It is easier for people to save than invest because savings have virtually no risk and are usually short-term unlike investing which carries some risk and should be long-term. Also, with savings, you just put money away but investing means putting money&nbsp;in&nbsp;something and that something requires thought. You want to know that whatever is invested in is healthy and can grow, so investing is rightfully more difficult than saving which is why a lot of people delay it or think they need to hit certain financial milestones before they start investing. Our advice is to start immediately.



<h3>Why You Should Start Investing Now</h3>



The rewards when you start investing early far outweigh the benefits of starting later because of the powerful force that is compound interest. 



People who <a href="https://rise.capital/blog/finance/the-goal-of-investing/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">invest </a>at a young age are typically more likely to grow their wealth, become financially independent and reach retirement sooner than those who don&#8217;t. The first step in your journey to investing should be a strong financial education. It is never wise to make investments in financial products you do not understand or cannot explain.



Say there are two individuals who started working at age 20 and retired at 60, person A starts investing $500 right from her first paycheck while person B decides to hold on for ten years, investing $500 monthly from age 30.



At retirement, person A will have $2.8 million at an annual compounding rate of 10% thanks to a 10-year headstart while person B will have $1million. There’s an almost $2million difference in their investment value despite the fact that there’s only a $60,000 difference in capital invested. That’s the power of starting immediately.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1134/1*qeuR5mCEFs7ujnmE0kYrvQ.png" alt="Image for post"/></figure>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://miro.medium.com/max/1446/0*U3nUr-SBvNuhkGw5" alt="Image for post"/></figure>



With investing, it’s not just the act but the habit you are building along the way. Plus, postponing it shortchanges you in the long run. The sooner you invest and maximise the power of compounding, the more your money grows and no amount is too small to start, that’s why at Rise, you can begin with $10.



We understand that investing can be daunting for newbies and experts alike because of how unpredictable the market is. With Rise, it doesn’t have to be. We don’t let you figure things out by yourself, instead, we invest and manage your money in a global portfolio of dollar investments.



Start investing today at&nbsp;<a href="http://risecapital.com/">rise.capital</a>.



Our telegram community surrounds you with others who can help you along your financial journey with tips, support, advice and learning. Join the&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/joinchat/DTGhd0cfd_R5q8w_dC1KHQ">community</a>

When should I start investing?

Hello Riser, Please don&#8217;t be alarmed by the recent circular from the SEC about investment platforms trading in securities listed in foreign markets. Fintech is still in its nascent stages in Nigeria and it is the job of the SEC to protect public investors just as it is our duty to help you invest legally and safely. Rise has always made sure that we are in full compliance with all regulatory requirements and the recent announcement from the SEC is no exception. 



We do not enable the direct trading of stocks by individuals. Still, we are in touch with all the relevant stakeholders to ensure that we continue to stay on the right side of regulations. Be assured that your investments in Rise are secure and safe and that we will continue to be proactive about regulations and compliance. 



Thank you for your support The Rise Team

About the latest SEC circular…

<h2>When people ask you what do you do, what do you tell them?</h2>



My career revolves around the agric value chain – I started as an agric research consultant. Now I&#8217;m in academics working as a researcher and lecturer in a Nigerian University. But I am currently on study leave for my doctoral studies in Europe.



<h2>What does financial wealth mean to you?</h2>



Financial Wealth, to me, means having a stake in the world economy.



It needs to be a source of value so that I don&#8217;t need to bother when my next Naira comes not having the &#8220;anywhere belle face” mentality.



<h2>When did you start investing?</h2>



Started in 2015, with Real Estate, then in 2016, Crypto (Bitcoin)&nbsp;



<h2>Why did you start investing? What inspired you</h2>



I realised that 3% bank interest was a loss when you consider the charges. But the main push came when I saw an opportunity to buy a plot of land, and I could afford it from my student&#8217;s savings. And the final conviction was the constant devaluation of the Naira. When I started, USD was ₦170!!



<h2>How do you approach investment today?</h2>



I pay attention to Portfolios that are tech-driven, especially those that can add value to the global economy.&nbsp;



Tech-driven agriculture stands out and, of course, the crypto world. I read, listen to expert analysts, do my research, and make informed decisions.



<h2>What tools do you use to invest?</h2>



A number of them; FarmCrowdy, ThriveAgric, PiggyVest, Passfolio &amp; Risevest. For crypto, I hold a little on Binance, Luno &amp; Quidax.



<h2>What investing hill are you willing to die on?</h2>



No matter how low the market plummets, it will rise, so I&#8217;d instead buy the dip than fall to the temptation of panic sell. I&#8217;ve learned my lessons.



<h2>Your Lesson?&nbsp;</h2>



It happened when Bitcoin crashed in 2018; I emptied my wallet, thinking the bubble has burst. What was left was ₦200; it’s now worth over ₦25k. I lost because I panicked. But now, when the market nosedives, I either stay put or buy more, never sell. Las las it will Rise. 😉



<h2>What has been your wildest gain since you started investing</h2>



Having shares in Tesla, Netflix, and Amazon (no matter how small, na something). At least I know I can stake a share in my monthly Netflix subscription!&nbsp;



What also stands out for me is that I am striving to escape constant Naira devaluation by investing in Dollars.&nbsp;



This <a href="https://twitter.com/Anderamber/status/1389291766352842758">Tweet</a> is a rude shock on how our Naira is fairing.&nbsp;



<h2>Have you made any loss since you started investing?</h2>



Aside from the loss I made from the panic sale, I haven&#8217;t. The market is red now but that doesn&#8217;t mean I&#8217;m losing, I only lose if I decide to bleed my account when the market plummets.



<h2>So what’s the secret to not losing money?</h2>



Study the market and make well-informed decisions on where to put your money.&nbsp;



If the market trend is going down, take advantage and buy more shares, otherwise stay put, it will Rise.



But more importantly, use platforms that can help manage your investments so you don&#8217;t need to worry your head.&nbsp;



I use Rise now and so far the journey has been smooth, I&#8217;d advise newbies to start out with Rise. And it won&#8217;t hurt using my referral code OVIGBDFG 😉.



<h2>Now that you mentioned platforms&#8230; How has Rise Investment club helped your financial education and journey</h2>



I always enjoy the richness of the discussion sessions. It reaffirms some of the age-long wisdom and principles I’d gleaned from books. And when you meet a <a href="https://t.me/joinchat/DMuBqxYV5GSwSEypHwbmiA">platform</a> that shares the principles as you hold, it gives some degree of validity.&nbsp;



<h2>Great!! What’s the hardest decision you have had to make since you started investing?</h2>



Forming the habit to live within my means after taking out a percentage for investment. And making the decision to either take a loan or liquidate my investment at a time of desperate need.



<h2>Is there anything you wished you’d known before you started investing?</h2>



Ahhh, I wished I knew about investment and money matters in my undergraduate days. I didn&#8217;t start until after my MSc in 2015, and that was because I read books like:



The Rich Dad series &amp; Napoleon Hills&#8217; books. Think and Grow Rich &amp; 17 Principles of Success. George Clarson&#8217;s book, Richest Man in Babylon &amp; Jim Rohn&#8217;s Financial talk series.&nbsp;



You know they don&#8217;t teach finance in school. I wished I knew all these earlier.



<h2>Yeah, IKR? What does a dream investment look like to you today?</h2>



Dream? Hehehehe



1. 1 full share each in Amazon, Tesla, Netflix&#8230;



2. 2 BTC, 3 ETH, 10 Doge



3. 10% share of Rise investments.



<h2>Ahh ahh, Omo: How does this dream compare to your reality now?</h2>



Please don&#8217;t wake me from this dream. But I&#8217;m on this journey for the long haul.



I&#8217;ll get there; I have the plan. But the sketch is always to maintain a healthy habit of profitable investments.



<h2>How do you feel about your investment position generally today?</h2>



I wish I have more stakes.



<h2>What will you tell a beginner about investment?</h2>



Invest in personal growth and read up articles and books about market trends.&nbsp;



Do your best to put aside a part of your earnings (it&#8217;s called paying yourself). Turn that part as a seed to invest in Real Estate, Stocks, and Crypto markets.&nbsp;



If not for anything, think of retirement. It is never too early to start planning one&#8217;s retirement. What&#8217;s happening to the pension scheme now is a big scam.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Early investment is key; even though the market will go down, in the long run, it will be a massive gain.&nbsp;

When The Market Nosedives, I buy more. My Name Is Tobe And This Is How I Make My #MoneyRise

Before the pandemic became a thing, Shopify was about a $60 billion company. At that time, we took a bet on Shopify. We made the bet because we believe there would be more businesses moving online in the future. And Shopify is positioned to capture this growth with its <a href="https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/85946038/danco-shopify-the-e-commerce-on-ramp?tab=transcript">merchants-centric business model</a>. Undoubtedly, the pandemic accelerated our outlook and Shopify won and became a $153 billion business in the process. But we believe that’s not the end of growth for Shopify, only the beginning.



It is earnings season and Shopify’s revenue grew 110% year over year. Shopify’s outstanding performance was fueled by a 71% jump in subscription revenue to $320 million, and a 137% surge in merchant solutions revenue to $668 million. This is even though the economy is in a way already on track to fully reopen. Shopify is sending a message that whether there is a pandemic or not, it is well-positioned to keep on growing. Albeit, growth may increase at a lower rate as the economy fully reopens and customers favour in-store purchases over online channels.



Shopify noted during the earnings call, &#8220;we continue to expect to grow revenue rapidly in 2021 but at a lower rate than in 2020.&#8221; This is something we foresaw at Rise and we are already adjusting for it in our portfolio. As we noted in our <a href="https://rise.capital/blog/q1-performance-report-navigating-a-choppy-market">Q1 report</a>, we have already started making post-pandemic bets and the returns so far confirm our thesis.&nbsp;



Shopify&#8217;s merchant customers are also benefiting from booming e-commerce growth. Its gross merchandise volume (GMV) &#8211; the total amount of sales facilitated by its platform &#8211; increased an astounding 114%, to $37.3 billion.



And as its merchants prosper, so does Shopify. Alex Danco explains the business model best <a href="https://www.joincolossus.com/episodes/85946038/danco-shopify-the-e-commerce-on-ramp?tab=transcript">here</a> if you are curious. The summary of the business model adopted by Shopify is such that it is positioned to capture value at every merchant’s success points. And its continued growth shows that it&#8217;s been able to do this successfully.



Shopify&#8217;s adjusted net income and earnings per share rose more than tenfold to $254.1 million and $2.01 per share, respectively.



Talking about the GMV, Shopify President, Harley Finkelstein said &#8220;Our GMV growth accelerated year over year as merchants across cohorts and geographies thrived in our platform, backed by robust consumer spending.&#8221; He continued to highlight how more and more merchants choose Shopify when he said &#8220;more entrepreneurs launched businesses on Shopify, trusting us with their livelihoods as they turn their ideas into reality.&#8221;



<h1>What&#8217;s Ahead?</h1>



The global e-commerce market size was valued at USD 9.09 trillion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of <a href="https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/e-commerce-market">14.7%</a> from 2020 to 2027. While there are hundreds of players in the industry, Shopify is well-positioned to capture some of the growth with its focus on merchants who are looking to take their businesses online in the most convenient and efficient way.



&#8220;We are focused on building a commerce operating system that will help shape the future of retail,&#8221; Chief Financial Officer Amy Shapero said. &#8220;Our merchant-first business model positions us to capture the massive opportunity presented by the growth of digital commerce, benefiting both our merchants and Shopify.&#8221;



Shopify also intends to spend heavily on growth initiatives in the year ahead. Although this will weigh on its profits, we are ready to take sides with a company that will make short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. &#8220;We expect full-year 2021 adjusted operating income to be below the level we achieved in 2020,&#8221; the company said.



With nearly $7.9 billion on its balance sheet for Q1 ended, we believe Shopify can easily afford these investments.



We are excited about the wealth compounding opportunities that we are building for our customers. And we urge you to join if you haven&#8217;t and invite others to join us as well.

Shopify: 110% Revenue Growth Fuels Our Optimism

<h2>Hi Omowunmi, when people ask you what you do, what do you tell them?</h2>



I am a medical doctor, and I am seeking to create solutions to healthcare problems in Nigeria.



<h2>What does financial wealth mean to you?</h2>



It means not having to worry about money. And if I say I want something, I can get it without thinking about how expensive it is.



<h2>When did you start investing?</h2>



I started in early 2020, It was during COVID when things were not going so well.



I was tired of being broke, and I realised that investments are good for the short and long term. So I started exploring different investment options.&nbsp;&nbsp;



<h2>Broke?</h2>



When I meant broke, I meant that I was not able to buy certain things without worrying about how much it would cost me and if I’d be able to survive on what was left. Inflation kept rising and my money was losing value, and I could no longer afford certain things. So I got tired of doing that and started looking for ways to work against inflation.&nbsp;



<h2>What did it feel like when you were exploring different investment options?&nbsp;</h2>



Honestly, I felt like someone threw me in the ocean and asked me to swim. But as I read articles, watched Youtube videos and started understanding the terminologies. I was able to make informed decisions that eventually helped me. The risks involved was the fear of losing my money to Ponzi and get rich quick schemes which had become commonplace.



<h2>What was the first thing you invested in?</h2>



The first thing I invested in was a piggy vest poultry farm, as a beginner I had to look for a low medium risk investment.



<h2>How do you approach investment today?</h2>



I am still in the learning phase. So my focus is on how it can benefit me in the long term, because I don&#8217;t want to spend my whole life working for money.



My penchant for risk depends on the money I have with me. If it is money I do not mind losing, I take high risks. I take low or medium risks for money I am not comfortable losing.&nbsp;



<h2>What tools do you use to invest today?</h2>



I use Risevest, Bamboo and Piggy Vest.



<h2>What investing hill are you willing to die on?</h2>



If you are in for the long haul, and you play your chips right. Investment, if done right, is a way to make sure that you are never poor.



<h2>What has been your wildest gain since you started investing?</h2>



During Covid 19 lockdown, I bought Delta airline stocks, because it was low as people were not travelling. Guess what? it has increased by 100% in the past year.&nbsp;



<h2>Have you made any loss?</h2>



None, so for me not to be able to recall, I have not made any loss.



<h2>What is your secret to not losing money?&nbsp;</h2>



I make sure I do my reviewing before I invest and I make sure that I don&#8217;t do a lot of wild investing. I make sure that I invest in stocks that will rise even if it falls.



I also invest in what I have read, in what I know, in what I have heard as compared to looking for diamonds in the rough.



<h2>What is the hardest decision you have had to make since you started investing?</h2>



Well, there was a time I needed money, and I had to sell one of my stocks. It was hard because I didn&#8217;t have a choice and it was a stock that was actually doing well but I needed the money.



<h2>Is there anything you wish you had known before you started investing?</h2>



I wish I started earlier, oh my gosh.&nbsp; I am a person that always saves, but I was not investing. The problem with saving is that I found out that over time I was spending the money I was saving. If I was investing, it would have increased.&nbsp;



Starting earlier would have helped me to have a better financial plan, being able to project more into the future. I always believed that I would have had so much financial freedom. 



<h2>What does a dream investment look like to you today?</h2>



My dream investment is to have 10 bitcoin. Ehhh before you judge me, there’s a reason you called it a dream investment or can’t a girl dream?&nbsp;



<h2>Hahaha, a girl can definitely dream… But&nbsp; How does it compare to your reality today?&nbsp;</h2>



Funny enough, I have not started investing in Bitcoin hahaha. I have known about bitcoin for a while – since 2018 in fact –but I did not trust it and I was avoiding being scammed.&nbsp;



As of now, I am interested in knowing more about it, so I am currently working towards it. 



<h2>How do you feel about your investment position generally today? </h2>



I am still a beginner and so I like the position that I am in, it is full of goals and opportunities to learn more.



I also currently don&#8217;t think that I am doing too badly and most of the decisions I have made have helped me. It has built me up and made me more aware of finances and made me sure of my plans



<h2>What will you tell a beginner about investment?</h2>



Do your due diligence! Don&#8217;t let anyone rush you to do things you don&#8217;t understand



Remember, all the information you need is on the internet. Make sure you read as many articles on investing as you can. 



Don&#8217;t invest in quick money schemes, it does not last.

I Make Sure That I Invest In Stocks That Will Rise Even If It Falls. My Name Is Omowunmi, And This Is How I Make My #MoneyRise

I joined Risevest in January 2021, and the word “inflation” has not left my mouth ever since. We’ve painted a picture of what inflation looks like. From the rise in the price of Garri in the market, to how expensive it is to cook Jollof rice in Nigeria today. But nothing prepared me for how expensive things are at the market, especially <a href="https://mailchi.mp/336eca7c15ba/debt-garri-and-the-latest-adventures-of-meffy?e=8a6294de10">Foodstuff</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“99% of all statistics only tell 49% of the <a href="https://www.causeweb.org/cause/resources/library/r2197">story</a>” so when we tell you that Nigeria’s inflation rate in March is 18.17%. You get the idea that things are bad, but you don&#8217;t get the picture of how things are really really bad. 



Last week Wednesday I took a long drive to the famous Oke-Arin market in Lagos island. There I got my first-hand experience on what inflation means for the average Nigerian.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/afxH43tC8v19fUhY1uZoV0Et4L1YQo0mKs8j1oNwhybvWx95KxdlJyLXSOnPslFvgaFDMq_3zeg3Kmq6nt6BUSVnztSxSLw1OPOukdFylmD6lUeULvsU1FqIAE4IXqmOW6IJcP4l" alt=""/></figure>



<a href="https://persecondnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/market-in-nigeria.jpg">Oke-Arin market</a>&nbsp;



Inflation to economists means the general rise in the price level in an economy over a period of time. We all know this definition from Secondary school economics but I got my own real definition in this market.&nbsp;



While pricing Rice, I asked the woman selling rice to tell her daughter to bring a carton of Indomie Onion flavoured noodles, from the next shop. In the process of calculating she asked her daughter “how much be Indomie”? The daughter replied ₦3,000. The Rice woman screamed!!! 3,000 what? Oga na so you they buy am? I looked at her and gave her the if you ask me, na who I go ask look.&nbsp;



During my stay at the University of Lagos. Indomie was my&nbsp; &#8220;Owu food&#8221;, ₦100was sufficient to buy two 70g sachets of noodles and one egg. Today, that same 70g noodles retails for ₦70 and Egg sells for ₦60. What this means is that for the average Unilag student, they’d need ₦200, to buy the same thing I used to pay ₦100 for in 2015.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/xkcI5Y1DGlhG_oVGX2XFWFjj2yOf_F9sc_hR1DRH9ggE5BoFq0AyKl-Wl7fTSMOyc1ZDAtGNrOUy-qTEPbYg9vuSfqU7VfXD0b1Khmase8wtKkeI7SXuu-1iLM57W8flIOfxpde0" alt=""/></figure>



My friend asked me to get the price of a carton of Olmeca tequila while I was at the market. It was ₦100,000. He returned a few days later to buy it, and it had gone from ₦100,000 to ₦110,000. In a few days, he had lost his purchasing power. At work, we call this; “Same money, Only poorer.”&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/9oc-FavFwuIL5Cp5JLP35xWcIjWmb__gGkl0dteIrXrsncRmqQWgJ-2c8nsNTXlR3Rg_ahckVyFs6QVb-a8nwzPs0iGW0C2KEAvBXMYsJKjhB2mAyFL3NOYdkJV9XmQcGhlAFuxf" alt=""/></figure>



<a href="https://th.bing.com/th/id/R1822672e425c10995dde0ba73d567ae6?rik=LcEcs0o2qDVzGg&amp;riu=http%3a%2f%2fwww.barton-guestier.com%2fnewsletter%2f2015november%2fgb%2fimages%2fevent_nigeria_14.jpg&amp;ehk=cPlXJoGPv4bLyOberfw8aY6Xr4wcKccvPGTgqkJ9pGY%3d&amp;risl=&amp;pid=ImgRaw">Oke-Ari</a>n&nbsp;



I bought my Generator in February 2018 for ₦62,500, it has been pretty solid since then.&nbsp; A few weeks ago I noticed it was misbehaving and thought yeah, might be time to get a new one. I called the guy I bought this from, to tell me how much the same Gen is going to cost me today. He replied: “Oga he done cost o, Market no be like before o, that your Generator now na ₦125,000 last o”. Well, I have now decided I have the best Generator in the world and come rain or shine, we go gather rock am.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/6gq20mB5SLvL-ZMSOjXdHN-7zg9vhG8_ej12eyXHVdm78YKX0_kyvbjpVs_47ECAabU1RymVZDdfqPKsw6XGeMvT2GaRFVVaILC2V8xDsF9jv_jD3xgOkFz0Y7o0PV8m1hS9F-92" alt=""/></figure>



<h1>Present Reality</h1>



What we know so far is that Nigeria&#8217;s inflation rate is at 18.17% in March from 17.33% in February 2021. It’s the highest it’s climbed since January 2017, when it stood at 18.72%. We know that Nigerians pay more for fewer goods and services.&nbsp;



Holding the naira or investing in Naira is not the best fit for your money. And that is why we are here to help you <a href="https://rise.capital/">beat</a> inflation. I talked to <a href="https://rise.capital/blog/invest-in-what-you-understand-my-name-is-jennifer-and-this-is-how-my-moneyrise" data-type="URL" data-id="https://rise.capital/blog/invest-in-what-you-understand-my-name-is-jennifer-and-this-is-how-my-moneyrise">Jennifer </a>about what she wished she knew before starting her investment journey, she replied with.&nbsp;&nbsp;



&#8220;I guess I would have loved to have started investments in dollar-denominated currencies at the start, I removed my money from naira instruments immediately I noticed that my returns were reducing&#8221;.&nbsp;



If there&#8217;s anything holding money in Naira has taught me&#8230; it is that the value of the Naira keeps depreciating.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/DrKfsP50iKl59WLU4KV0a7dlq747zwx7iciC8sp9srAm4C59nZ6ZewTMshtTHlwQZOIVW11ZX6KsgLx0Ypb2hWZQn7Cz_EDy8hueAT4V_xA00YKyzMYeLsj-ESolBia7zHltey6P" alt=""/></figure>



Eliud Kipchoge is regarded as the greatest marathon runner of all time. In 2019 he secured what is now known as his moon-landing moment, by breaking the 2 hours barrier.&nbsp;&nbsp;



When asked how he started- He said he was inspired by a sign that says the best time to plant a tree was 25 years ago, the second-best time is today. In the same vein, I’m asking you to start taking charge of your <a href="https://rise.capital/" data-type="URL" data-id="https://rise.capital/">finances</a> today.

Inflation and the Nigerian Reality

John Bogle famously said “the idea that a bell rings to signal when investors should get into or out of the market is simply not credible. After nearly 50 years in this business, I do not know of anybody who has done it successfully and consistently. I don’t even know anybody who knows anybody who has done it successfully and consistently.”



After a high performing year in 2020 that ended with a 41% return, Q1 saw a significant market downturn that echoed the message we’ve always preached at Risevest:



<ol><li>Investing is a long term game</li><li>In the short term, expect a lot of volatility</li><li>You cannot time the market.</li><li>Dollar-cost averaging always pays</li><li>Staying invested in all markets is the best investment strategy and&nbsp;</li><li>A diversified asset portfolio provides the best risk-adjusted return.</li></ol>



In Q1, the stock market experienced a lot of volatility and at different points it was down by some double digits, wiping out most of the gains of late 2020. It then swung back into the green as the global economy reopened and vaccinations picked up speed before dropping back into the reds on fears of inflation and continued China-US tensions, then bouncing back with continued strength in the tech and energy sectors. It&#8217;s been topsy turvy but the team and the process we use to select investments for you did their job and delivered a strong return for the quarter.&nbsp;



<h1>Plans Performance</h1>



On Risevest you have access to 3 different plans at the moment, the Stock, Real Estate, and Fixed Income plan. Brought together in our portfolio mix, they made a return of 6.33% in Q1, with Stock contributing 7.3%, Real Estate 6.01%, and Fixed Income 2.5%.



<h2>Stocks Plan</h2>



In Q1, we added two new stocks (<a href="https://rise.capital/blog/welcoming-bumble-to-the-rise-portfolio">Bumble</a> and Bill.com) to the portfolio. We wrote about why we added Bumble <a href="https://rise.capital/blog/welcoming-bumble-to-the-rise-portfolio">here</a>.



The top 5 performing stocks in Q1 were: Twitter (TWTR) up 45.52%, Extended Stay America (STAY) up 37.92%, Granite Point Mortgage Trust (GPMT) up 29.92%, Google (GOOG) up 28.56%, and Apartment Investment and Management (AIV) up 28.42%.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/cdMdH82LJJWFuh1hQc-PPzOtlE-hjBj2c-CNynXr-WjC2-TXD-2gVvMH1y-dUoLy8D7N2cllumWUmaDeVak2X24mZE6jOgeOzmVSpgjAQheCxjqbekjb2tegy4Im1zEs3Xj56pvk" alt=""/></figure>



Broadly, the drivers of the overall performance have been our bet on companies that benefited from reopening the economy and tech companies&#8217; continued growth. Stocks like Extended Stay America ($STAY), Granite Point Mortgage ($GPMT), and Apartment Investment &amp; Management ($AIV) for instance are connected to the real estate and hospitality industry. Twitter and Google are two tech stocks that made the top 5 high-performing stocks in this quarter.



The bottom 5 performing stocks were JD.com (JD down -14.53%), CrowdStrike (CRWD down -11%), Trade Desk (TTD down -9.40%), Fiverr (FVRR down -7.36%) and TransDigm (TDG up 1.68%)



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/lXe6QUj7ngbtDhtIG1g1JQXSPG-97O6ouQhmWg00N-ExAwqROHz5r-Lpsj7NGsRgVt2cWiEOnQZ5LTwJQQr9pXibpwj9ud6M5jEP0gGwxyCsxmXk6wEhh9CTvYULxSgl6dShK0m9" alt=""/></figure>



A lot of our bottom-performing stocks are a combination of valuation correction for tech companies that had a lot of run ups in 2020 and some other tech companies were affected as a result of reduced online spend from the optimism of the economy reopening.&nbsp;



Outstanding among our bottom-performing stocks is JD.com. JD.com remains a company with solid fundamentals and we have reasons to believe in its future growth potential. The current decline seems to be driven partly by increased regulatory scrutiny by the Chinese government into its tech sector. However, we believe this is a temporary situation and with JD.com showing a 29% increase in revenue year on year and 45% increase in operating income, all the signs point to this as an opportunity to buy more of the stock at a cheaper price.&nbsp;



Overall, the Risevest portfolio is up 7.3% year-to-date (YTD). This is slightly below the S&amp;P500’s 10.26% return in the same time period, which is expected given that we had a number of high flying tech companies whose subsequent correction pulled down our performance significantly. However, our goal is not to stay above or below S&amp;P 500 at any or all times but to constantly buy great companies at cheap prices so that our long term performance will be rewarding for our investors and we succeeded in this. It is highly probable that our focus on quality stocks will lead to outperformance but that is not an explicit goal.



<h2>Real Estate Plan</h2>



We wrote <a href="https://rise.capital/blog/how-to-use-risevest-to-build-an-all-weather-portfolio">here</a> that we believe that the best an investor can do for themselves is to maintain a diversified portfolio of assets. And that&#8217;s why we have the Real Estate plan.



In Q1, the Real Estate index returned 6.01%. We sold one property at the beginning of the year and added a new one in early March keeping us at 11 properties. We also started exploring new acquisitions in the Dallas market which should be done soon. The US real estate market has been on a massive streak, causing home prices to soar and rewarding Rise portfolio investors while making it slightly more difficult to find great bargains. However, we remain confident in our ability to surface off-market deals that will bring great returns to our investors.



We are committed to doing the work required to add new properties that will return even more income to our customers with no additional significant risk.



If you do not have a real estate plan in your portfolio, you should consider opening one.



<h2>Fixed Income Plan</h2>



Our fixed income plan remains solid, returning 10% per year and 2.5% in Q1. That&#8217;s one of the best available in the industry for a dollar-denominated investment.



<h2>SEC Circular and Our Response To It</h2>



While we were drafting this report, the Securities and Exchange Commission circular was released to the public. As we&#8217;ve written in our communication to you earlier, we are on top of it. We are having communications with the regulator and we are always in compliance with all rules. Rise does not enable direct trading by retailers, in compliance with the law.



Read our response <a href="https://risevest.medium.com/about-the-latest-sec-circular-55b056cc3319">here</a> if you have not.



<h2>The Journey Ahead&nbsp;</h2>



The year is still young, of the 12 months that we have to spend, we are barely 4 months in. Recall that this time last year no one could have accurately predicted what the market would look like. Yet, we ended it in a very rewarding way.



We do not make attempts to predict the future. We simply make decisions today that we are convinced will help you compound your wealth over time. And we are certain that if you go on this journey with us, and leverage all the resources we are making available to you, you will build wealth. Oh, did we just make a prediction? Well, we are allowed to just that one.



2021 is still young, remember to automate your investment, have an emergency fund, sit still catching fun and doing what you enjoy doing while we work to make your money work for you.



All of us at Risevest wish you well.



<h2>Risers Resources:</h2>



<ul><li>MoneyRise Blog</li><li>MoneyRise Newsletter</li><li>Rise Investment Club</li><li>Risevest Social Media</li></ul>

Q1 Performance Report – Navigating A Choppy Market

You&#8217;ve heard that the best return on investment comes when you invest over the long term. In fact, there&#8217;s a graph that best illustrates that.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pC_zfGRkLNf45vyzsEcyD8D1oYTcKWsgK5Y0gww4jhY4ldb9McnC2Z5Pib8-Kts8lf6QoKU1nZ6BnjUwJLERPwpaKFKojwYdzdoazMKrJs63j0c9PDiBycZSnFQ9028RVTvqyw-j" alt=""/></figure>



The reality is that investing your money in any plan, with the mindset of keeping it there for decades something that’s done for fun. It&#8217;s a difficult task. We either end up not doing it or we break the cycle. And frankly, there&#8217;s no quick fix for that, it&#8217;s human nature.



However, there are some things that others have done to help them navigate such long term goals that are difficult to achieve.



In this article, I’ll be uncovering 3 things you can do to help you navigate your long term investing goals.



<h2>Narrowing your focus</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/OW4sYz8BhCT5xoasEAcJyBf39NH5VWVs_Q1iPAfyZpqvOyv8lj0r1WRUJjWWxA7sK76KFgZw6h5DeNdConx2ZCKtwDeOnWI5pCWbzQGNIyxPa2PBGA3v1WNNf-FjDsW7zeTUmI6z" alt=""/><figcaption><a href="https://th.bing.com/th/id/Rde483e326083800ae103ee74c1a94464?rik=%2b4ZA%2bnMgB23vXw&amp;riu=http%3a%2f%2fwww.trbimg.com%2fimg-5970cc58%2fturbine%2fct-joan-benoit-samuelson-chicago-marathon-20170720&amp;ehk=exUmNL%2bcNQg%2fGqQLVxsRKlVguQUOrdJadcnIGTs4V0Q%3d&amp;risl=&amp;pid=ImgRaw">Photo credit</a></figcaption></figure>



Joan Benoit Samuelson was the first women&#8217;s Olympic marathon champion, winning the Gold Medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. She ran for 26 miles in 3:02:53. Before that time, women were not allowed to run the marathon. Joan Benoit Samuelson&#8217;s landmark victory was the beginning of a changed narrative. Since then and till now, a lot more people have run the miles well under 3 hours.



When asked how she was able to run that long miles in the time she did and with much energy remaining, her answer was instructive. She said something like ”what she does is to use some kind of narrowed focus, she chooses a target ahead of her and pursues that target alone per time. It could be the pink short of somebody running ahead or a visual beacon she can see in a distance. And then she narrows down on those as the target. She reaches that and sets another and another until she reaches the finish line.”



So she takes the 26 miles and breaks it down to smaller nearby competitions.&nbsp;







The same effect of narrowed focus has been seen to help when pursuing long term financial goals. 10 years is a very long time to keep your money invested but 1 year is not long nor is 6 months. What you can do to help you achieve a 10 years financial goal is to:



<ol><li>Forget about the 10 years</li><li>Focus on a shorter time frame eg. 6 months or 1 year.</li><li>Set target savings and investment that can be achieved within a year. Then work towards achieving that alone.</li><li>When you achieved the 1-year goal, set another 1-year goal.&nbsp;</li></ol>



Doing this, you will realize that all you have before you is just a 1-year goal repeated 10 times. Oftentimes, this approach has worked for a lot of people and it may work for you if you try it as well.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/9g4ysAuLQCzQOiuqS9hdVcSFmy5prRVhtB36jN5WA8-ECN4QnxHZWE9cjzzlkQKM8TJT9rKwAsCz_dZIHDekhql4w3G9prXegnCAF740svEQ2oV10tRsmDpuNWuzfXp50GxjKpuW" alt=""/></figure>



A Recommendation: Rise makes implementing this approach very easy for you through an Auto Invest option and the period is created for the Fixed Income and Real Estate plan. You can easily set a target investment for a year in a plan and automate the debit to remove the hurdles of doing it yourself.



<h2>Materialize the long term&nbsp;</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/hab583boJBW7KPc5FhWB-N7-CZijUtcpgbBQ3owcO6BPpkHZ38zObVchS7mTrZW6qOZhrwjIJMzrbVEJT71iCgt4Hqpd7oe91Tv-9ugRPPz26Jz5KQBJHzvWWJN6ORdMRuYnCzeS" alt=""/></figure>



<a href="https://image.winudf.com/v2/image1/Y29tLmRhaWx5Lmhvcm9zY29wZS56b2RpYWMuZmFjZW15c3RlcnkucGFsbWlzdHJ5X3NjcmVlbl8wXzE1NjQxNjMzMTlfMDU4/screen-0.jpg?fakeurl=1&amp;type=.jpg">Photo credit</a>



In an experiment conducted by Prof. Emily Balcetis of New York University, she asked her students whether they&#8217;ve started saving for retirement or not. 92% of them said, ”They have not thought about retirement.” This was despite the fact that they had jobs and the advantages of starting early far outweigh starting tomorrow<a href="https://rise.capital/blog/when-should-i-start-investing"> when to start investing</a>.



When Prof. Emily Balcetis asked why they weren&#8217;t thinking about retirement, their common answer was that ”it was too far off” considering they were just entering the real world (first-year work).



Then she took their photographs and used photo morphing software to try and create what they are likely to look like at old age. Then she printed it and handed it over to them so they could see what they are likely to look like at retirement. Then she gave them time to look at it and to jot down what they would be doing at retirement, what hobbies they will have and who they will be with among other things.



After the activities, she turned to each of them again and asked if they will start saving for retirement immediately from their next paycheck. A vast majority of them replied yes this time around.



What happened to the students in this class is a common phenomenon among humans and that includes you. 30 years from now is very far but when we materialize what we will like to be doing in 30 years and what our condition might look like, in a way the period will seem not too far away anymore.



That&#8217;s why this second point comes in as a handy strategy to help you focus on the long term.



It is much easier to save and invest towards your dream home even if it takes 15 years than it is to just save and invest for no clear material benefits for 15 years.



In light of the above, we encourage you to attempt putting a material goal towards all the plans that you are creating.



Instead of naming your plans ”savings” or ”investment”, give it names like ”graduate education”, ”children college education”, ”$20,000 house project” and the likes. That way, you tend to be committed to your plan and be disciplined enough to not interrupt the cycle. We think you should try this.



<h2>Your future self is still you</h2>



This last point lends itself to groundbreaking research by Hal Hershfield, a psychologist at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He wanted to know why people weren’t saving for retirement. So he did something uncharacteristic.



Hershfield and his team <a href="https://www.apa.org/action/resources/research-in-action/scan">scanned the brain</a> of the participants in their research and found something interesting.



The same reaction that the brain has when confronted by some unknown person asking you for money is what it has when you are told to save and invest for the future. In other words, the longer the term of investment, the stranger you appear to yourself. So you tend to make decisions that benefit you today more easily than you would make decisions that will benefit you tomorrow but hurt you a bit today.



Just like you wouldn&#8217;t go hungry or inconvenience yourself to put food on the table of a stranger, you will also not endure such to benefit your future self whom your brain equates to a stranger.



<h2>What&#8217;s the way out?</h2>



Solving a problem starts by identifying it and that&#8217;s what we&#8217;ve done. One of the most effective ways to reverse this working of the brain to constantly remind yourself that your future self is in all ways still you. You literally have to do that.&nbsp;



Other things you can do are



<ol><li>Making it easy for your Future Self to do whatever it is your Present Self doesn’t want to do &#8211; instead of saving 50% of your income for the sake of some 10 years goal, save just 5%. Instead of saving for 10 years, save for 1 year 10 times.</li></ol>



<ol start="2"><li>Employ the tactic of instant gratification &#8211; instead of 09 “c9 the benefits of achieving your 10-@year goal to 10 years from now, set some reward metrics that you can benefit from immediately. For example, when you save with Rise, tweet about it. Another thing you can do is join the Rise affiliate program and take pleasure in helping others to achieve their financial goal.</li></ol>



Long-term investing is hard and we recognize that. All the stories and strategies that we&#8217;ve shared so far confirms that and proves that it is not a one-person problem but a humanity problem. Our hope for sharing these 3 strategies is that if one doesn&#8217;t work for you, the other will work or a combination of others will work.

Long-Term Investing is Hard: Here are 3 things to help you make it easier.

This is an article that you need to read immediately before you make any decision about your investment at such a time as this.



If you have been checking your stock investment returns in the last few days, you will see it’s been negative returns all along. And we know you may be worried but we would like to tell you that you don’t have to worry.



Negative returns on your stock plan simply mean assets in the portfolio are getting cheaper. Well, that’s one perspective, another person may choose to see it as declining in value.



The right perspective though is actually that it is getting cheaper. The value of the companies in our stock plan is intact. They are still executing on their mission and growing revenue and cash flow. And there’s been no news or any form of information to suggest otherwise.



However, when assets get cheaper, there’s bound to be panic. The panic sometimes leads to people making costly decisions. Decisions like pulling out of the market instead of running into it. And decisions at such a time as this are always what determines your investment success or otherwise.



As you know, we have always advocated that keeping a long term view is the best way to get the best out of the market. In the short term, the market goes up and down. In the long term, the only clear thing is the market going up.



<h2>Think about this scenario:</h2>



<ul><li>You own 1 unit of a stock that’s currently worth $1,000</li><li>Then the stock is down by 20% to $800</li><li>Out of panic, you sold that one unit to “cut your loss”. So you now have $800.</li><li>You planned to get back to the market when growth is restored and everywhere is green again.&nbsp;</li><li>But the market only recovered slowly and then suddenly such that you now have to buy the asset at even a more expensive price. Which means you lose the advantage of selling to cut your loss. That is it will now cost you more than $800 to buy one unit of the stock again.</li></ul>



You think that’s not possible, we think it’s not only possible, but it’s also the norm. However, staying invested in the market has an advantage. And the advantage is in ensuring that you do not miss the “days that matters”.



<h2>“Days that matters”</h2>



In <a href="https://am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-management/adv/insights/retirement-insights/guide-to-retirement/">research</a> carried out by JP Morgan, analyzing data between January 2001 to December 2020, 20 years. It found that missing 10 days in the markets could cost you 50% of your potential return. And missing 20 days out of 5,000 trading days within 20 years could mean you won’t make any return from the market at all.



You see, while there are about 250 trading days a year and 5,000 trading days in 20 years, a major portion of a stock&#8217;s return in that 20 years happens in about 100 trading days. This means what happens in 2% of the days decides your 5,000 days return. Since it’s difficult to foretell what those days are, staying invested with good companies is the only advantage. And that is exactly what we offer you at Risevest &#8211; a portfolio of quality companies.



JP Morgan’s research modelled a scenario where $10,000 was invested from 2001 to 2020. Then adjusted for the assumption that an investor misses a couple of days that matters. Below is the difference in the outcome from the findings.



<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized"><img loading="lazy" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/NDaea5_UjdplHD22olckl3Bw0PrZU_Zf0qTiU-XJd0sHuAWGoskuKq1ON0wuYaBfu9DfVVAi97aYowJoHCqfVtttbyETCnRiR1kHVboIHapEyKD_mRUUpDfAaqs1feA7K8jfIHn8" alt="" width="524" height="368"/></figure>







While this is a compelling finding, what we find even more instructive is the note that accompanied the research from JP Morgan. “Seven of the best 10 days occurred within two weeks of the 10 worst days, six of the seven best days occurred after the worst days and the second-worst day of 2020 – March 12 – was immediately followed by the second-best day of the year”.



From the example of the investor above who liquidated their asset to “cut loss”, what do you think is the probability of them not missing a day like March 12 above? Very likely they will miss it, you guessed right.



This is the reason why we teach that having a long term view of your investment is the best. And we also like to emphasize that your time in the market matters more than your attempt to time the market.



Don’t time the market, just trust the process and ensure that you have a long term view. Having a long term view will of course mean the money you are investing is not your emergency fund or some amount you need within a few weeks or months.

Market Downturns Might Be Good For You, Here’s Why

Often, we tend to have all kinds of money at hand – our savings, some else&#8217;s savings, our rent, school fees, the category goes on. When an investment opportunity shows up, the urge to make a good return may sometimes push us to invest all sorts of money which often puts us in an unhealthy financial position.



Some money is untouchable, not because you won’t make a return on investing them. Rather because of the non-alignment between why you invest and those kinds of money.



The money you will need in a short time







Investing this kind of money exposes you to the risk of liquidating your investment when it is not due yet thereby paying a charge or liquidating it when the asset price is currently down. Asset prices don’t always go up, they fluctuate daily. You might end up needing that money on a day that it is trading at a price that will make you lose money. Don’t do it.



Money for a defined purpose other than investment







In this category, you have money like school fees, house rent, your emergency fund, and the likes. Notice that all the examples I mentioned here are money whose timing isn’t in your control. You can need your emergency fund immediately with no room for a delay. When your rent is due, you risk embarrassment if you do not pay up. And for school fees, you don’t want to be kicked out of school or want your children embraced for non-payment of school fees. Don’t invest this category of money as well.



An important caveat to that though, if the money is such that you are saving it for another due date which is months away e.g. rent in 12 months or 24 months, by all means, please invest. However, such should also not be placed in a very volatile asset class. Availability of this category of money when they are needed is key.



The money that is not yours







This point is important because of similar risks I’ve mentioned above. If you are the type that usually has someone’s money with you, the temptation might be high to “quickly make use of it” or to quickly invest it and make a buck on it. If you’ve done this well enough though, you would have learnt that it’s a bad idea as the person who kept the money with you tends to need such money when you don’t have them immediately. Thereby, forcing you to take a loss or other non-monetary loss (e.g. embarrassment). Even if the money is kept with you for a long time, as much as possible, resist the urge to invest it. Invest your own money alone.

You Should Never Invest These 3 Categories Of Money

In 2020, our stock investment plan returned 40.77% while the real estate while the fixed income plan returned 16% and 10.1% respectively. Anyone seeing this would have wished that they invested all their money in the stock plan to get the maximum return possible. But is that the most efficient way to grow your wealth? What happens when stock performs poorly or real estate performs poorly?



Stocks don&#8217;t always go up. The best performing asset at any point in time can also be the worst at another time. Thinking about your investment principles, you shouldn&#8217;t just consider how to make the maximum return in the market. It should also be about how to cushion storms when they come.



Ray Dalio of Bridgewater, the largest hedge fund in the world that manages over $150b developed a portfolio idea in 1996 called the All-Weather Portfolio.



The idea is that you should be able to build a portfolio that will stand in all weathers. Ray Dalio&#8217;s team concluded that there are 4 kinds of weather; rising growth, falling growth, rising prices (inflation) and falling prices (deflation). The weather that we seem to have right now is that of rising growth where the stock market is skyrocketing. But if there is one thing history has taught us, it&#8217;s that all weathers only last for a while before another comes. Hence, the need to be prepared for all weathers.



A portfolio that will stand in all weathers as popularized by Ray Dalio is divided as below:



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Y0epuRT2QXSFSDIDAtfc06IpxqcR5K5JdPRbFnnES9rJBgHeLXBwhxuq7vKNjkPXUW6FKFnzUrA5MY3kQS7ZFZbIBm4hqCtNro_1WzSAg2setcPStJ63jdVTzDo3OR9jJects27Y" alt=""/></figure>



Since 2006, a simulated all-weather portfolio compounded at an annual rate of 8%. Compared to the S&amp;P 500 at 8.5%. However, the maximum drawdown on S&amp;P during this period was 32% compared to 18% on the all-weather portfolio.



The logic behind the principle is first a portfolio with sufficient diversification, then what the asset should be diversified in. Also, it should be such that reduces drawdowns while maximizing upsides. The challenge of course is that you will not get the maximum return in the market but you will have great sleep at night in all kinds of weather.



<h2>Building an all-weather portfolio with Risevest</h2>



When we conceived the idea of Risevest, prosperity for our people was the prime goal. It is our driving force and it is what we optimize for. The implication of this is that even if we see an opportunity that can give the maximum return in the market but could as well potentially cause catastrophic wealth erosion, we would rather not invest in such an opportunity. <a href="https://risevest.medium.com/gamestop-or-long-game-eacb67a7a136">GameStop comes to mind here</a>.



That’s why on the Rise app, you’ll realize that we have more than one investment product. We have fixed income, real estate and stock. The idea is to give you enough product to build an all-weather portfolio.



To build an all-weather portfolio on the Rise app, there are two options.



<ol><li>Building All Weather Portfolio With “Build Wealth” Feature</li></ol>



On the Rise app, you would have noticed a “build wealth” feature and maybe you have even used it. When you tap to create a “build wealth” plan, we will ask you a couple of questions after which we will show you a portfolio mix that will fit your risk profile.



The recommendation we make for you is such that it fits your risk profile and that can stand all kinds of weather. Also ensures you have great sleep at night as you build wealth.



And yes, you can edit the recommendation to accommodate your thought and judgement. The idea is not rigidity but expert advice plus flexibility. With such a plan if you keep adding to it as you planned, you are set to build wealth in all kinds of weather.



A pie similar to what “build wealth” will give here as well.



<ol start="2"><li>Build The All-Weather Portfolio</li></ol>



The other option to create the all-weather Portfolio is for you to build it yourself without the use of our “Build Wealth Plan”. It involves deciding which percentage of your investment should go to fixed income and which should go to real estate and stock as you may deem fit.



Constructing such a portfolio would require more effort from you but it is not impossible. We have seen a lot of others like you doing it. What’s important is that you think in terms of an all-weather scenario and invest in terms of that.



Markets are up at the moment but markets don’t always go up. Investments behave differently depending on how the market is. With a portfolio consisting of different asset classes, you are set up to have the cushion to forestall any drawdown that may threaten to wipe your wealth away.

How To Use Risevest To Build An All-Weather Portfolio

<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/KAr98hzK6a943eyp4g0PjN-gu9qIBkVMuqrQzGVknCLp4LXCajL8rqUtdq7zhbu-VStYVTnJ2JvCKelu7e4yTF0s0uIj4WW8UBhOEd8fxOkrKdU5-2HvvvQuZ9c3Iujj2HilQe1b" alt=""/><figcaption><img loading="lazy" width="624" height="309" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/KAr98hzK6a943eyp4g0PjN-gu9qIBkVMuqrQzGVknCLp4LXCajL8rqUtdq7zhbu-VStYVTnJ2JvCKelu7e4yTF0s0uIj4WW8UBhOEd8fxOkrKdU5-2HvvvQuZ9c3Iujj2HilQe1b"></figcaption></figure>



Data from matrotrends.com | Analysis by Rise



The image above is the historical stock price movement of Apple in the last 5 years adjusted for all <a href="https://www.thebalance.com/understanding-stock-splits-3141376">stock splits</a>. If you draw a line from the origin to the current position (as we’ve done), you will get a straight line moving up from the origin.&nbsp;



That&#8217;s what we all want; an asset whose price is always going up. But does that exist? A look at historical prices of different assets shows that this doesn&#8217;t exist. All assets increase and decrease in price depending on prevailing circumstances. Yet, this straight line underpins the principle of buying when others are selling.



What we see in that graph is a perfect line with an upward trajectory, however, you can see from the highs and lows that reality is not often a straight line.



Let’s take a closer look at one of the lows. In September 2018 the Apple share price peaked at $55.6 and started declining. It never reached that peak again until a year later in September 2019.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/dpCBAxgJ42nIL3B-la805H14wRWruZ0B6XqWS3ofn4A9y1leTi4UMo6wl5_AgKfepXgT9xI98N3tc8gRrEOX1GoE39uBK-8uAjUBh0W9MPrg7ANKlBUdNeXzXKWDXHVJsS65iZ2v" alt=""/></figure>



Data from matrotrends.com | Analysis by Rise



Yet, experts say you should keep on buying when others are selling. For the uninitiated, you know others are selling when the price of an asset is declining. It means more people are ready to drop that asset than people are willing to buy it. However, seeing your assets (portfolio) value decline every day for a year is not fun.



Let’s run through some numbers.



Assuming you bought one unit of Apple Stock every day between September 2018 and September 2019. What will your finances look like at the end of the period?



There were 272 trading days in the time under consideration. If you bought a unit of the stock every day, it means you will own 272 units of Apple Stock at the end of this period. Despite the ups and downs, nothing particularly changed about the share price. It only fully recovered and if you draw a line from the beginning of the period (September 2018) to the end of it (September 2019), you will obtain a perfect horizontal line (see the red line from the image above)



However, because you were buying all along, especially when others were selling, your 272 units of stock will be worth $15,100 even though it cost you $13,000 to buy them. A whopping 16% return during a market downturn.



<h2>Where did the 16% return come from?</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/65hmEsRnxD6kJd4O-Oz9ZMY1XPea4yqURUT86OALdM6UaRk_jQpwgRx_QLoHV3-1aT7glYZ1JbhWfGcE0htsD6CXBmPy_mtu_vhOdzs__jd6J3u0E3-6TNZx3VzzBwkzQ85RpLay" alt=""/></figure>



Data from matrotrends.com | Analysis by Rise



It came from doing the difficult thing &#8211; buying when others were selling. In the case of Apple Stock, it recovered its price and grew, the units you bought at the lower price made up and produced a return on your investment up to 16%.



Please note that while we have chosen to use a single stock as an example, the principle is largely applicable to most stocks.



Also, note that not all Stocks recover. Some decline for as long as 5 years before they can get back to their previous all-time-high. For example, Microsoft had a five-year decline between <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/MSFT/microsoft/stock-price-history">2000 and 2015</a>.



The million-dollar question is how do you know which stock will recover? The truth is that it&#8217;s very difficult to know. Many have burnt their hands buying when others were selling because they bet on the wrong stock. That&#8217;s why we encourage you to contract that part of the job to us. We have a team of dedicated experts whose responsibility is to ensure that only quality assets are in your portfolio; all assets go through a rigorous selection process that <a href="https://medium.com/@risevest/how-we-select-stocks-for-our-equity-portfolio-146da9df9032">we recounted here</a>.



When you choose a stock plan with Rise for instance and you see the value declining, you should be happy because you get the chance to buy that asset for a lower price than you did yesterday. And when you combine buying when others are selling and leaving the job of choosing what you buy to us, you are poised for rewarding long-term returns.



So yes, buy when others are selling because it balances out in the end. On our part, we invest your funds into a portfolio of expertly selected stocks based on their long-term growth opportunities and quality earnings.&nbsp; For instance, our Eurobond portfolio returns 10% on average, a return higher than the industry average and our Real Estate portfolio has also consistently produced a return greater than 10%. The same goes for our stock portfolio which has performed better than the S&amp;P 500 year to date.&nbsp;



Buying stocks is equal parts knowledge and temperament. By yourself, you will make a lot of spur of the moment decisions so your long-term outcome will be unsatisfactory. But if you stick with Rise, we have a certain level of objectivity and experience, and the right disposition to make your outcomes better.&nbsp;



Visit <a href="http://rise.capital">rise.capital</a> for access to the best stocks.

The Principle Of Buying Stocks When Others Are Selling

Everyone feels cheated when they get to the market and the price of rice has increased without an equivalent increase in the quality or quantity of the rice. We make remarks like &#8220;Nawa oo&#8221;, &#8220;what&#8217;s the meaning of all these now&#8221;, &#8220;why is the government doing this?&#8221; and many more similar remarks. What we are basically not fine with is the general increase in the price of commodities and services &#8211; inflation.



Imagine a bag of rice cost N15k in 2017 and you kept your money, say N15k (the price of a bag of rice) with someone to safeguard and you returned in 2018 to get the money but instead of getting the N15k, you were paid N25k (the new price of a bag of rice). On the surface, your money grew but its value dipped. You haven’t made a real gain. All you got is still a bag of rice, the same you would&#8217;ve gotten in 2017, for almost double the price.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-default">A real gain will be a gain above the price of a bag of rice in 2018. If you&#8217;d gotten N26k instead of N25k, your real gain would have been N1k</blockquote>



We dislike inflation because it erodes the value of our hard-earned money, shrinks our purchasing power and reduces our standard of living. We&#8217;ve used the example of a bag of rice to illustrate this but inflation applies to all things in the economy and that is why there&#8217;s usually an official rate of inflation for every economy. Currently, the inflation rate in Nigeria is 12.82% while it is less than 2% in the US.



<h3>What has inflation got to do with your investment?</h3>



Your goal of investing should be:&nbsp;



<ol><li>Getting a return that is above inflation rate i.e. real return and</li><li>Increasing your purchasing power</li></ol>



A thin line separates these goals. By now, you understand what real return is from the bag of rice analogy.&nbsp;



If the inflation in a given economy is 2%, any return on investment above 2% means the investor has earned a real return. The inflation rate in Nigeria as at August 2020 is 12.82% and it has averaged 15% between 1960 &#8211; 2019 and 12% since 2000.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/k_bIWCAIP9diqSq3dB9OL3ekMWVky4iD-kLHT2Db3Bu1Vt96bWG2Ig6Yv4LnJ1Ge56lJY430vlWJPAbKi8qGuBcQ7CecUjVeCGnW4AAHpgXhG7Mr4qPY1OvKLIzQNx5MnU2GZL40" alt=""/></figure>



Data from <a href="http://www.macrotrends.com">www.macrotrends.com</a> | Analysis by Rise



Going by the data of the past 19 years, the implication for the Nigerian investor is that they must allocate their capital in a way that will give them a return that is greater than the average inflation rate of 12% over the same period and beyond.



Getting a return above the inflation level will help in fulfilling the second goal of investing. It basically translates to having enough to buy other things after buying the bag of rice (increased purchasing power). That is, a return that ensures you have an amount greater than N25k in our imaginary scenario. That way, you will have some change after purchasing a bag of rice to buy something else.



<h3>Where to get the maximum returns</h3>



Nigerians can’t rely on Naira based assets because of double-digit inflation and devaluation affect the currency. Two examples are the Nigeria Stock Market and Government Securities.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/6NGXVIY_j0YlUrz5rRTlxhDd33vWPNx-JbkL6KnGxb3xB44qBsywGGaZpgvJE_qrFfQIBqjLh07JkRRFT-oqkoSaCNQO5f4SpgT1ZMa4YVj5DFOwe2O1L3G2bXxlK0ikBkBTR5SD" alt=""/></figure>



Historical data of the Nigeria market index shows that if you’d invested N30,000 in the market index in the past 11 years, you would be worse off today as your money is not even up to N30,000 anymore. Of course, we’ve said nothing of the value of the Naira currency in question. 



The message here is simple, The Nigerian stock market doesn’t accomplish the goals of investing. It does not beat the average inflation rate of 12% nor increase our purchasing power over the years under consideration.



The other alternatives are investments in Government securities. The latest 10 &#8211; year bond securities offered by the FGN offer a ROI of 12.5%. Going by our average inflation rate, that&#8217;s just enough to cover for inflation over the period. What&#8217;s unknown is will the value of the Naira remain the same in 10 years time?



<h3>How Rise can help</h3>



We saw how inflation makes it difficult for Nigerians to build wealth and decided to create the product suited to address this situation. The investor in Nigeria is faced with 3 major problems, devaluation of the currency, inflation and low ROI on investment options. We created Rise to provide a cushion for these problems.



<ol><li>Rise invests your money in dollar-denominated assets. The implication of this is that devaluation immediately begins to work in your favour instead of against you. With more devaluation, the value of your investment increases.</li></ol>



<ol start="2"><li>Rise invests your money in an economy with a less than 2% inflation rate. Implying that all it takes to have a real return on your investment is about 3%.</li></ol>



<ol start="3"><li>Rise investment plans give a minimum of 10% return on investment on the average. That&#8217;s well above the inflation level of the economy it is invested in.</li></ol>



With Rise, if you start investing say $500 every month into the assets we select for you, here&#8217;s what your long term journey will look like.



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/qNG7xwJ9CO3jybO38GlUsBFte3o_ZMaB1bQQ7lkOysFqoQPAAd8dh-KCPnHF1JP9nA0RYHbOYsJq0_u-kzcoybEQm335ZzZ16K-c6DTCZZhTmdp1DvGetEBEkQBhhv7ctRrCn4ui" alt=""/></figure>



If you hold for like 30 years, even though you would&#8217;ve only contributed $180,000 to Rise, your investment with us will be worth $1.13m by then.



Rise’s goal has always been about you, helping you to attain your investing goal with ease. You don&#8217;t need to do the work of selecting assets, Rise has experts and algorithms to do this for you. Select a plan, automate it to invest a specific amount from your account monthly and we&#8217;ll take care of the rest.



Visit <a href="http://rise.capital">rise.capital</a> to start.

The Goal of Investing

The coronavirus infection has been spreading across the world since the inability to contain it within China. It has since affected several countries across South East Asia, and cases have been identified in 44 countries in total, including Egypt and Algeria. 81,000 cases have been identified, and about 3,000 deaths have occurred, most of them in China. However, more<a href="https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/"> new cases</a> are now springing up outside China, than inside it.&nbsp;Today, it&#8217;s first case was recorded in Nigeria. 



The major fear of coronavirus is not the risk of mass deaths, as the virus itself has not proven to be very lethal. The fears are that lack of a cure or effective vaccine may lead to the virus developing resistant strains. However, the real big fear and the reasons markets have reacted so strongly to this outbreak is that it risks disrupting supply chains that a lot of companies around the world rely on.&nbsp;



Around the world, a global supply chain, just in time inventory and far flung logistics channels means that most companies rely on other countries and locations for the inputs they need for their business. And most of that supply chain is centred around China and SouthEast Asia, which is ground zero for this outbreak. Companies like Apple, Nike, Amazon, Disney, General Motors, Walmart, etc all rely on Chinese manufacturers and suppliers for a lot of their inventory, parts, logistics, orders and more. The coronavirus by forcing activity to shut down threatens to impact the profitability, performance and even viability of several companies.&nbsp;



This means that profits and sales will be lower, manufacturing will halt, a lot of critical industries may be impacted. For instance, a two-week disruption in a simple parts supply chain for a car manufacturer may impact other activities in their entire value chain leading to massive delays or misses in their targets, which could swing them from profits to loss. A 3-month delay or shut down in business could mean losses for the whole year. With the bull market having run up so high, recession fears have increased with the threat of this disruption.&nbsp;



How should investors respond? First is that if you’re holding high-quality stocks in growing companies then the dust will eventually settle. Nothing lasts forever, especially not a viral outbreak. And if your companies are solid, then they’ll continue to do well long after. So don’t panic. Don’t sell off because your portfolio is down. Instead, continue to invest consistently. Treat your investments like a monthly bill and buy in these moments when stocks are cheap.



Second, diversify. Don’t fill your portfolio with only stocks. On Rise Vest, you can invest in <a href="https://rise.capital/blog/stocks/stocks-101/">stocks</a>, real estate and fixed income giving you a strong, diversified portfolio that can withstand market corrections.&nbsp;



Finally, take the long view. If you are investing with a long term mindset and horizon, temporary fluctuations in the market will be easy to ignore!&nbsp;



Your health is right up there on the list of things with care about. To stay safe, please:



<ul><li>Wash and sanitize your hands more frequently.</li><li>Always sneeze or cough into a tissue. </li><li>Wear a facemask if you have a cold.</li></ul>



<a href="https://m.rise.capital/xEYL">Rise</a> is our app that gives you access to dollar denominated offshore investments across US stocks, US real estate and fixed income.&nbsp;

How Corona Virus Is Impacting Global Markets

It’s Black Friday shopping season and as I’m sure you’ve all noticed, retail and shopping outlets have started advertising eye popping deals to entice buyers. 
Here at MoneyRise we want you to make smart money decisions, so we are going to share some quick tips about how to make the most of the Black Friday deals. If you use this season well, you&#8217;ll get really great deals at prices that save you money! 
<ol>
<li>
<h4>Don&#8217;t Buy Anything Just Because It&#8217;s On Sale: 
</h4>
 
If you buy an item worth ₦10,000 for  ₦7,000, you did not save  ₦3,000, you spent  ₦7,000. Don’t be enticed to spend money you were not going to spend. Only spend money on what you already need. Which means you should have a list of what you want to buy, and stick to it. That nice blender selling for 40% off is not meant for you, if you already have a blender at home. Don’t play yourself. Be disciplined.</li>
<li>
<h4>Not Everything Is Cheaper On Friday: </h4>
Don’t just think, &#8220;Well, its Black Friday, so everything I buy is probably cheaper.&#8221; It doesn’t work like that. Some outlets don’t do deep enough discounts. Some intentionally inflate their supposed original price to make their discounts look deeper than they are. To get the best deals, do price comparisons ahead of time, check many sites to know what a fair price is and if you’re actually getting a good deal or not. Bonus points if you already did this weeks or days ahead of time.</li>
<li>
<h4>Have A Shopping Budget: </h4>
Please there is life after Black Friday. There is the Christmas season, and that three-month period between December 31st and January 31st. We all know that period. You need your money to last through all that. So know exactly how much you can put towards your Black Friday shopping and once you hit that amount, stop. Ties right back to point one. Don’t get carried away.</li>
<li>
<h4>Some Things Are Cheaper Offline: </h4>
Black Friday seems to be an eCommerce driven activity. There are often better deals in the physical store, or in the open market. I’ve seen bargain hunters go offline, and find items at prices that make Black Friday deals look like daylight robbery. It may not be as convenient as ordering, but the savings might just be worth it. Another advantage of shopping offline is that you can leave your ATM/Credit card at home and only go with the money you’re willing to spend. If it’s gone, you’re done.</li>
<li>
<h4>Save As You Shop: 
</h4>
 
If you’re going to spend during shopping season, use it as an opportunity to also save. For every  ₦5,000 you spend on shopping, invest  ₦5,000. It helps you avoid the guilt that comes with shopping, and also keeps something away to grow and possibly fund your future purchases. </li>
</ol>
One of the smartest things you can do with your money is to earn dollar returns on it with Rise. Get started at <a href="http://www.rise.capital">www.rise.capital</a>.
Come back next week for more tips on how to be smarter with your money.

How To Make The Most Of Black Friday Shopping

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There’s been a lot of talk lately about buying stocks, trading stocks, investing in stocks, stock market etcetera. So you can’t be blamed if you are currently wondering, what even are stocks? Well, let us help you answer. 



Stocks are small units of ownership in a business that you or anyone can purchase. When you purchase one of these units or stocks, you become a shareholder in the business, meaning you own a small piece of the company whose shares you&#8217;ve purchased. Another name for stocks, then, is shares. 



The primary reason people choose to buy stocks or shares in any business is so that they can earn a return on their investment into a company. There are two ways you can earn returns from stocks:



<ol><li>Dividends. These are payments made to shareholders out of the company’s profits. They’re typically paid four times a year. However, some organizations may pay dividends twice a year or once a year. They can be paid to you in cash, or you can reinvest them to buy more shares in the company.</li><li>Capital gains. Stock prices appreciate if the market values the business higher, and falls if the market values the business lower. Like any other commodity of value, stocks can be bought and sold privately or on stock exchanges. Hence, if the price of your shares in the business becomes higher than what you bought them for, you can then sell the stock for a profit if you’d like. The profit you make from the difference is known as capital gains. </li></ol>



Despite the economic ups and downs, the stock market has consistently proven to be a good place to invest and save for your future. When you invest in stocks, you&#8217;re putting it into a business which, if it is a good one, should grow in value and give you a lot more than you invested in the long run.



Rise exists to provide seamless access to global, dollar denominated investments — in this case, stocks in high quality companies trading on the US stock exchanges. Our platform is designed to help you invest steady amounts every month while your funds are invested and managed by our experts, so you can focus on living your life.



To get started, visit <a href="http://www.rise.capital">www.rise.capital</a>, join the waitlist and get early access to the mobile app.



Come back next week and we&#8217;ll talk more about how stocks work and how you can better invest in them!

Stocks 101

Stable currencies are to investments what stew is to rice. For the best results, they absolutely have to go together. This is because your investments are supposed to be long term and if your currency is constantly being devalued, then no matter the returns you’re earning on them, your investments are probably losing, rather than gaining value. The best way to mitigate this risk, therefore, is to save, invest and earn your returns, in dollars.&nbsp; 



<h2>What does Devaluation Mean?</h2>



Devaluation is the deliberate reduction of the exchange rate of a country&#8217;s currency relative to another currency. It is done for a number of reasons that are beyond the scope of this article, but mainly it helps the central bank manage its balance of trade. Devaluation is both a consequence of and a contributor to high inflation. For you as an investor, the combination of naira devaluation and high inflation means that your investments are generally losing value unless they’re in an appreciating currency like the dollar.&nbsp; 



<h2>Historical Record</h2>



The history of the naira against the dollar has been a story of a consistent downward slide in value. In fact, between 1972 and today, the naira has lost 12% of its value every year on average.&nbsp; This means that your investments have to be out earning that loss every year just to stay even, pushing you toward riskier investments. By investing in dollars, you’re immediately retaining that 12% loss in value, and then any additional gains in dollars translate into a real increase in your investments. Or put simply, investing in dollars will vastly improve your long term performance. 



<h2>More than Dollars</h2>



Beyond just having your investments in dollars, you should consider adding foreign investments to your portfolio. This allows you to invest in an appreciating currency, and in assets that are completely immune from local economic shocks and tap into larger, faster-growing economies where you can make more in the long run. 



<h2>How Rise Comes in…&nbsp;</h2>



Rise is a product that allows you to automatically invest in global dollar investments straight from your naira account. &nbsp;We make dollar savings and investment easy and convenient with minimums as low as $10 (N3600) and assets ranging from US real estate, US stocks, fixed income and more. This means you’ll invest like the ultra-wealthy, and earn stable returns and never experience naira inflation or devaluation again.&nbsp;



We’re the dollar-denominated hedge fund that everyone can be a part of. Start your Rise today on <a href="http://rise.capital">rise.capital</a>.&nbsp;

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