Women turn investors with diversified ETFs
SAVVY female investors have flocked to the sharemarket during the pandemic in a bid to boost their wealth.
Australian fund manager BetaShares analysed the investment trends of about 7800 Australians and found a spike in female investors snapping up exchangedtraded funds.
ETFs are a low-cost way to help traders diversify where their money goes. They allow a basket of shares or assets to be purchased in a single trade, as opposed to investing in a single company.
Building cadet Rachel Pannowitz, 22, started investing in ETFs in March last year when the pandemic hit.
“I saw there was a bit of an opportunity when the markets were down,” she said.
“I started reading articles about ETFs and investing and what that involves.”
MsPannowitz signed up to CommSec Pocket, which allows investors to buy in bite-size chunks, with as little as $50.
“I set up spreadsheets tracking what funds I wanted to put my time, effort and money into and what aligned with my values,” she said.
She has so far invested about $5000, long term.
OPEN THE RIGHT ACCOUNT
PURCHASING shares can be daunting for many investors who have never dipped their toes into the stockmarket.
Experts say opening up a share trading account — which is usually free — is the best way to get started.
Then begins research. Reading up on what companies and funds interest you and where you would like to invest your hard-earned cash will help you make educated decisions.
Some of the most popular share trading platforms include CommSec, NABtrade, CMC Markets and Superhero.
Australian fund manager BetaShares’ chief executive officer Alex Vynokur said entry-level investors shouldn’t be afraid to start small but conceded “picking stocks is difficult”.
“The ETF industry is known to be cost-effective, diversified, and with simple investment tools that trade on the ASX just like a share,” he said. “In one trade, a person can buy a diversified portfolio of global shares, Australian shares, ethically screened shares and other asset classes such as gold.”
SHARES NOT JUST FOR THE RICH
THERE has long been a perception that purchasing shares is just for the wealthy, but Mr Vynokur said this was absolutely not the case.
“The ETF industry in the past 10 years or so has been delivering the ability for the average Australian to invest and build wealth,” he said.
Managed funds broker InvestSMART’s Evan Lucas said investors typically should have “$5000 or more to start”.
“If you were to put $100 in, you would have to pay brokerage to buy and sell, so you would realistically need to be making a minimum of $30 to break even if it’s $15 per trade,” he said.