Welcome to our #57 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 Federal Reserve balance sheet rose $115bn to a new all-time high of $7.557tn. The balance sheet is now 35% of GDP.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has agreed that ample monetary stimulus is needed.
Meanwhile, UK government borrowing hit £8.8bn in January (the highest January figure since records began in 1993). The UK's overall debt has now reached 97.6% of GDP - a level not seen since the early 1960s.
(The ongoing money printing by central banks around the world means that currency is being devalued. In other words, we can buy less with the money we have).
Bitcoin has hit an all-time high at $57,000+. In less than 2 months, Bitcoin has risen 95.4%. On Friday, Bitcoin’s market value hit $1tn for the first time.
Ether also hit an all-time high over $2,000; the market cap reached $233.3bn. The cryptocurrency is up 172.5% year-to-date.
Bitwise has launched a DeFi crypto index fund.
Morgan Stanley may bet on Bitcoin. Meanwhile, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, is ‘dabbling’ in Bitcoin.
In the Future Focus section, read about growing ‘green bubble’ warnings as money pours into renewable stocks.
And according to a report by Capco, asset managers can improve their understanding of companies’ ESG practices by using new technologies such as artificial intelligence, tokenisation, and ledger technology.
Barclays beats forecasts and resumes dividend payments. And PayPal stock surpasses Mastercard.
In the Have You Seen This? section, read about the world’s largest sovereign fund, Norway Wealth, which wants its portfolio companies to boost the number of women on their boards and to consider setting targets if fewer than 30% of their directors are female.
And all-male boards have disappeared from FTSE 350 companies, for the second time.
We are tracking Avid Ventures; a female-led venture capital fund in the US founded by Addie Lerner and Tali Vogelstein, which is aimed at fintech, software, and consumer internet startups.
Stay safe, look after yourselves and your loved ones.
I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter.
Until next week,
Jana
The Big Picture
Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators
The US Federal Reserve balance sheet rose $115.2bn to fresh all-time high of $7.557tn
The balance sheet is now equal to 35% US GDP.
The ongoing money printing means that the US dollar is being devalued (as it drives up inflation and devalues the currency).
US jobless claims rose last week
Unemployment claims in the US rose to 861,000 last week and ending a downward trend that pointed to an improving jobs market.
The European Central Bank (ECB) agreed that ample monetary stimulus is needed
Eurozone Debt to GDP ratio has hit an all-time high of >100%.
January is usually a key revenue-raising month as it is when taxpayers submit their self-assessment returns.
Government borrowing for this financial year has now reached £270.6bn, which is £222bn more than a year ago.
The UK's overall debt has now reached 97.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) - a level not seen since the early 1960s.
UK retail sales plunge in stores and online by more than 8%
This is more than the 3% the City expected.
Clothing sales were down 35% from December, while household goods registered a drop of almost 20%.
Bitcoin & cryptocurrencies
Global news, trends and insights
Bitcoin hits an all-time high at $57,000+ and ignites a crypto rally
Less than 2 months into 2021, and Bitcoin has risen 95.4%
BTC ended 2020 at bit shy of $29,000 following a better-than 300% gain over the previous 12 months.
Major DeFi advancers include: Polkadot (DOT), Cardano (ADA (+23.06%)), Uniswap (UNI), Aave (AAVE), NEM (XEM (+9.28%)) and Huobi Token (HT) . Still others such as Chainlink (LINK (+2.29%)) hit all-time highs of their own.
Bitcoin hits $1tn in market value for the first time (Friday)
Ether hits an all-time high over $2,000 as bull run continues
According to the CoinDesk 20, ether (ETH) hit a new record of $2,033.08, with the market capitalisation of the crypto reaching $233.3 billion.
The cryptocurrency is up 172.5% year-to-date.
At least three growing areas of demand are fueling the increase in ether’s price:
decentralised finance (DeFi)
Ethereum 2.0 staking
and a newly formed institutionally focused ether market on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).
Bitwise launches a DeFi crypto index fund
The fund bets on 10 Ethereum-based protocols angling to shape the future of finance:
AAVE and UNI – each carry an initial weighting of around 25%.
Lending protocol token MKR and derivatives protocol token SNX come in around 10%.
Morgan Stanley may bet on Bitcoin in $150m investment arm & bitcoin ETF
Counterpoint Global, a unit of Morgan Stanley Investment Management that’s racked up wins in mutual-fund rankings, is exploring whether the cryptocurrency would be a suitable option for its investors.
For Wall Street firms, an inability to offer Bitcoin to those clients raises the risk of losing them to other managers. That may spark fresh discussions in the industry about opening up to the asset.
BlackRock has started ‘dabbling’ in bitcoin
Rick Rieder, chief investment officer of global fixed income at BlackRock (the world’s largest asset manager) has said the company is ‘dabbling’ in bitcoin.
MicroStrategy has completed a $1.05 billion debt offering to fuel more bitcoin purchases
According to data collected by The Block Research, MicroStrategy's current bitcoin holdings stand at just over 71,000 BTC -- an amount worth about $3.8 billion.
Here is Elon Musk tweeting about the definition of money: ‘money is just data’
Future Focus
Keeping an eye on key predictions, innovations and what’s going to impact the future
World debt reached record $281tn at end of 2020
Governments, companies and households raised $24 trillion last year to offset the pandemic’s economic toll.
The global debt total is now an all-time high of $281tn by the end of 2020, or more than 355% of global GDP, according to the Institute of International Finance.
‘Green bubble’ warnings grow as money pours into renewable stocks
According to data from Morningstar:
Global funds linked to ESG (environmental, social and governance) principles took in nearly $350bn last year vs $165bn in 2019.
Investors are pumping cash into anything that looks ‘green’ which is driving up company valuations.
Blockchain technology can bring clarity to ESG practices
According to a report from consultancy Capco, asset managers can improve their understanding companies’ ESG practices by using new technologies such as artificial intelligence, tokenisation, and ledger technology.
Capco says that new technologies could improve ESG ratings:
growing use of ‘impact tokens’ on blockchain as a way of offering proof that a positive impact has been delivered and attributing it to a particular investment.
Impact tokens may help with impact investment, if projects such as preserving rainforests in Brazil are tokenised, and are able to be traded as carbon offsets.
Companies: winners & losers
Companies to watch and share price movements
Barclays beats forecasts and resumes dividend payments
Barclays has resumed dividend payments as its 2020 profit dropped by 30% to £3.1bn.
This was better than expected as strong performance by its investment banking division offset provisions against bad loans made because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
PayPal stock surpasses Mastercard
PayPal shares rocketed 23% this year to $306, with a market value of $336bn.
Mastercard’s market value is at circa $330bn.
Have You Seen This?
Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns
Norway Wealth says put more women on boards
Norway’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, wants the companies it invests in globally to boost the number of women on their boards and to consider setting targets if fewer than 30% of their directors are female.
Know this: institutional investors are starting to apply more pressure on their portfolio companies and become more vocal about their stance towards diversity and ESG (environmental, social and governances practices). Diversity is no longer considered ‘a nice to have’.
Win for diversity: all-male boards disappear from FTSE 350 companies
There are now no all-male boards across the entire FTSE 350, according to the latest data compiled for the 30% Club.
This is the second time that this milestone has been achieved. The government-backed Hampton-Alexander Review reported that the last all-male board had diversified in May last year, only for all-male boards to return a month later.
Know this: the data shows that companies that have women in senior management outperform those that do not. This is reflected the companies’ share performance and profitability.
What We’re Tracking
Female and diversity-focused products or services, start-ups and businesses led by women/diverse founders, investment and research.
Avid Ventures (US): founded by Addie Lerner annd Tali Vogelstein, a female-led venture capital fund for fintech, software, and consumer internet startups.
They have just raised $68m for the VC fund.
Lerner founded Avid after spending a decade as an investor at larger firms, including General Catalyst, General Atlantic, and Goldman Sachs.
Vogelstein is a former investor at Bessemer Venture Partners who previously sourced early-stage investments in Avid’s core geographies and sectors.
Lerner previously helped invest more than $450 million across 18 investments in software, fintech, and consumer internet companies spanning North America, Europe, and Israel.
Coffee Break? Read This
What will Covid-19 mean for women and how can we fight against it?
No economy can succeed without tapping women’s incredible potential
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.
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