Welcome to our #193 weekly newsletter.
“For women taking control of their financial future”
-Jana Hlistova
From The Purse
In this week’s newsletter, we focus on Verve and their recent $3m fund raise which they will use to launch an ethical investing app aimed at women investors.
And don’t forget to listen to The Purse Podcast interview with money coach Bernadette Joy, who built her first $1m of net worth in her 30s as a first generation Filipina-American, the eighth of her father's nine children.
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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
Verve raises $3m to launch ethical investing app aimed at women investors
The Verve Money app aims to help women grow their wealth.
Verve, which offers Verve Super, the pension fund in Australia ‘for women, by women’, has closed a $3m fund raise early.
The funding will go towards a new goal-focused ethical investing app, the Verve Money app, which will specifically cater to the preferences of women investors, reported by Business News Australia.
As we know, a great wealth transfer is coming, passed down from the baby boomer generation, and women will be the biggest beneficiaries.
Co-founders Alex Andrews, Christina Hobbs and Zoe Lamont have received significant support from investors who ‘were investing because they felt passionately about seeing us succeed’ such as impact focused family office Alberts, which led the raise.
"We're longstanding supporters of impact focused businesses and female founder-led businesses. We were so impressed by Verve’s ethos of being founded by women, led by women, and tailored for women, and most importantly by how much existing Verve members love Verve," said Alberts’ director, Kirsty Albert.
Although anyone can join the app, Verve gives ‘a special welcome to anyone who is a woman, non-binary, a migrant, First Nations person or identifying within any other underrepresented group in investing’.
CEO and co-founder Christine Hobbs said that ‘there is a strong opportunity to support women throughout their wealth building journey’ and to help close the gender wealth gap.
The plan is to invest (in):
20% of the Verve Money portfolio into climate solutions
efficient transport
recycling
education
healthcare
healthy food production
renewable energy
technology
social wellbeing
and gender diversity.
Moreover, Verve will not invest in companies that:
exclude women from senior leadership positions
engage in labour rights abuses
environmental destruction
the offshore detention of people
tobacco
gambling
pornography
live animal exports
fossil fuels
weapons, armaments, and 'nuclear and uranium'.
Verve Money's approved investment list includes the Artesian Green + Sustainable Bond Fund, Plenti renewable energy loans, the Australian Unity Specialist Disability Accommodation Fund, and globally listed companies such as Vestas Wind Systems, Beyond Meat, and recycling group Umicore.
As a financial services company, Verve has always been considered ‘unconventional’. Traditional financial services firms tend to aim their products and services at the male customer by default.
For example:
..Verve provides its 25,000-plus members with the tools to have a discussion with their employers about maintaining pension payments while on parental leave and also offers access to an external divorce and separation coach and career coach for no additional fee.
The female customer has never carried more importance, especially in this decade as women will control two-thirds of household wealth by 2030.
News in Brief
Financial news
The US Fed quantitative tightening (QT) continues with balance sheet dropped by $22.4bn past week. It is 6th week in a row that total assets shrink.
Bond king Bill Gross says bond bull market isn’t ‘in the cards’ as yields peak. Deficit, Fed quantitative tightening put floor under yields.
Wheat prices keep rising after Ukraine warns on Russia ships in a tit-for-tat response to a similar warning from Moscow.
UK 2 year yields plunge by 22bps as inflation dropped <8% for first time in over a year.
UK inflation expected to fall after grocery price rises ease. The annual pace of grocery price growth cooled to 14.9% over the four weeks to 9 July, down from 16.5% a month earlier.
Diversified funds can not buy more tech giants – many of largest mutual fund firms running into limits. Combined market cap of 6 Big Tech comps has jumped to 57% of total Nasdaq 100 market cap.
Apple hit ATH after Bloomberg report on AI tools. Company builds large language models & internal chatbot.
Crypto: bitcoin, ethereum, DeFi & NFTs
The world's largest cryptocurrency dipped below the $30,000 mark on Friday — falling 1.2% to $29,876.12 according to CoinGecko. (Currently trading at $29,925).
Crypto survey finds 47% of investors expect Ether to ‘surpass’ Bitcoin. Year-to-date, Ether $1,875 has gained 62%.
Litecoin price at risk of a 30% drop if key LTC futures historical trend repeats. A multiyear review of Litecoin futures open interest reveals a unique trend that has significantly impacted the LTC price in the past.
Europe’s first spot Bitcoin ETF eyes 2023 debut after year-long delay. Jacob Asset Management got approval from the Guernsey financial regulator in October 2021 and was set to debut on Euronext Amsterdam Exchange in July 2022.
BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF approval is 'a long shot,' analyst claims. However, the analyst said public comments by Larry Fink, BlackRock's CEO, have lent considerable momentum to Bitcoin.
Kevin Rose’s a16z-backed Moonbirds launches 200-day reveal of new collection. Average sales prices for Moonbirds have declined by nearly ten times from what they once were. Last month a Moonbirds NFT sold for an average of about $3,850, according to CryptoSlam!.
The UK's Financial Conduct Authority is launching a permanent version of its Digital Sandbox for firms to test products at an early stage of development.
The UK government has dismissed the idea of regulating the cryptocurrency sector like gambling.
The Purse Podcast
We cover the following in our conversation:
Money scripts and why mental health drives wealth
Why renting is better than homeownership
Growing personal wealth through other investment vehicles
Why women need to become financially independent.
Please enjoy! Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify+
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.
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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.
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