The Purse
The Purse
The European Central Bank (ECB) balance sheet hits an all-time high, investors poured $58bn into global stocks last week, Tesla purchased $1.5bn in Bitcoin and listen to our podcast with Julia Angeles
0:00
-4:14

The European Central Bank (ECB) balance sheet hits an all-time high, investors poured $58bn into global stocks last week, Tesla purchased $1.5bn in Bitcoin and listen to our podcast with Julia Angeles

Welcome to our #56 weekly newsletter.

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

Stay in the know.

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

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

“For women taking control of their financial future”

-Jana Hlistova


From The Purse

Editorial from the Founder


The US deficit is projected at $2.3tn in 2021 (not counting the additional $1.9tn stimulus). On Thursday, the Congress Budget Office said the inflated level comes from the added spending that Congress has instituted to combat the effects of the pandemic and the economic disruption this has caused.

The US Federal Reserve confirmed interest rates will stay low for a while, and the true unemployment rate is likely to be closer to 10%.

The European Central Bank (ECB) balance sheet has hit an all-time high as the money printing continues: total assets rose by another €21.1bn this past week.

UK GDP fell by 9.9% in 2020 due to the pandemic: this is the biggest fall in annual GDP since the Great Frost of 1709, when the economy shrank by 13%. The economy avoided a double-dip recession, with growth of 1% in Q4 of 2020.

Investors poured $58bn into global stocks last week: historically low interest rates and expectations for a big rebound this year in global economic growth is driving investor decisions.

Tesla purchased $1.5bn in Bitcoin (disclosed last Monday). This is biggest endorsement of the cryptocurrency by a mainstream company. Tesla also said it would begin accepting the digital token as a form of payment for its electric cars.

More institutions pile into crypto: Mastercard will let merchants accept payments in crypto this year and New-York based banking giant BY Mellon is developing a prototype that it claims will be the financial industry’s ‘first multi-asset digital custody and administration platform’ for both traditional and digital assets.

Not surprisingly, bitcoin hit an all-time high ie above $49,000 on Friday (market cap crossed $900bn) and ether leads the DeFi way: it set a new all-time high above $1,850 (Friday).

On Thursday, Bumble (the online dating app) listed on the Nasdaq (it raised $2.2bn), exceeding expectations which valued the company at over $7bn. At 31, CEO & Founder, Whitney Wolfe Herd is the youngest female founder to take a U.S. company public on the extremely small list of women founders who led IPOs.

The Women and Equalities committee have produced a report on gendered economic differences and focused specifically on these two schemes: furlough & the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS). They argued investment plans that are skewed towards male-dominated sectors have the potential to create unequal outcomes for men and women, exacerbating existing inequalities.

Women who may have been forced to bring forward retirement plans due to the pressures of Covid-19 must make sure their pension pots are robust enough so they do not run out of money (during retirement).

And we are tracking Astia, a global organisation which invests, advises and partners to level the investment playing field (for women). Astia has launched a $100m early-stage fund which will invest globally in high-growth companies that have at least one woman in an executive equity-holding position. The Astia fund has been led by an investment from Mastercard.

And don’t forget to listen to The Purse Podcast: we have published our interview with Julia Angeles who is the Portfolio Manager of the Health Innovation Strategy at Baillie Gifford. We talk about biotech and healthcare, why we are on the cusp on a revolution in healthcare, investing in Moderna Inc, what it is like being part of an all-female fund team and more.

Stay safe, look after yourselves and your loved ones.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.

Until next week,

Jana


The Big Picture

Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators


  • Investors poured $58bn into global stocks last week

    • Technology-focused funds dominated: with net inflows reaching an all-time high of $5.4bn in the week to Wednesday.

    • The US had the majority of overall stock inflows, at $36.3bn.

    • Investors also piled $13.1bn into global bond funds ($10.6bn was from their cash piles).

    • Historically low interest rates and expectations for a big rebound this year in global economic growth is driving investor decisions.


Bitcoin & cryptocurrencies

Global news, trends and insights


  • BY Mellon reveals plans for bitcoin and crypto

    • The $2tn New-York based banking giant, is developing a prototype that it claims will be the financial industry’s ‘first multi-asset digital custody and administration platform’ for both traditional and digital assets.

  • Bitcoin hit an all-time high: above $49,000 (market cap crossed $900bn).

    • On Friday, Bitcoin set a new record above $49,000 after trading between $47,000 and $48,000 for much of Thursday.

    • Institutional investors’ interest in bitcoin is growing ‘at a staggering pace’, which continues to drive up the price of bitcoin.


Future Focus

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



Companies: winners & losers

Companies to watch and share price movements


  • Twitter racks up its second $1bn quarter (shares at a 52 week high)

    • Twitter reported net income of $222m, or 29cents a share, against expectations of 29cents a share, according to analysts polled by FactSet. (Adjusted earnings were 38cents a share.)

    • Twitter’s revenue surged 28% to a record $1.29bn, beating the consensus estimate of $1.18bn.

      • Monetisable daily active users, a key indicator of Twitter’s reach and its appeal to advertisers, improved 27%, year-over-year, to 192m (but it fell short of the 193.5m expected by analysts polled by FactSet).

    • Additional note: Twitter has also studied how it might pay employees or vendors using bitcoin, according to the Chief Financial Officer.


Your Money

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


  • UK: Gender inequality warning: furlough & SEISS issues arise

    • The Women and Equalities committee produced a report on gendered economic differences and focused specifically on these two schemes: furlough & the Self Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS).

      • They argued investment plans that are skewed towards male-dominated sectors have the potential to create unequal outcomes for men and women, exacerbating existing inequalities.

      •  Read more here


Have You Seen This?

Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns


  • Warning on women’s pensions, post-Covid

    • Women who may have been forced to bring forward retirement plans due to the pressures of Covid-19 must make sure their pension pots are robust enough so they do not run out of money (during retirement).

    • According to Deborah Chapman, personal wealth adviser at Schroders Personal Wealth:

      • ‘Having a plan is key when looking to see if your pension pots will last the course. It’s essential to start to plan as soon as possible’.

      • She urged people to speak with a financial adviser, review all their different sources of capital and income, and take steps to fund any deficit.

Know this: Based on the research by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII): the average 65-year-old woman's pension pot is £38,000 ie five times lower than the average 65-year-old male's pension pot. The CII research estimated that while the pay gap will persist until 2050 unless there is intervention, the pensions gap will remain wide until 2100.


What We’re Tracking

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


  • Astia (Astia Fund, Astia Angels & Astia Edge) (US/global): (CEO and Managing Director, Sharon Vosmek)-is a global organisation which invests, advises and partners to level the investment playing field (for women).

    • Astia has launched a $100m early-stage fund which will invest globally in high-growth companies that have at least one woman in an executive equity-holding position.

    • The Astia fund has been led by an investment from Mastercard.

    • The new fund is open to UK institutional investors, family offices, corporates, foundations, endowments, pension funds and high-net worth individuals.


Coffee Break? Read This



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

The Purse Ltd. Copyright 2021 & All Rights Reserved.

Share The Purse