Janet Clark: We are living in an economically volatile time, and the debate is where the markets are more volatile now than in the past. Do we have more black swans around the pond, or do we have more information and market access than ever before? One thing is for sure: deciding to invest in this complex environment can be difficult, whether you choose to partner with a financial advisor or go to DIY [do-it-yourself] Route with direct-to-consumer digital investment platforms.
Today we chat with Higgo van Biljon, CEO and founder of the community-based financial education app FinMeUp. The app connects users with industry experts and consultants, with the goal of leading them to financial independence.
Higgo, thanks for joining us today. What is your opinion of what is currently going on in the global market and how should one navigate at this uncertain time to find the right opportunities?
HIGGO OF BILLIONS: Yeah Al that sounds pretty crap to me, Looks like BT aint for me either. There are several reasons to look at what we see. Some of the factors are the fear of inflation, and we see it – the fear of inflation and the uncertainty of rising interest rates, the uncertainty of geopolitical risks, the uncertainty of the recession. There are so many contexts. Usually when we see that there are red days in the market – and we see different consecutive red days, especially in the US market. And this is where I usually tell myself that when we invest in the stock market it is important to know your plan and stick to your plan and know that it is a long term game. Investing should not be a speculative everyday thing, otherwise you are a businessman. So, know your plan, stick to your plan and think long term.
Janet Clark: What advice would you give to those who want to take control of their financial life and also their investment appetite and risk profile? Where do they get the insights and information they need to make the right decisions?
HIGGO OF BILLIONS: There are different appetites in the market. Some people like to do it themselves. Some people prefer to give their money to a financial advisor, or perhaps invest in a less risky index fund.
For me, make sure you have a plan and stick to that plan. Once you have that plan, stay in control of your emotions, look at history, look at all the charts [to see] What happened before.
If you look completely, you know [JSE] All stock index markets, we’ve been through wars, we’ve been through recessions, we’ve been through bubble pops, and yet if you have high-quality investments – and if you stick, the market will grow in the long run. [your] Plan
It is also important to know your deadlines, think long term and not short term, and stick to your high-fidelity investment, because you need to be able to support the research you have done to stick to the long-term investment. Thesis
One of the places – and that’s what we’re addressing at FinMeUp – is providing resource investors, entrepreneurs and hostlers with the resources and information and education they need to make the best possible decisions in their investment lives. So we provide research, we provide news, information, everything.
But when it comes to risk management, everything depends on personal beliefs and personal preferences, because everyone is different [approaches]. But it is important to know your plans.
Janet Clark: So if you don’t have that personal conviction in what you choose, then when you run the risk of classic knee-jerk [reaction] When do we see a black swan on the horizon?
HIGGO OF BILLIONS: The thing is, when you don’t have that plan and if you don’t have the conviction, and if you don’t do research or learn[t] From other people, or from different sources of information, you can probably make emotional and emotional decisions. Even in my own life, emotional decisions about investing and finances usually lead to regret. So when you buy or invest something, it is important to know why you are buying something and what your plans are.
You need to be able to ask yourself, if the stock market falls 20%, will you be fine? Usually when people invest their emergency savings, for example, it can end in remorse. There is a quote that says if you have trouble imagining a 20% loss in the stock market then you should not have stock. That’s just in the stock market, but there [are] There are many asset classes that you can consider – low risk, high risk, medium risk.
We cover them all in the FinMeUp app, but it’s important [know] Your level of risk and know that stocks and investments go up and down. But if you look at the long term, it increases if you have a high-quality investment. It’s all about knowing your convictions and doing your own research and making sure you know your plan again.
Janet Clark: The question is ‘when is it a good time to buy?’ A pertinent question, or is it actually always a good time to buy? Does it just depend on your goals, risk profile, investment or stock preferences?
HIGGO OF BILLIONS: I actually had a question yesterday from a friend who asked me how much the US market would go down before he bought it. You can’t answer that, because no one knows when [it’s] Below or above the price of any share. The strategy I use is the ‘dollar-cost average’. But it’s important to remember that not all falling knives are good opportunities. That’s where the high suffix comes from. So, if you have done your research on a specific company, and you are committed to different strategies and different reasons for the long term, and believe in management and vision and all this. , Then if it’s cheap … think of it like Warren Buffett. If it is, let’s say, bread; If the bread is R20 and it is R12, then it is a bargain. You can buy it at a sale. The same is true of farms. If you invest in a farm and nothing on the farm changes, nothing fundamentally changes and you get 20% less of it, it actually makes it a bargain.
So I use the technique where it’s something I believe in and it falls, I buy it when it goes down – not all at once because the bottom can go even down. So it is [about] Stick to your high-fidelity investment.
Janet Clark: And where do investors turn to find long-term winners, and what is ‘long-term’? People have different views on this.
HIGGO OF BILLIONS: I see the long term as five to 10 years or five to 10 years প্ল plus. Because it can go even longer [with] Something smaller than this is clearly going to be instability. There are uncertain reasons, there are black swan cases. Many things can happen, [whether] For better or worse, I see this as a five-year-plus. If you look at ETFs [exchange-traded funds] You usually do well on the horizon during five years. It sometimes even exceeds some indicators or fund managers. So that’s what I take.
Janet Clark: You mentioned a bit about what FinMeUp does, but can you tell us more about our FinMeUp app and how you curate app content? You mentioned that you need to look at different voices when you are gathering information to make investment decisions, so how do you curate the content that the app offers to investors?
HIGGO OF BILLIONS: FinMeUp has been created by various industry experts in the form of তৈরি FinMeUp app content creation. So, before hiring a consultant on the FinMeUp app to create content – a variety of content, videos, podcasts, stock picks or just general notes and blogs – we first go through a verification process, making sure that the consultants are verified and that they It will create high quality content.
It’s not like Twitter, where anyone can post, for example. They need to be industry experts who will make valuable contributions to the FinMeUp platform.
And it’s a variety of content, as I mentioned, but it’s especially for retail investors who want to get an extra bit of research.
So some of our consultants take many, many hours to research a company and they post in the FinMeUp app in a very simplified format.
For example, for US Tesla shares, or for South African shareright shares, there may be a research note on one of the companies you list on the watch, and there is more and more content every day. There is also daily information, but only highlight information.
So back to the curation direction. If you go to the internet or youtube or news channel, there is a lot of content; So we only focus on providing relevant content to our users that they need to know to stay up to date and up-to-date on events – so when company executives are buying or selling large portions, or when a company releases new results. Because, if you invest in individual stocks, it’s important to stay up to date with the different companies you follow, and research from people other than yourself, because sometimes we may miss some information.
Janet Clark: And can you share some numbers? How many users do you have at the moment?
HIGGO OF BILLIONS: FinMeUp is highly community-centered. We also have a community off-app, which is now around 50,000. But in the app, the new app was launched three weeks ago, now we have about 5000 app users and it is growing day by day. The more users we have, the more consultants we add, the better the platform.
But for us it’s about creating value in everyone’s financial life in the app. As I said before, our goal is to find a way to financial freedom for our community, and all the decisions we make on a daily basis are to do just that.
Janet Clark: All the data in the world will not help investors make good decisions unless it is insightful. So, whether you feel comfortable picking stocks and funds on your own or you want to follow the guidance of an investment expert, the fact remains that it is better to do in-depth and accurate research before investing and then invest better. For the long term.
He was also the founder and CEO of Higo van Bilgen, the financial education app FinMeUp.
Brought to you by FinMeUp.
Moneyweb does not endorse any products or services advertised in our sponsored articles on our platform.