The Purse

Welcome to our #185 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we highlight the third annual Investing in Women Code report published by the UK government.

Over 200 organisations have signed up to the code, and 35% of all venture capital deals made by Investing in Women Code signatories were in female-founded companies last year, compared to the market average of 27%.

Don’t forget to listen to The Purse Podcast interview with Holly Morphew about how women can become financially independent. Holly is a personal finance and wealth building expert-please enjoy!

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 Women Code: closing the funding gap for female founders

The government initiative has published the third report (2023).

The Government has published the third annual Investing in Women Code report. Over 200 organisations have signed up to the code, showing the growing numbers of lenders and investors committed to increasing the levels of finance directed towards women-led businesses.

Whilst we are seeing progress, Alison Rose, the NatWest CEO, has said that women founders are ‘still being snubbed by investors.’

In the UK, less than 2p in every £1 of UK equity funding went to all-female founder businesses in 2022, compared to 85p for all-male founding teams.

Here is a summary of the key findings:

* 35% of all venture capital deals made by Investing in Women Code signatories were in female-founded companies last year, compared to the market average of 27%.

* This is the third year in a row that IWC signatories have outperformed the venture capital market.

* The report also shows that more diverse investment committees are key for bridging the investment gap.

* With 204 signatories, the IWC now covers a significant proportion of the SME lending market and accounts for 39% of UK venture and growth equity deals, up from 24% in 2020.

* The number of deals made by VCs with all-female teams rose from 6% in 2021 to 9% in 2022 in the broader market, bringing it in line with the levels achieved by VC signatories which remained constant for the last year.

* New signatories included British Patient Capital, the UK’s largest domestic investor in venture and venture growth capital, M&G Catalyst, one of the first large asset managers to join the Code; and the University of Exeter, the first higher educational institution to sign up, as the reach of the Code expands into new investor groups.

* Female investors remain underrepresented on investment committees. Signatories report an average of 32% female representation in their investment teams and 24% on their investment committees.

* Reflecting the challenging economic backdrop, Angel group signatories recorded a decrease in the level of funding being requested by all-female teams as compared to 2021. This aligned with a fall in the requests made by their all-male counterparts.

The Investing in Women Code was founded in 2019 as a landmark government-lead initiative in response to the Rose Review’s findings that a lack of funding continues to be one of the most significant barriers to women seeking to effectively scale a business.

* The Code commits signatories to:

* Adopt best practices to improve female entrepreneurs’ access to finance needed to start and grow successful businesses

* Nominate a member of the senior leadership team responsible for supporting equality in all interactions with entrepreneurs

* Provide annual funding data disaggregated by gender to DBT, based on agreed guidelines. Providing data and analysis helps to promote greater transparency across the industry, highlighting where measures are working and where further measures may be needed.

News in Brief

Financial news

* The fear index Vix has dropped to 3 year low as S&P 500 has entered bull market. Up 20%+ since an October low.

* To put the "Magnificent 7" into perspective: 7 Stocks in the S&P 500 (AAPL, MSFT, GOOGL, AMZN, NVDA, TSLA, META) have returned 53% YTD. The other 493 stocks have been flat.

* Mind the gap: while Big Tech from the US has regained strength this year, Big Tech in China is more and more now becoming Small Tech. The Nasdaq Dragon Index w/Chinese stocks is still 68% below its all-time high, the Nasdaq 100 only 14%.

* Goldman says S&P 500 is undervalued because of AI boom. Using a dividend discount model & economists’ assumption that widespread AI adoption could boost productivity growth by 1.5pp per year over 10y period, Goldman estimates that S&P 500 CAGR EPS over the next 20yrs would be 5.4%, compared w/+4.9% that model currently assumes, & would support an S&P 500 fair value 9% above today.

* Chancellor responds to news UK likely to avoid recession but will have one of highest inflation rates among G20.

* UK house prices experience annual fall for first time in decade, data shows. Price of average home in May was 1% lower than in same month last year, according to Halifax figures.

* Mind the difference: Apple stock price has hit a fresh ATH but not Apple's stock market cap because the tech company has bought back a full 617m shares since the beginning of 2022.

* Apple hits record high ahead of VR headset unveiling, up 41% YTD.

* Goldman Sachs expects China to overtake the US not in this decade but around 2035, while India should catch up by 2075.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Bitcoin price can gain 60% if ‘textbook’ chart pattern confirms. Bitcoin is attempting to cement an inverse head-and-shoulders pattern, which could spark a “sprint” to $40,000.

* Vitalik Buterin calls for three mandatory 'transitions' for Ethereum. Layer 2 scaling, wallet security enhancement, and privacy measures.

* The US has charged the biggest crypto trading platform in the country, Coinbase with operating illegally, widening its crackdown on the industry.

* Binance, Coinbase head to court, and the SEC labels 67 crypto-securities.The regulator pressed 13 charges against Binance on June 5, including those involving unregistered offerings and sales of tokens, and failing to register as an exchange or broker-dealer. In the six months after FTX’s bankruptcy, SEC crypto-related enforcement actions rose 183%.

* Robinhood moves to cut support for Cardano, Polygon and Solana. Robinhood opted to axe three tokens after the SEC listed them as unregistered securities in their lawsuits against Coinbase and Binance.

* Crypto.com winding down U.S. institutional business. The move won't affect the company's retail operations.

* CFTC wins Ooki DAO case, setting precedent that DAOs can be held liable. The first-ever case against a decentralised autonomous organisation establishes that DAOs can be held legally liable for their actions.

The Purse Podcast

We cover the following in our conversation:

* How Holly achieved financial independence early on in life

* Why money is often a complicated subject

* The money mindset and why money habits are a key part of wealth building

* What to consider if as a woman you are single or unattached

* What women should consider before getting married so their finances are secure

* How to think about money and investing if you have kids

* And how to divorce well financially

* Why working with a financial coach is a good idea

* And Holly shares her final thoughts on how women should build wealth and why this is important.

Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+

Coffee Break? Read This

* Diageo appoints Debra Crew as its first female CEO

* Why do so many women over 40 struggle with stress?

* How to take better breaks at work, according to research

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 2023 & All Rights Reserved.

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

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 #183 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we highlight a short extract from The Purse Podcast interview with feminist economist Julie A. Nelson.

We talk about Julie’s research which proves that women are not more risk-averse than men, gender bias in economics, the impact on women and why economics is about ‘humans’.

Listen to the full podcast 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

Gender bias in economics and how this impacts women to this day

Julie Nelson joins us on The Purse Podcast to talk about her research which proves that women are not more risk averse than men and why economics is about humans.

Julie A. Nelson joined us on The Purse Podcast.

Julie is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Boston. She was a founding member of the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) and co-edited (with Marianne Ferber) the book Beyond Economic Man: Feminist Theory and Economics (sometimes called the “manifesto” of our field), published in 1993.

Her most recent books are Economics for Humans (2nd edition) and Gender and Risk-Taking: Economics, Evidence, and Why the Answer Matters.  She is editor of the Business Ethics and Economics section of the Journal of Business Ethics, and was the 2019 President of the Association for Social Economics. 

In this podcast interview we talk about (including): women and risk taking, gender bias in economics, the impact on women and why economics is about people.

Below is a short extract from the podcast interview:

Jana: You've written about ‘human economics’, and I absolutely love that term, and I do love the book that you've written, Julie. Can you tell us more about that; the culmination of your life's work?

Julia A. Nelson’s response:

Yes, in the book ‘Economics for Humans’, I brought together feminists work, realising the real economic value of caring work and my work on the business side, realising the real concern for human characteristics that needs to happen in business…

…the neglect of both of those has led to real deficits of economic resources going to care.

In the US, most times, the Bureau of Labour Statistics makes a survey, child care workers get less per hour than parking lot attendants.

People seem to think it's more worthy to watch parked cars than to spend a lot of time bringing up the next generation.

And of course, we're alone in the industrialised world, pretty much about not doing better on family leave, funding family leave and sick leave and a lot of other things that you really need to be able to do the care that keeps families and economies running. So the care side has been starved of resources.

On the other hand, the side that has resources has been starved of care. The idea that employers could actually care about the well being of their workers, could actually care about whether their grandchildren are going to have a decent environment to live in…

…So in ‘Economics for Humans’, I explain where this really perverse idea of ‘the economy as a machine’ came from; it shows how it's had harmful impacts in both those areas, and suggests some alternative metaphors.

I talk about a beating heart, which is what we think of the economy doing, producing and is also the seat of love and courage. Both of which we're going to need if we're going to do better in this life, and do better as a species.

I also talk about husbandry as a masculine way of thinking about care.

A lot of people when they think about care, they think about mothers and babies, and there's not a whole lot of room for men in that picture.

So I went back to this word husbandry, which nowadays mostly refers to like raising animals, but when you raise animals, you actually have to pay attention to their health, right?

You have to pay attention to the climate and the environment that they're in. And there is a notion of more masculine associated and it's simultaneous with economic production, right?

So it is possible to bring in these notions of carefulness and care into our ideas of economic production.

Not that that kind of economic production can't also be husbanded by women, but I just wanted to present something with which people who identify as male might more closely see themselves in…

..(to) tend a company the way you tend a flock of sheep…

Listen to the full interview here

News in Brief

Financial news

* China’s economy faces gloomy outlook as manufacturing slumps. Manufacturing PMI fell to 48.8, lowest since December 2022, providing more evidence the post-Covid recovery in the world’s 2nd-largest economy has slowed.

* UK and US poised to fall into recession as interest rates dampen growth. Moody’s report shows weak growth across G20 as central banks move to reduce persistent high inflation.

* US Bank run in slow motion over or just a pause? US bank deposits rose for a second week by $86.5bn, almost entirely led by large banks. While that was the largest gain in almost 2years, deposits fell $31.5bn on an unadjusted basis.

* US jobs report was far ahead of 195k forecast. But according to separate household survey, number of employed fell by 310k, which drove unemployment rate to 3.7% from 3.4% vs 3.5% exp.

* Eurozone inflation fell more than expected in May on easing food and declining energy prices but core CPI also dropped. Core CPI dipped to 5.3% in May vs 5.5% expected from 5.6% in April.

* If inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, the Eurozone could also be heading toward deflation. The M2 money supply grew by only 0.9% YoY in April, the lowest in history and compared with 1.4% in March, 2% in Feb, and 2.9% in Jan.

* UK mortgage lending hits record low in sign of housing market stress. Bank of England data shows sharp dip in April as Nationwide says house prices falling at fastest annual rate since 2009.

* New account pays 9% interest as UK savers offered highest rates for more than a decade.

* Nvidia surpasses $1tn market valuation in massive AI bet. Joins $1 Trillion Club, which includes Apple, Microsoft, Saudi Aramco, Alphabet, and Amazon.

* Many AI stocks have more than doubled, and in some cases quadrupled, YTD. Nvidia is 1st chip stock that was even worth a trillion dollars for a short time. Is Generative AI the next tech bubble?

* Cheap (value) stocks lagging behind growth in big reversal from 2022. Value’s rise undermined again by the hegemony of tech megacaps eg AI.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Bitcoin hovers over $27K as investors shrug off hot jobs data. ‘Bitcoin is holding steady after a busy week filled with a debt limit deal, a complicated jobs report that showed both robust hiring and surging layoffs’.

* Bitcoin faces fresh challenges after debt deal moves forward, Citigroup warns. Estimated $1 trillion T-bill deluge headwind for crypto and Bitcoin underperformed on risks of US defaulting on its debt.

* Bitcoin “consolidation” could end by July, new research predicts as optimism over a BTC price breakout returns.

* Ordinals is drawing former ethereum devs to build on bitcoin. The buzzy Bitcoin protocol is attracting talent from across the Web3 ecosystem.

* The Ethereum ecosystem finds itself in the throes of a controversy surrounding the outsized footprint one of its staking pools, Lido Finance (LDO), has on the overall network.

* Sotheby’s Ggolden ‘goose’ sale and mercedes benz puts NFTs in motion. Sotheby’s will sell Dmitri Cherniak's landmark NFT at a live auction this month, while Mercedes Benz released the 'Maschine' and Nike teamed up with EA Sports.

* Coinbase to launch 'institutional-sized' bitcoin and ether futures contracts this coming week.

The Purse Podcast

We cover the following in our conversation:

* Women and risk taking

* Gender bias in economics and the impact on women

* Why economics is about people

* The need to be open to diverse views and perspectives

* How the field of economics should address 'real world problems'

* Why economists need to be more radical.

Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+

Coffee Break? Read This

* You need to practice being your future self

* UK women ‘twice as likely to miss out on pensions auto-enrolment’

* ‘Post-marriage, I was a teenager again’: how I turned the page after getting divorced in my 30s

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 2023 & All Rights Reserved.

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

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 #181 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we spotlight a study by investment service Wealthify which highlights how women think about their money and investing.

And don’t forget to listen to The Purse Podcast interview with Angela Atherton, who rejoins us to provide an update on gender lens investing since we last spoke at the end of December 2021. Angela Atherton (CFA, FRM) is the Co-founder and Principal of Parallelle Finance.

***

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: 87% choose cash accounts over investments 

A study highlights how women think about investing. And more education will encourage women to invest.

Research by investment service, Wealthify highlights that women who have £5000+ to invest prefer to hold the money in a savings account.

Nearly 87% of women are opting not to invest, whilst a staggering 74% of women have not invested because the thought of it makes them nervous, compared to 58% of men.

In the study, Wealthify presented respondents with a chart which demonstrated the rate of return on an investment in the FTSE 100 versus their investment being held in a savings account over a 10 year period.

As a result of seeing this chart, 52% of women agreed that they would be more confident in investing their money.

Andy Russell, CEO at Wealthify has said:

“…So, if the interest rate on your cash savings is below the level of inflation – which is extremely likely – over time, your money will lose value, as you’ll be able to buy less with it. That leaves us with the question, what’s the real risk – investing your money for the long term, or leaving it in a cash account to be eaten away over time? 

“It’s generally advised that once you have your emergency savings in place – which is the equivalent of at least three months’ outgoings – any money you don’t need in the immediate future is invested for the long term. And by ‘long term’, we mean around 5+ years.”  

The study has identified the main barriers to investing…

*  Preference to put their money in a cash savings account 

* 87% women vs 82% men

*  Fear of losing money 

* 86% women vs 84% men

* Fear of scams 

* 75% women vs 67%

*  The thought of it makes them nervous 

* 74% women vs 58% men

* Lack of knowledge 

* 73% women vs 67% men

* Lack of trust where their money would be going 

* 72% women vs 67% men

* Worry that they won’t be able to access their money

* 71% women vs 66% men

* The process seems too complicated 

* 66% women vs 54% men

* Doubt that investments would benefit them financially 

* 51% women vs 53% men

* The risks outweigh the benefits 

* 48% women vs 52% men

Moreover, the study found that a lack of dedicated financial education at school may be causing a lack of confidence.

However based on more general industry research, we know that the financial services industry has historically not targeted women as a customer base and ‘often struggle to appeal to the female consumer’ which has alienated or disengaged women.

How can more women invest?

90% of women have said they would like to invest if they had more information. And another 89% say that if they had a clear plan, they are much more likely to invest.

Moreover, we know that women are more goal-oriented in how they think about their money. And they are more interested in aligning their values to their investing.

Over 73% of women have said that they would be more willing to invest if they felt the funds or investment vehicle were supporting good causes. 

And despite a common misperception, you don’t need a lot of money to start investing. Investment platforms or mobile apps allow you to invest as little as £1.

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

* #37: Marriage and divorce: how to manage your money with Mary Waring

* #44: How women can build a healthy relationship with money with Dr. Kate Levinson

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

News in Brief

Financial news

* US debt ceiling: a tentative deal reached to avert a US default that threatened to send tremors through global economy. Speaker Kevin McCarthy said deal included “historic reductions in spending” and that he planned to have it ready for a vote on Wed.

* The value of global bonds drop another $547bn this week – the 4th weekly loss in a row – and thus no relief for the balance sheets of private banks.

* Fed terminal rate creeps higher to 5.25% as Fed minutes slightly hawkish with Fed officials split on support for more rate hikes. Policymakers stress data dependency, saying rate cuts unlikely, despite the market is betting on lower rates.

* ECB balance sheet keeps rising for a second week. Total assets rose by €1.6bn to €7,730.1bn, equal to 58% of Eurozone GDP vs Fed's 32%, SNB's 113% and BOJ's 130%.

* UK ‘will fall into recession’, City investor warns Britain will fall into recession by the end of 2023 or early in 2024, a top City investor warned this morning.

* Bank forecast to raise rates above 5% as UK inflation falls by less than expected. Rate drops to 8.7% but food price rises remain close to 45-year high (ie at 19%).

* UK homeowners and first-time buyers warned to brace for 5%-plus mortgage rates. Lenders forced to raise fixed-term deals after latest inflation figure pushed swap rates upwards.

* On the way to the Trillion Dollar Club. Nvidia's market cap skyrockets by $190bn to $945bn. So far, only Apple and Amazon have managed a daily increase of $190bn.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* It was the fourth consecutive week of flat prices. However as a tentative deal was agreed on the US debt ceiling, Bitcoin and Ethereum moved upwards. BTC is currently trading at $27,231 and ETH is trading at $1,847.

* Altcoin Tron rallied 8% to $0.076778. Tron’s rally this week appears to have been driven by the climbing market capitalisation of the U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether (USTD).

* Active NFT traders drops to lowest point since 2021 as FOMO wanes. Last week, the number of active traders buying and selling Ethereum NFTs slid to about 49,000, its lowest level since 2021.

* Arthur Hayes predicts volatile 2023 followed by strong bitcoin rally. He sets out a positive outlook for bitcoin from 2024 onward.

* Beijing releases white paper for web3 innovation and development. The timing of the release is interesting, according to the CEO of Binance, who noted Hong Kong’s crypto rules come into effect next week.

The Purse Podcast

We cover the following in our conversation:

* What is gender lens investing?

* What has changed in the gender lens market since 2021?

* Japan: $1.4trn investment into the Gender Diversity Index

* The launch of the US Women in Technology Index

* The performance of gender lens funds

* Market sentiment towards gender lens investing

* And more+

Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+

Coffee Break? Read This

* What great listeners do

* When life gets busy, focus on a few key habits

* When De Niro is having a child at 79, it’s time to cut older mothers some slack

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 2023 & All Rights Reserved.

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

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 #179 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we focus on Clue, the female-founded, female-led, period tracker and reproductive health companion and their community fundraise.

Although the crowdfunding campaign is now closed, by 3 May Clue had set a new record for female investor participation and 86% of its investors were female.

***

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

Clue’s community fundraise is dominated by female investors

Clue, the period tracker and reproductive health companion, has set a new record for female investor participation via crowdfunding campaign.

Clue, the first female-founded, female-led period tracker and reproductive health companion, has set a new record for female investor participation in its crowdfunding campaign on Crowdcube, as reported by Tech Funding News.

Clue's period tracker app pioneered the 'femtech' movement, and now they are building a leading female health platform, while helping to close the gender data gap.

The femtech had already raised €7m…

… in its latest institutional round last month led by London-based Balderton Capital which is one of the Revolut backers, and New York-based Union Square Ventures.

By 3 May, Clue had raised €1m via crowdfunding. And crucially, the Clue community of investors is dominated by women:

86% of investors being female – a significant increase compared to the 20% average for campaigns on Crowdcube.

And 84% of these investors are under 40 years of age, indicating a strong interest in Clue’s offerings among younger generations.

Why is this important?

Women’s health is underinvested.

Women only receive 4% of the healthcare R&D budget. And 80% of healthcare VCs have never invested in women’s health.

Men continue to dominate VC investing and have often labelled women’s health as ‘niche’, meaning that they have overlooked or underestimated the sector.

This is despite the women’s health market being estimated at $3.5tn+. And women:

* spend approximately $500bn a year on medical expenses

* and control 80%+ of all healthcare buying and usage decisions.

Although the crowdfunding campaign has now closed (and raised 106% of its target), investors could:

* Invest from as little as €10 (or as much as €100,000)

* Invest on the same terms as their latest investors (including Balderton Capital)

* Contribute to an innovative business whose investors have also backed Revolut)

* Have equity in a company with 11m users and 100m app downloads globally.

* Get closer to their product development process with exclusive Investor Product Perks

* Have a say in Investor Forum product feature polls and get invited to webinars and AMAs with the Clue Team.

As well as being an investment opportunity for female investors, Clue rewards its community of female customers (with equity) and engages them in product development (very early).

For female investors who may be new to the world of startups, this may be a very good way to learn by doing.

Audrey Tsang, co-CEO of Clue, has said:

The record-breaking female participation in our crowdfunding shows the impact Clue has made to date, and how our users – and the wider female population – see the company’s potential.

This campaign brings our most important stakeholders – our community – even closer to our product development. And given female investors often have less access to investment opportunities, we’re excited to attract more female investors to share in Clue’s future success.

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

* #41: Women's health, closing the gender data gap and healthtech with Helene Guillaume

* #71: Investing in women's reproductive and maternal health with Ruth Shaber MD

* #80: Setting up a UK MedTech Fund, gender smart investing, women's health and finding the right advisors and mentors with Tatum Getty

News in Brief

Financial news

* The value of global bonds drop another $340bn+ this week and thus no relief for the balance sheets of private banks.

* One month US Treasury yield jumps as US at ‘significant risk’ of default in first two weeks of June if Congress doesn’t address the debt ceiling, CBO said. But, the US can avoid default in July if Treasury can make it through June cash crunch.

* Bill Gross says buy T-Bills amid ‘ridiculous’ debt ceiling issue. Says debt ceiling standoffs like this are ‘always resolved.’ US 1 month yield has jumped to 5.36%, highest level since 2001.

* The initial US jobless claims saw a very large spike, jumping to 264k, up from 242K the prior week & compares to ~205k in early January. This is the highest level of claims since Oct 30, 2021.

* Consumer expectations for Eurozone inflation rose ‘significantly’ in March — bolstering case of ECB officials who say rate hikes may need to persist beyond the summer. Inflation 3 years ahead seen at 2.9%, further above 2% goal.

* Bank of England raises UK interest rates to 4.5% (by 0.25%). The central bank’s key base rate is now at its highest level since 2008, when the global economy was in the grip of the financial crisis.

* BoE's Pill says ‘there may be more work to do’ on inflation. Bank of England chief economist Huw Pill has said that the UK central bank might have to do more to contain the risks from the surge in inflation.

* UK 'bottom of G7 growth league table' despite avoiding winter recession. This week’s GDP report shows that the UK economy was still 0.5% smaller in the first quarter of this year than in the last quarter of 2019.

* Google is catching up to Microsoft in the race for AI. Google will start experimenting w/a more conversational search engine & has made its AI-powered chatbot available more broadly, comp said at its annual developer conference on Wed. The share price gained 11% this week.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Bitcoin has plunged more than 10% over the past 7 days to a two-month low just above $26,000 (currently trading at $26,800+)

* Bitcoin briefly sheds $8 billion in market cap after Binance quits Canada. Binance leaving Canada, citing regulatory guidance making business untenable for the trading platform.

* Ether was also lower for the week, though it did outperform bitcoin (by a bit). It’s currently at $1,800 versus its weekly high of $2,020 touched last Saturday.

* Pepecoin (PEPE) is now lower by more than 60% over the past week of trade. The new token based on ‘pepe the frog’ debuted on April and quickly rose to more than a $1bn valuation. That’s now been trimmed to roughly $560 million.

* Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB), each of which lost about 11% over the last 7days.

* Altcoins were not spared in the selloff, with Aptos’ (APT), shedding 20%, and Filecoin (FIL) and Aribitrum’s (ARB) each off about 17%.

* New Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino Follows Dogecoin and Shiba Inu. However, she has not yet commented publicly on the role Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies may play on Twitter under her leadership.

* Crypto VC Paradigm buys Coinbase shares worth $50 million. The crypto VC firm bought 810,000 shares of Coinbase at an average price of $61 earlier this week.

Coffee Break? Read This

* The 7 types of people you need in your life to be resilient

* Have you quietly quit? Your next step: Go to the neutral zone

* Creating a contract — yes, a contract! — could help you get what you want from your relationship.

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 2023 & All Rights Reserved.

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

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 #175 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we highlight a short extract from The Purse Podcast interview with feminist economist, Edith Kuiper.

We talk about why we need to make women visible in economics and therefore the need to rewrite the history of economic thought.

This is such a special and important interview which highlights Edith Kuiper’s vital work and contribution, based on her extensive research and her recent book called: A Herstory of Economics (2022).

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

Women and wealth: rewriting the history of economic thought

Edith Kuiper joins us on The Purse Podcast to talk about why we need to rewrite the history of economic by including women.

Edith Kuiper joined us on The Purse Podcast.

Edith is Associate Professor and Chair of the Economics Department at the State University of New York at New Paltz, updates New York.Her research has been in feminist economics and in the history and philosophy of economics. She is currently a visiting researcher at the Centre of Resilience and Sustainable Development at the University of Cambridge.Edith has recently published A Herstory of Economics (2022).

In this podcast interview we talk about: why we need to make women visible in economics and therefore rewrite the history of economic history.

Here is a short extract from the interview:

Jana: …You talk about middle and upper class women; the handling of money by women was considered so very unfeminine and vulgar, even. Working for money was just not the done thing if you were middle or upper class.

But there are echos of this to this very day. Money is still considered taboo. Women talking about money is still considered somehow, unladylike. And so we see the manifestation of this narrative and these norms that don't help women build the economic wealth they need to sustain themselves over their lifetime...

Edith Kuiper’s response:

It has serious ramifications.

To some extent it is leftover from times when that counted much stronger. My mother was from a upper middle class background and working for pay was just not on the horizon because that was considered ‘ordinaire’…

But, to put it in a much broader context:

What happened in the industrial revolution was that productive activities before that were taking place in the household; they were moved out of the house and they were concentrated in workshops and industries that were dominated by men.

So English marriage laws separated wealthy women from their wealth and assigned it to husbands to ‘play with’.

And then you get this middle class morality that develops a system of norms and values that separates women even further from their capital.

As they were not considered, at least they were told, that they were not considered to be able to make any decisions about their own capital.

Money therefore was considered dirty: it was not to be thought or talked about, especially not for women (also, for some men), but it was simply not considered decent.

So what you see…. is that men develop in terms of political economy, a cohesive theoretical framework and language they defined and pursue ‘the interest of man’.

That is such a strong tool.

It's like developing their own language. And women did not have access to that framework nor to developing that framework; to developing that language. And that language was developed by men to further their own wealth economic interest..

So, in my view, over time, the exclusion of women and the activity has been a very strong driver for the direction of development of the economic thought.

While women obtained access to education over the 19th century; they start fighting back, and they do that very successfully.

They get access to education in the second half of the 18th century. They obtain political power; the power to vote over the course of the 20th century…

…but women have been successfully excluded from economic power. And that's still going on.

From the perspective of financial power in particular; the stock markets, the banking world: the concentration of financial power has been able to shield itself most effectively from women getting access to power; women getting access to decision-making in the banking industry.

So, this is not a coincidence, that we are talking about the financial economy:

…the fact that the banking; the financial services industry has become so central in our economy and the fact that this is exactly where women still have to fight really hard to get into the industry (in a decent percentage of representation).

This is not a coincidence: where economic power is located and where women still do not have the access.

But after the (financial) crisis of 2008/2009, I think there has been an emerging awareness under at least feminist economists and women elsewhere in the field, that the stock market is not value neutral, the banking world is not value neutral.

Women need to have access to these industries because when you give women access to these industries, the industries perform better.

You get more soundly based decision-making in what I call the global casino, that was emerging in the 2006-2008 period, that totally went out of hand….

Listen here for the full interview

News in Brief

Financial news

* US M2 (Money Supply) crashes in March, ringing deflationary alarm bells. US M2 money supply was $20.8tn in March, a sharp decline of 4.1% YoY, largest decline since data was first introduced in 1959, almost twice rate of prev month, while indicator has also been negative for 4 consecutive months.

* US economy is losing steam: The US GDP grew 1.1% in Q1 2023 ann, slower than the expected 1.9% & slower than previous quarter (2.6%).

* US banking crisis: federal body prepares to put First Republic into receivership. Move comes as Federal Reserve report admits it failed to take ‘forceful enough action’ before Silicon Valley Bank collapse.

* Hedge fund manager Stan Druckenmiller told the FT that short USD is his only high-conviction call at the moment as Euro dropped <$1.10.

* ECB wakes up to “greedflation” as key culprit in price struggle. Profit margins outpacing wages as inflation driver since 2021. Swelling earnings generated More than two thirds of inflation at end of last year. ‘Tit-for-tat’ dynamic risks stoking second-round effects.

* The ECB balance sheet is shrinking again. Total assets dropped €16.7bn in the past week on ECB QT. ECB balance sheet now at €7,714.2bn, equal to 58% of Eurozone GDP vs Fed's 33%, SNB's 113%, BoJ's 131%.

* UK inflation will fall rapidly, says ex-Bank of England economist. ‘Pretty much nailed on’ that the rate will halve in next six months, according to Andy Haldane.

* Bank of England's money-printing spree to cost taxpayers £200bn over the next decade. The Bank warned that taxpayers faced an even higher bill of almost £300bn if interest rates suddenly spiked.

* Asking price of properties popular with UK first-time buyers hits record. Average of £224,963 for homes with one or two bedrooms is 2% higher than a year ago, according to Rightmove.

* Shares of Banco Santander plunges 5% due to outflows of Spanish deposits.

* LVMH has placed in the global top 10 with a stock market value of ~$500bn and is hot on Tesla's heels.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Bitcoin rallies after renewed selling of First Republic stock revived concerns about health of US banking sector. The largest cryptocurrency briefly topped $30k, highest since.

* Ethereum, only managed to add 2.7% to its value this week and currently trades for $1,907. 

* The biggest rallies among leading cryptocurrencies came from Solana, which grew 11% and is now worth $23.35, and ICP blew up 16.6% to change hands at $6.58.

* Bitcoin transactions reach record high as Inscriptions surge. According to The Block's data, the on-chain metric reached a record high of over 408,000 transactions. The previous record was just over 406,000.

* Berenberg Analysts: Bitcoin 'could rally' near next year's halving event. Analysts suggest the next Bitcoin halving event could, yet again, bring the leading cryptocurrency out of its crypto winter.

* Lightning Labs aims to help 'bring bitcoin to billions' with latest upgrade. The tech startup aims to continue to make it easier for people to use the Lightning Network.

* Gary Gensler says SEC believes Ethereum is not a security—At MIT in 2018.

* Mastercard teaming with Solana, Polygon on new Crypto Credential standards. Wallet providers Bit2Me, Lirium, Mercado Bitcoin and Uphold are also joining the initiative for cross border payments targeting Latin America. 

* Adidas and Pharrell release digital clothing for doodles NFT holders. Musician Pharrell Williams headlines the Doodles NFT bundle with digital and physical gear from Adidas, Human Made, and more.

The Purse Podcast

We cover the following in our conversation:

* Making women visible in economics

* Rewriting the history of economic history

* The impact on women's financial well-being

* Closing the gender pay gap and women's work

* The world of finance and why women have been largely absent

* Gender equality and gender equity in the workplace

* And more+

Coffee Break? Read This

* How banks can finally get risk management right

* Why do we buy into ‘stealth wealth’ and the class who wear it?

* My husband won’t lift a finger to help me. Should I stay or go?

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 2023 & All Rights Reserved.

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

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 #173 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we focus on the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hearing Tuesday and consider whether ethereum (ETH) is a commodity or a security.

The US market is growing more frustrated with the SEC’s lack of regulation clarity which means the crypto industry is starting to look to the EU and the UK. And the UK could become the new ‘hub for Web3 innovation’.

***

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

Is ethereum a commodity or security?

In a US hearing Tuesday, the SEC chair refuses to answer the question about whether ethereum is a commodity or a security.

On Tuesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair, Gary Gensler was questioned about whether ethereum (ETH) was a commodity or a security, as reported by Cointelegraph.

ETH is the second largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin and its current market cap is $224.80bn. The price of one ETH is $1,869.43. Ethereum is an open-source, decentralised smart contract blockchain platform and its token is ETH (ether).

How to classify cryptocurrencies has become a central question because it will determine how the market is regulated and how it develops.

In the US hearing, Patrick McHenry – the chair of the United States House Financial Services Committee, challenged Gensler repeatedly who refused to confirm either way.

Representative McHenry used his opening statement ‘to bring up the commission’s ‘punishing’ of digital asset firms through regulation by enforcement without a clear path to compliance’.

McHenry repeatedly talked over Gensler who did not provide specifics in his response, citing Gensler’s willingness to label Bitcoin as a commodity, in addition to hinting at private conversations on ether before the hearing.

According to the Co-founder of Ethereum, Joseph Lubin, ethereum is more akin to a commodity like oil. In March at Paris Blockchain Week, Lubin said he was ‘very confident’ ether was not a security.

Previously, the SEC suggested ethereum may be classed as a security due to its switch to a new verification system known as ‘proof of stake’, where the blockchain’s validators gain interest-like yield.

And unlike Bitcoin, ether fuels an ecosystem of applications where users can make trades, loans, or buy nonfungible tokens.

While lecturing at MIT on a blockchain open course (before his appointment to the SEC), Gensler stated that ethereum may have been a security in 2014, but now SEC has stated it is sufficiently decentralised that it is no longer a security.

What is a commodity vs a security?

Commodities are raw materials that are used as inputs in the production of other goods or services, such as oil and natural gas, gold and silver, as well as food and agricultural goods like coffee. They tend to have limited supply.

A security is broadly defined as a financial instrument that has value and can be traded. It includes stocks, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as well as other investments.

Commodity markets are generally regulated less stringently.

Securities on the other hand are subject to rules on price transparency, greater reporting demands, as well as market abuse oversight.

Securities are closely regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), while commodities are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

According to some regulators ether fulfils the Howey Test…

….which states that an investment contract exists if there is an investment of money in a common enterprise and the expectation of profits derived from the efforts of others.

Lubin has countered this argument by saying that ‘..people buy barrels of oil with the expectation of profit’, therefore ethereum should be considered a commodity.

In March, the SEC issued crypto exchange Coinbase a notice warning the company that it had identified potential violations of U.S. securities law.

On Thursday, the European Union finalised its wide-ranging markets in crypto assets (MiCA) legislation on Thursday, making it one of the first major jurisdictions to clarify its approach on supervising the sector.

Meanwhile, UK Economic Secretary, Andrew Griffith confirmed that the UK may have crypto regulation within next the 12 months.

Brian Armstrong, the CEO of US based crypto exchange Coinbase, met with Griffith earlier this week while he was in London to give a speech on how the UK could ultimately become an ‘innovation hub for the Web3 economy.’

***

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

* #19: Bitcoin, ethereum and decentralised finance (DeFi): what every investor needs to know with Diana Biggs

* #27: Report: Women in crypto with Marina Spindler

* #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

* China’s economy grew 4.5% in Q1 2023, the fastest in a year and at a faster pace than expected as the end of Covid Zero gave way to stronger consumer spending and factory output.

* Bond volatility- measured by MOVE index - has come off recent highs following the SVB crisis but bond traders say the market’s recent calm isn't likely to last.

* Bank run in slow motion continues. Deposits at US banks fell by $76.2bn last week even before tax payments, indicating the financial system remains fragile after a string of bank failures. The drop was mostly at large and foreign institutions, but they also fell at small banks.

* UK inflation falls by less than expected as food prices soar by 19.1%. Annual rate as measured by consumer prices index dropped to 10.1% in March, says ONS.

* The UK unemployment rate for December 2022 to February 2023 increased by 0.1 percentage points on the quarter to 3.8%.The increase in unemployment, the ONS says, was driven by people unemployed for up to six months.

* The City of London is anticipating that UK interest rates could hit 5% before the end of the year, after prices across the economy rose faster than expected, again.

* UK house prices fell in February, with the average property selling for £287,506, down from £290,381 in January. This pulled annual house price inflation down to 5.5% from 6.5%.

* Tesla has lost the equivalent of Ford’s market value in a single day on Thursday on fears of an escalating price war. At $516bn, Tesla's market capitalisation ended Thursday below Meta Platforms' for the first time since 2021.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Bitcoin dropped 10% within a week as Federal Reserve Terminal rate has risen to 5.28%.

* BTC/USD barely preserving the $27,000 mark on Saturday after the Wall Street trading week ended on a sour note. And analysts are warning of a return to $25,000.

* Ether price has dropped to approximately $1,876. If the price turns up, it improves the prospects for a rally to $2,200. If the price continues lower and breaks below $1,846, the ETH/USDT pair could tumble to the 50% retracement level of $1,755 and thereafter to the 61.8% retracement level of 1,663.

* Gary Gensler refuses to answer if ETH is a security: SEC hearing. SEC Chair Gary Gensler has said the SEC considers Bitcoin a commodity but refused to pin down Ether at an oversight hearing.

* MicroStrategy’s stock price more than doubles in 2023 in lockstep with Bitcoin. Bank of America and Fidelity have increased their MicroStrategy exposure in what appears to be a passive Bitcoin investment.

* Coinbase sets sights on UK crypto hub as regulatory uncertainty looms at home in the US.

* The European Union finalised its wide-ranging markets in crypto assets (MiCA) legislation on Thursday, making it one of the first major jurisdictions to clarify its approach on supervising the sector.

* UK may have crypto regulation within a year, says senior minister. The lawmaker said the regulation will need to be both ‘pragmatic’ and ‘proportionate’ to ensure economic growth is maximised.

* Bitcoin whale moves nearly $8m after 10 years of inactivity. A holder who hadn’t touched their crypto for a decade just moved over 279 BTC, or $7.8m worth of the crypto, to new wallets.

Coffee Break? Read This

* Why women trust their employers less than men do

* Gender equality still ‘300 years away’, says UN secretary general

* Motherhood on ice: lack of suitable men drives women to freeze their eggs

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 2023 & All Rights Reserved.

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

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 #172 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we highlight crypto billionaire bull Mike Novogratz’s interview where he said that the US is headed for a credit crisis, a substantial economic slowdown (but) which will only make the bitcoin business case even stronger.

Don’t forget to listen to The Purse Podcast interview with Tracy Lewis, who is a global brand CEO, Chair, NED, investor, advisor, mentor, and award winning entrepreneur.

We talk about how to build a global lingerie brand, ESG, impact investing, women in the workplace, how to start angel investing and more.

***

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

Mike Novogratz: US headed for a credit crisis and the bitcoin business case is getting stronger

The crypto billionaire bull said that the crypto industry has ‘re-galvanised’ as a result of the US banking crisis and aggressive increase in interest rates.

Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz has said that the US is heading for a credit crisis, a substantial economic slowdown which is likely to build the bitcoin business case, as reported by Market Insider.

The crypto billionaire bull said that the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the aggressive interest rate hikes, has highlighted bitcoin’s initial use case- ‘as a safer alternative to the traditional monetary system’.

He believes that this has ‘re-galvanised’ the industry ‘by the reality that we have too much debt in the US and abroad…’, he told Bloomberg:

‘You're seeing that in this balance between a Federal Reserve [that's been] fighting inflation and maybe moving rates a little faster than the market participants knew how to manage," he added. "Now, we're going to have a credit crisis in the US and the economy is going to slow... It's going to slow pretty dramatically.’

Crypto markets have been on a tear…

Despite the downturn in risk assets and the increase in the regulatory scrutiny on crypto exchanges including Coinbase, Binance and Kraken, the crypto market has surged.

Bitcoin and ethereum are up 51% and 37% in the past three months, according to Messari, with the overall crypto market cap at $1.28 trillion.

Bitcoin has surged to $31,000 in the last week and ethereum has jumped to $2,100+ following the Shapella upgrade.

Macro investors including Raoul Pal have said we are in a crypto bull market which will continue into the bitcoin halving (April or May 2024) and until it peaks in 2025.

News in Brief

Financial news

* US Fed keeps May interest rate increase on the table despite Central bank’s economists forecast a recession beginning later this year due to fallout from banking system turmoil. Markets see the probability for a May hike at 74% but rate cuts later in year.

* US 2 year yields tumble by 14bps to 3.88% following softer US inflation data, reflecting expectations for rate cuts down the line. But the probability for a 25bp rate hike in May remains unch at 75%.

* When good news is bad news: Fed tightening assumptions advanced – the market is pricing in 81% odds of a 25bp hike on 5/3 w/year-end Funds Rate of 4.48% (up 14bp vs. Thursday) due to solid bank earnings, which could cause the Fed to focus on inflation.

* Collapsing money supply alarms economists. US M2 growth plunges to -2.4% YoY in Feb, lowest in history, in a warning of recession & deflation.

* The disinflationary process in the US seems intact. Core US CPI comes in right on target at +5.6% YoY and 0.4% MoM. The headline figure is just a tad under forecast at 5.0% YoY vs 5.1% expected and 0.1% MoM vs +0.2% expected.

* US March PPI fell 0.5% MoM, below estimate of 0%, in another sign that US inflation may have peaked.

* Economist Nassim Roubini warns of painful stagflation caused by new cold war with China & Balkanisation of global economy. The demise of the US dollar would be bad news for Americans, who can only finance their twin deficits thanks to willingness of other countries to buy US assets.

* Retail investors are sitting on heavy losses despite a 2023 stock rally. The average retail investor portfolio is down by ~27% since November 2021. Since then, stocks have staged 4 double-digit bear market rallies. Tech stocks in particular rallied >20% -twice.

* The pound has climbed to a 10-month high against the US dollar, as signs build that inflationary pressures in the US are easing.

* Shoppers in Great Britain switch to frozen food amid cost of living crisis. Food price inflation running at 18.2% amid high energy prices and shortages of salad vegetable because of bad weather in Europe.

* BlackRock is eating the world. Assets under Management (AUM) back above $9tn.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Bitcoin’s surge past $30k only a start. Eye-popping 83% rally in Bitcoin this year has not been matched by newer coins. Ether, which greatly outperformed Bitcoin from 2020 and 2021, up 71%.

* The HODL secret of Bitcoin's success: Bitcoin hoarding in personal wallets signals support after jump >$30k.

* Ether price cracks $2K amid staking withdrawals enabled post-Shapella upgrade. ETH has crossed the $2,000 mark after the much-awaited Shanghai and Capella upgrade that was implemented into the Ethereum mainnet.

* Less than 1% of staked ETH estimated to be sold after Shapella: the top 100 DeFi tokens surged along with the broader crypto market as the total value locked peaked at a new yearly high of over $54 billion.

* Solana’s Crypto-Ready ‘Saga’ Smartphone Goes on Sale May 8. The Saga aims to put crypto in people’s pockets, where the rest of the digital world has already gone.

* Fight between crypto and governments “just getting started”, says ShapeShift CEO. The crypto industry needs to prepare for increasing government pressure as it ramps up its challenge to the State monopoly over money, says ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees.

* Anthony Scaramucci is bullish as ever, says Bitcoin is 'definitely a commodity’. The SkyBridge Capital CEO won’t call himself a Bitcoin maxi, but he’s more confident in the coin than he’s ever been.

* LSEG teams with digital trading platform to offer bitcoin futures and options. Britain, which aims to become a global hub for crypto technology, launched a public consultation earlier this year on future rules for cryptoassets, which are currently unregulated.

The Purse Podcast

We cover the following in our conversation:

* How to build a global lingerie brand

* Working with a private equity partner

* ESG and impact investing

* How women are changing business

* Women in the workplace

* Some of the toughest business moments and what it takes to overcome them

* How Tracy started angel investing

* And how more women can start investing in early stage businesses.

Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+

Coffee Break? Read This

* Redesigning how we work

* ‘Marriage is more diverse than people think’: a historian’s view of tying the knot

* There’s good reason why strong female role models deter other women from aiming for the top.

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 2023 & All Rights Reserved.

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

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 #170 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we focus on the Financial Times analysis which shows that 80% of UK employers pay men more than women.

The data also tells us that the gender pay gap was higher than the figures collected last year and over the last six years.

In the main, the figures reflect the under-representation of women in senior roles. However we know that retaining women is often a struggle for companies.

Change needs to start at the top. So unless the CEO and C-suite is incentivised to drive change in their business, progress will continue to be slow.

***

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

UK employers need to recruit and retain senior women to close the gender pay gap

Analysis by the Financial Times shows that 80% of UK employers pay men more than women.

According to analysis by the Financial Times, 80% of UK employers pay men more than women on average in their organisation.

And the FT’s analysis of this year’s data shows that the average gap was unchanged from last year: 12.2% (2022-23) vs 11.9% (2017-18). Plus the gender pay gap was higher than the figures collected last year and six years ago.Ann Francke, chief executive at Chartered Management Institute, said the following to the Financial Times:

“Organisations think and say they’re doing the right thing to advance gender equality in the workplace — but when it comes to taking action on the gender pay gap, evidence suggests they are failing to deliver..”

Certain industries have a wider gender pay gap than others. The financial services industry and tech, for example, have a much wider gender pay gap than say the health and social work sector.

Banks had the largest gap among finance companies employing 20,000 or more.

For example, the gender pay gap at HSBC, which has a smaller workforce in its ringfenced UK business, jumped from 29% in 2017-18 to 51.5% in 2022-23.

The UK arm of the US investment bank Goldman Sachs reported a gender pay gap of 53.2%, the largest among major finance employers, and up from 51.3%.

Morgan Stanley's UK arm's gap widened to 40.8%, up from 40.5%, while Standard Chartered's gap increased to 29% from 27%.

At the banks that disclosed their pay gaps by ethnicity, the gap was biggest between black staff and their white colleagues.

All four banks said that the figures reflected the under-representation of women in senior roles, and said they were taking steps to address this.

Retaining women is often a challenge for companies….

…and the pandemic put women under considerable pressure as they juggled working from home and shouldered the majority of the household chores and childcare.

Women often carry the mental load and emotional burden at work and in the home. They also have to contend with gender bias and gender discrimination (at work), which leads to greater strain, higher levels of stress and can result in burnout.

To avoid what is often referred to as a ‘leaky pipe’, companies must actively cultivate a female talent pipeline, promote top female performers faster, pay them fairly all within a female-friendly environment.

Many senior women leave the workplace in their 50s because of the menopause- whether they are aware of it or not. Ironically, this is often at the peak of their career.

Meanwhile businesses haemorrhage talent and money (because of it). And often they are in the dark about the real reason senior women are leaving the workplace.

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

Change needs to start at the top.

So unless the CEO and C-suite is incentivised to drive change in their organisation, progress will continue to be slow.

But a business which perpetuates gender imbalance at the senior level is ultimately exposed to more risk, is less profitable and less sustainable than its competitors.

The data proves that companies which have gender balance on the board and in the C-suite have superior performance, limit risk and become more sustainable over the long-term.

And according to Denise Wilson, chief executive of the FTSE Women Leaders Review:

“There is no shortage of capable women willing to take on bigger roles. Removing bias from the selection process remains key to progress, along with a more female-friendly workplace culture, equal parenting and affordable childcare.”

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

* #81: 'The Female Factor': why women CEOs outperform and how to invest in gender equality via an ETF with Patricia Lizarraga

* #82: Gender data, gender equality in the workplace and investing with a gender lens with Diana van Maasdijk

News in Brief

Financial news

* Gold jumps 1.8% to $2021/oz, just 1.4% shy of an ATH on a weaker Dollar as Fed tightening assumptions faded, with market now pricing in a 4.13% year-end Fed Funds Rate, down 17bps vs. Monday.

* Global economy set for years of weak growth, IMF chief Georgieva warns. World to expand at average annual rate of ~3% over next 5yrs, well below average 3.8% of past 2 decades and weakest projection for medium-term growth since 1990. But IMF not good at forecasting.

* To put things into perspective: This year's tech rally mainly driven by Big Tech firms, so the spread between Nasdaq 100 and the Nasdaq Composite, which captures the performance of the nearly 3,000 stocks is the widest in history.

* US 2 year yields jump after solid US jobs report ad bond traders betting that the Fed has one more rate hike (0.25%) to go as the economy shows resilience despite recent banking turmoil.

* Fed balance sheet fell by $73.6bn to $8.63tn in past week as banks trim emergency borrowing from Fed due to stabilisation in banking system. Financial institutions drew $149bn, down from $154bn previous week and $164bn 2 weeks ago. Decrease in Fed balance sheet primarily driven by QT.

* Global food costs mark 1 year of drops, at odds with inflation. UN FAO’s global food index drops to the lowest since July 2021 BUT there is still little sign it's actually feeding through to grocery shelves.

* Eurozone banks are also borrowing money from the ECB discount window, although the so-called Marginal Rate is at 3.75%, well above the Main Refi Rate of 3.5%. Banks raised €168m from ECB discount window in the past week, €111m more than the previous week.

* Bank of England ‘may need to cut interest rates earlier and faster’. MPC member Silvana Tenreyro expects such a move ‘to avoid significant inflation undershoot’.

* Four out of five companies and organisations in the UK still pay their male employees more than female ones.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Digital Gold, aka Bitcoin rallied in tandem with analogue Gold.

* Bitcoin traders expect 'big move' next as BTC price flatlines at $28k. Bitcoin stays stuck in an ever-decreasing trading range, but market participants are already eyeing a potentially explosive resolution for BTC price.

* ETH Crosses $1,900 for the first time since August. ETH rallies ahead of major network upgrades ie the Shanghai and Capella upgrades, which will allow ETH stakers to begin to withdraw their tokens for the first time.

* Dogecoin drops sharply after Twitter blue bird returns. The coin surged by over 20% when the logo was first added, but has since returned to its pre-logo value of $0.086.

* SushiSwap hacked, Head Chef says 'revoke all chains'. This has led to a loss of more than $3.3 million from at least one user, known as 0xSifu on Twitter.

* Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes calls his Maelstrom Capital a ‘very patient’ fund. Hayes wants Maelstrom to outperform bitcoin and ether, which won’t be easy.

* Metaverse fashion week: last week’s event plummeted in attendance from 2022. But it may have offered clues towards a path forward for brands in the virtual realm.

* Unreleased David Bowie recording to debut as music NFT. Now, a never-before-heard version of his hit 1983 song “Let’s Dance” is being released via a limited series of NFTs.

* Apple hiding a bitcoin manifesto in Macs is fuelling theories that Steve Jobs was Satoshi Nakamoto, the crypto's mysterious inventor.

Coffee Break? Read This

* At last, a consensus is emerging on protecting women-only spaces

* Burnout at work isn’t just about exhaustion, it’s about loneliness too

* I’m 70 and so full of regret about my husband and career

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 2023 & All Rights Reserved.

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

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 #168 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we spotlight a new venture capital fund, the Monarch Collective with a mission to ‘accelerate equity in global sport’.

Venture capitalists Kara Nortman and Jasmine Robinson have successfully raised $100m to invest in global women’s sports.

Read about why women’s sports is a good investment opportunity.

***

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

The Monarch Collective raises $100m to invest in global women’s sports

Venture Capitalists Kara Nortman and Jasmine Robinson launch a new VC fund.

Venture capitalists Kara Nortman and Jasmine Robinson have raised a $100m VC fund (US) to invest in global women’s sports, as reported by FastCompany.

The Monarch Collective’s mission is to ‘accelerate equity in global sport’ and will focus on investing in women’s teams and leagues, in addition to media and gaming.

They are considering initial investments in women’s football teams in the U.S., and in women’s teams and leagues in sports such as basketball, cycling, and rugby internationally.

Why is women’s sports an investment opportunity?

According to Kara Nortman:

“You’re buying into a market size that I would say is heavily depressed . . . [women’s sport] make up less than a 10th of a percent of the size of the men’s sports ecosystem, in terms of the revenue generated.

So, even if you believe women’s sports is going to become just 1% of the overall sports market, that’s 10x market size growth.” 

Therefore professional women’s sports, which is just starting to break through on television with sponsors and a growing fanbase, presents “an arbitrage on sexism”.

Nortman goes on to say:

“There’s an opportunity to get in at what should be historically low valuations in teams and leagues, that are at the beginning of a media rights cycle—which is a very well understood revenue stream…

So if you’re disciplined, if you have the right fund size, if you’re showing up and actually doing work, you can get venture-like returns with very low risk.”

Also, women’s sports is finally capturing the public conversation.

After U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team won the 2019 World Cup, the high-profile victory eventually led to the signing of equal pay agreements between the U.S. men’s and women’s teams last September. 

And according to Jasmine Robinson:

“These cultural moments, combined with new media and content distribution opportunities create this unique moment where women’s sports can scale and grow.”

It is high time that women’s sports moved from being on the sidelines and into the limelight. And for women’s sports investments to shift from being a ‘trend’ to being standard practice’.

News in Brief

Financial news

* Nasdaq 100 rises 20% from December low to enter bull market.

* The value of global bonds almost were steady this week so no further stress on bank balance sheets.

* Bank run in slow motion continues: deposits at US banks fell sharply for a second week. Deposits at commercial banks dropped by $125.7bn in week ended March 22, marking 9th-straight period of declines, highlighting preference for higher-yielding money-market funds.

* Eurozone inflation cools significantly to 6.9% year-on-year in March, down from 8.5% in February and lowest level since February 2022, and lower than estimated 7.1% BBG poll. But core inflation, which excludes volatile items, quickened to 5.7%, a fresh ATH, showing inflation pressure remains high.

* UK firms report surge in orders amid signs of economic recovery. After UK narrowly misses recession IoD reports rise in business demand, confidence, hiring and investment in March.

* UK house price correction ‘has some way to go’ after March falls. Average property drops 3.1% to £257,122 over year to March, says Nationwide.

* Nouriel Roubini sees crash danger because central banks are in a kind of trilemma: “We cannot achieve price stability, maintain economic growth, have financial stability at the same time,”

* Michael Burry says he was 'wrong to say sell,' Congratulates dip buyers: 'Going back to the 1920s, there has been no BTFD generation like you’.

* World Bank warns of ‘Lost Decade’ as potential growth slows. The global economy’s potential growth through the end of the decade has slowed to the weakest in 30 years, the World Bank said, citing fallout from the coronavirus pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Bitcoin (BTC) is up 3%+ over the past week to $28,463 as of Sunday morning, and Ethereum (ETH) is up 4.2%+ to $1,822.

* Stellar (XLM) leaped 22% and currently trades at nearly $0.11, while XRP surged 20% to $0.53 thanks to "investor hope" among the XRP army that Ripple's endless case with the SEC might go Ripple's way.  

* Katie Fortune, the Bank of England’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) said that CBDC’s can be a “bridging asset” between TradFi and crypto.

* Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is suing the largest crypto exchange in the world, Binance, and its CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.

* 'The future of banking has no banks,' Bernstein says. Welcome to 'hyper-bitcoinisation'

* Bitcoin whitepaper to make F1 debut as Kraken partners with Williams Racing. The crypto exchange hopes to raise the profile of the crypto ecosystem in a sport draws 1.6bn viewers over a race schedule that takes it through 20 countries a year.

Coffee Break? Read This

* What mentors wish their mentees knew

* The power of leaders who focus on solving problems

* Carol Vorderman 'absolutely disgusted' by ministers' attitude to menopause – video

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 2023 & All Rights Reserved.

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

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 #166 weekly newsletter.

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova

From The Purse

In this week’s newsletter, we focus on UK inflation accelerating to ‘dangerously high levels’ at 10.4% in February. UK’s inflation is higher than in all G7 countries.

On Thursday, the Bank of England hiked interest rates for the 11th consecutive time since November 2021 by 25 basis points.

Despite the global banking instability, the BoE is focused on taming inflation.

And don’t forget to listen to The Purse Podcast interview with independent economist Shaun Richards. We talk about the banking crisis, inflation, interest rates and what’s ahead for the UK.

***

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

UK inflation at 10.4%: Bank of England hikes base rate amid global banking instability

The focus is on taming inflation despite global banking sector instability

According to the latest data, UK inflation has accelerated to ‘dangerously high levels’ (10.4% in February), which is why the Bank of England (BoE) increased the base rate by 25 basis points to 4.25% on Thursday, as reported by the Financial Times.

The UK inflation rate was higher than what the BoE and economists had forecast, as polled by Reuters.

Ministers have insisted that the BoE should focus on taming inflation, irrespective of the strain rising interest rates have put on the global banking industry.

Although there is no signs that UK banks are affected so far, central banks claim that maintaining financial stability will not get in the way of taking measures to dampen inflation.

But the tensions in the financial markets are likely to make many banks weary of lending, which should reduce the need to increase interest rates further and will have a deflationary effect.

Why? Spending could be limited in companies and consumers who can not access lending for growth or say, mortgages.

The the acceleration of core and service inflation suggests that ‘there may be more domestically generated inflation pressure than the Bank has assessed to date’, according to Krishna Guha, economist at the investment bank advisory company Evercore.

However, it is possible that the interest rate hike could end up pushing inflation below target (2%) further down the line.

The BoE interest rate hike is the 11th consecutive since November 2021, increasing the base rate by nearly 425 basis points (4.25%).

Whilst UK energy prices have been falling, this has not been offset by core or services inflation.

UK inflation is higher than in all other G7 countries. In the US, annual inflation eased to 6% in February (from a peak of 9.1%), and it slowed to 8.5% (from a peak of 10.6% in the eurozone).

News in Brief

Financial news

* Gold tops $2,000/oz for 1st time since March 2022.

* 10 year US Treasury yields fall to 3.32%, lowest since September 2022 due to banking stress. Banking crises always have a deflationary effect.

* US Federal Reserve raises benchmark rate 25bps to 4.75%-5% target range as expected. Officials still project the fed funds rate will end 2023 at 5.1%. Will not end QT. Fed will continue same pace of reducing treasury, MBS holdings.

* Deposits have been declining for both small and large banks since the Fed began to raise rates in March 2022.

* Run into US money market funds continues. Assets rose by another $117bn in past week to hit ATH. Inflows will accelerate after rate hike. It is bank run in slow motion. Only interest rate cut can stop bleeding at banks.

* Small US banks see a record drop in deposits after SVB collapse. 25 largest banks saw deposits increase $67bn, while smaller banks experienced a $119bn deposit outflow.

* End of QT? ECB balance sheet rose in the past week by €2.5bn to €7,831.9bn as other claims on euro area credit institutions denominated in euro jumped. ECB's total assets now equal to 59% of Eurozone GDP vs Fed's 33% and BoJ's 133%.

* Investors search for the next weak link in European banking after Credit Suisse. Deutsche Bank doesn’t resemble Credit Suisse or Silicon Valley as Deutsche is solidly profitable, but is still vulnerable.

* UK inflation jumps unexpectedly to 10.4% in February. Economists and Bank of England had forecast a decline from January to 9.9%.

* Bank of England (BoE) hikes policy rate by 25bps to 4.25%, highest level since 2008 as expected. Rate is still way below inflation.

* Cathie Wood suffers double blow as drama hits Coinbase, Block. Two companies among top 10 holdings in flagship fund ARK Innovation. Block plunged as much as 22% after short attack by Hindenburg. Coinbase shares fall after SEC warning on potential legal action.

Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs

* Bitcoin rose after UBS-Credit Suisse deal $28k+

* Crypto, and broader financial markets, were roiled by the Fed this week. Volatility ticked higher during Chair Powell’s news conference on Wednesday. 

* It's the liquidity, stupid! Bitcoin usually follows the US M2 money supply trend. Now bitcoin has already risen, although the money supply trend has not yet turned. But investors expect M2 to turn soon.

* Bitcoin was trading above $27,600 and is up about 0.4% over the past week. Ether slipped 2.1%.

* Several prominent (US) Republicans rebelled against the idea of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), essentially a dollar-pegged cryptocurrency that would be issued by the Federal Reserve. (CBDCs can be issued every central bank around the world).

* Arbitrum settles into top 40 Coins with 81% of airdrop claimed. Most of the eligible users of the popular Ethereum scaling solution didn’t wait to claim the free Arbitrum (ARB) tokens.

* Custodia Bank's membership denied for ties with crypto markets, say US Fed. The United States Federal Reserve released an 86-page report on March 24 detailing the reasons for denying Custodia Bank's application for membership.

* Crypto exchange Coinbase shares tumble 16% after SEC enforcement notice. The regulator issued Coinbase a Wells notice on Wednesday, informing the company that it is planning future enforcement action against it.

* Coinbase tapping into innovation-friendly Brazil amid US regulatory crackdown. The focus on Brazil is part of the company's drive to go deep into markets with the most potential.

* The SEC also accused Justin Sun of violating federal securities laws. The regulator alleges he conducted a scheme to artificially inflate the trading volume of TRX in the secondary market. The regulator also accused eight celebrities of violating securities laws in touting related tokens. The list included Lindsay Lohan

The Purse Podcast

We cover the following in our conversation:

* The banking crisis: how did we get here?

* How are the central banks and governments responding?

* Inflation & interest rates

* And what's ahead?

Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+

Coffee Break? Read This

* Research: being nice in a negotiation can backfire

* More than a third of UK workers ‘would quit if told to return to office full-time’

* The 30 hours’ free childcare in Jeremy Hunt’s budget could bring about real change.

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 2023 & All Rights Reserved.

The Purse provides content for informational purposes only, we do not recommend products or services or provide investment advice. Please do your own research or speak to a financial adviser.

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