What I'm Trading - Lauren

Occupation:  Customer Success Manager
Age: 25
Location: Sydney, Australia
Stake Portfolio Size: ~US$10,000

What was your first trade on Stake?

Mastercard ($MA) was my first buy and I’ve continued to hold since day one, it has also proved to be one of my best-performing stocks.

In one sentence, define your trading style.

In for the long haul.

Why are you in the market?

I’m in the market to make the most out of my money. I started taking an active interest and took control of my finances after I started listening to podcasts like “She’s on the Money” and my previous role at a start-up bank.

On the whole, I don’t think women are encouraged in the same way as men to take control of their finances but I have personally experienced and seen that shift among my friends.

When I started to learn about stock trading as part of my previous job, I quickly came to realise that it was nowhere near as complicated or inaccessible as I first thought, particularly with apps like Stake.

What’s in your portfolio on Stake right now?

As I have a background in FinTech, it’s not much of a surprise that I’ve invested in a lot of new-age finance/tech companies. Currently, I hold Apple, Salesforce, Mastercard, Square, and Shopify. They’ve grown steadily with a little volatility but I am in it for the long haul anyway.

I’ve also invested in three of Cathie Woods ETF’s $ARKF, $ARKG & $ARKK. Unfortunately, I did so near their peak but I’m confident they will bounce back in the medium to longer term.

How are your returns so far?

The figure changes as I add and sell new positions but I have made a healthy 15% return since I started to focus on investing around 6 months ago.

While 15% may seem relatively small, it’s performing in line with the indexes over the same period of time. I’m new to the game so I’m happy to be in the green. Also, when you consider the average deposit interest rate offered by banks (with intro and bonus offers included) is about 1.2% p.a. I know I’m doing the right thing by investing my money at Stake.

Any investments that are not on Stake?

While I consider myself a conservative long-term investor in the stock market, I make up for it in my risks in the crypto market.

I got into Crypto trading around the same time as investing at the end of 2020, which was lucky as it was the beginnings of the crypto boom. I’m currently up around 160% across my portfolio which mainly comprised BTC, ETH, and more recently SOL & ADA. I hope Stake will enter the crypto markets in the future.

I also have a side hustle! For the past few years, I’ve been buying and renting out designer dresses that I list on a range of online rental platforms. I get the best of both worlds, being able to feed my shopping habits as well as receive an average earn around 2-3x the original purchase price back in profits.

What are you watching? Why?

As you can probably tell from my current portfolio, I like fintech companies specifically. It’s just the businesses I know best. I’m keeping an eye on Affirm (the US version of Afterpay), Sea Limited (Singaporean online tech giant), and Coinbase.

Do you have a trading or investing role model?

I respect what Cathie Wood has done but I comply with the general philosophy and mathematics of compounding returns over a long period of time. I look up to all those who stay in the markets for decades and constantly add to their positions.

What’s a piece of advice you’d give a newbie?

Don’t be afraid to get involved. For a long time, I wrote off investing as something I just didn’t do because it seemed so complicated. Also when investing long-term, make decisions based on long-term expectations and don’t be upset by some of the short-term market moves.

What’s one mistake you’ve made and what did you learn from it?

Be aware of your exposure to certain stocks through ETFs. I was watching Tesla for a while and eventually bought in as it started to dip. My whole portfolio took a disproportionate dip given my added exposure to Tesla through $ARKK.

If you were to buy a US stock or ETF right now, what would you buy? Why?

As I look to keep my investments steady, and simple. I’m looking to invest in Vanguard’s total world stock (VT).  It’s undervalued versus the U.S. stock market, has diversification benefits and low fees.

ICYMI: make your own decisions

This is not investment advice, just my opinion. It doesn’t reflect any opinions of Stake. I’m as fresh to this as the next person off the street. Do your own research and make your own decisions.