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
The financial markets have performed well in November signalling rising optimism about the global economy. This year looks certain to have the worst performance since the financial crisis, however investors are seeing signs of economic recovery. (Source: FT)
(US) At the start of the week, the market was hopeful of a trade deal between the US and China before the end of the year. But by Friday the market was less positive. (Source: FT)
The UK private sector activity deteriorated by the most in three years in November as uncertainty surrounding the general election and Brexit hurt domestic demand and exports. (Source FT)
The price of bitcoin and several other major cryptocurrencies have dropped dramatically over the last 24 hours, wiping billions off its value. The bitcoin fell more than 10% to take its price below $7,400 (£5,700) for the first time since May. The price was below $4000 in January. (Source: The Independent)
What’s New This Week?
UK news: the economy, business, personal finance, investing.
The Labour Party published its 'radical' manifesto which includes a proposal for collective sectoral bargaining over pay in an effort to increase wages and reduce inequality.
For women (and female voters) who, on average, earn less than men because of the gender pay gap and other complex reasons, this may suggest a conscious effort to close the difference between how women and men are paid.
Boris Johnson has shelved his plan to cut corporation tax to 17%, prioritising investment in the NHS instead. He has also shifted focus to making cuts to national insurance payments to help those on lower incomes.
Raising the threshold of national insurance payments initially to £9,500 in April would put an extra £104 into pockets of 31m workers. The majority of part-time workers are women therefore this change would positively impact women workers.
Royal Mail shares fell by 17% on Thursday morning as the postal service and courier announced that it was behind schedule in its transformation programme. Royal Mail warned that the weak GDP and ongoing business uncertainty has negatively impact the business.
David and Victoria Beckham’s brand empire fell in revenue by 18% (to £45.8m) in December 2018-a few months after they bought out business partner Simon Fuller. This is the first year the business suffered a net loss of £1.6m.
US fintech giant Robinhood is to take on Hargreaves and Freetrade in UK launch targeted for 2020. The $7.6bn personal-investment disruptor opened its waiting list this week for its UK launch-one of five international markets outside of the US. Robinhood popularised commission-free share trading.
Employers risk losing two thirds of employees due to the gender pay gap. Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed that progress towards closing the gender pay gap has stagnated for the past seven years, and between 2018 and 2019 the gap has widened for full-time workers.
The UK gender pay gap for full-time workers increased from 8.6% in 2018 to 8.9% in 2019
68% of UK workers would consider looking for another job if there was an unfair gender pay gap at their company, increasing to 79% of female employees
The majority of employees will stick to the 'default' pension fund in their workplace-which tends to be the 'medium-sized T-shirt of investing':
Research by Hargreaves Lansdown suggests that ditching the default fund and proactively picking your own investments can dramatically boost your eventual retirement pot.
Hargreaves calculates that boosting investment returns by just 1 per cent every year can increase a pension pot by nearly £60,000 by the time a worker reaches retirement.
Women's pension pots are, on average, one fifth of a man's (average), and therefore women should proactively seek advice on how to manage their money in order to generate above average returns.
Have You Seen This?
Female-focused news, reports, research, campaigns
The CII recommended employer pension contributions be included in a company's gender pay gap reporting, in light of data suggesting women aged 25 will accumulate a pension worth 20 per cent less than a man's over a period of 40 years.
Only workers earning more than £10,000 will be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension by their employers. The CII's research found 50 per cent of part-time workers earned less than £10,000 and more than 81 per cent of them were women.
Other recommendations included calls for pension sharing to be the default position in divorce proceedings, amid warnings only 18 per cent of divorces currently include that measure and married men's pensions were five times that of married women.
St James Place, the wealth management firm, has bolstered its board with the appointment of Helena Morrissey as non-executive director. Morrissey led Newton Investment Management for 15 years, recently stepped down as head of personal investing at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM) and founded the 30% Club (an organisation that campaigns to make boardrooms 30% female).
Research carried out by Morningstar found that there are more funds run by men named David than there are women. "Of 1,496 UK-listed open-ended funds, some 108 are run by managers named David or Dave – equivalent to 7.2% of funds. Meanwhile, just 105 funds in total have a woman at the helm."
(US) A new survey by Insider and Morning Consult says that women concerned about money are more likely to delay buying a property or quitting a job than men. Therefore delaying certain life events highlights the impact of the gender pay gap on women. Conversely men who have money concerns are less likely to enter a relationship.
According the Fawcett Society, employers should be forced to tell female staff if they are paid less than men doing the same job. They made the call for a new law obliging firms to disclose men's pay on 'Equal Pay Day' - the date after which the gender pay gap means women in the UK are working 'for free' until the end of the year.
What We’re Tracking
Female-focused products or services, crowdfunding campaigns, start-ups led by female entrepreneurs & investment, research.
Investors who are interested in socially responsible investments can fine tune selections and diversify with a sustainable ETF strategy based on environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles:
Wealth and demographic shifts may also contribute to growing interest for ESG investments, notably the rising income and wealth among the millennial and women groups.
$30 trillion is expected to pass from baby boomers to millennials over the next two to three decades.
Meanwhile, female investors are twice as likely as their male counterparts to consider sustainability alongside return when investing, and their projected 38% income growth in the period from 2016-2021 suggests that it is increasingly a group that cannot be ignored.
New European microfund launches and 85% of its investors are women. A large percentage of female investors is not the only unusual thing about Unconventional Ventures:
Give InKind, founded by Laura Malcolm, raises $1.5m in pre-seed investment. The 'giving' platform allows people to support others financially doing away with the need to just 'send a cheque'.
We’re Applauding
Female role model in politics, finance, business, money, or investment
StarTalers, co-founded by Gaëlle Haag, has raised Euro 520,000 in a round led by the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. The platform will help women become financial advisers.
Caught Our Eye
New digital tools and cool stuff
Tickr: We’re recently found out about an app which makes it easy to invest in global companies working to make profit as well as solving social and environmental problems. (Disclaimer: this is for information purposes only)
What We’re Listening To
We're big fans of the US entrepreneur and investor Naval Ravikant. It's worth listening to his podcast where he covers a wide range of topics from why compounding relationships make everything easier to why envy can be useful but it can also eat you alive and how to angel invest. Search for Naval on the Apple store, on Spotify or download the podcast app Stitcher on your mobile.
Money Habit of the Week:
Do you have a money habit you would like to share with us? Tweet @jointhepurse
“Keep a money diary to track how you think and feel about money”
Irene from Surrey
Coffee Break? Read This:
Men's stress rises when partner earns 40% of household income, study reveals.
Latina women will finally earn the same as white men in 2224 (US)
Three investment insights from an 'Alpha Girl' venture capitalist
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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