Weekly newsletter for women who want to be smart about money
Financial news, personal finance and investing
The Big Picture
Global markets and economy news, trends and indicators
US stock prices reach record highs as investors kept watch for signs of progress on the US and China deal. President Trump told an audience in the US on Tuesday that they are close to signing a ‘phase-one’ trade deal with China. If the US and China can not agree then tariffs will be imposed on Chinese goods. (Source: FT)
The US Fed is unlikely to reduce interest rates further in 2019 despite pressure form President Trump to lower interest rates. The Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell has described the existing cuts as a response to low inflation and the uncertainty in the economy. (Source: FT)
(US) Investors are buying equities, driving up prices and government bond yields have bounced back from their lows in August. Government bonds are usually a good indicator of market sentiment. The enthusiasm for equities seems to reflect an expectation that economic activity will pick up again. (Source: FT)
The pound surged and shares in banks and builders rallied as Nigel Farage announced his Brexit Party will not fight Tory held seats. This raises the likelihood of a Conservative majority which would remove the risk of a minority parliament and the return of uncertainty over Brexit. (Source: Citywire)
According to the 2019 UBS/PwC Billionaires Report the number of female billionaires has grown by 46% in five years and 4 in 10 of 2018’s self-made female billionaires built businesses in the consumer and retail sector. Key findings from the report include: The Billionaire Effect-
Self-made billionaires are seeking new ways to make the world a better place. Traditional grant-giving is evolving into strategic philanthropy and championing some ambitious causes.
Philanthropists are also increasingly collaborating to make a difference, with other billionaires, NGOs, charities and governments.
This Billionaire Effect can be attributed to billionaires’ appetite for smart risk taking and their greater willingness to plan and invest for the long term.
What’s New This Week?
UK news: the economy, business, personal finance, investing.
The UK avoids recession but Brexit uncertainty has impacted economic growth: the annual growth of 0.3% is the slowest in 10 years. The UK economy returned to growth between July and September. Over the last 2 years, the TV and film industry has been driving Britain’s growth.
The rate of employment in the UK takes biggest fall in 4 years and women are adversely affected because a large proportion work part-time. "The number of women in work dropped by 93,000, but was offset by a 35,000 increase in the number of men. Businesses appear to have responded to the slowest annual growth in almost a decade by using less part-time labour. In the three months to September, part-time employment was down by 164,000". The unemployment rate at 3.8% is unlikely to fall any further.
Half of all FTSE 100 chiefs must be women in order to hit the gender target. A “step change” at UK’s biggest companies is needed if they are to hit a key metric where women make up at least half of executive-level teams by the end of next year.
Interest rates fall on buy-to-let mortgages as competition between lenders intensifies. One of the reasons for this is that people are 'locking in' low interest rates with a longer term fixed rate deal because of the uncertainty in the UK economy.
Have You Seen This?
Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns.
14 November was Equal Pay Day. Because of the gender pay gap this marks the last day women in the UK are paid to work until January.
Meet the women who took on unequal pay in the workplace-and what happened.
Over a third of self-employed women are failing to save for retirement. According to the Scottish Widows Women and Retirement Report, not only are many self-employed women not saving for retirement, but only 46% who are saving are managing to save the minimum recommended level.
Apple Card: investigation launched after claims of sexist credit limits given to women. A Twitter thread last week has revealed that some men are claiming that they are being given as much as 20 times the credit limit as women on the Apple Card.
What We’re Tracking
Female-focused products or services, crowdfunding campaigns, start-ups led by female entrepreneurs & investment, research.
Start-ups with female founders are exiting more quickly than male founded startups.
(UK) Fashion influencer Freddie Harrel raises £1.5m in seed funding to launch her start-up called RadSwan, for premium hair extensions. Harrel’s investors include the likes of BBG Ventures, Female Founders Fund and angel investor Hannah Bronfman, who will be part of her goal to transform the $7 billion black hair market with RadSwan’s socially conscious agenda.
(UK) Nova launches tech-enabled, growth focus startups, putting passionate founders at the heart of everything they do. Nova’s approach works; the survival rate in their portfolio is 5x higher than some market norms, and consequently, their portfolio valuation has grown at an average of 83% year on year. They are crowdfunding-so check out their page here. (Disclaimer: this is for information purposes only).
We’re Applauding
Female role model in politics, finance, business, money, or investment
We’re big supporters of Michelle Kennedy who has recently raised £3.8m for her Peanut app for mums who live near each other. Here’s a tweet Michelle shared earlier this year about why she launched an app aimed at women only:
Caught Our Eye
New digital tools and cool stuff
Emma: We've just started using this money management app. Emma helps people manage their money, pay off debt, avoid overdrafts and track subscriptions. An AI financial assistant made by humans for humans. (Disclaimer: this is for informational purposes only).
What We’re Listening To
What are the biggest money mistakes people make when it comes to managing their personal finances? Listen to this podcast from the Harvard Business Review.
Money Habit of the Week:
Do you have a money habit you would like to share with us? Tweet @jointhepurse
“Monitor your monthly savings rate and increase it every 30 days by 1%-5%”
Monica from London.
Coffee Break? Read This:
We’d love to hear from you. Do you have feedback? Have we missed anything? What would you like to see more of? Get in touch with Jana via the The Purse website or tweet @jointhepurse and @janicka.
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