The Purse

Welcome to our #237 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we spotlight the interview on The Purse Podcast with Grace O’Brien and Sam Rowlands, creative leaders at AKQA and co-founders of Pink Chip:

a collection of indices which measures the outperformance of women-led companies against global benchmarks such as the S&P 500.

The aim of the Pink Chip Index is to prove how economically powerful female leadership is, and how much gender bias is hurting women and investors.

Listen to the full interview here.

***

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

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

Pink Chip: investing in women CEOs makes money for investors

We interviewed Grace O’Brien and Sam Rowlands, creative leaders at agency AKQA, to talk about the launch of Pink Chip and the Pink Chip Index.

(Image source: generated by ChatGPT).

Women CEOs generate superior returns for investors.

And the data backs this up.

But only 7% of CEOs are women. And when a female CEO is appointed to a publicly listed company, the stock price drops by 2-3%. Why? Gender bias.This is not only hurting women, but investors are losing money too.

***

Grace O’Brien and Sam Rowlands, creative leaders at AKQA, decided to do something about it.

They launched Pink Chip: a collection of indices which measures the outperformance of women-led companies against global benchmarks such as the S&P 500.

The aim of the Pink Chip Index is to prove how economically powerful female leadership is, and how much this bias is hurting women and investors.

It tracks 44 women-led US publicly listed companies. And benchmarks these against the S&P 500 and TM Large, the male equivalent of the criteria, to show how much better they are doing.

The Index helps to focus investors attention on the data, not on the CEO’s gender.

Bear in mind, this isn’t just another DEI initiative.

The Pink Index is an investment tool which highlights the strong performance of women-led companies.

It's about making money for investors.

Check out these jaw-dropping stats:

The Pink Chip Index has outperformed traditional indices with a 184% increase over four years, beating the S&P 500 by 80%+

What companies make the cut?

* companies with women CEOs

* $2bn market cap

* 8% annual growth over 3 years.

***Sam Rowlands shares how she initially came up with the concept, on The Purse Podcast:

"It all started with this (competition) brief that really got under my skin: 'How do we get more women to invest?’

It annoyed me because, let's face it, women are already better investors. So, I decided to flip the brief on its head.

Instead of focusing on getting women to invest more, why not create a category of female-led companies you could invest in and put that on an app?

Plus women are more likely to invest in what they know, trust, and align with their values personal goals, like climate change.”

She goes on to say:

“We pitched the concept to financial services companies multiple times, but it never seemed to be the right time, or it was too difficult to get off the ground…”

But Sam and Grace doubled-down: they were determined to bring this concept to life. They reached out to Thematic, an indices and financial calculator company and they loved the idea.

This gave Sam and Grace the momentum they needed:

“It was like: 'Screw it, we're doing it ourselves.'

If no one else was going to let us make it, we'd do it on our own."

According to Grace:

"It was actually really freeing to just decide to go for it.

We believed in the idea and knew it had to be made. Not pitching it out anymore and just making it ourselves was probably the best decision we made. It was tough, but addressing market bias was our goal, and taking control of the project was key."

"We're not a financial company, so being able to tackle this as a story-led initiative was quite interesting. It's lovely to have such a strong brand story.

It's not just an Index on a website; it's a narrative that influences and encourages people. There are other index products out there, but what makes Pink Chip unique is our storytelling and branding.

We're advocates, raising awareness and changing behaviour."

And here they are: proving that female-led companies not only perform well, but outperform traditional indices.

“It’s about showing the financial world that investing in female leadership is not just a moral choice, but a smart financial one”.

Listen to the full interview on The Purse Podcast.

News in Brief

Financial news

* Dow Jones Industrial Index blew through a new historic milestone: 40,000. (The Index needed 908 trading sessions to hit 40,000, much shorter than the 999 sessions it took to first reach 30,000 from 20,000).

* The next meme thing to ride? Silver rises to $30.5/oz, highest level since 2013.

* Dollar rally falters as falling inflation raises hopes of rate cuts. US currency on track for first negative month of the year after end to months of above-forecast CPI data.

* US core inflation cools for first time in 6 months in relief for the Fed and financial markets. April core CPI (excl food and energy costs), increased 0.3% from March MoM after +0.4% MoM previous month.

* US: May Fund Manager Survey (FMS) sentiment is at the most bullish level since Nov’21, BofA says. The average cash level of FMS investors fell to 4.0% of AUM from 4.2%, lowest since Jun’21.

* Three UK banks announce cuts to cost of fixed-rate mortgages. Barclays Bank, HSBC and TSB reveal reductions, reversing some of price rises seen in recent weeks.

* GameStop is trying to profit from the retail investor hype. May sell up to 45m shares of class A stock through “at the market offering.” Shares crash another 27%.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi

* Bitcoin has returned to over $66,000, marking its best week since the early days of March.

* Ethereum price rallies above $3,100 after unexpected regulatory victory. The document stated that “Ethereum is a decentralised blockchain […] without the need for a trusted intermediary” and added, “No central actor runs the Ethereum Network.” These statements boosted Ether investors’ confidence.

* Daniel Cheung, co-founder of Syncracy Capital, expressed confidence in the strength of Solana (SOL) and its potential to reclaim the $200 mark.

* ShibaSwap 2.0 goes live on Shiba Inu’s Layer 2 blockchain. Shiba Inu’s ecosystem has been among the most active in the past year or so, and this week marked the migration of the native decentralised exchange to Shibarium in the form of ShibaSwap 2.0.

* Morgan Stanley reveals $269 million investment in Grayscale’s GBTC. Publicly listed US giants had to disclose their financial activities during the first quarter of the year in separate filings to the US SEC.

* Wisconsin State £164m BTC investment could cause chain reaction from other States. One of the other notable and perhaps surprising names on the BTC bandwagon list was the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB).

* CME Group plans spot Bitcoin trading amid rising Wall Street demand. CME Group, a traditional finance giant that has a rich history with the cryptocurrency industry, is reportedly looking into entering the spot Bitcoin trading market.

The Purse Podcast

We cover the following in this conversation:

* Investor gender bias

* The outperformance of female CEO leadership

* The Pink Chip Index -why we need it

* The journey to launch

* The criteria used for the Pink Chip index

* Performance vs standard indices

* The impact on promoting gender diversity and inclusion

* What's next for the Pink Chip?

* What do companies need to do to be included in the Pink Chip Index?

Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+

Coffee Break? Read This

* Protesters, pop stars and pioneers: 38 images that changed the way we see women (for better and for worse)

* ‘I felt like I was losing my mind’: how to keep your career on track during menopause

* Meryl Streep: it’s ‘hardest thing’ for men to see themselves in female characters

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2024 & All Rights Reserved

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

Welcome to our #236 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we highlight a talk by Ali Crossley who is a Managing Director of Distribution at Legal & General. She focuses on the barriers that hold women back in the financial services sector and what can be done to change that.

***

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

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

“Helping women achieve their full potential is good for us all..”

Ali Crossley, MD at Legal & General talks about what holds women back at work in the financial services services sector, and what can be done about it.

Ali Crossley, Managing Director of Distribution at Legal & General, outlined three barriers for women in the workplace:

* the authority gap

* the achievement penalty

* and the menopause scrapheap. 

Speaking at the Women in Protection conference in early May, Ali explained what we know only too well:

“Helping women doesn’t just mean that things only get better for women or that men have to lose out in some way… Helping half of our workforce achieve their full potential is good for us all…”

But because our culture regards authority as a male quality, rising through the ranks becomes much more difficult for women.

Women also face an achievement penalty. Their success is more likely to lead to relationship breakdown or divorce. Male partner stress goes up when women earn 40% or more of the total household income.

And menopause can ‘hit women hard’.

But without the support required at work, the highly experienced senior female talent pool will opt out or underperform. The menopause currently costs the UK economy 14m working days every year.

And 1bn+ women globally will be in menopause by 2025.

The data says it all…

…helping women reach their full potential will make businesses 25% more likely to earn above average profits. Not to mention add 14m of the otherwise lost working days in the UK economy.

Ali called for more support of gender equality in the workplace; she wants to:

“… see more men challenging their own biases and supporting their partners through the achievement gap..”

But ultimately, it is the CEO and executive team in every business which must be held responsible for building a workplace which works for both men AND women.

Continuing to apply a ‘male only lens’ in an environment which employs a growing number of women, especially into senior roles, renders it inadequate.

This is one of the reasons many women decide to start their own business or seek flexibility via a ‘portfolio career’.

What next? (Re) read and (re) listen to The Purse Podcast:

* The menopause: an underserved market

* #32: the menopause, Gen M, and how businesses drive change with Heather Jackson

* #59: the menopause and how the female brain gets stronger and better in midlife with Dr Louann Brizendine

News in Brief

Financial news

* Global debt rose by $1.3tn to a new ATH of $315tn in Q1 2024. Moreover, after 3 consecutive quarters of decline, global debt-to-GDP resumed its upward trajectory in Q1 2024. Emerging market debt topped $105tn in Q1 2024, w/largest increases coming from China, India, Mexico.

* The FTSE 100 is set to close at another record high after the prospects of a summer interest rate cut grew larger. 

* The ratio of the Magnificant 7 vs the S&P 493 (S&P 500 ex Mag 7) has just hit another ATH.

* Liquidity is the biggest driver of risk assets, particularly growth assets, crypto and technology trades more or less in lockstep with US net liquidity.

* Stanley Druckenmiller gives Biden's economic policies an 'F,' blames the Fed for reigniting inflation.

* Bank of England keeps interest rates at 5.25% but hints at a June cut. Policymakers say they want to see more evidence that price pressures are easing before reducing rates.

* UK economy exits recession with fastest pace of expansion in two years of 0.6%. This growth surpassed economists’ expectations of 0.4% and reversed the 0.3% contraction observed in the final quarter of 2023.

* Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile hit another record at $189bn as billionaire investor Warren Buffett sold ~13% of its stake in Apple in Q1 2024. Buffett said he didn’t mind amassing the cash and said it could reach $200bn by the end of Q2

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi

* Most cryptocurrencies are down this week, as the price of Bitcoin and other major coins and tokens struggled to gain ground.

* Bitcoin is now trading for $60,730, according to CoinGecko—a seven-day drop of more than 3%+.

* Ethereum struggled more than other major cryptocurrencies, dropping by close to 7%+ over the week. It's now priced at $2,906. The asset has been gradually declining since a high-profile lawsuit by software company Consensys alleged that the SEC was deliberately trying to make things difficult for those in the Ethereum sphere.

* Solana-based Bonk is down nearly 15%, trading for $0.00002342. Dogwifhat, which also runs on Solana, took a dip of more than 7% over seven days. It's now priced at $3.12.

* Coinbase can't force the SEC to write new rules, SEC argues in new brief. The SEC's filing argues that it's unreasonable to call existing digital asset regulation "unworkable," and denied that a whole new regime is needed,

* ARK Invest and 21 Shares cut staking component from latest spot Ethereum ETF filing.

* Mark Cuban slams SEC's Gary Gensler, says 'crypto voters will be heard' in the 2024 election

Coffee Break? Read This

* Compliments – why can’t we just accept them?

* The hot years: the truth about what happens during menopause – and the best ways to get through it

* Soya, nuts and yoghurt: the diet tweaks that can ease the symptoms of menopause

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2024 & All Rights Reserved

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

Welcome to our #235 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we spotlight the interview with Rachel Cook, who is the Founder and CEO of Seeds. It is a Web3 startup which allows contributors to build their wealth through crypto by giving.

After working as a stock trader and encountering gender discrimination, Rachel decided to start building a new economic ecosystem which values women’s contribution.

Listen here to the full interview on The Purse Podcast

****

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

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

Seeds: build wealth with crypto by giving

We interviewed Rachel Cook, Founder and CEO for Seeds about the new economic ecosystem she is building in Web3.

Seeds is a Web3 startup which turns the existing economic ecosystem on its head.

Rachel Cook, who runs and founded the startup, used to be a professional stock trader in Chicago and Wall Street until the misogyny forced her to quit.

She did all the right things:

* attended a good university

* received good grades

* and eventually got a job as a trader.

Growing up, she was told she would be rewarded for her achievement.

But at 24 years of age, she discovered she was paid a lower base salary than all the men who had started with her. Despite having more for-profit trading experience.

This was the first time she bumped up against sexism in the workplace. Why was she being devalued within the system?

But she managed to outperform all the men on her team anyway. And received a much larger bonus.

However this forced her to question the design of the system itself.

Why was it that if she made a dollar, it meant someone else had to lose that dollar by design?

“It was this manufactured sense of zero sum”.

And this didn’t make sense because “money is not scarce”. Money is everywhere and governments continue to print money.

There are 180 different fiat currencies in the world generated by governments plus add crypto into this ‘money equation’.

It didn’t take long for Rachel to start waking up to the misogyny baked into the entirety of the financial system.

And she started thinking about building a new economic ecosystem.

The context for Seeds:

We should have a system that brings yin and yang, masculine and feminine energies, present in people of all genders, into balance which contributes to making healthy individuals and healthy societies.

The current economic system overly prioritises toxic masculine energies. We chase productivity at all times.

And it is about continual linear growth, which isn't the way things work in nature. We move through cycles in nature.

It devalues divine feminine traits, like nurturance and creativity. These values do not really have a place within the current economic system.

For this reason, Rachel wants to make sure she speaks to women and to make sure women are acknowledged and feel heard.

“If you're a woman, you've experienced discrimination because that's what this world does to us. And that has to be acknowledged and addressed”.

Also, speaking in terms of energies that impacts all of us, could be a more useful way to frame conversations so that they don’t become about identity.

Moreover, the design of capitalism dictates…

… that those who have more money can make more money passively. If you don't have that money, you can't do it.

So part of the design of Seeds is meant to prevent other people from having that experience. You can redeem a SEED to ask for help when you need it and receive those funds in thanks.

What is Seeds and how does it work?

Seeds is meant to present an alternative economic ecosystem and which doesn't ignore and devalue feminine contribution.

It is a global, digital giving circle in Web3.

So anyone who would like to help someone in need through Seeds can do so as easily as you would give to a charity on any site. It's just a donation, but it is called a contribution because Seeds is not a non-profit.

A user will need to have one SEED to redeem; to ask for help. You can receive a SEED by helping someone else in need and then you'll receive SEEDS in thanks.

Anyone can make a gift to someone in need through the Seed site.

The aim is to have ‘giving people’ to hold SEEDS so that they benefit, when and if the cryptocurrency markets go up and in that way, giving is a net neutral for the contributor because it does not cost anything.

And it can be for literally anything you need it to be so long as it is legal…

A SEED has been redeemed to fill up a tank of petrol. And SEEDS paid for a cornea surgery for a young man who had gotten into a car accident in Nigeria. And they helped pave the area around a well in South Sudan…

Listen to the full interview with Rachel Cook

News in Brief

Financial news

* Stocks and bonds rally following soft US jobs data. Hiring slows to 175,000 jobs in April way below the forecasted 240k+, lowest figure since October 2023’s +165k+.

* US Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady as inflation ticks up. Fed announces it will keep interest rates at 5.25% to 5.5% as rate of inflation remains above target of 2%.

* The US Fed to slow pace of balance-sheet runoff starting in June. Central bank to lower Treasuries runoff cap to $25bn, from $60bn. Reduction was larger than market observers had expected. This will inject ‘liquidity’ into the market.

* Traders pull forward first US rate cut to September from November following soft US jobs data. Price in 2+ cuts this year.

* UK will be worst performer in G7 next year, OECD forecasts. UK constrained by high interest rates, price rises and staff shortages but thinktank offers optimistic outlook for global economy.

* S&P affirms Tesla 'BBB' rating; outlook stable although free cash flow fell to -$2.5bn in Q1 2024 from +$2bn in Q4 2023.

* The AI boom is set to drive a rally in what's traditionally the most boring corner of the stock market: utilities. Utilities to see booming demand as more data centers go online.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi

* Bitcoin plunged almost 16% in April, most since FTX collapse in November 2022 as Crypto ETF flows are reversing as Fed rate-cut hopes fade. The price of Bitcoin is now at $63,700.

* US Bitcoin ETFs see highest daily outflow. Investors pulled $564m from Bitcoin ETFs on Wednesday. The current lull is likely to be followed by a new wave from a different type of investor. The coming months could see financial institutions such as sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and endowments start to trade in the spot ETFs.

* Meme coins continued their run, with Ethereum-based Pepe striking big gains and Solana-based Bonk having a good week too. Despite a bumpy seven days, they are up over 20% and 15%.

* Other alts, like Ordinals-based ORDI and Toncoin, started a rally on Friday. ORDI is now priced at $41, a 24-hour jump of 10%, and Toncoin at $5 is up 9%.

The Purse Podcast

We cover the following in this conversation:

* Why did Rachel transition into crypto and Web3?

* Context: what is Web2 vs Web3?

* Bitcoin halving and the crypto market

* Seeds: building a new economic ecosystem based on abundance

* The challenges of being a female founder

* What is the future of Seeds?

* How do more women engage in Web3 and invest in crypto?

* More+

Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+

Coffee Break? Read This

* Saudi Arabia activist sentenced to 11 years in prison for ‘support’ of women’s rights

* Becoming a mother was impossibly hard during Covid. Has anything changed since?

* A moment that changed me: I made my own wedding dress – and learned to embrace imperfection

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2024 & All Rights Reserved.

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

Welcome to our #233 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we profile the legendary Sharon Lechter who we interviewed on The Purse Podcast.

Sharon is responsible for building the world’s largest personal finance brand.

Few may know that she is the co-author of Rich Dad Poor Dad (with Robert Kiyosaki), and she ran the organisation for 10 years.

She is a force of nature…at 70 years of age: she is not done yet.

We talk about her journey, women and money, financial education for kids, investing in crypto and much more.

You can listen to the full interview here.

***

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

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

Sharon Lechter: how money works for women and why financial education is key

Sharon Lecher built the world's largest personal finance brand, Rich Dad Poor Dad.

Sharon co-authored Rich Dad Poor Dad, which has sold over 40m copies since it was published in 1997 (globally).

She ran the organisation for 10 years: 15 books, 110 countries in 51 languages... In her own words: ‘money was flowing, and we were making millions of dollars a month…”

But she had to leave the organisation as she no longer aligned with her business partner, Robert Kiyosaki.

Sharon’s most challenging “money lesson” was actually about life: her happiness and personal growth was more important than her bank account.

And this is why she believes that it is “…really important for women to stand in their own power and not allow yourself to be in a situation that is not supportive and not conducive to growth.”

After she left the organisation, Sharon was asked to reinvigorate one of the world's biggest personal development brands, Think and Grow Rich, by the Napoleon Hill Foundation.

Her best-selling books with the Foundation include Three Feet from Gold, Outwitting the Devil, Think and Grow Rich for Women and Success and Something Greater.

Sharon also got a call from President Bush.

And she was invited to join the Presidential Advisory Council for both President Bush and President Obama to advise on financial literacy.

This led to passing the Credit Card Act in 2009, which includes a clause that prevents credit card companies from soliciting kids on university campuses.

Her own ‘definiteness of purpose’ came after her eldest son returned from his first term at university with credit card bills.

It was then that Sharon decided to dedicate the rest of her career to providing financial literacy for kids.

She’s as passionate about it today as she was in 1992.

And as Sharon often says: she is not done yet…

Listen to the full interview with Sharon Lechter.

News in Brief

Financial news

* Nasdaq 100 fared worst weekly drop since Nov 2022 as US 10 years yields pushed 4.6%+.

* The S&P 500 is down 5.9% from its peak on March 28, the first pullback of the year. This is the 28th correction 5%+ off of a high since the March 2009 low. They all seemed like the end of the world at the time.

* To put things into perspective: fewer than 30% of S&P 500 members trading above the 50-day moving average.

* US equity valuations are still high relative to the macro environment, Goldman says. Shiller P/E predicted by Goldman macro model of equity valuations, US stocks are 40% overvalued.

* With markets moving to price out future rate cuts (rate cuts of less than 40 basis points are priced in until the end of the year), the US Treasury curve continues to shift higher.

* US 10 year yields jump to 4.6% after hot US retail sales. March retail sales rose 0.7% MoM on the headline vs +0.4% expected, while the control group beat by even more: +1.1% vs +0.4%.

* A Bank of England deputy governor has predicted that UK inflation will fall back close to the official 2% target in April, for the first time since the summer of 2021 (CPI inflation fell to 3.2% earlier this week).

* Retail sales in Great Britain flatline as households continue to feel squeeze. Shoppers cut back in March, with data likely to increase pressure on Bank of England over interest rates.

* An exciting statistic from Goldman Sachs: just 10 years ago, the collective market cap of the Mag 7 was $1.5tn. Today, that stands at $13.5tn.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Bitcoin completed its fourth halving on Friday (and remained steady), ushering in new era for BTC. After the 840,000th Bitcoin block was created, successful miners now earn 3.125 BTC per block completed, in addition to network transaction fees. Bitcoin is currently trading at $65,074

* The bitcoin price fell dramatically, after it got battered last weekend by massive liquidations and trouble in the Middle East. At one point, it dipped below $60,000 for the first time since late February.

* Runes Protocol launches on bitcoin, sending fees soaring as users rush to mint tokens.

* Ethereum's price has dropped by more than 6%, currently trading at $3,184. A report earlier in the week showed that investors were fast cashing out of digital asset investment products tracking Ethereum.

* Pepe, Bonk, and Dogecoin all down significantly—12%, 13%, and 10% respectively over the last week.

* ApeCoin got shredded earlier in the week when the wider crypto market took a hit, but it has since recovered from nearly hitting an all-time low.

* Worldcoin unveils World Chain, a Layer-2 network ‘built for humans’. World Chain is scheduled to launch later this year in the summer.

* Former a16z partner Kathryn Haun to retire from Coinbase board, focus on venture portfolio.

* Institutional adoption in blockchain and crypto at its highest point, says BlockDaemon strategist.

The Purse Podcast

We cover the following in this conversation:

* The importance of financial education

* Women's relationship with money

* What are the three biggest financial challenges for women?

* What is the money mindset?

* How money works for women

* Building financial resilience

* Creating multiple streams of income

* Investing in crypto and digital assets

* More+

Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+

Coffee Break? Read This

* Why career transition is so hard

* ‘Shagging and shoes’: why Gen Z has fallen in love with Sex and the City

* Saudi Arabia is rebranding itself as a moderate country, but what’s the truth? Just ask our female activists

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2024 & All Rights Reserved.

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

Welcome to our #232 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we focus on tennis star Serena Williams and her venture firm which has invested in 85 startups, 14 of which have since achieved unicorn status.

***

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

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

Tennis star Serena Williams invests in 14 unicorns

Serena Ventures funds female and diverse founders in underserved and underfunded markets. Out of 85 investments, 14 startups have achieved unicorn status.

It's a good idea to have a 'Plan B'.

In the case of Serena Williams, considered one the greatest tennis players of all time, setting up a venture capital fund was it.

Aptly named "Serena Ventures", her VC firm is on a mission to champion diverse, creative founders who are changing the world with their ideas and products across a wide array of industries.

And as she told us in her Tik Tok video recently, 14 of the companies she invested in have reached unicorn status ie they are valued at $1bn+, since she launched the fund in 2014.

Today, Serena's VC firm has invested in 85 startups, 79% are underrepresented founders, 54% are women, 47% at Black and 11% are Latinx.

Less than 2% of VC funding goes to women...

...even though women make up more than 50% of the global population, make 85% of all consumer purchasing decisions and tend to be the CFO of their household.

In other words, there is an entire economy which mostly white male VC investors are ignoring, oftentimes addressed by the products and services introduced by female and diverse founders.

But wait for it, this VC statistic is even more dire for black women:

in 2021, 0.34% of VC money was directed to their startups. And this figure increased only marginally from 0.27% in 2018.

In an op-ed published in 2020 on the CNN website, Serena commented:

“Without the network necessary to raise critical starting capital, most Black female founders close shop before their product even reaches the market. By building exclusive spaces and systems, we are missing out on the innovation and genius of so many..”

Silicon Valley, therefore, does not have a talent pipeline problem; it has a network selectivity and resource allocation problem.

Wise words, Serena.

But she's not stopping there...Serena has a Plan C, Plan D, Plan...

..On 4 April, she launched a new make-up brand called "Wyn Beauty" you can move in.

And she is one of the female investors who backed the US 'Angel City Football Club' (which may now be on sale) along with other female investors including actress Natalie Portman and retired US football player, Abby Wambach.

Even Serena's daughter is a 'co-owner'.

Investing in Serena's daughter and her future by setting her up as an investor early, might just be the the Ultimate Plan-we love it!

News in Brief

Financial news

* Iran launched a series of drone strikes on Israeli territory, firing 185 drones, 36 cruise missiles, and 110 surface-to-surface missiles, with the majority originating from Iran and smaller portions from Iraq and Yemen.

* S&P 500 dropped 1.6% this week, logs the worst week since Nov 2023 while fear index Vix jumped to highest since November.

* Gold sets a fresh historic record, while the volume in Gold-ETFs keeps falling.

* ECB keeps interest rates on hold for fifth meeting as expected. Leaves deposit Rate at 4.00%, ECB prepares markets for first rate cut in June.

* ECB's Christine Lagarde: we won't wait for 2% everywhere to make decisions. Also, says: we are not Fed dependent; can't assume Eurozone inflation will mirror US inflation.

* The UK continued to grow in February, boosting hopes that the economy is escaping recession.

* BlackRock is eating the world: hits record $10.5tn in assets under management in Q1 2024, +15% YoY, boosted by $57bn of total net inflows to its investment products.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Bitcoin falls 8%, drops below $62K before rebound, after Iran attacks Israel.

* Other major digital assets saw similar falls over the past 24 hours, including ether (ETH), which fell 7% to just under $3,000, BNB (BNB) (down 9%) and Solana (SOL) (down 12%), according to CoinGecko.

* Bitcoin’s halving countdown continues with one week to go. The estimated time remaining would see Bitcoin’s fourth halving arrive on April 20, with the block subsidy dropping from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.

* Coinbase files interlocutory appeal in its case against the SEC. In its motion, the exchange will be appealing the issue of whether the SEC has authority over digital asset transactions as investment contracts. 

Coffee Break? Read This

* ‘It’ll be a massive saving’: why more people in the UK are downsizing home

* ‘You can make meaningful relationships’: how does friendship change in older age?

* I told a friend about my husband’s poor finances and now he secretly mocks him. What should I do?

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2024 & All Rights Reserved.

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

Welcome to our #231 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we spotlight a short extract from our interview on The Purse Podcast with Pierre Rolin, who founded Ankh Impact Ventures in 2020.

Pierre invests in female and diverse founders globally and has a very powerful message for male investors about why they need to back women.

Listen to the full interview here.

***

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

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

Investing in female founders and why male investors need to back women

We interviewed gender lens, angel investor Pierre Rolin who founded Ankh Impact Ventures in 2020.

We interviewed Pierre Rolin on The Purse Podcast.

Pierre N. Rolin is Founder and CEO of Ankh Impact Ventures. A Canadian entrepreneur with over 35 years of real estate investment advisory as well as venture capital experience, Pierre was previously based in London, Frankfurt, and New York and has closed more than 550 real estate investments valued in excess of $17 billion and delivered an average 20% net IRR for his clients.

Pierre has shared his experiences at numerous conferences and events globally, such as The World Economic Forum in Davos, The Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles, and the Young Presidents Organisation in London.

In the podcast interview we talk about: Ankh Impact Ventures, investing in female and diverse founders, the investment thesis, female pitch competitions, why female founders are a better investment and why male investors need to back women.

Below is a short extract from the interview. (We have made slight adjustments to the below for ease of reading only).

Pierre Rolin:

“…50% of the planet's consumer is a woman, yet less than 2% of capital goes to them. And the irony is that some of these businesses are “women founder advantage” businesses where men have no idea about, say, women's health … and as a result, women don't get the capital to build these businesses.

So there are vacuums…

I'll give you a very good example… of one of our companies that we invested in very early, and it is called “Mission Driven Tech”. It’s an American company founded by a Google executive who was diagnosed with cervical cancer and was pregnant six months with her second child and left Google.

The female founder had to take on a very difficult process of radio oncology with medical equipment which is antiquated from the seventies. So together with her radio oncologist, they formed a company after she recovered and applied her experience and mission to expanding global access to quality cervical health care.

How is a man going to do that? And her business partner and Chief Medical Officer was the one who effectively saved her in the hospital. And then the hospital backed her.

So you've got a cervical cancer survivor who quit her job and decides to dedicate the second chance in life…

***

…She had a horrendous experience on a medical instrument, which I've been told by her was designed in the seventies and the hospitals globally haven't put a dime into advancing this medical instrument (I won't get into too much detail), but there's I think about five procedures and a third of women pass away because they don't complete the procedures because the pain and the mental and the surrounding medical effects of that cause enormous issues, internal bleeding, huge mental Issues and physical issues. And you combine those three and apparently a third of women don't complete it.

I think 300, 000 American women pass away for that reason.

…But the fact of the matter is, there has been no advancement in global cervical cancer for this particular procedure and medical instruments since the 70s because the resources haven't gone into it…”

News in Brief

Financial news

* Gold has hit fresh all-time-high despite a rise in US real yields. At the current 2%, 10 year real rate, Gold at $2,300/oz is ~$270/oz expensive, Jefferies has calculated. The fundamental reasons are increased government spending and indications of a willingness to accept higher inflation.

* Gold is soaring while Bitcoin digital Gold – is slumping? Bitcoin has shown itself to be more correlated w/risk-sensitive assets.

* The return of volatility? The fear index Vix jumped >14%, most since October.

* Bond yields jump and US dollar rises on hot US jobs report: US added 303,000 jobs in March, way higher than Street estimates of +214,000.

* The odds of a June US Federal rate cut are now almost a coin toss (59%) following hot jobs report with ok inflation.

* Brent oil jumped >$90/bbl for the first time since October as the conflict in the Middle East showed signs of escalating.

* Eurozone inflation cools, setting stage for June rate cut: headline CPI slowed to 2.4% year-on-year in March from 2.6% in February below consensus forecast of 2.5%.

* House prices across the UK fell by 1% last month following five months of growth, according to Britain’s biggest mortgage lender.

* Shares of Donald Trump’s social-media business wiped out their gains from IPO last week after company disclosed that it lost $58m+ in 2023 while generated just $4.1m in revenue, underscoring how richly valued Trump Media is relative to peers.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Markets ended the week in the red, with the Bitcoin price below its old 2021 high of $69,044. Today is is trading slightly higher at $69,422. The price drop—the coin is now down nearly 3% over the week—is likely due to crypto fund manager Grayscale shifting even more crypto

* Bitcoin’s next halving now just two weeks away. The estimated time remaining would see Bitcoin’s fourth halving arrive on April 20, with the block reward dropping from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC.

* Bitcoin Cash had its halving this week. As a result, it's up big—14% over seven days. Right now, its price stands at $695.71. The 14th biggest digital asset rocketed up to its highest price since 2021 but has since retreated.

* Solana has lost out the most: it's now priced at $176.82, having dropped by nearly 10% over seven days.

* Popular meme token Dogwifhat (WIF) dropped by close to 25% in a week and is now trading hands for $3.38.

* While popular Solana-based Bonk is also down by over 18%. The meme coin was on a good run last week as one of the best-performing cryptocurrencies.

* JPMorgan anticipates SEC approving spot Ethereum ETFs after litigation process.

The Purse Podcast

We cover the following in this conversation:

* Why Pierre started Ankh Impact Ventures

* Investing in female and diverse founders

* Investment thesis- patient capital

* Female pitch competitions

* Female founders are a better investment

* Why male investors need to back women.

Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+

Coffee Break? Read This

* Why I’m yet another woman leaving the tech industry

* The joy and freedom of a solo holiday as an older woman

* Perimenopause has brought chaos to my life – but also peace

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2024 & All Rights Reserved.

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

Welcome to our #230 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we highlight the Labour government’s plans to tackle the ‘funding issue’ for female and ethnic minority founders. They also aim to address the financial exclusion of women.

In the meantime, a new taskforce has been set up to create a £250m fund aimed at providing capital to female founders. This is music to our ears!

***

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

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

Solving the funding issue for female founders

The Labour government has announced plans to direct more funds to female founders and review the financial exclusion of women. Meanwhile, a new taskforce has been setup to help launch a £250m fund aimed at female founders in the UK.

The funding stats are dire for female founders: only 1% of VC capital is directed to their startups in the UK.

But the Labour party has announced plans to change that as the UK prepares for a General Election end of this year or in early 2025.

If the Labour party wins the next General Election, their aim is to set targets for funding female-led businesses through the state-owned British Business Bank (BBB) and to launch a review of the financial exclusion of women, as reported by The Guardian.

The initiatives announced by the shadow City minister Tulip Siddiq, will include:

* An ‘overall investment allocation target’ towards businesses led by women, as well as those led by ethnic minority founders.

* The BBB will also be required to issue reports on the diversity of applicants it considered for funding.

* Launch a review of the female financial exclusion to identify the barriers to women for reaping the benefits their male peers receive. And this will be aimed at tackling poor take-up of financial advice and the root causes of the ‘gender pensions gap’.

Meanwhile, a new taskforce was announced…

…to create a £250m funding pot for female founders. The aim is to address the shortage of equity capital and debt available to women who are building businesses.

Led by Debbie Wosskow (a serial entrepreneur) and Hannah Bernard (Head of Business Banking for Barclay’s Bank) the Invest in Women Taskforce will aim to raise capital from a combination of pension funds and other private sector investors, as well as government monies.

This follows similar initiatives including the Alison Rose Review of Female Entrepreneurship and the women-led high growth enterprise taskforce, chaired by Starling bank founder, Anne Boden.

According to Debbie Wosskow:

“Nobody has had funding as the front and central problem to solve in any of these initiatives and that is the one thing this Invest in Women taskforce is set out to do… to create the biggest funding pot in the world, £250m, to back female entrepreneurs and to make the UK the biggest place in the world to be a female founder.”

Solving the ‘funding issue’ which is a systemic problem experienced by female and ethnic minorities founders, should finally start to move the needle (we hope!).

What next? (Re) listen to The Purse Podcast:

* #74: Women's relationship to money, budgeting vs investing and working with a financial planner with Victoria Ross

* #90: Fintech, building a scale-up, female founders and fundraising with Sabrina Del Prete

* #99: Female angel investors, UK vs US startup culture, investing for impact and levelling the playing field for female founders with Maya Ghosn

News in Brief

Financial news

* Gold jumps $2,220+/oz, hitting a fresh ATH although money continues to flow out of the Gold ETFs. With an 9.1% increase in March 2024, this marks Gold’s best monthly performance since July 2020, when it climbed 10.9% amid massive monetary & fiscal stimulus during COVID-19 pandemic.

* US economy grew faster than first thought at 3.4% annual rate. The BEA said the faster growth was thanks to upward revisions to consumer spending and non-residential fixed investment.

* US and European equity market volatility is at multi-year lows. But traders bet the US election will unsettle the market calm.

* The recent brutal rise in commodity prices is perhaps a harbinger that stock market is now seeing a rotation from highly valued Tech into value commodity stocks.

* UK recession confirmed after weakest non-pandemic year since 2009. Excluding the year 2020, which was affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this is the weakest annual change in real GDP since the financial crisis in 2009.

* Reddit has already warned in its S-1 filing about its own meme stock status. And that's exactly what happened. Reddit is the new meme stock. It rose by 30% on Monday and pulled other meme stocks up with it. GameSt

* Donald Trump's net worth has jumped $4.7bn this year to $7.8bn. Trump is now richer than George Soros. Trump Social’s public debut puts all other meme stocks to shame

* No ESG and 'energy pragmatism.' The focus has changed completely: BlackRock’s Larry Fink warns about a retirement “crisis” in this year's annual letter to CEOs. The miracles of technology have extended our lives but there is no dialogue in America or most places about, ‘Can we afford that?

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Bitcoin is up over the week, having risen over 10% the past seven days. Its price now stands at $69,966, per CoinGecko—still below the nearly $74,000 all-time high it touched earlier this month.

* Ethereum and Solana have also risen in price over the past week. Ethereum is up by slightly over 4% and is now priced at $3,494. Solana is up over 12% and is coming in at $196.23.

* Dogecoin, the ninth biggest digital asset is up nearly 45% in seven days and is now priced at $0.208.

* Bitcoin Cash, the 15th biggest coin, has shot up in value over the week by over 30% and by over 50% in 30 days.

* Dogwifhat, which is this week's best-performing cryptocurrency. The Solana-based token is up nearly 100% over the week and is priced at $4.52.

* Shiba Inu, the Dogecoin-competitor has jumped over 10% in value the past seven days, sitting at $0.00003 early Saturday.

* Other memes comandeering the spotlight include Solana-based Bonk and Pepe, which are up 23% and 6%, respectively.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Garrick Club asked to consider membership for seven leading women

* Texas woman charged with murder in 2022 abortion sues prosecutors for $1m

* The Guardian view on global women’s rights: Saudi Arabia isn’t the only problem

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2024 & All Rights Reserved.

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

Welcome to our #229 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we highlight that the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) released their final report Thursday which said ‘thousands of women may have been affected by the Department and Work Pension’s (DWP) failure to adequately inform them that the state pension age had changed’.

Whilst the Waspi campaigners are calling for a £10,000+ payout, the ombudsman has recommended payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950 per person. However, the DWP has clearly indicated that they ‘refuse to comply’.

And don’t forget to the listen to The Purse Podcast interview with Vanessa Northway, who is the Deputy Vice-Principal for Learning and teaching at Heriot-Watt University Dubai. We talk about the role that schools, universities and parents play in teaching kids and young adults about money.

***

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

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

Thousands of women are owed pension payout

Ombudsman Waspi ruling confirms that thousands of women born in the 1950s are owed compensation because of government failings.

On Thursday, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) issued its final report, which said ‘thousands of women may have been affected by the Department and Work Pension’s (DWP) failure to adequately inform them that the state pension age had changed’, as reported by The Guardian.

Women’s pension claim

Almost 4 million women born in the 1950s (UK) had their retirement plans “plunged into chaos”, with many of them left thousands of pounds out of pocket after the DWP increased the state pension age from 60 to 65, and then to 66. Some say they received only 12 months’ notice of a six-year delay to their pension.

The PHSO recommended payouts of between £1,000 and £2,950 a person fall far short of the £10,000-plus that the WASPI campaigners were calling for.

It is unclear how many women are due compensation and the report stated that paying out all 3.5m+ women, born in the 1950s, at the recommended payout level would cost £3.5bn to £10.5bn in public funds. PHSO also added: ‘We understand not all of them will have suffered injustice’.

However, the DWP had clearly indicated it would ‘refuse to comply’, which was ‘unacceptable’. As a result, the PHSO would be asking the government to intervene.

Angela Madden, the chair of Waspi, said:

“The DWP’s refusal to accept the clear conclusions of this five-year-long investigation is simply unbelievable. One of the affected women is dying every 13 minutes, and we just cannot afford to wait any longer.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has hinted at help for Waspi women who were hit by changes to the state pension age. But currently neither the Conservative or Labour party has committed to compensating the Waspi women.

Funding your retirement

According to Retirement Living Standards, you need £31,300 a year to fund a ‘moderate’ retirement. Even a ‘minimum’ standard of living would require an annual income of £14,400.

Currently, the full level of the state pension is £203.85 per week, giving an annual income of £10,600.

What next? Donate to the Waspi women here.

News in Brief

Financial news

* Global stock market rally: Japan’s Nikkei hit record highs this week, and the main US share indices also hit record levels.

* FTSE 100 approaching record high amid interest rate cut hopes this year.

* Japan raises interest rates for first time in 17 years amid higher inflation and rising wages.

* The US Federal Reserve signals three cuts still likely in 2024, despite inflation uptick. Powell says Fed likely to slow asset runoff ‘fairly soon’ Officials lift forecasts for growth, core inflation in 2024.

* A day after leaving UK interest rates on hold again, the governor of the Bank of England has dropped a hint that cuts are coming.

* Saudi Arabia plans $40bn push into AI. The planned tech fund would make Saudi Arabia the world’s largest investor in AI.

* Apple loses $115bn in market value as regulators on both sides of the Atlantic are training their eyes on the iPhone company, unnerving investors w/fears over fines & threatening its market dominance.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* After setting a new ATH, bitcoin struggles to retake $69k. Grayscale was again shifting crypto to its custodian as investors redeemed their shares. It is likely ‘leftover holders desiring to leave this vehicle for a cheaper ETF.’ Bitcoin is currently trading at $64,336.

* Outflows from spot bitcoin ETFs overpowered new capital on each day this past week, with record-low inflows for BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC.

* Ethereum isn't faring much better, either. ETH has dropped 10% over the week and is now worth $3,342. The news of a ‘voluntary enquiry from a state authority that included a requirement for confidentiality’ didn't do the asset any favours.

* Popular meme coins—which earlier this month piqued investor interest again—took a battering. The biggest ones experienced the biggest dips: Pepe, Dogwifhat, and Bonk are the week's biggest losers. The assets are down 16%, 21%, and 28%, respectively.

* A Monday report from Standard Chartered, claimed that Ethereum could hit $8,000 by the end of this year, and $14,000 is possible by the end of 2025.

* Global investment firm AllianceBernstein continues to be bullish on Bitcoin, and now predicts that the coin will hit $90,000 this year.

* Kraken UK Managing Director says he would 'absolutely' like to see a bitcoin ETF in the UK.

* EU committees approve ban on anonymous crypto transactions via hosted wallets.

* SEC delays decision on Grayscale's Ethereum futures Trust ETF, again.

The Purse Podcast

We cover the following in this conversation:

* Financial education as it relates to children, teenagers, and young adults.

* The role of schools and universities in teaching our kids about money.

* Why parents play a crucial role in how kids grow up thinking about money and how to manage it too.

* The impact of teaching girls about entrepreneurship and financial management.

* Why teaching financial independence and how to invest is crucial.

* How technology can be used to encourage children and young adults to become financially literate and financially confident.

Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+

Coffee Break? Read This

* Beyond burnout

* Fashion is going through a golden age of understatement. And I’m all for it

* Half of the world goes to the polls in 2024. Let’s ensure women’s voices are heard

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2024 & All Rights Reserved.

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

Welcome to our #228 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we focus on a recent study in Norway which suggests that traditional gender patterns and stereotypes in financial investments persist in the crypto sector: men are more than twice as likely to invest in cryptocurrencies compared to women.

However, this highlights a need (and an opportunity) for further education and support for women regarding crypto and how to invest.

***

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

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

Study: how willing are women to invest in crypto?

Despite the initial promise of gender equality in cryptocurrency investment, significant disparities persist 15 years after Bitcoin's introduction.

A recent study conducted in Norway, a country known for its advanced gender equality, shows that men are more than twice as likely to invest in cryptocurrencies compared to women.

However, this highlights a need for further education and support for women regarding crypto and how to invest.

As we are at the start of the next crypto bull market (until the end of 2025 or early 2026), women have an opportunity to start learning about crypto, develop their investing skills and grow their net worth.

Here are some key crypto stats (UK)

* 11% of Brits (5.6m people) have invested in cryptocurrency as of 2024.

* Two-thirds (66%) of Brits who have invested in cryptocurrency are men, while around a third (34%) are women.

* 9% of UK millennials have invested in cryptocurrency.

* 70% of crypto investors are aged between 18 and 44. Almost half (47%) of Brits who invested in cryptocurrency bought Bitcoin.

* In 2024 (UK), around 1 in 7 men (14.5%) have invested in cryptocurrencies at some point in their lives compared to around 1 in 15 women (7%).

For context, research published in 2021…

…by Gemini (UK) suggests that investing in crypto is becoming more diverse, and specifically women are engaging as investors.

Out of the 13.5% of 2,000 respondents that are current or previous cryptocurrency investor, 41.6% were women. This represents a significant shift where women made up just 21%–22% of crypto investors.

And even though only 15% of Bitcoin traders were women, this was up from 10% in 2020.

Study Overview

* The research, published in Psychology & Marketing, aimed to understand the attitudes towards cryptocurrency investments among adults in Norway, focusing on gender, financial knowledge, and personality traits.

* Findings reveal a low overall willingness to invest in digital currencies, with a marked gender difference: 12.5% of men vs. 5.6% of women.

Psychological Mechanisms and Personality Traits

* Researchers investigated the influence of psychological mechanisms and personality traits on the willingness to invest in cryptocurrencies.

* Key traits examined included financial self-efficacy, overconfidence, emotional stability, extroversion, curiosity, agreeableness, and conscientiousness.

* Notable gender differences: men demonstrated higher ‘financial mastery’ and women displayed greater overconfidence.

Gender Differences in Personality Traits

* Gender differences extended to other personality traits: men were found to be less social, agreeable, and conscientious but scored higher on emotional stability.

* These findings align with other research on personality traits.

Impact on Investment Willingness

* Financial overconfidence, more prevalent among women, correlated with a higher willingness to invest in cryptocurrencies.

* Conversely, men, scoring higher in financial mastery and lower in agreeableness and conscientiousness, showed a more positive attitude towards cryptocurrency investments.

Implications and Actions

* The study suggests that traditional gender patterns and stereotypes in financial investments persist in the cryptocurrency sector.

* It highlights a need for further education and support for women regarding cryptocurrency investments.

Reference

* Nyhus et al., "Crypto cravings: Gender differences in crypto investment intentions and the mediating roles of financial overconfidence and personality," Psychology & Marketing, 2023. DOI: 10.1002/mar.21921

What next? (Re) listen to The Purse Podcast:

* #45: Why women need to design, build and invest in crypto and Web 3.0 with Fiona O'Donnell McCarthy

News in Brief

Financial news

* Money-market fund assets rose to a fresh record high on expectations short-term rates will remain elevated for longer. Total assets rose to $6.108trn from $6.077trn the week prior.

* US 10 year yields jump almost 10bps to 4.29% after another inflation disappointment. Producer Prices for Feb ran hot, w/headline +1.6% YoY, up from +1% in January and above the consensus forecast of 1.2%.

* It looks like the markets (at least the option markets) perceive inflation as more sticky than the Fed.

* Looks as if retail investors shifting from gold to bitcoin. Bitcoin funds saw an inflow of $10.6bn YTD vs. an outflow of $7.6bn for physical gold ETFs. But, according to JP Morgan, this outflow trend does not reflect an aversion to Gold by private investors such as individuals & family offices but rather an instrument shift away from physical Gold ETFs to bars & coins.

* Nvidia posts 10th straight weekly gain, longest on record, BBG has calculated. The chipmaker rose 0.4% this week. The stock has gained nearly 80% over the 10-week rally.

* Reddit aiming for $6.5bn valuation from New York flotation. Company plans to raise up to $748m from sale of 22m shares, some of which have been set aside for users.

* Tackling inequality vital for next century of growth, IMF head says. Kristalina Georgieva invokes John Maynard Keynes as she says fostering fairer economy would raise living standards ninefold.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Monday: Bitcoin topped $72,000 for the first time and on Thursday morning Bitcoin nearly touched $74,000, surpassing the market cap ($1.4trn+) of silver. The cryptocurrency has surged amid strong demand and ahead of its halving event in April. Bitcoin will 'eat' gold, MicroStrategy's Michael Saylor says.

* Bitcoin retreated from its latest record high amid intensifying debate about whether the latest bull run in cryptocurrencies is evidence of speculative froth in global markets. Bitcoin has dropped below $66,000, down 11% from ATH.

* Bitcoin’s tumultuous Thursday apparently caught traders unawares, with the token’s sudden plunge triggering nearly $300m worth of BTC-specific liquidations in 24 hours, and over $800m worth of liquidations across the broader crypto market. 

* Ethereum plummeted off yesterday’s dim inflation news, to $3,457 at writing. In a trend parallel to that of BTC, more than $100m worth of ETH long positions were liquidated in the aftermath, along with over $30m worth of short positions on the token.

* Layer 2 blockchains become cheaper after ethereum's Dencun upgrade. The upgrade allows layer 2 solutions to store data in "blobs" instead of the expensive call data.

* The Solana price marked new yearly highs at $197.95. Currently, the price has dropped below $190 but has sustained within the key-resistance levels between $175 and $196.28. Until the SOL price sustains within the range, the traders may remain bullish on Solana, which may smash a new ATH above $300 very soon. 

* SHIB has witnessed a decent downturn this past week, shedding 21% of its value, despite a 26.8% increase in the preceding two weeks and a 177% upswing over the last month.

* ‘Maybe I should buy some Bitcoin’, Bill Ackman, the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, sparked a lively discussion within the cryptocurrency community with a hypothetical scenario where the price of Bitcoin could escalate dramatically.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Are progressive politics the real reason why US lawmakers are spooked by Tiktok?

* As I slide into my ninth decade there are many things I regret, and some days the list is endless.

* I feel for women misled over egg-freezing. If I’d believed doctors during my transition, my kids wouldn’t be here

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2024 & All Rights Reserved.

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

Welcome to our #227 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

We hope you had a chance to celebrate International Women’s Day!

In this week’s newsletter, we focus on research by Boring Money which highlights the growing gender investment gap in the UK. Although women’s risk aversion and lack of money confidence is often used to explain why women invest less than men, we know the reality is far more complex.

And don’t forget to listen to The Purse Podcast interview with David Fogel. We talk about angel investing, why we need male allies, how to eradicate ‘bad behaviour in VC’, investing in female founders, raising capital as a female founder and how to build a startup investment portfolio.

***

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

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana

Women, money and the gender investment gap

According to investment research house Boring Money, the gender investment gap rose by £54bn to £567bn between January 2023 and January 2024, as reported by the Financial Times.

More men than women, aged 25-44 years, have invested their money over the last 12 months. And the disparity in investing has become even more pronounced for 18-25 year olds.

Overall, just 19% of women aged 25-44 were investors, up a mere 1% from January 2023. And the average amount held by male investors is £102,000, compared with £66,000 for women.

The survey also highlighted that only 18% of women preferred a higher risk pension compared to 33% of men.

Moreover, female investors keep 29% of their assets in cash, compared with 25% for male investors. This means women lose out on compound interest and equity growth overtime, which limits how fast their net worth can grow.

Cryptocurrency investing

According to HM Revenue & Customs, 13% of men own cryptocurrencies compared with 6% of women. This may also explain why more than twice as many men invest aged 18-25 years of age, than women.

Women, risk and money confidence

And whilst this can suggest that women are less tolerant to risk, overall research shows that women are in fact risk-aware, as opposed to being risk averse.

A lack of confidence is also cited as a reason why women may be investing less than men. But the reality is far more complex.

Social and gender norms dictate that ‘money making’ continues to be the domain of men. Women tend to be exposed to far less education and information regarding investing. And they often feel alienated by an industry dominated by ‘white bros’ chasing alpha, speaking in technical jargon few understand or can relate to.

Gender bias and parental conditioning continues to play into how girls and women are talked to about money and investing (if at all), not just in the home, but also by the financial services industry.

The gender pay gap also means that women have less money to save and to invest. And if women decide to start a family, they are more likely to take a career break, work part-time which impacts their income level.

If follows that women are in fact exposed to far more financial risk over the course of their life than men.

Which is why women should be investing more money, more often and taking on far more (calculated) investment risk.

Crucially, their financial plan should look very different to a man’s.

What next? (Re) listen to The Purse Podcast

* #86: How women manage risk as investors, at work and in life with Michele Wucker and Barbara Stewart

* #93: How women can become financially independent with Holly Morphew

* #102: Why is money a taboo topic for women, gender norms, how to 'break the money silence', and what is a financially successful life with Kathleen Burns Kingsbury

News in Brief

Financial news

* Jeremy Powell says the US Fed is ‘not far’ from the point of cutting interest rates.

* On Tuesday: bad day for fiat money: not only has Bitcoin reached an ATH today, Gold is also trading at a record high.

* ECB’s Christine Lagarde signals June rate cut with 2% inflation in sight. Markets agree and price in 97bps cut for 2024.

* Gold has hit another record, but the volume of gold ETFs keeps falling. This indicates that demand is not coming from private or institutional investors, but that other players are stocking up on the precious metal.

* Goldman's CIO says don't invest in China. This chart shows why: over the last 30 years the MSCI China index has posted a total return of 0%.

* UK Budget: see here for a summary

* UK interest rates: the latest Monetary Policy report says rates are expected to remain around 5.25% until autumn 2024 and then decline gradually to 4.25% by the end of 2026.

* UK to have first parliament in modern history with fall in living standards, says thinktank. Household incomes on course to fall despite national insurance cuts in budget, says Resolution Foundation.

* In Friday's intraday reversal, Nvidia has lost $250bn of market cap in 2 hours.

* Morgan Stanley warns Tesla could lose money this year. Adam Jonas is the latest analyst to raise some concern with Tesla and slash price target. In the bear case, the share could fall to $100.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* On Tuesday, Bitcoin briefly passes $69,000 to hit new record price for first time since November 2021. And on Friday, reached an new all-time high at $70,105. This is remarkable, considering that the coin was trading for below $17,000 in January 2023.

* Ethereum hit $4,000 for the first time since 2021. Over seven days, it has soared by 13% and the price of ETH stands at $3,894.

* Shiba Inu jumped nearly 135% over the week.

* Dogecoin had a very good week—it nearly doubled in price. It has since dropped and is now priced at $0.1749. It touched $0.19 on Monday, and the Elon Musk favorite is still up over 27% the past seven days.

* Solana, rose above the $150 price point on Friday for the first time since January 2022. The token behind the Ethereum-competing blockchain is now up more than 13% over the past week and is priced at $145.82.

* Bitcoin transaction volume skyrockets as the halving approaches and miners cash in.

* SEC Chair Gary Gensler skirts questions about agency's stance on spot ETH ETFs.

* Coinbase shares top $250 direct listing price for the first time in over two years. Up more than 350% in the past 12 months, Coinbase surpassed its initial direct listing price of $250 for the first time in more than two years.

* Bitwise says Coinbase tech issues similar to Facebook's past, bitcoin ETFs unlikely affected.

The Purse Podcast

We cover the following in this conversation:

* Angel investing: US vs UK

* Male allies and eradicating 'bad behaviour' in VC

* Investing in female founders

* Gender bias in VC

* Raising capital as a female founder

* How to build a startup investment portfolio

Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+

Coffee Break? Read This

* How men can confront other men about sexist behaviour

* The Women’s prize for fiction is a success – now it has a nonfiction sister

* Half of the world goes to the polls in 2024. Let’s ensure women’s voices are heard

We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and janicka. We do no provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2024 & 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