’re Watching

* Mariana Muzzucato is a leading economist who helps policymakers understand how the global economy really works (and how we need to fix it).

* Watch this TED talk about where wealth comes from, who creates it and what destroys it.

Coffee Break? Read This

* The US is now home to 800 billionaires, worth over $3.4 trillion

* New evidence suggests women get kinder but less honest feedback at work

* In a Covid-19 environment, you can have a kid or a job. You can’t have both

* How to stop obsessing over your mistakes

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 2020 & 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

Weekly newsletter for women who want to be smart about money: financial news, personal finance and investing

Welcome to our #26 weekly newsletter in 2020.

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 2020 during Covid-19 and beyond.

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

“Our mission is to help women take control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com

From The Purse…

Editorial from the Founder

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week, the pandemic has triggered the worst recession since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

The global economy will contract by 4.9% this year and will take a ‘hit’ of $12 trillion. The UK’s economy is expected to shrink by 10.2% versus the 6.5% as projected.

And Christine Lagarde, President for the European Central Bank, has warned that “we need to be attentive to those likely to be affected more by the crisis: the poor in all countries, the poorest countries, young people and women”.

The UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has hinted at further economic stimulus but all eyes are on the economy reopening ‘safely’ on the 4 July.

Unemployment is expected to double from 4%, but business surveys all point to a V-shaped recovery.

Meanwhile high stock valuations continue despite the increase in Covid-19 cases and the uncertainty in the global economy: the global markets lost $1.2 trillion in market cap last week.

Warren Buffett and others have warned against speculating in the stock market. Day traders are buying stocks in distressed and bankrupt companies. Remember, investors don’t speculate.

Facebook’s share price plummeted as brands such as Unilever pulled their ad spend and Wirecard, the German payments card company filed for bankrupcy.

We Spotlight gender lens investing and why it makes good business sense.

Don’t forget to listen to The Purse Podcast with Gail Wong, the General Partner for Her Capital, a venture fund which invests with a gender lens. Or listen here.

We’re tracking Zoox, the self-driving startup led by a black female CEO, Aicha Evans which sold to Amazon for $1.2 billion.

Read how to become less anxious about your money and watch the TED talk: how to gain control of your free time.

Stay safe, look after yourself 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 Coronavirus Effect:

* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said that the global economy will take a $12trn hit from the pandemic and that the global economy will contract by 4.9%.

* The pandemic has triggered the ‘worst recession since the Great Depression’ in the 1930s.

* It is expected that it will take 2 years to recover to where the global economy was at the end of 2019. And if the second wave of the pandemic hits, global growth will go to zero.

* The UK economy will shrink 10.2% in 2020 versus the projected 6.5%.

* In a video posted on Linkedin, Christine Lagarde, President for the European Central Bank warned that: “we need to be attentive to those likely to be affected more by the crisis: the poor in all countries, the poorest countries, young people and women”.

* The UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak hinted at further economic stimulus, but said that the most important thing is for the economy to ‘safely’ reopen (on 4 July) as this will support billions of jobs in hospitality, leisure and retail.

* He acknowledged that there are ‘tragic’ projections for ‘what might happen with employment’.

* It is expected that unemployment will double from 4% to unemployment last seen in the 1980s.

* The UK economy faces a long road to recovery, despite business surveys pointing to a V-shaped recovery.

* On Friday, the S&P 500 dipped amid concerns of Covid-19 cases going up again. The European stock markets seemed ‘unshaken’ despite the Federal Reserve warning on loan losses and Covid cases rising.

* Global stocks lost $1.2 trillion market cap last week, as Covid-19 cases continue to rise; the Federal Reserve balance sheet shrank for a second week but stocks remain high and many say are ‘overvalued’.

Future focus

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

* Amazon creates its own climate fund as it struggles to cut its own emissions

* It will focus on startups that could help it and other businesses achieve “net zero” emissions by 2040.

* Amazon still has plenty of work to do to reduce its own emissions, which rose 15% last year to more than 50 million metric tons.

* Two reasons China may be ramping up their digital currency project

* The first reason: the Chinese government sees poverty alleviation as a top priority for 2020. Currently, there are 5.5 million Chinese people living in extreme rural poverty. 

* The second reason: China seeks depend less on the U.S. dollar especially given the ongoing trade tensions with the US.

Coronavirus Impact: Your Money

Insights, trends and what this means for you and your money

* US banks: deposits increase to $2 trillion during the pandemic crisis

* US: Warren Buffett warns about the dangers of ‘speculating’. But day traders are not paying attention

* Day traders have piled into distressed (eg airlines) or bankrupt (eg Hertz) companies in recent weeks.  

* Zero-commission trading platforms such as Robinhood have made it easier to enter the market and trade.

* Warren Buffett has warned that ‘speculating’ is not the same as ‘investing’.

* And day traders investing (to the extent we are seeing now) could in fact accelerate a market crash.

* UK: Half a million people are putting off investing in an ISA

* The number subscribing to cash ISAs increased by 1.4 million from 2017/18, those subscribing to stocks and shares ISAs fell by 450,000.

* Higher earners also tend to subscribe their money to stocks and shares while lower income groups prefer cash.

* ‘The market uncertainty that we’ve seen in recent years appears to have put people off investing their ISA money...’

* Financial anxiety: how to take care of your mental health when you’re having money worries

* Step away from the worry and be present

* Take a moment to pause

* Prioritise your sleep

* Give yourself time to relax

* Don’t shame people for how they manage their money-we all make mistakes

* Good money management isn’t just ‘common sense’.

* It’s never too late to get started ie start building new habits.

Companies to Watch: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* Facebook share price plummeted 7%, which is equal to $50bn of market cap as brands such as Unilever, Coca Cola, Verizon and Ben & Jerry’s pull ad spending from Facebook, citing hate speech, racist content and ‘dividing politics’.

* Wirecard files for insolvency amid German accounting scandal.

* The German payments card company is ‘missing’ £1.7bn.

* According to its auditor EY: ‘there were clear indications of “an elaborate and sophisticated fraud involving multiple parties around the world”.

In the Spotlight

Is there a topic you'd like us to Spotlight? Please tweet @jointhepurse

What is gender lens investing?

* Did you know:

* that greater gender diversity on boards is a predictor of long term shareholder value and lower stock price volatility.

* female entrepreneurs generate higher revenue compared to men (more than twice as much per dollar invested)

* the female consumer purchasing power exceeds the GDP of China and India combined.

* but approximately only 3% of venture capital funding goes to female CEOs.

* Gender-lens investing integrates gender-based factors into investment decisions with goals ranging from enhancing risk-adjusted returns to driving gender equality.

* It is one of the most rapidly growing segments of sustainable investing. 

* Asset growth in gender lens investing products accelerated and totalled $3.4 billion as of June 30, 2019.  They are growing in popularity with individuals and institutional investors.

* An example of a gender lens product is The Future World Girl Fund introduced by Legal and General in 2018: a tracker fund which backs UK firms that have a greater gender balance.

* And we are also seeing a rise in female-founded venture capital funds which focus on female founders only including Her Capital (who we interviewed this week), Backstage Capital, The Helm and Voulez Capital.

* Also read this and this.

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* The coronavirus could cost working mothers £12,000 in retirement

* Women already retire with a fifth of the pension wealth men do.

* Mothers are more likely to have reduced their hours or lost their job due to the coronavirus which will impact the size of their pension even more.

* Surprising study pinpoints why older women face a double whammy of age and sex discrimination at work (US white paper)

* “These women are falling through the cracks. All my results consistently find that age discrimination laws were far less effective for older women compared with older men. In some cases, I found that age discrimination laws did not improve the labor market outcomes for older women at all.”

* What’s the solution? …for laws to be applied jointly, as well as for future legislation to overtly acknowledge intersectional discrimination such as age-plus-sex discrimination.

* But the first step is awareness and hire older women.

* Why did it take a pandemic to show how much unpaid work women do?

What We’re Tracking

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

* Zoox: (US): a self-driving startup, led by black female CEO Aicha Evans, has been acquired by Amazon for $1.2billion.

Money Habits of the Week

Do you have a money habit you would like to share with us? Tweet @jointhepurse

Spend some time looking into gender lens investing and what products are available.

Check out publicly traded equity gender lens funds and how they have performed compared to others.

And don’t forget to listen to our podcast with Gail Wong, the General Partner for Her Capital, the venture capital fund which invests with a gender lens.

What We’re Watching

* Laura Vanderkam studies how busy people spend their lives and she’s discovered that many of us overestimate our commitments each week and underestimate the time for ourselves.

* There are 168 hours in each week. How do we find time for what matters most? Watch this TED talk about how to gain control of your free time.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Will the pandemic reshape notions of female leadership?

* What having a growth mindset actually means

* Pay black employees based on their performance, not your bias

* Rising startups to watch with diverse founders

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 2020 & 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

Weekly newsletter for women who want to be smart about money: financial news, personal finance and investing

Welcome to our #25 weekly newsletter in 2020.

Every week we curate key articles and content so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing.

We apply a female-lens to news and content about money and investing so that it is more meaningful to you.

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 2020 during Covid-19 and beyond.

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

“When we take money matters into our own hands, we can live life on our terms”

-Jana Hlistova

Source: Andrew Neel

From The Purse…

Editorial from the Founder

A leading economic forecaster is predicting the UK economy will shrink by 8% this year and will not fully recover until 2023.

However Morgan Stanley has said that the global economy is on track for a V-shaped recovery: they predict a ‘sharp but short’ recession ending by 2021 as global economies grow back to their pre-pandemic levels.

Even if a second wave of virus cases emerges, Morgan Stanley believes that selective lockdowns will keep the world from re-entering the strict lockdowns again.

In the UK, retail sales rebound 12% in May-far more than expected, as consumers have continued to spend on home improvements and buy online.

However the number of UK workers on payroll fell by more than 600,000 between March and May and unemployment is now at 3.9%.

The Bank of England (BoE) continues to print more money to support the UK economy through the pandemic crisis. The UK government debt was 100% of GDP in May.

In the US, the Federal Reserve is now buying individual corporate bonds to support the credit markets.

And according to a Bloomberg report, the Donald Trump administration is preparing a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal to help spur the US economy.

We spotlight ESG funds and how their performance compares to conventional funds.

A new study indicates that women are suffering more from ‘lockdown loneliness’ compared to men.

And some good news: Melinda Gates and her company Pivotal Ventures has launched an Equality Can’t Wait challenge: up to $30m will be awarded to expand women’s power and influence in the US by 2030.

Did you know that women in the UK now drink 40 million more glasses of whisky a year than they did in 2010? That’s a 15% rise compared with a decline of 6% among men.

Don’t forget to watch the TED talk on how the stock market works and check out the Coffee break section about why your personality is not permanent and how you can change this over your lifetime.

Stay safe, look after yourself 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 Coronavirus Effect:

* According to a leading economic forecaster, the UK economy will shrink by 8% this year and will not fully recover until 2023.

* The EY report warns that consumer spending could fall by 17% in the second quarter and by 8.7% over the year as a whole, before rebounding in 2021.

* The EY Item Club forecast total investment to fall by 13.7% in 2020, however according to a separate report by the Social Market Foundation (SMF), pension reform can pave the wave for a ‘green recovery’.

* SMF argues that ministers should encourage UK pension funds to merge into “superfunds” able to invest large sums in long-term projects such as building roads and communication networks.

* UK inflation fell to 0.5% in May from 0.8% in April due to the falling price of petrol, toys and games. However food prices rose by 1.6% in the year to May while alcoholic drink was 2.4% more expensive. 

* The fall in inflation had been expected by the Bank of England (BoE) which us why more support for demand is required by 'pumping more money’ into the economy.

* UK retail sales rebound more than expected ie at 12% in May (which is well above the predicted 5.7%).

* Consumers are spending on home improvements and online spending increased nearly 20% in May (compared to April) pushing the share spent online to the highest on record at 33.4%

* The number of UK workers on payroll fell by more than 600,000 between March and May. Meanwhile people claiming unemployment benefits increased more than 126% to 2.8m.

* The Bank of England (BoE) will continue to print money to support the UK economy through the pandemic crisis: it will increase its quantitative easing (QE) by £100bn. In May, government debt climbed to 100% of GDP.

* QE has increased from £200bn in 2009 to £745bn today.

* This is helping to channel ‘cheap money’ to high street banks who are lending to UK’s hard pressed corporate sector.

* There is huge appetite for borrowing in order to keep businesses afloat and even expand as lockdown eases.

* In the US, the Federal Reserve has said that it will buy individual corporate bonds marking a broader approach to corporate bond buying.

* This shows that the Fed will support the credit markets through the pandemic crisis.

* States in the reopening process including Alabama, California, Florida and North Carolina are reporting a rise in new daily coronavirus cases.

* Meanwhile the New York governor has warned against triggering a second wave of coronavirus.

* In the US, retail sales surged 17.7% in May

* This is more than double the economists expected meaning that the US could be on track for a strong rebound from the pandemic crisis.

* According to a Bloomberg report, Donald Trump’s administration is preparing a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal to spur the US economy.

* This could be another indicator that the US economy is headed for a V-shaped recovery.

* Global stocks gained $1.7trn in market cap last week on fresh stimulus; central banks continue to pump money into the the global economy.

Looking Ahead in 2020/2021

* Morgan Stanley are forecasting a V-shaped recovery for the global economy.

* They predict a ‘sharp but short’ recession ending by 2021 as global economies grow back to their pre-pandemic levels.

* The firm believes that the global economy is entering a ‘new expansionary phase’.

* World GDP will bottom out at 8.6% in the second quarter (April-June) before bouncing back to 3% growth in 2021.

* Even if a second wave of virus cases emerges, Morgan Stanley sees selective lockdowns keeping the world from re-entering strict lockdowns.

* Investors should buy the dip in stocks as the risk of a new round of economic lockdowns are low, according to JP Morgan.

* Although JPMorgan analyst Marko Kolanovic toned down his bullishness on the stock market in May because of rising tensions between China and the US, and growing social unrest across the US due to the death of George Floyd.

* The bank is not concerned the US economy will shut down again because the modest increase in cases over the past week could be related to higher testing rates, backlogs of hospital visits, and recent large protests.

Coronavirus Impact: Your Money

Insights, trends and what this means for you and your money

* Here’s where savvy investors are putting their money:

* Gold

* ‘Bombed out’ retail

* Insurers

* Educational technology

* UK: According to a survey, investors dash for cash savings despite record low interest rates

* An independent survey of more than 900 investors, commissioned by broker HYCM, shows the most common asset class is cash savings – 73% followed by private pensions.

* A third of all investors surveyed say they plan to put more money into their savings accounts over the next 12 months.

* (US) The emergence of individual investors who are scooping up stocks during the pandemic crisis might not end well, according to billionaire Leon Cooperman

* The online trading platform Robinhood (which is zero commission) has added more than 3 million accounts this year and now has over 13 million users under 31.

* Individual investors are investing in stocks such as Hertz which is a bankrupt car-rental company.

* According to a report by Goldman Sachs, ‘mom and pop’ investors are outperforming Cooperman and mutual funds. How much is driven by ‘reckless abandonment’ is to be seen.

* (US) Bullish individual traders and investors are driving market sentiment

* Speculation in a variety of secondary and small stocks is creating a foundation of positive sentiment.

* Small traders using the Robinhood brokerage app are reinforcing the feeling that there is always another opportunity coming regardless of what the overall market might be doing.

* This market is the closest we have seen since the internet bubble in 2000 which means that a ‘day of reckoning’ will eventually come.

Companies to Watch: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* Hertz suspends its $500m stock sale after receiving scrutiny from US regulators.

* Wirecard, a German payments firm and once the hottest financial technology investments in Europe can not account for €1.9 billion.

* On Thursday, the company’s auditor for the last decade, EY, was unable to confirm that €1.9bn in company cash was really there. 

* Wirecard’s stock market value fell to €5bn and left its bonds trading for less than 40 cents on the euro. Its market cap is now estimated to be just €3bn.

In the Spotlight

Is there a topic you'd like us to Spotlight? Please tweet @jointhepurse

Do ESG funds perform better than conventional funds?

* ESG funds or sustainability funds, tend have outperformed conventional funds over the past decade. This data is counter to the view that ‘investing based on environmental, social and governance principles hampers performance.’

* ESG funds have exploded in popularity recently due to emergencies such as climate change and gender related issues.

* And individuals, especially women, tend to align their investment decisions to their values.

* During the market-sell off in the first quarter of this year, ESG funds also outperformed traditional funds.

* Whilst not been exposed to oil and gas stocks has helped, the data shows that over the long term ESG funds tend to fair better than traditional funds.

* (Source: FT)

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* One third of UK women are suffering from lockdown loneliness

* Significantly more women than men are experiencing problems with their mental health as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

* More than a third of women (34%) said they now sometimes felt lonely, and 11% said they often felt lonely. Among men, 23% were sometimes lonely while only 6% were often lonely.

* UK society is regressing to the 1950s for many women, experts warn

* Researchers at the University of Sussex found 72% of mothers described themselves as the “default” parent for all or most of the time during lockdown, while 67% of women with work commitments also described themselves as such.

* In addition, 70% of women reported being completely or mostly responsible for home schooling.

* Women in their 60s forced to work through coronavirus crisis due to state pension age rise

What We’re Tracking

Female-focused products or services, crowdfunding campaigns, start-ups and businesses led by female entrepreneurs & investment, research

* Melinda Gates and her company Pivotal Ventures has launched the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge:

* Up to $30m will be awarded to expand women’s power and influence in the US by 2030.

* Femtech is booming: putting women first

* Last year marked an inflection point in the evolution of femtech. Frost and Sullivan estimated it to become a $50 billion category by 2025, and the world started to really listen.

* Whiskey is back in favour-and women are calling the shots

* Women in the UK now drink 40 million more glasses of whisky a year than they did in 2010, a rise of 15%, compared with a decline of 6% among men, according to the market research firm Kantar.

Money Habits of the Week

Do you have a money habit you would like to share with us? Tweet @jointhepurse

Spend some time looking into ESG or sustainability funds.

What funds are available and how can you start investing initially with very little?

Look into online platforms and what funds are available.

Work out how much they charge per month or per annum.

It might be worth speaking to a financial planner who can advise.

What We’re Watching

* Watch this TED talk by Oliver Belfenbaum who explains the history of the stock market. And how companies and investors use the stock market today.

Coffee Break? Read This

* The woman who cracked the anxiety code

* Why women need to stop apologising at work

* The quiet German: the rise of Angela Merkel

* The state of the world for women

* I work from home in a job I hate. I cry every morning

* Your personality isn’t permanent, it can change for the better over your lifetime

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

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2020 & 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

Weekly newsletter for women who want to be smart about money: financial news, personal finance and investing

Welcome to our #24 weekly newsletter in 2020.

Every week we curate key articles and content so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing. And we spend hours sifting through content every week so you don’t have to.

We apply a female-lens to news and content about money and investing so that it is more meaningful to you.

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 2020 during Covid-19 and beyond.

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

“When we take money matters into our own hands, we can live life on our terms”

-Jana Hlistova

Source: Anna Shvets

From The Purse…

Editorial from the Founder

UK GDP has declined by 25.1% in the first half of this year and it is expected that the UK will suffer the worst damage from Covid-19 of any country in the developed world.

The Bank of England (BoE) has predicted that the UK would experience the worst recession in 300 years and it also forecast a relatively rapid recovery.

So whilst the UK economy is expected to fall by 14% in 2020, it is predicted to recover by 15% in 2021. Therefore the economic damage is expected to be 1.5% of GDP.

The Bank of England (BoE) has reinforced the message that they are ready to take more action to support the UK economy. It is expected that they will announce at least £100bn in bond-buying this week.

Meanwhile the Federal Reserve made a ‘dire’ assessment of the US economy and its prospects of the years ahead which has rattled investors.

The global stock markets lost $2.8trn market cap last week: investors are also concerned about a coronavirus ‘second wave’ and Trump’s poor poll numbers.

In the ‘Companies to Watch’ section, AstraZeneca is eyeing up Gilead, the Zara owner is set to close 1200 fashion shops and Just Eat has acquired Grubhub for $7.3bn to become the biggest food delivery service outside of China.

Read about why quickie divorces in the UK may present a long-term risk for women and how the pandemic is affecting women entrepreneurs at work and at home.

And we’re tracking Serena Williams’ venture fund called Serena Ventures which invests in minority and female-led start-ups which are socially responsible.

Stay safe, look after yourself 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 Coronavirus Effect:

* UK GDP posts a record 20.4% decline in April as UK economy suffers a total lockdown decline of 25.1%, losing 18 years of output.

* Germany’s economy, the largest in Europe, is expected to contract by 6.6% this year while Spain’s GDP is seen falling by 11.1%, Italy’s by 11.3 and France’s by 11.4%. The US, the world’s largest economy, is forecast to take a hit of 7.3%.

* It is expected that the UK will suffer the worst damage from the Covid-19 crisis of any country in the developed world.

* The Bank of England (BoE) has predicted that Britain will face the worst recession in 300 years. However, the BoE predicts a relatively rapid recovery in the second half of 2020. Whilst the economy is expected to fall 14% in 2020, it is predicted to recover by 15% in 2021. Therefore they predict the economic damage to be 1.5% of GDP.

* According to UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, people should feel confident and safe as non-essential shops reopen Monday, 15 June

* More than half UK customers (surveyed by EY the accountancy firm) expect to now go shopping less. See the report here.

* The Bank of England (BoE) is ready to take more action to support the UK economy.

* The BoE is expected to announce an expansion of at least £100bn in its bond-buying when the Monetary Policy Committee meets next week.

* The Nasdaq hit 10,000 for the first time ever and closes a record high as Apple and Amazon soar

* The Nasdaq has led the US indexes in recovering from the coronavirus-induced market meltdown. It’s the first index to erase the year to date losses and the first to surpass its February high.

* On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve Chairman, Jay Powell reinforced his ‘dire’ assessment of the US economy and its prospects for the years ahead:

* The Fed officials estimated that by 2022 the US will be facing 5.5% unemployment (far higher than pre-coronavirus)

* Core inflation will be 1.7%, still below the 2% inflation target.

* Interest rates will be close to zero through to the end of 2022.

* Powell also suggested that there is a greater likelihood that the Fed would further action to bolster the economy despite the unhealthy spike in the financial markets.

* Stocks markets in the US and Europe suffered their worst one-day falls since March (Thursday)

* Investors were unnerved by the Federal Reserve’s dire assessment of the economic prospects and fresh concerns about a second wave of coronavirus infections.

* The S&P 500 fell 6%, its worst day since March 16 and the Nasdaq fell 5.3% (retreating from its all-time high).

* The UK’s FTSE 100 closed down 4% and the German Dax Xetra 4.5%.

* Global stocks have lost $2.8tn market capitalisation this week, which is equal to the GDP of the UK. The Fed’s cautious tone, the fear of a second wave of Covid-19 infections and Trump’s poor poll numbers ‘rattles’ investors.

* US unemployment claims at 1.5m following unexpected hiring as US reopens its economy after 12 weeks

* The weekly unemployment claims have fallen from its weekly peak of 6.9m Americans: people are being recalled to work and the government’s $3trn stimulus package is flowing to individuals and businesses.

* A total of 44.2m Americans have filed first-time unemployment claims since the start of the pandemic.

Looking Ahead in 2020/2021

* Bank of England (BoE) spends billions bailing out the Europe’s richest families

* Inequality will worsen unless ministers act, says thinktank

* A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies said that the pandemic crisis threatened to make life worse for the vulnerable.

* The looming bank crisis: the US banking system could be on the cusp of calamity. This time we may not be able to save it.

Coronavirus Impact: Your Money

Insights, trends and what this means for you and your money

* How to fight the coronavirus with your investment portfolio

* Covid-19 response bonds were created to finance projects aiming to address the coronavirus outbreak.

* Demand for Covid-19 response bonds has been strong with the new market already reaching $65bn by the end of May and this figure only continues to rise. 

* According to Morgan Stanley, a combined $32bn of social and sustainability bonds were issued in April, and most were designed for the Covid-19 response initiatives. 

* UK households face £6bn debts because of Covid-19, says charity

* According to charity StepChange Britons will rack up debt due to the pandemic as people fall behind on credit card payments, council tax and utility bills. Approximately 4.6m households have been affected so far.

* This is amid the biggest ever fall in consumer spending and UK households repaid £7.4bn in credit card debt.

* Americans spend billions to look good during lockdown

* In the 12 weeks since the start of March, overall US health and beauty sales rose by $3.74bn or 13% from a year ago to $32.2bn.

* Ecommerce led the increase, up 31% to $9.28bn, encouraged by social media influencers who have been providing self-care tips.

Companies to Watch: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* AstraZeneca eyes Gilead in Big Pharma’s move beyond Covid

* AstraZeneca, the UK’s largest drugmaker valued at $140bn, has reportedly contacted Gilead Sciences, valued at approximately $96bn, regarding a possible merger deal.

* If successful, this would be the largest in the industry’s history.

* Zara owner to close 1200 fashion stores around the world

* Inditex, one of the world’s largest clothing retailers, has been hit hard during the pandemic, with sales down 44% to €3.3bn (£2.9bn) between 1 February and 30 April, the first quarter of its financial year.

* The company reported a net loss of €409m during the quarter. Almost a quarter of its shops remained closed by 8 June.

* However, online sales growth made up for some of the sales weakness, Inditex said. Online sales rose by 50% year-on-year during the quarter, and were up 95% year-on-year in April.

* Just Eat acquires Grubhub in a $7.3bn deal

* When the merger is complete, Just Eat will become the world’s biggest food delivery company outside of China.

* In after hours trading, Grubhub shares surged 7%.

* Just Eat will have 70m active customers globally.

In the Spotlight

Is there a topic you'd like us to Spotlight? Please tweet @jointhepurse

What is the difference between value and growth investing?

* Value investors look for underpriced, unglamorous or ignored stocks which can be bought at a cheaper price and represent ‘latent value’ over the long term. However without economic growth, many failed to deliver returns.

* On the other hand, growth investors focus on stocks which tend to outperform their peers. Growth investing tends to be higher risk and relies on strong outperformance of a few ‘outliers’ delivering above average returns. For example, technology stocks such as Google and Apple are often referred to as growth stocks.

* (Source: FT)

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* 1 in 4 pregnant women have experienced discrimination at work during the pandemic, study shows

* Survey by the Trade Unions Congress (TUC): one quarter of the 3,400 women surveyed who have been pregnant or are on maternity leave, have been singled out for furlough or redundancy.

* Some women were forced to take sick leave even though they were not unwell whilst others were told to take maternity leave early as the employer could not ensure a safe working environment.

* Such actions are against the law given that all employers are required to ensure their place of work is safe for everyone according to a Covid-19 risk assessment, and this includes accommodating for pregnant women and new mothers.

* Quickie divorce reforms risk long-term problems for women

* In the biggest shake-up in divorce law for 50 years, divorcing couples no longer need to attribute fault.

* Personal finance experts are concerned that this may lead to private arrangements without professional advice therefore the mismanagement of pension assets.

* According to research by the Pensions Policy Institute the average divorced woman has at least a third of the pension wealth of the average divorced man. And DIY divorces could increase the gap significantly.

* Please contact the Pensions Advisory Service for impartial and free advice.

* From furlough to tax relief: how women’s pensions will be affected by coronavirus for decades to come

* Whilst the gender pay gap is 17%, the gender pension gap published before the pandemic was 51.4% for ethnic minority women.

* Women are a third more likely than men to work in a sector shut down due to the pandemic.

* And more women than men are being furloughed often to look after children.

* This reduces how much women earn, how much they save and pay into their pensions, whether they receive employer pension contributions and how much tax relief they receive.

* (US) Pandemic impacts entrepreneuring women at work and at home

* According to The Diana International Research Institute (DIRI):

* For the majority of responders ie 67.9% revenue had declined and only 8.1% saw an increase as their product or service was a good fit for the remote environment.

* Nearly 40% of responders are deferring or reducing executive pay, one third are delaying payment and one quarter are reducing employee hours.

* Women-owned businesses are experiencing structural inequalities due to the smaller size and age of business and because their businesses are overrepresented in industries hardest hit by the pandemic.

* Women’s ability to adapt their business to these challenging circumstances is further impacted by family care responsibilities at home.

* On a positive note, two-thirds of women entrepreneurs have found the best support and resources in other business owners and entrepreneurs.

* (US) In a survey conducted by 500 Startups, two-thirds of female founders say that the pandemic crisis will disproportionately affect them compared to male founders:

* The biggest challenges cited by respondents during the crisis were customer acquisition, increasing runway and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. 

* A third of respondents said that running a company while taking care of family members at home has been “very difficult” or “impossible” to manage.

* The majority (69%) said that they have six months or less of runway, while 40% said they anticipate that they will need more time to meet fundraising goals.

What We’re Tracking

Female-focused products or services, crowdfunding campaigns, start-ups and businesses led by female entrepreneurs & investment, research

* SerenaVentures: (US)-founded by tennis player Serena Williams, the venture fund is focused on investing in minority and female led startups which are socially responsible.

* They have made 60% diverse founder investments, the fund has a $12bn market cap and include 30+ portfolio companies.

* Their investments include The Wing, Mayvenn and billie.

* Audrey Gelman, the Co-founder of The Wing resigns

* Audrey has been criticised for the company’s treatment of black and brown employees.

* She maintains equity ownership over 10% and will remain on the board.

* Audrey founded The Wing in 2016 ‘with the idea that women in gig-economy New York needed a place to take meetings, network and refresh their makeup’.

Money Habits of the Week

Do you have a money habit you would like to share with us? Tweet @jointhepurse

‘Check in’ to see how you are feeling about your money right now.

Track your daily feelings and observations in a journal and take note of your spending and/saving habits.

Share any insights you may have with a friend or your partner.

What We’re Watching

* Watch this TED Talk by Niti Bhan studies business strategy for Africa's informal markets: the small shops and stands, skilled craftspeople and labourers who are the invisible engine that keeps the continent's economy running.

* Niti Bhan discovers and makes tangible pragmatic opportunities for sustainable and inclusive value creation.

Coffee Break? Read This

* To handle increased stress, build your resilience

* 3 ways to advance gender equity as we return to the office

* How women can get what they want in a negotiation

* First US woman to walk in space dives to the deepest point in the ocean

* Women have grown out their hair grey during lockdown and won’t be going back to dyeing it

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

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2020 & 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

Weekly newsletter for women who want to be smart about money: financial news, personal finance and investing

Welcome to our #23 weekly newsletter in 2020.

Every week we curate key articles and content so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing. And we spend hours sifting through content every week so you don’t have to.

We apply a female-lens to news and content about money and investing so that it is more meaningful to you.

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 2020 during Covid-19 and beyond.

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

“When we take control of our financial future we can live life on our terms”

-Jana Hlistova

Photo: Marcus Aurelius

From The Purse…

Editorial from the Founder

The European Central Bank (ECB) expanded its stimulus package on Thursday: it will buy an additional €600bn of bonds to help revive the eurozone due to the pandemic crisis.

Meanwhile UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed that he would be delaying a further stimulus package of tax cuts and spending commitments until the autumn.

Boris Johnson warned of ‘many, many job losses’ and UK consumer confidence fell to its lowest point in May, since January 2009.

And the Trade Unions Congress has warned that women will be driven out of the workplace ‘if the government does not urgently bail out childcare providers’.

In the US, unemployment was expected to reach 20% in May but instead fell to 13.3% (in May) from 14.7% in April. The S&P 500 rose 2.6% higher; the index has risen more than 40% since the March lows-despite the devastating economic impact the coronavirus has had and even the George Floyd protests. #BlackLivesMatter.

According to a report by Bloomberg, the price of bitcoin could surge to $20,000 this year and we spotlight whether it is a good idea to invest in gold.

Some good news, for the first time the highest earning CEO in the S&P 500 index is a woman and we track a minority and female-led health-tech startup called Incredible Health which has raised $17m to date.

Read about GameAbove Capital which has just launched and will invest in minority and women-owned businesses with a focus on sustainability.

In the ‘Coffee Break? Read this’ section we have selected a few articles from the Harvard Business Review on how to refuel if you feel emotionally drained and how you need to change how you see if you want to change how you think.

Stay safe, take care of yourself and your loved ones.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter. And until next week!

Jana

The Big Picture

Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators

The Coronavirus Effect:

* The European Central Bank (ECB) expanded its stimulus package on Thursday.

* It will buy an additional €600bn of bonds to help revive the eurozone whilst reducing its forecasts for inflation and growth.

* The ECB’s pandemic emergency purchasing programme will take it to $1.35tn and extending the scheme to June 2021.

* Its asset portfolio could increase to $4tn: approximately a third of its gross domestic product (GDP).

* Inflation forecast has been reduced to 0.3% this year, to 0.8% next year and 1.3% in 2022 (well below its target of 2%).

* UK consumer confidence fell to its lowest point in May since January 2009.

* This is as a result of worries over a surge in unemployment and tumbling house prices during the Covid-19 lockdown.

* UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak is delaying a further stimulus package of tax cuts and spending commitments until the autumn

* Mr Sunak has already spent £133bn mitigating the economic impact of the coronavirus.

* There has been a lack of spending growth since the lockdown restrictions began to be lifted 11 May.

* Boris Johnson has warned that there will be ‘many, many job losses’ after the coronavirus and has pledged to invest in retraining young people.

* According to the Institute for Government, UK unemployment is likely to rise to 30%.

* In April there was a 70% rise in Universal Credit claims.

* More job losses will follow after the government’s furlough scheme is lifted.

* The S&P 500 rose 2.6% higher after non-farm payrolls rose by 2.5m last month. And the Nasdaq rose 2.1% higher, just 3 points off the record high:

* US unemployment was expected to be at 20%, however with the increase in jobs, unemployment fell to 13.3% in May, from 14.7% in April.

* The S&P 500 has risen more than 40% since the March lows.

* Elon Musk says that it is time to break-up Amazon escalating feud with CEO Jeff Bezos. Amazon’s market cap is $1.2tn.

Looking Ahead in 2020/2021

* The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) have released new projections (US):

* The coronavirus may reduce economic output by 3% through to 2030, a loss of $7.9tn.

* According to Bloomberg, Bitcoin could approach a record high of $20,000 this year (or above).

* The report suggests that Covid-19 has accelerated Bitcoin’s maturation as an asset and points to an ever increasing appetite from institutional investors.

* In the UK, retailers for non-essential goods are preparing to reopen on 15 June.

Coronavirus Impact: Your Money

Insights, trends and what this means for you and your money

* UK consumers repay a record £7.4bn in debt during the Covid-19 lockdown

* However outstanding credit card debt remains at £64bn.

* In May, households probably continued to pay down debt and businesses continued to borrow to stay afloat.

* Hundreds of thousands of married women could be missing out on £1000s extra state pension a year.

* Married women who retired before April 2016 on small state pensions could be missing out on a state pension boost based on their husband’s pension records.

* After their husband turned 65, these married women could have put a claim in for a higher pension.

Companies to Watch: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* FTSE 100: travel and leisure shares surge

* FTSE 100 airlines International Consolidated Airlines and easyJet surged on the prospect of a ramping up in air travel, rising over 11% and 7% respectively.

* Shares in cruise operator, Carnival, were up as much as 20% and were the FTSE 100’s top riser on Friday.

* Ted Baker founder cuts stake by 55% in emergency funding bid

* Ray Kelvin has reduced his stake by 55% to 15.8% as part of an emergency £105m fundraising to get the business through the pandemic crisis.

* Investment firm, Toscafund founded by Martin Hughes, has nearly doubled its stake to 26.4%.

* Ted Baker reported a loss before tax of £79.9m in the year to 25 January, before the pandemic started to affect sales, and a 1.4% fall in revenues. That compares to a £30.7m profit a year before.

* Gap posts a $932m loss in the 3 months to May, shares fall 8%

* The clothing retailer reported a 43% fall in sales during the period, as 90% of the group’s stores were closed amid the Coronavirus pandemic.

* However, online sales is growing. For the month of May, online sales at the retailer had doubled compared to the same month last year.

* Gap is said to owe the Simon Property Group, a shopping mall operator $65.9m for three months of rent.

In the Spotlight

Is there a topic you'd like us to Spotlight? Please tweet @jointhepurse

Is investing in gold a good idea right now?

* Perceptions of gold has changed over the last 20 years.

* Gold’s unique attributes as a scarce, highly liquid and uncorrelated asset highlight that it can act as a genuine diversifier over the long term.

* Gold is regarded as a safe haven during uncertain times. However it can also generate a positive return during ‘the good times’.

* Extensive analysis suggests that adding between 2%-10% of gold to a pound sterling-based portfolio will make a tangible improvement to performance and boost returns over the long-term.

* Source: Gold hub & World Gold Council

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* For the first time, the highest earning CEO in the S&P 500 Index is a woman

* For the first time, a woman executive took the top spot on the list of the highest paid CEOs based on the Associated Press' (AP) annual survey of CEO compensation

* Lisa Su is the CEO and president of Advanced Micro Devices, an American multinational semiconductor company.

* Su's 2019 pay package had a value of $58.5 million "following a strong performance for the company's stock during her five years as CEO," according to AP.

* Women will be driven out of the workplace ‘if the government does not urgently bail out childcare providers’

* Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said:

* “Our childcare sector is on the brink of collapse, and it’s putting women’s jobs on the line. If childcare places disappear, women will be pushed out of the workforce. Women workers are bearing the brunt of this crisis, both on the frontline and at home…”

* Coronavirus: why the ‘motherhood penalty’ has been amplified by the lockdown

What We’re Tracking

Female-focused products or services, crowdfunding campaigns, start-ups and businesses led by female entrepreneurs & investment, research

* Incredible Health (US)-cofounded by female entrepreneur Iman Abuzeid and Rome Portlock. It is a software business which makes it easier for hospital clients to find medical staff.

* Iman Abuzeid has raised $17m in start-up funding, despite being a minority founder and often ‘underestimated’.

* In health care, women represent 65 percent of the workforce and make 80 percent of the buying decisions -- but only represent 13 % of the CEOs.

* Black women typically net less than 1% of the billions in venture funding.

* However, the data proves that diversity drives performance.

* GameAbove Capital (US): -has just launched and it aims at investing in minority and women-owned businesses with a focus on sustainability.

* Started by CapStone Holdings, GameAbove is deploying $50 million amid the economic downturn that is hurting small and medium-sized companies.

* The minimum transaction for each investment deal will be $3 million.

* And the focus will be on companies which target environmental and social sectors, such as clean water ventures, transportation, education and worker development.

Money Habits of the Week

Do you have a money habit you would like to share with us? Tweet @jointhepurse

Commit to reading up about the blockchain, digital assets and bitcoin.

Understand the key concepts and why bitcoin is more relevant than ever before.

If you’re short on time, listen to the podcast interview with Veronica Mihai Das, the Partner at Bloomwater Capital, who explains the fundamentals of blockchain and digital assets.

What We’re Watching

* Wendy De La Rosa is a co-founder of Common Cents Labs where she focuses on using behaviourial science to help people make better financial decisions.

* In this Ted talk, Wendy explains what can help you save more and spend less.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Michael Jordan donates $100m to racial-equality causes over the next 10 years.

* Reflections on bias: Koia’s female founder -and only black employee has a recipe for change

* How to refuel when you are feeling emotionally drained

* To change the way you think, change the way your see

* Learn to get better at transitions

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

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2020 & 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

Weekly newsletter for women who want to be smart about money: financial news, personal finance and investing

Welcome to our #22 weekly newsletter in 2020.

Every week we curate key articles and content so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing. And we spend hours sifting through content every week so you don’t have to.

We apply a female-lens to news and content about money and investing so that it is more meaningful to you.

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 2020 during Covid-19 and beyond.

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

“When we take control of our financial future we can live life on our terms”

-Jana Hlistova

Photo: Anna Shvets

From The Purse…

Editorial from the Founder

The UK economy is showing early signs of improvement as the country eases out of lockdown. On Thursday Boris Johnson confirmed plans for a phased reopening of the retail industry and schools.

However according to McKinsey, the management consulting firm, in Europe 60 million jobs are potentially at risk of reductions in hours or pay, temporary furloughs or permanent layoffs. In the UK, unemployment could double during the summer from 2.1 million.

The US is also starting to see hints of recovery: nearly every state has reopened even though the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in some.

Total unemployment is just under 41 million Americans however new weekly unemployment claims fell 46% from their peak in early April.

The global stock markets continue to rally despite the growing tension between the US and China-which could dampen the recovery of the global economy.

Meanwhile in the UK the number of companies reporting the gender pay gap falls by half due to the pandemic. And according to a report by Citi Bank, women are disproportionately impacted by coronavirus job losses, which could cost the global economy $1 trillion.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has conducted research on how mothers and fathers are balancing work and family under lockdown.

One of the key findings was that ‘the gaps between mothers’ and fathers’ time use are not straightforwardly explained by mothers’ lower employment rates or lower earnings’.

We spotlight what a shake-up in the FTSE 100 means.

And Oprah Winfrey and Katie Perry have invested in a food waste start-up which has raised $250 million.

Check out the money habit of the week and if you have time, watch the Ted talk by economist Marilyn Waring called ‘The unpaid work that GDP ignores-and why it really counts’.

Stay safe, take care of yourself and your loved ones.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter. And until next week!

Jana

The Big Picture

Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators

The Coronavirus Effect:

* The UK economy is showing early signs of improvement as the country eases out of lockdown

* Job vacancies on the rise: 8.4 million people have been furloughed because of the pandemic. Total vacancies advertised in May is 66,000 compared to 100,000 end of March. Total unemployment is at 2.1 million but could double over the summer months.

* Spending downturn eases: in April spending fell 40% but the contraction of spending is half as steep from end of March to 24 May.

* Business activity starts to rise: more businesses are trading, with about 81% of companies operating in the two weeks to May 17, up from 75% in the two week to April 5.

* On Thursday, Boris Johnson confirmed plans for a phased reopening of the retail industry and schools:

* Car showrooms and outdoor retail could start to reopen from Monday, with social-distancing measures in place.

* Non-essential shops are due to reopen from June 15.

* Primary schools in England can start to reopen to more pupils from Monday, covering children in Reception, Year 1 and Year 6.

* Groups of six can meet outdoors.

* According to McKinsey: 60m jobs across Europe are potentially at risk of reductions in hours or pay, temporary furloughs, or permanent layoffs due to the coronavirus.

* The European Central Bank’s (ECB) balance sheet is now equal to 46.7% of Eurozone GDP, the highest ratio on record.

* US: hints of recovery start to emerge for the economy

* Nearly every state has begun to reopen, even though the number of coronavirus cases continues to rise in some.

* The low for the ‘two-month recession’ probably occurred in April, says Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO Financial Group. 

* The fastest recoveries have been to clothing and accessories stores which recovered 607% since their April 12 low.

* US: total unemployment has risen to just under 41 million Americans

* First-time jobless claims totalled 2.1 million last week.

* The high jobless numbers persist even as all states have reopened their economies to various extents.

* However, new weekly unemployment claims fell 46% from their peak in early April.

* ‘Fear of missing out’ dominates as investors turn into stock market ‘believers’:

* The S&P 500 index of US blue-chip stocks is up more than a third from its low two months ago. On Wednesday, the index closed just 10% below the record high reached in February.

* Sceptics worry the market is driven by the Fed reserve stimulus and that investors are overly confident a vaccine will emerge soon.

* The Euro Stoxx 600 and FTSE 100 is up by approximately 25%. The Nikkei index of Japanese stocks has gained more than 30% since March 23.

* The markets continue to be immune to the global economic impact of the pandemic.

* On Friday, the FTSE 100 fell over 2% as concerns over the China and Hong Kong relationship

* With China imposing the new national security laws on Hong Kong, the real risk to markets is if Donald Trump moves to act against China and potentially reignites a trade war that could derail the economy.

* Oil jumps nearly 90% in May to $35, registering the best month on record

* West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. oil benchmark, registered its best month on record after gaining more than 80% in May. 

* An increase in demand as well as record supply cuts have pushed prices higher.

* “It certainly doesn’t feel like it was oil’s best month ever,” said Regina Mayor, KPMG’s global head of energy. “Low $30s for WTI is clearly better than where we were at the end of April, but it’s not sufficient enough to bring the bulk of production back online.”

Looking Ahead in 2020/2021

* UK economy faces a longer and slower recovery from the pandemic

* Surveys of business activity suggest that the low point for the UK economy probably came in April, with a slight improvement detected in May.

* Global stock markets have rallied despite the outlook for jobs and risk to growth.

* Companies are bracing themselves for a protracted recovery as lockdown measures are gradually lifted.

* The Bank of England (BoE) has warned that GDP could contract 25% in the second quarter: this could be the worst economic slump in three centuries.

* Unemployment is set to double over the summer months.

* Goldman Sachs has examined the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the US economy-key takeaways include: (US)

* The economy has bottomed and this is not a ‘Depression’.

* Significant uncertainty remains with respect to growth trajectory:

* Path of recovery

* Employment of ‘temporary job losers’

* Additional waves of new infections as the economy reopens

* Fiscal and monetary policy measures were designed to offset the demand shock and liquidity shock and will not be inflationary

* Stagflation is highly unlikely.

* The US dollar will not be debased.

* We do not recommend gold on a strategic or tactical basis for clients’ investment portfolios.

* We do not recommend bitcoin on a strategic or tactical basis for clients’ investment portfolios even though its volatility might lend itself to momentum-oriented traders.

Coronavirus Impact: Your Money

Insights, trends and what this means for you and your money

* US savings rate hits 33% as coronavirus causes Americans to stockpile cash, curb spending

* Having debt doesn’t mean your financial future is ruined: here’s how to manage it (US)

Companies to Watch: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* Nationwide profits fall 40% (UK)

* Britain’s largest building society Nationwide said profits crashed to £469m in the year to April 4th, from £788m the year previously.

* The company had already been seeing pressure on its profits from its investment in technology and payouts for payment protection insurance (PPI) before booking a £101m hit from Covid-19.

* Nordstrom sales plunge nearly 40% on pandemic-led closures (US)

* Seattle-based Nordstrom said online sales rose 5% to $1.1 billion in its first quarter ended May 2. The retailer has strived to reduce inventory, cut costs and sharpen its marketing strategy.

* It reported a net loss of $521 million, or $3.33 per share, compared with a profit of $37 million, or 23 cents per share, a year earlier.

* Zscaler shares hit record high after Q3 earnings beat; Department of Defence win boosts gain (US)

* Zscaler said its cloud security platform processes more than 100 billion transactions, while blocking 100 million cyber threats, each and every day.

* Billings hit $113 million, the company said, and overall revenues surged 40% to $110.5 million.

* Zscaler shares were marked 23.6% higher in early trading Friday at just over $12 billion. 

* Gains for the stock were also boosted by a new cloud security contract with the Defense Innovation Unit, that could ultimately scale to as many as half a million users. 

In the Spotlight

Is there a topic you'd like us to Spotlight? Please tweet @jointhepurse

What does a shake-up in the FTSE 100 mean?

* The FTSE 100 is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with the highest market capitalisation.

* It is set for the biggest shake-up in 4 years after the impact of the coronavirus wiped out revenue for companies in the travel and aviation industry but boosted the emergency and technology industry.

* Easyjet and Carnival are likely to drop out of the FTSE 250: ‘because cruise liners and planes are expensive and often funded by large quantities of debt, costs remain stubbornly high’. 

* Centrica and Meggitt, whose shares have fallen sharply, after coronavirus hit its civil aerospace division, are also due to drop out of the FTSE 100 based on their market capitalisation.

* Technology groups including Homeserve, alongside online gaming group GVC and Convatec which makes medical equipment, are set to replace them in the FTSE 100.

* These companies have fared well during the pandemic and are now trading close to where they were before the crisis started.

* (Source: FT)

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* UK: reporting of companies’ gender pay gaps falls during the pandemic:

* The UK government removed the requirement for companies to report on their pay gaps due to the pandemic in March.

* The number of UK companies reporting on the gender pay gap has halved during the past year (ie approximately to 5,000 vs 10,000 companies).

* The 10 FTSE 100 companies with the widest pay gaps all reported gaps of 40 per cent or more.

* Women are disproportionately impacted by coronavirus job losses, costing the global economy $1 trillion:

* According to a report by Citi Bank:

* More than 220 million women around the globe work in sectors vulnerable to the coronavirus slowdown, and 31 million women could lose their jobs compared to 13 million men.

* The loss of 31 million equates to a decline in global GDP of $1 trillion. This represents 1.2 percentage points of the 3.2 percentage point drop in GDP we’re expecting for 2020.

* Since women in the workforce are a key generator of global growth, the firm said that looking forward decision makers need to factor this into policy responses.

* Study: women with caring responsibilities have a greater risk of poverty

* How women are getting squeezed by the pandemic:

* “Our formal economy is only possible because it is subsidised by women’s unpaid work.”

* Crises amplify existing inequalities, and so across the world women are being affected more severely by the socioeconomic impacts of this pandemic.

* This is because in every country women earn less, they save less, they’re more likely to be in precarious jobs with little security or protections if they do work, or in the informal sector, with no protections at all.

* But we need women in positions of leadership to ensure that solutions are informed by a diversity of views and experiences. Because if not, we could deepen inequalities.

* Institute of Fiscal Studies: how are mothers and fathers balancing work and family under lockdown?

* Key findings include:

* Compared with fathers, mothers are spending less time on paid work but more time on household responsibilities.

* Overall, in 2014/15, the average mother (including those who did not work for pay) was doing nearly 60% of the number of uninterrupted work hours that the average father did; now she is doing only 35%.

* The gaps between mothers’ and fathers’ time use are not straightforwardly explained by mothers’ lower employment rates or lower earnings.

* Despite doing less childcare than mothers, during lockdown fathers have nearly doubled the time they spend on childcare.

* Netflix premieres first ever documentary about black female CEOs

* She Did That is the documentary created by filmmaker and blogger Renae L. Bluitt to promote a more accurate representation in the media of Black female business owners.

What We’re Tracking

Female-focused products or services, crowdfunding campaigns, start-ups and businesses led by female entrepreneurs & investment, research

* Oprah Winfrey and Katie Perry invest in food waste start-up Apeel Sciences which raises $250m

* Apeel Sciences has devised an edible spray-on coating for perishable produce such as avocados, lemons and limes so they stay ripe for twice as long.

* Narrative change: VCs are finally ready to talk about menopause

* According to Pitchbook data, startups in this space have raised $254 million to date since the start of 2009.

* Femtech startups as a whole raised more than $498 million in 2019 alone.

* An estimated 1.1 billion women throughout the world will be postmenopausal by 2025, according to the North American Menopause Society. 

* ‘I’ll be doing this for decades’: Arlan Hamilton’s challenging the status quo of VC

Money Habits of the Week

Do you have a money habit you would like to share with us? Tweet @jointhepurse

Review your spending, saving and investing habits regularly.

And at least every three months, consider whether you can increase how much you save and invest- even if this is by 1%.

Make it a habit to review your saving and investing rate and adjust accordingly.

If you if you have credit card debt where you pay very high interest, do pay this down as soon as you can. But make sure you have an emergency fund set up.

What We’re Watching

* Marilyn Waring advocates for a public policy database that recognises all unpaid work -and the preservations of ecosystems -instead of relying on GDP.

* In this TED talk, Marilyn talks about unpaid work that GDP ignore and why it really counts.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Many workers would prefer to work from home at least for some of the time

* 5 mental mistakes that kill your productivity

* Shortlist announced for the 2020 women in software power list

* Why women are the future of enterprise sales

* Karolina Pliskova says male players who complain about equal prize money are ‘super weak’

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

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2020 & 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

Weekly newsletter for women who want to be smart about money: financial news, personal finance and investing

Welcome to our #21 weekly newsletter in 2020.

Every week we curate key articles and content so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing. And we spend hours sifting through content every week so you don’t have to.

We apply a female-lens to news and content about money and investing so that it is more meaningful to you.

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 2020 during Covid-19 and beyond.

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

“When we take control of our financial future we can live life on our terms”

-Jana Hlistova

Photo: August de Richelieu

From The Purse…

Editorial from the Founder

Global economies are slowly reopening as the pressure mounts to get ‘people working again’.

The global stock markets continue to be divorced from reality although the markets have been more cautious in May.

Investors consider: how fast will economies recover and what is the likelihood of new infections?

In April, Britain posted the largest budget deficit since records began and central government spending increased 57% whilst revenue fell 27%.

Inflation almost halved in April to 0.8% and unemployment is now at 2.1m. However things could get worse.

And for the first time the UK sold debt with a negative yield-which effectively means that investors are paying to lend to Britain.

The US is divided about a second $3tn stimulus package which would include handing out more $1,200 cheques as total unemployment reaches 38.6m Americans.

We spotlight what impact the coronavirus might have on inflation over the next ten years and what this means for your money.

And Chief, the US social network dedicated exclusively to women in professional leadership positions, has raised $15m in their most recent round of funding.

Overall, the pandemic is having a greater impact on women. More women are exposed to the coronavirus because they work in the healthcare and social care sector, more women have lost their job, and more women continue to shoulder the household, childcare and homeschooling burden.

Listen to the podcast by NPR in the Have You Seen This? section about how couples can balance household chores with Bridget Schulte, the director of the Better Life Lab.

Some good news: for the first time there are 37 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies (US). Studies have shown that public companies with female CEOs or CFOs tend to be more profitable.

And if you have time, check out the TED talk about how to rebuild the global economy after the coronavirus.

Stay safe, take care of yourself and your loved ones.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter. And until next week!

Jana

The Big Picture

Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators

The Coronavirus Effect:

* Germany and France have joined forces to push for a €500bn EU recovery fund.

* The fund would be raised by the European Commission borrowing on capital markets and would be used to support EU spending rather than loans to national governments.

* The member states currently do not agree on how the money should be made available ie as a grant or as a loan.

* US congress are divided over a second $3tn stimulus package as unemployment rises

* This includes another round of $1,200 means-tested “economic impact payments” for US adults earning up to $75,000 a year.

* Unemployment rose last week by 2.4m Americans; total unemployment is now 38.6m.

* Pandemic spending: Britain posted the largest budget deficit since records began. The deficit was at £62.1bn in April. Central government spending has increased 57% while revenue plunged 27%.

* UK inflation has nearly halved to 0.8%. In the Eurozone, the drop was from 0.7% to 0.3% last month

* In both cases inflation fell due to the decline in the price of petrol and discounting of certain items, not food.

* UK suffers a record fall in the month of April

* According to the Office of National Statistics, retail sales fell by 18.1% (compared to last month) and 22.6% (compared to last year).

* However online sales rose by 18% compared to last month; increasing the proportion spent online to 30.7%.

* The slow recovering and shift to online spending is likely to put a lot of high street shops at risk.

* UK’s unemployment benefit claimants rise by 69% in April

* According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), 2.1m are now claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and Universal Credit.

* Labour market experts expect to see the unemployment rate to rise to 8% in the next few months.

* However, without the wage subsidies covering 8m workers who have been furloughed, unemployment could jump to 20%.

* UK 5 year bond yields turned negative. The rally sent the yield to a record low

* This means that investors who hold the bond to maturity will get slightly less than they paid. Investors pay to lend to Britain.

* Borrowing at negative interest rates is also a sign investors expect further economic stimulus from the Bank of England (BoE).

* This was also described as a ‘symbolic moment’ as investors become accustomed to negative yields on bonds around the world.

* Negative interest rates and quantitative easing (printing money) could weaken the pound/currency.

* Bitcoin price drop to $8.9K raising fear of a new bear market trend

* Since the second week of March, the price of Bitcoin recovered strongly from $3,600 to over $10,000. 

Looking Ahead in 2020

* There are 6 reasons why the stock market is divorced from reality, according to the Bank of America, chief investment strategist (US/global)

* Central banks have deployed a total of around $4 trillion of asset purchases over the past eight weeks and the global equity market cap has surged by $15 trillion.

* Fake markets: the government and corporate bond prices have been fixed by central banks. Why would you expect to see stock prices rise rationally?

* Instead of looking at the $15 trillion market-cap growth, the global stock market rally should be viewed in context of the $30 trillion collapse between February and March.

* Most global stocks remain in bear market ie 20% or more below their all-time highs.

* The current rally is polarised: it is highly concentrated in growth-focused US technology stocks and "FAAMG" (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google).

* Investors are positioned bearish as most expect a ‘U’ or ‘W’ recovery.

* Policymakers are causing an ‘immoral hazard’ forcing investors to buy, banks to lend, and corporate zombies to issue debt this year.

* UK angels are still investing during lockdown, but startup founders have to be quick

* According to a survey the pandemic has reduced angels’ total capital to invest in 2020 by just over 61%.

* Just under 60% think the effects of COVID-19 will negatively affect their ability to invest for the rest of 2020.

* JK Rowling, the author of Harry Potter, dives into the world of crypto and bitcoin and the Twitter community respond, including Elon Musk:

Coronavirus Impact: Your Money

Insights, trends and what this means for you and your money

* Taking an investment risk can be rewarding (and how to start)

* Coronavirus has turned Britain into a nation of savers

Companies to Watch: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* Moderna unveils positive coronavirus vaccine results but then the senior execs dump nearly $30m of stock

* Moderna is one of the early forerunners to develop a vaccine for Covid-19. It produces neutralising antibodies that bind to the virus and disable it.

* Its share price surged 30% on Monday after the biotech company announced promising early results from its coronavirus vaccine.

* However senior execs at the firm subsequently sold close to $30m of stock. These were legal trades but ‘the optics look terrible because it shows you have a better place to put your money’. However it’s not unusual for execs to capitalise on the share price.

* By Thursday the share price had fallen by 16%.

* UK pub chain Marston’s is merging its brewing operations with Carlsberg’s UK arm in a deal worth around £780m

* The deal values the Marston’s Brewing Business at up to £580m and the Carlsberg UK Brewing Business at £200m.

* Marton’s share price jumped 102% to 66p.

* FANGMAN: Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple & Nvidia market cap hit an all-time high at $6.1 trn. This is equal to the combined GDP of Germany and Italy.

In the Spotlight

Is there a topic you'd like us to Spotlight? Please tweet @jointhepurse

What is likely to happen to inflation as a result of Covid-19? And why does it matter?

* Inflation is the rate at which the prices for goods and services increase. It affects everything from mortgages to the cost of shopping and public transport.

* It is one of the key measures of financial wellbeing as it affects how much you can buy with your money.

* In April, inflation in the UK was at its lowest since April 2016 at 0.8%.

* According to a white paper published by Pete Comley, author of a book called Inflation Matters, the coronavirus crash could lead to a wave of inflation in the latter half of the decade.

* In the short term the government has been absorbing the cost of Covid-19 but in the long term the burden is likely to shift to ordinary people: inflation will start to rise.

* The Bank of England (BoE) is predicting inflation will drop to near zero in the coming year, however as the world recovers from Covid-19, inflation could well push past its target rate at 2% to the 3%-5% range for the rest of the decade.

* The government is likely to let inflation rise as an ‘inflation tax’ in order to reduce the real value of the country’s debts and make interest repayments more affordable.

* The interest base rate is also likely to be held close to zero to make their interest repayments more affordable.

* For private investors, inflation will erode returns on bonds and there is a risk of capital loss when interest rates do rise: some businesses may default on their loans.

* For higher returns, it makes sense to invest in shares. However higher inflation will mean lower returns. Longer term, as inflation rises standards of living may be gradually eroded.

* The latest inflation wave has just 16 years to go before it reaches its end-of-cycle maximum of 140 years.

* Source: Covid Inflation

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* Why the coronavirus is fuelling an economic crisis that will hit women the hardest: (UK)

* The sectors most impacted by the lockdown due to the pandemic-such as social care, retail and hospitality, are mostly staffed by women.

* According to the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), women were about one third more likely to work in a sector that is now shut down than men ie one in six (17% of) female employees were in such sectors, compared to one in seven (13% of) male employees.

* Women under the age of 25 have been most impacted (this excludes workers who are in full-time education: we are not talking, for example, about students who had part-time jobs in bars and restaurants).

* Women also continue to take on the lion’s share of unpaid work (more than three times as much as men): household chores, childcare and now homeschooling which is having an impact on their work and career.

* Pandemic makes evident the grotesque inequality in the household (a podcast interview):

* Brigid Schulte, who is director of the Better Life Lab, says that our culture operates according to an outdated ‘breadwinner/homemaker’ model.

* Schulte argues that families are not monolithic and should not be treated as such.

* She says the pandemic has created an opportunity to start a dialogue about the distribution of household tasks.

* Female Fortune 500 CEOs reach an all-time high

* For the first time, there are 37 female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies (US).

* This represents an increase of only 7.4%, according to Fortune magazine which compiles this list every year.

* Studies show that public companies with female CEOs or CFOs tend to be more profitable and have better share price.

* VC funding for women has plummeted during the pandemic. Here’s what to do about it:

* Bootstrap your business: grow slowly and retain full ownership.

* Pursue equity crowdfunding via platforms: give up small amounts of equity to small investors.

* The Sunday Times published the Rich List 2020 last weekend which covers the richest women in the UK

What We’re Tracking

Female-focused products or services, crowdfunding campaigns, start-ups and businesses led by female entrepreneurs & investment, research

* Chief: (US)- a social network dedicated exclusively to women in professional leadership positions, has raised $15 million from its existing investors. This brings the total funding to $40 million (since 2018).

* Founded by Carolyn Childers and Lindsay Kaplan, the startup is a highly vetted network of women who are leaders in their business.

* The company has more than 2,000 members in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, from companies like Google, IBM and HBO.

* The start-up has fast-tracked the launch of its hiring board.

* And the funding will be used to accelerate growth in the US and support the build-out of technology infrastructure. 

Money Habits of the Week

Do you have a money habit you would like to share with us? Tweet @jointhepurse

Review the asset allocation of your pension or investment portfolio.

If you have a company pension or a SIPP (self-invested pension fund), find out how it is invested. For example, what is the mix of bonds vs equities vs commodities, in developed markets vs emerging markets.

Use this as a learning exercise to study your investments and understand them better.

And if you need to, contact an independent financial adviser.

What We’re Watching

* Watch this recent TED talk interview with Kristalina Georgieva, the Managing Director for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) discussing how we can rebuild the global economy after the pandemic crisis.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Uncomfortable conversations women should be having about their money right now (Aus)

* Are women better at fighting coronavirus? It’s complicated

* Will Covid-19 worsen gender equality at home for working mothers?

* Women’s research plummets during lockdown-but articles from men increase

* Video conferencing is a secret equaliser for women

* The ‘future of work’ is here thanks to Covid-19

* How 10 founders landed great advice, investment and support from other successful women

* If you feel like you’re regressing, you’re not alone

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

* The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2020 & 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

Weekly newsletter for women who want to be smart about money: financial news, personal finance and investing

Welcome to our #20 weekly newsletter in 2020.

Every week we curate key articles and content so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing. And we spend hours sifting through content every week so you don’t have to.

We apply a female-lens to news and content about money and investing so that it is more meaningful to you.

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 2020 during Covid-19 and beyond.

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

“When we take control of our financial future we can live life on our terms”

-Jana Hlistova

Photo: Cowomen

From The Purse…

Editorial from the Founder

The global markets lost $1.5 trillion market cap last week as investors shift their focus to re-opening economies and how challenging this is likely to be. Tensions between the US and China continue and mixed economic data means that investors are feeling jittery.

The Bank of England (BoE) has not introduced additional economic stimulus and is holding the interest rate at 0.1% for now. However, it is prepared to do whatever it takes: it may introduce negative interest rates.

The UK economy declined at record pace in March; GDP fell by 5.8%. However it is still faring better than the Eurozone.

US industrial and retail activity plunged in April by 11.2% and 16.4% respectively, however according to an index of consumer sentiment, the market is starting to pick up again in early May. We shall see.

US unemployment is now at 36.5 million Americans and the Federal Reserve has warned a ‘prolonged recession’ is a threat if companies can not survive the downturn.

And early in the week, bitcoin halving took place at the price point of $8,572.

Based on research by CoinMarketCap, the number of female crypto users has increased by more than 40% from January to March this year.

Syndio, the US HR technology start-up has raised $7.5million to help bolster its efforts to maintain equal pay and eliminate disparities due to gender, ethnicity, race or age.

And I interviewed Veronica Mihai Das for The Purse Podcast. Veronica is the Founding Partner at Bloomwater Capital: a hedge fund for digital assets. We talked about blockchain, digital assets and bitcoin. And how women can start investing in digital assets even if it is with very little money initially. You can listen here and here.

Stay safe, look after yourself 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 Coronavirus Effect:

* Global markets have lost $1.5 trillion market cap as investors shift their focus to what a re-opened economy looks like; the tension between the US and China continues and mixed economic data didn’t support equity narrative.

* The Bank of England (BoE) may be forced to increase economic stimulus via quantitative easing (QE)

* On Thursday the Bank’s monetary policy committee voted to hold interest rates at 0.1%.

* And rejected the Bank’s proposal to increase stimulus by £100 billion (from £645 billion to £745 billion).

* The Bank warned that unemployment could more than double by spring and the economy is expected to fall by 14% this year.

* There is increased speculation that this could lead to a further cut in interest rates: this would be the first time negative interest rates are implemented in the UK.

* The UK economy declines at record pace in March.

* According to the first estimates by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), GDP fell by 5.8% in March compared to February, and the largest drop since the monthly series began in 1997.

* In the first quarter (Jan-March), GDP fell 2% compared to the previous quarter, its largest drop since the financial crisis.

* The Eurozone fared worse with a 3.8% contraction in the first quarter vs a 1.2% contraction in the US.

* The relative size of GDP contractions is linked to the stringency of lockdown measures and when they were introduced.

* Output in the services sector, which accounts for 80% of the UK economy fell 1.9% in the first quarter, the largest drop since 1990.

* The Bank of England (BoE) has forecast a 30% drop in output in the first half of 2020, the fastest and deepest recession in 300 years.

* The UK economy may not return to pre-coronavirus before 2022.

* US industrial and retail activity declined in April

* Headline US retail sales dropped by 16.4% to $403.9 billion-the biggest decline since 1992.

* Between February and April spending at clothing and accessories stores fell 90%. However non-store retailers, including online vendors, rose about 21%.

* Industrial production fell by 11.2% and industrial production losses are unlikely to be recovered until late 2021.

* However, an index of consumer sentiment tracked by the University of Michigan rose by about two points-defying expectations of a decline.

* US: The House of Democrats pass a $3 trillion coronavirus relief package on Friday, however the Republicans oppose the bill:

* It includes relief for state and local governments, more direct payments, hazard pay for essential workers, an extension of the federal unemployment benefit and money for testing, among other provisions. 

* US unemployment continues to rise

* Total unemployment is now 36.5m Americans as a result of the coronavirus (up by nearly 3m last week).

* On Friday, gold closed at its highest level since November 2012

* Bitcoin third halving took place on Monday, 11 May

* The bitcoin price was $8,572 at the third halving.

* When the first halving took place, bitcoin’s price was $12, at the second halving it was $658.

Looking Ahead in 2020

* US: The Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned that a ‘prolonged recession’ is a threat if companies can not survive the downturn

* ‘The record shows that deeper and longer recessions can leave behind lasting damage to the productive capacity of the economy. Avoidable household and business insolvencies can weigh on growth for years to come.

* The result could be an extended period of low productivity growth and stagnant incomes…’

* $2 billion cryptocurrency hedge fund industry set to ‘grow significantly

* According to a new report by PwC and Elwood Asset Management Services: 2020 Crypto Hedge Fund Report published May 11, cryptocurrency hedge funds’ assets under management (AUM) more than doubled (from $1 billion) in 2019.

* The average AUM increased from $21.9m to $44m.

* The report additionally finds that “the launch of actively managed crypto funds is highly correlated with the price of bitcoin (BTC)”

Coronavirus Impact: Your Money

Insights, trends and what this means for you and your money

* The coronavirus turns the UK into a country of savers

* According to financial advice firm, Citimark, the average UK household could have saved almost £900 by now.

* Another report from Legal & General and the economics consultancy Cebr, suggests that the UK’s ‘isolation economy’ has driven a shift in consumer spending habits equivalent to an annual £12.9 billion: we are spending far more on groceries, alcohol, entertainment, hobbies and crafts.

* Study: 70% of investors saw drop in share price as a strong investment opportunity.

* The survey by Graniteshares took the views of 1,025 people between 27th and 30th March, which was just days after the FTSE 100 dropped.

* According to the survey only 22% of retail investors took action and by implication most investors ‘sat on their hands’.

* This contradicts data from Charles Schwab and IG Trading: they experienced a surge in the number of new trading accounts and in trading activity.

Companies to Watch: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* Saudi Aramco reports 25% dip in profits after oil market collapse

* The world’s most profitable company reported net profits of 62.48bn riyals ($16.64bn) for the first quarter of the year, down sharply from 83.29bn riyals a year earlier, after a two-thirds drop in the global price of oil.

* The collapse in crude prices has also wiped billions of dollars from Aramco’s market value.

* Morrisons posts lockdown sales boost but fuel suffers 70% hit

* The supermarket saw group like-for-like sales excluding fuel up 5.7% in the 14 weeks to 10 May (Q1, 2020/21).

* It said trading during individual weeks was ‘highly volatile’, with stocking up, lockdown, and weak Easter trading all having an impact on the sales data.

* But like-for-like fuel sales were down 39% and 70% since lockdown as customers made fewer car journeys.

In the Spotlight

Is there a topic you'd like us to Spotlight? Please tweet @jointhepurse

How much debt does the UK government have and does it matter?

* In the UK, the Institute of Fiscal Studies estimate the government will need to borrow an extra £200 billion in this financial year alone. (Although this may be closer to £300 billion in this financial year).

* It is heading towards a debt-to-GDP ratio of 95%. Currently it is at approximately 83%.

* The UK’s annual income is £2.2 trillion.

* For the last 20 years in the UK and Europe, and for 40 years in the US, interest rates on government debt has fallen, making debt cheaper to finance.

* There is always concern interest rates could rise, but economists this is unlikely to happen any time soon.

* There are too many savings ‘looking for a safe haven’ for the demand for government bonds to fall.

* In the developed world, there is always someone to borrow from (at least for the foreseeable future).

* (Source: The Guardian)

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* Women take a bigger interest in trading cryptocurrency more than ever

* According to data collected by CoinMarketCap, the number of female crypto users has increased by more than 40% from January to March, 2020.

* Women represents 21% of crypto users of CoinMarketCap’s database, up from 15.5% in the last 4 months in 2019.

* Approximately 50% growth in female crypto users was in Europe and America.

* About 96% of the female investors agreed that if more educational resources are provided, they would be more welcoming to bitcoin investing. 

* Women in lower-grade jobs hit by pension change ‘at risk of depression’

* According to research by academics at King’s College, the changes to the state pension age (SPA) has resulted in a widening gap in health between women from different occupations.

* “Our research is important because we know that worsening mental health will lead to higher healthcare costs, higher use of disability benefits and greater use of health services. Worsening mental health also leads to lower economic productivity and reduced ability to participate in life,” said Dr Ludovico Carrino,

* Almost 4 million women born in the 1950s lost their pensions when the pension age was raised from 60 to 66 between 2010 and 2018.

* Check out this free tool to calculate if you have been underpaid your state pension. If you are a married woman, and your husband has reached pension age, you may not know that you can claim a higher rate (UK)

* Twitter adds a woman to its board of directors: Dr Fei-Fei Li:

* Dr Fei-Fei Li is Professor of Computer Science at Stanford, Co-Director Stanford Human-Centred AI Institute, CoFounder/Chair at AI for All, Researcher #AI#computervision#ML AI+healthcare

What We’re Tracking

Female-focused products or services, crowdfunding campaigns, start-ups and businesses led by female entrepreneurs & investment, research

* A global perspective: Covid’s impact on European and American female founders and VCs

* According to a survey conducted by Jane VC:

* European start-ups are more fearful of the pandemic than American start-ups (62% vs 43%). American start-ups generally tend to raise more capital.

* European female founders felt more disadvantaged due to their gender but felt more supported within the start-up ecosystem.

* Syndio (US): CEO Maria Colacurcio has raised $7.5m investment round to bolster its HR technology that helps companies maintain equal pay and eliminate disparities.

* The company’s software analyses salaries and eliminates discriminatory differences in pay that are tied to gender, race, ethnicity or age. It is also provides strategies for fixing those disparities.

* The51: (Canada): investment platform which matches female angel investors with female entrepreneurs, has partnered with the Atlantic Women’s Venture Fund.

* The partnership called Canada51 will become a national collective of organisations and individuals supporting women entrepreneurs in all areas of the country.

Money Habits of the Week

Do you have a money habit you would like to share with us? Tweet @jointhepurse

Find an accountability partner who you can talk to about how your save, spend and invest. Agree to a regular ‘meet-up’ to ‘talk money’.

If you’re married or have a partner, agree to a regular ‘money date’ to discuss your finances: how you save, spend and invest.

Think about new money habits that you can continue to build on.

What We’re Watching

* Didier Sornette: studies whether it is possible to anticipate big changes or predict crises in complex systems.

* You may think the 2007-2008 financial crisis was an unpredictable one-time crash. In this TED talk from 2013: How we can predict the next financial crisis, Didier Sornette talks about how it is possible to track early warning signs for unstable, growing systems, ‘predict’ the moment when any bubble is about to pop. (And he's seeing it happen again, right now.)

Coffee Break? Read This

* Working with women makes the world a better place

* Senior women and power styles under pressure

* Only a government devoid of women could have drafted a plan so full of holes

* Low paid workers more likely to die from Covid-19 than higher paid workers

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

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2020 & 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

Weekly newsletter for women who want to be smart about money: financial news, personal finance and investing

Welcome to our #19 weekly newsletter in 2020.

Every week we curate key articles and content so you can stay informed and inspired about money and investing. And we spend hours sifting through content every week so you don’t have to.

We apply a female-lens to news and content about money and investing so that it is more meaningful to you.

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 2020 during Covid-19 and beyond.

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

“Money fuels our life, it fuels our choices. It’s what allows us to have power and agency in our life. When we take control of our financial future we can live life on our terms” -Jana Hlistova

Source: Moose Photos

From The Purse…

Editorial from the Founder

The Bank of England (BoE) forecasts the worst recession for Britain in the last 300 years. It has predicted output will drop by nearly 30% in the first half of this year; the economy falling 14% in 2020 only to recover 15% by 2021.

However some economists do not agree with what they consider to be an overly optimistic economic forecast.

In the US, unemployment has hit a postwar high of 14.7% which is now over 30m Americans. Some expect the unemployment rate to rise to 20% in May.

As the global economy limps on, the global stock market has been rising since it hit the bottom towards the end of March. Last week global stocks gained $1.5 trillion.

Governments around the world have made it clear that ‘they will do whatever it takes’ to ‘cushion’ the coronavirus impact. Central banks are using tools such as quantitative easing (QE) in order to soak up the government debt. Read more about what QE is and how it can affect us all in the Spotlight section of this newsletter.

All eyes are on Bitcoin: the third halving event will take place on Tuesday, 12 May.

According to a new poll for the New York Times, home schooling is disproportionately being handled by women during the coronavirus lockdown. And Sheryl Sandberg writes about the ‘double double shift’ for women during the pandemic. As if women didn’t have enough to do already.

I interviewed Anna Sofat, Founder & Wealth Advisor for the Progeny Group: we talked about financial planning, how to make your money work for you and how to invest for social impact and more. You can listen here and here.

Stay safe, look after yourself 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 Coronavirus Effect:

* Global stocks gained $1.5 trillion last week; investors become more accustomed working from home, absorbing data points around virus spread, the development of vaccines and a wave of stimulus packages being implemented.

* According to the Bank of England (BoE), Britain faces the worst recession in 300 years ie since 1709. But there is no additional stimulus to the economy for now and interest rates remain at 0.1%

* In the Monetary Policy Report, the BoE predicted output in the first quarter will fall 3% and will further drop 25% in the second quarter.

* Total output is expected to drop almost 30% in the first half of 2020.

* It is also forecast that unemployment will rise to 9% in 2021, up from 4%.

* The BoE also predicted inflation will drop to 0.5% in 2021 but expects in 2022 inflation will return to the 2% target.

* They expect the economic damage to the economy to represent 1.5% of GDP.

* The BoE expect a V-shaped recovery to the economy which means the recovery will be far more rapid than the global financial crisis in 2008/2009.

* The BoE’s scenario shows the economy falling by 14% in 2020 and then recovering by 15% in 2021.

* According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS), two-thirds of firms in the UK have applied for the furlough scheme.

* 23% of businesses who responded to its latest survey said they had “temporarily closed or paused trading” last month.

* Of those who responded to the survey, between 6-19 April, the main sectors that were affected were: accommodation and food service activities (81%) and arts, entertainment and recreation (80%).

* UK: a net of £2.6bn was invested in equity funds in the UK in April

* According to data provider Calastone, small investors poured into the stock market-up to six times more than in a typical month.

* Global funds have been the most popular destination for investors followed by funds invested in UK equities.

* Investors have also turned to active funds rather than passive funds.

* US hits postwar unemployment high at 14.7%

* In April, 20.5m Americans lost their jobs due to the coronavirus.

* Unemployment has climbed higher for women in April to 15.5% compared to men which increased to 13%.

* It is possible that unemployment in May could increase to 20%.

* Wall Street dropped 1% on Monday due to fears of a new US and China trade war which may overshadow a swift global economic recovery:

* Donald Trump claimed that the coronavirus came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology which is denied by China.

* Trump also suggested that new tariffs on China could be the ‘ultimate punishment’ for Beijing.

* On Friday, Trump cast doubt over the Phase 1 trade agreement with China after a phone call.

* China is likely to be a focal point for the US presidential campaign.

* Bitcoin rose close to 12% last week and has increased 34% over the last month, ahead of the halving event Tuesday May 12.

* Bitcoin broke the $10,000 price barrier for the first time since February before falling to around $9,600. On Sunday the price dropped 10% to $8,100-$8,600.

* In contrast, gold’s price has increased by 4% over the last month.

* Follow the Bitcoin price and countdown to the having event on Tuesday, 12 May. (Coindesk)

Looking Ahead in 2020

* US/global: According to investor Paul Tudor buying bitcoin as a hedge against inflation reminds him of buying gold in the 1970s.

* By his calculation, $3.9 trillion of money, the equivalent of 6.6% of global economic output, has been printed since February.

* “We are witnessing the Great Monetary Inflation -- an unprecedented expansion of every form of money unlike anything the developed world has ever seen.”

* According to Tudor, Bitcoin is a store of value as it has these four characteristics: purchasing power, trustworthiness, liquidity and portability.

* Andreessen Horowitz invests over $500m into the crypto trade

* The enterprise capital agency will make investments $515 million into the long-term growth of “crypto networks and businesses.”

* “Gold has long played the role of a fiat substitute, but Bitcoin is a digital alternative that is gaining acceptance and adoption around the world,” the a16z Crypto Fund II announcement particulars.

* Read Why Bitcoin Matters written by Marc Andreessen (2014)

* According to BlackRock, now is the time to sell government bonds and buy risky assets like stocks and emerging market debt.

* Policy actions in response to the coronavirus crisis should cushion the impact of the virus.

* Despite the significant rallies in equities in the last few weeks, the price declines imply significant expected returns compared to eg US debt.

Coronavirus Impact: Your Money

Insights, trends and what this means for you and your money

* Six money-saving ideas for for lockdown and beyond

* Use tech to shop around

* Chase refunds for services you can’t use

* Claim the benefits you’re not entitled to

* Clear the credit card quicker

* Review rainy day savings

* Return items even if shops are closed

* Half of UK parents with young children face money woes

* Parents are twice as likely as those without children to say they will struggle to make ends meet in the next three months, with 51% of parents of under-11s and 56% of single parents agreeing, compared with 27% of those who are not parents of young children, according to the research.

* Women are also feeling more anxious: it found that among general workers 46% of mothers of younger children report anxiety compared with 36% of men, and 24% of men who are not parents of young children.

Companies to Watch: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements

* Disney reports a 58% drop in operating income from parks and cruises, its worst hit segment.

* Disney reported mixed results for Q2 2020 earnings.

* The coronavirus has disrupted its theme parks and cruises business.

* Disney saw a bright spot in its direct-to-consumer business. The company reported it had increased the number of paid subscribers to its new streaming service-from 33.5m to 50m+ paid subscribers from March 28 to early April.

* AirBnB is to cut 25% of its workforce and scale back its efforts in the high-end travel market due to the impact of the coronavirus.

* 1,900 out of 7,900 workers will be made redundant.

* Revenue forecast for 2020 likely to be less than half of what it took last year.

* The company raised $2bn in April valuing the company at $18bn, a steep drop from its $31bn valuation in 2017 (previous funding round).

* Neiman Marcus, the upscale department chain store in the US, has filed for bankruptcy protection.

* Private-equity backed, it plans to eliminate $4bn of its $5.5bn burden debt.

* Creditors had committed to provide $1.43bn in financing to help the business through the restructuring and its aftermath.

* BT has cancelled dividends until 2022, shares plummet

* The telecoms group announced Thursday it would cancel its dividend and would accelerate its investment programme during Covid-19.

* They plan to invest in 5G and increased rollout of the Fiber internet.

* The shares dropped 10% before recovering.

* BT posted disappointing full year earnings as adjusted EBITDA fell 3% to £7.9bn. Revenue also fell 3%, but this was broadly inline with expectations.

In the Spotlight

Is there a topic you'd like us to Spotlight? Please tweet @jointhepurse

What is quantitative easing and how does it affect me?

* Today policy-makers promise to do whatever it takes to prop up the economy to limit the impact of the coronavirus.

* We have seen governments around the world introduce stimulus packages in order to support individuals, businesses and even cities/municipalities through this pandemic crisis.

* Quantitative easing (QE) is a tool used by central banks in order to inject money into the economy.

* Often referred to as ‘printing money’, the central bank will create digital money in order to finance government spending directly.

* In times of emergency and often during wartime, central banks lend money to the government.

* Without limit, financing the government in this way can lead to hyperinflation.

* But these risks can be manageable especially if these economies are met with increased demand.

* Should inflation begin to rise, central banks can use tools such as increase interest rates or unwinding QE.

* Alternatively we may experience deflationary pressures-like Japan.

* Source: FT & and Bank of England

However, there is ongoing debate about printing money: how this devalues currency, will the US dollar remain as the world’s reserve currency, the risk of hyperinflation and the extent to which institutions should be allowed to intervene in a free-market economy.

It is for this reason that we see continued interest in Bitcoin: the first digital currency created, distributed, traded and stored with the use of the blockchain.

Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns

* The UK government’s bailout package for start-ups, The Future Fund, has been criticised for focusing too heavily on the VC portion of the investing landscape

* By implication, underrepresented founders including women, who tend to raise less funding through VCs, arguably need government support more but are less likely to get it.

* The scheme is not compatible with SEIS and EIS, tax breaks the vast majority of angel investors leverage in order to invest in early start-ups.

* Female founders facing hurdles face funding hurdles amid pandemic. (US)

* Nearly half of men say they do most of the home schooling. 3% of women agree (US)

* According to a new poll by Morning Consult for The New York Times, home schooling is disproportionately being handled by women during the coronavirus lockdown.

* Fathers don’t agree: nearly half of those with children under 12 report spending more time on it than their spouse — but just 3% of women say their spouse is doing more. 80% of mothers say they spend more time on it.

* The results suggest men and women are not dividing housework or childcare work any differently or more equitably than they were before.

* 70% women say they’re fully or mostly responsible for housework during lockdown, and 66% so for child care-roughly the same shares as in typical times.

What We’re Tracking

Female-focused products or services, crowdfunding campaigns, start-ups and businesses led by female entrepreneurs & investment, research

* Starling Bank, founded by CEO Anne Boden, will start offering the government’s new Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) and the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS).

* Under the BBLS, lenders are offered a 100% government-backed guarantee. However the intention with BBLS loans is that they are repaid. 

* Whilst some previously accredited lenders opted out, Starling Bank decided without hesitation to become lenders under these schemes, fully aware of the advantages and disadvantages. It wasn’t a difficult decision. As a bank for SMEs, we had to do it.

Money Habits of the Week

Do you have a money habit you would like to share with us? Tweet @jointhepurse

Spend some time studying digital money and bitcoin this week.

We live in unprecedented times-government debt globally has never been higher as central banks print money around the world. What will happen to fiat currency over the medium to long term?

What We’re Watching

* Don Tapscott: A leading analyst of innovation and the impacts of technology, Don Tapscott has authored or co-authored 15 widely read books about various aspects of the reshaping of our society and economy.

* In this TED talk, Don Tapscott demystifies blockchain: this world-changing, trust-building technology which, he says, represents nothing less than the second generation of the internet and holds the potential to transform money, business, government and society.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Gender expert on why women leaders are doing a great job in response to the Covid-19 crisis (UK)

* Sheryl Sandberg: The coronavirus pandemic is creating a ‘double double shift’ for women. Employers must help (US)

* Forget pancakes. Pay mothers. One lesson from the pandemic: Child care is work. And it should be compensated (US)

* Women are struggling more with mental health under lockdown than men (US)

* ‘There’s no room for mediocre women’: Madeline Albright on females and leadership (AUS/UK)

* ‘It’s a mistresspiece!’: the 14-hours film about forgotten female directors (UK)

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