Category Archives: Financial Independence

SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 20, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Gideon Strategic Partners, a wealth management and financial planning firm that oversees over $500 million in assets and provides concierge-styleservices to high-net worth individuals and businesses, today announced that its financial advisors have affiliated with The Leaders Group, a leading national, independent broker-dealer located in Littleton, Colo. The transition is effective immediately.

With more than 25 years supporting financial advisors in the wealth management industry, The Leaders Group offers cutting-edge digital platforms and tools for client relationship management, product due diligence and comparison, client account management and financial planning, along with an industry-leading product shelf that features a broad range of investment strategies.

Gideon Strategic Partners CEO and Managing Partner Robert Amoruso said, "The continued growth of our business and demand for expanded technological capabilities by our clients made the transition to The Leaders Group the obvious choice for our firm. Their hand-on services combined with sophisticated solutions and complete independence give us the freedom and flexibility to deliver higher-value wealth management and financial planning services to our growing client base."

Additionally, the firm announced the appointment of Adam Gross as a Managing Director and Head of the Family Office Group. Mr. Gross will build upon the existing practice area, expanding the services the firm provides for high-net worth and ultra-high-net worth families as a member of the firm's senior leadership team. He will report to Mr. Amoruso.

"Adam takes an exceptionally personal yet highly strategic approach to client service," Mr. Amoruso said. "Over the years he has built meaningful relationships with his clients and served more as a family chief financial officer than a traditional wealth manager. We are incredibly pleased to have him on our team, building out our capabilities in this space and delivering best-in-class service to our clients."

With over 25 years of experience in private banking and wealth management, Mr. Gross spent nearly two decades at JP Morgan Private Bank, where he helped build one of its most productive teams, the Global Investment Opportunities Group. Previously he served as a senior management professional of both client coverage and investment products at HSBC and Citigroup. Mr. Gross also has experience within the public and private markets and has served as an advisor to multiple early-stage fintech companies. Mr. Gross earned his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Rochester and holds Series 7, 63 and 24 licenses.

Mr. Gross' hiring continues the steady expansion of Gideon's leadership ranks as the firm grows.

Mr. Gross said, "I'm excited to join Gideon, and I look forward to applying my experience and expertise to help Gideon reach its full potential. A strong family-office group will help the firm position itself as the destination of choice for high-net worth and ultra-high-net worth families in Southern California and beyond. I know Robert and the entire Gideon team foster a collaborative culture that will put this growing group on a journey towards achieving our goals while serving our clients objectives."

About Gideon Strategic Partners

Gideon Strategic Partners (GSP) is a wealth management firm based in Santa Monica, Calif. We provide high net worth families and closely held businesses with a holistic, multidisciplinary, and technology-driven approach to financial planning. Our open architecture platform and our unique access to private markets and tax-efficient solutions enables clients to achieve diversification across a wide range of asset classes while mitigating the income tax impacts on returns.

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Joseph Kuo / Andrew Wang Haven Tower Group LLC 424 317 4851 or 424 317 4859 [emailprotected] or [emailprotected]

SOURCE Gideon Strategic Partners

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Gideon Strategic Partners Affiliates With Leading Independent Broker-dealer, Appoints Adam Gross Partner And Head Of Family Office Group In Support Of...

The state is blazing with what is known as the Financial Independence Retire Early movement. There are two Texas cities where FIRE burns the hottest.

SAN ANTONIO Many people are lighting their retirement plans on FIRE in the Lone Star state. It is not what you might think. FIRE is the acronym for Financial Independence Retire Early. It means retiring or semi-retiring before the traditional retirement age of 65.

Texas is one of the great places, said Michael Lacy, a Texan from Houston who is part of the FIRE movement.

Those who FIREstart by keeping their expenses low and saving aggressively, usually 50 percent or more of their income. Then they invest that money with the goal of retiring in their 30s or 40s. They also look for ways to raise their income and/or find passive sources of income like book sales or real estate. There are many types of FIRE, but most in the FIRE movement live off the interest from their investments and passive income streams. Generally, that means investing 25 times the income you expect to live on and then living on about 4 percent of interest from those investments. That often equates to investing between one and two million dollars for most.

Lacy has been on FIRE for the last year. He is 31 and living off a combination of interest from investments, passive income like book sales and a virtual job he works for six hours each week. He also runs the websiteWinning To Wealth to help other families on their FIRE journey. He is using his FIRE retirement time to travel with his family.

Our big goal is Niagara Falls, he said. So were going over to Florida, Panama City Beach, and then just up the East Coast. D.C. Philly, New York City.

FIRE allowed him to work less and spend more time with his daughter.

I actually have not worked for a traditional employer since May of last year, he said. Im a full-time entrepreneur now and I built a business I pretty much run virtually.

Basically, a cost of living score and a quality of life score, said Ismat Mangla, the senior content director for Magnify Money.

Close to us, Austin came in at number 6. Native Texan Eryn Schultz is moving from the East Coast to Austin this year as part of her FIRE journey because of the active lifestyle and often free activities it offers.

We love hiking, biking, getting outside. The access to nature there is great. Its also a very walkable city, she said. We only have one car as a couple.

Austin had a great quality of life score, but also a relatively good cost of living score, said Mangla.

Schultz runs the website Her Personal Financeto help others take control of their money and achieve financial freedom. Her goal is to use FIRE so she can pursue her passion for politics and nonprofits and not worry about what jobs in those industries pay.

The idea is to hit a number where were financially independent, where our investments can cover our monthly expenses, and it gives us flexibility to be able to spend our time where it is most impactful and not necessarily where were most highly compensated, she said.

El Paso came in at number 10.

Cost of living in El Paso is great, cheap goods, very low tax rates, Mangla said. That makes it an attractive option for FIRE-minded folks, but where El Paso got weighed down a little bit was the quality of life.

Yet those in the FIRE movement said Texas as a state is a great place to be on FIRE. Andrew Herring is starting his FIRE in Dallas.

Its very business-friendly, very tax-friendly. I think its just a good cost of living, he said.

Herring continues to work but his FIRE investments in real estate allowed him to take positions based on his interest rather than a salary. He also runs the website Wealthy Nickel to help others find financial independence.

I think a lot of people get caught up in retire early part and are like, oh well, I like my job, he said. "I dont want to retire. But I think, to me, what the most important aspect of it is the financial independence. It just gives you options because life can change. If you have the option to leave your job, if you need to find a new, lower-paying job or move across the country to be closer to family or whatever it is, I think the powerful part of it is the financial independence that gives you the ability to make choices you otherwise might not make.

There is one major reason Texas attracts people in the FIRE movement said former Houstonian and personal finance advisor Dominque Broadway, CEO and Founder of Finances Demystified:

No state taxes. Hello. You know what I mean? Thats one of the biggest reasons why Texas actually does have such a large influx of people moving in, she said.

Yet, Austinite and financial expert with Lending Tree Matt Schulz said to add plenty of fuel to your FIRE so you do not burn through money too quickly.

If you have goals set for FIRE, set them a little higher than you think and maybe set them a little higher because you just dont know how life is going to go, he said. Life is expensive now. Its going to be expensive in 15, 20 years.

The study found the best city for FIRE is Minneapolis and the worst is New York.

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Texas is on FIRE with the early retirement movement - KENS5.com

Greenland's government has decided to suspend all oil exploration off the island as a "natural step" in its commitment to taking "the climate crisis seriously," the Associated Press reported.

Although no oil has been located off the coast of Greenland, officials there believe undiscovered but potentially extensive oil reserves could help the autonomous Danish territory gain financial independence from the Scandinavian nation. Greenland gets an annual subsidy of about $540 million from Denmark.

As global warming continues to cause ice to retreat around the island, oil and mineral reserves could emerge, and the resulting revenue could decrease Greenland's dependence on the subsidy. However, Greenland's left-leaning government said it "wants to take co-responsibility for combating the global climate crisis."

"The future does not lie in oil. The future belongs to renewable energy, and in that respect we have much more to gain," the government said.

For more reporting from the Associated Press, see below:

The decision to suspend oil exploration was made on June 24 but made public Thursday.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates there could be 17.5 billion undiscovered barrels of oil and 148 trillion cubic feet of natural gas off Greenland, although the island's remote location and harsh weather have limited exploration.

The current government, led by the Inuit Ataqatigiit party since April's parliamentary election, immediately began to deliver on election promises and stopped plans for uranium mining in southern Greenland.

Greenland still has four active hydrocarbon exploration licenses, which it is obliged to maintain as long as the licensees are actively exploring. They are held by two small companies.

The government's decision to stop oil exploration was welcomed by environmental group Greenpeace, which called the decision "fantastic."

"And my understanding is that the licenses that are left have very limited potential," Mads Flarup Christensen, Greenpeace Nordic's general secretary, told weekly Danish tech-magazine Ingenioeren.

Denmark decides foreign, defense and security policy, and supports Greenland with the annual grant that accounts for about two-thirds of the Arctic island's economy.

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Greenland Bans Oil Exploration, Cites Taking 'the Climate Crisis Seriously' as Reason - Newsweek

Practice makes perfect, and patience makes millionaires. Despite losing more than a third of its value in fewer than five weeks in the first quarter of 2020, the benchmark S&P 500 has bounced a whopping 95% off of its pandemic low. Time and again, the market has demonstrated that it rewards investors who allow their investment theses to play out over time.

But arguably the best thing about investing in stocks today is that you don't need a mountain of money to begin building wealth. With most brokerages eliminating commissions and ending minimum deposit requirements, investors can put $20 to work right now to begin or further their trek toward financial independence.

If you have $20 at the ready, which you're not going to need to cover emergencies, bills, or other basic needs, now could be the perfect time to put it to work in the following trio of smart stocks.

Image source: Getty Images.

The first genius play worthy of a $20 investment is biotech stock Exelixis (NASDAQ:EXEL). Whereas most biotech stocks are losing money hand over fist while they search for their first-ever blockbuster drug, Exelixis is sitting on the cusp of $1 billion in annual sales from its lead cancer drug Cabometyx -- and it's profitable on a recurring basis.

For the moment, Cabometyx is approved as a treatment for first- and second-line renal cell carcinoma (RCC), as well as advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Based on just these indications alone, Cabometyx should push past $1 billion in annual sales by no later than 2022.

One thing to understand about Exelixis' lead drug is that it's not been perfect. (But when is any cancer therapy?) It failed a late-stage trial in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer in 2014, and late last month reported underwhelming overall survival data from a combination study with partner Ipsen for patients with previously untreated advanced HCC.

But clinical development is a literal trial-and-error process. The company has close to six dozen clinical trials underway to explore the use of Cabometyx, one of which has already resulted in a label expansion (first-line RCC in combination with Bristol Myers Squibb's Opdivo). If even a handful of these studies is successful, Exelixis' lead drug could push for multiple billions of dollars in annual sales.

Something else for investors to consider is Exelixis' growing treasure chest. Having a highly profitable cancer drug in its portfolio, as well as bringing in collaboration revenue from time to time, has helped the company build up a war chest totaling $1.6 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash and investments. This equates to 28% of its current market cap. This mountain of capital has allowed Exelixis to reignite its internal growth engine, and it could be the catalyst that encourages it to acquire other therapies or companies.

Paying 21 times Wall Street's forward-year earnings forecast for a company consistently growing sales at or above 20% is a no-brainer opportunity for patient investors.

Image source: Getty Images.

The cannabis industry has no shortage of high-growth, low-share-price companies that could ultimately thrive. But perhaps the best bang for your $20 is U.S. multistate operator Jushi Holdings (OTC:JUSHF).

To begin with, the U.S., not Canada, is where you want to put your money to work in the pot industry. According to New Frontier Data, the U.S. cannabis industry could be generating as much as $41.5 billion in sales by 2025, with average annual sales growth totaling 21% until mid-decade. Regardless of whether the federal government passes cannabis reform measures or not, the simple fact that 36 states have legalized weed in some capacity will allow marijuana stocks to succeed.

The Jushi growth story is interesting given its relatively narrow focus. Even though it has a presence in around a half-dozen states, the company anticipates generating more than 80% of its revenue this year from the combination of Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Virginia. Of its 20 currently operational dispensaries, 13 are located in Pennsylvania.

Both Pennsylvania and Illinois are limited-license states, meaning they place a cap on the number of retail licenses that can be issued in aggregate, as well as to a single company. This suggests Jushi is going to be able to build up a following in these two states without being overrun by a larger multistate operator. Meanwhile, Virginia assigns dispensary licenses based on jurisdiction, meaning competition is practically nonexistent.

Though this trio of states represents Jushi's future, the company hasn't been afraid to use its cash to expand into new markets. For example, it recently closed on two dispensaries in California, which is the largest pot market in the world by annual sales.

Among U.S. multistate operators, Jushi may well be the fastest-growing pot stock through 2025. With recurring profitability expected by no later than 2022, it looks to be well on its way to bringing in the green for its shareholders.

The 2021 Ford F-350 Super Duty. Image source: Ford.

A third really smart stock investors can buy with just $20 in July is auto-giant Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F).

Historically, auto stocks like Ford have been predominantly profitable but relatively slow growing. Constrained by the ebbs and flows of the economy and large debt loads, Ford and its peers are typically valued at price-to-earnings ratios well below the average for the S&P 500. However, this long-standing tradition may be about to change.

After more than a century of combustion-engine sales, the auto landscape is shifting rapidly. Ford's focus on electric vehicles (EV) and autonomous-driving capabilities has the potential to seriously kick-start its growth rate and (pardon the pun) fuel a multi-decade replacement cycle at the consumer and enterprise level.

Recently, Ford announced that it was upping its spending on EVs to $30 billion through 2025, with the intent of launching 30 new EVs worldwide by mid-decade. By 2030, the company anticipates 40% of its global sales will come from EVs.

Building on this point, Ford has an incredible opportunity to become a major player in China's alternative-energy market. According to estimates from the Society of Automotive Engineers of China, half of auto sales by 2035 are expected to be powered by alternative energy. With China selling 20.7 million passenger vehicles in 2019, the year before the pandemic, you can get some idea of just how many vehicles could be in demand in the largest auto market in the world. The runway is wide open for Ford to gobble up share in China.

And of course, no discussion of Ford would be complete without mentioning its rock-solid profit producer, the F-Series pickup. The F-Series has been the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for 39 consecutive years. With trucks providing better margins than smaller vehicles and sedans, the F-Series is critical to Ford's continued growth.

A forward price-to-earnings ratio of eight isn't historically cheap for Ford. But considering the multi-decade vehicle-replacement cycle that awaits, Ford has an incredibly attractive valuation for what should be a highly profitable auto stock.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

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The Smartest Stocks to Buy With $20 in July - Motley Fool

Making your money work for you is not straightforward, and there are plenty of pitfalls involved in wealth-building that you need to be aware of if you want to move closer to financial independence.

The first step is knowing what mistakes others make so you can avoid them, and we have totted up a few of the biggest snafus that should be on your radar.

Over-eager amateur investors can be irresponsible with their cash without even realizing it, and if you are a fresh face on the finance scene then it will take you years of research to truly understand the ebb and flow of the markets.

The way you spend your money from month to month will have a huge role in determining whether you are able to build wealth over the decades, and yet far too many people do not bother to create a budget for themselves to rein in some of their more irresponsible spending behaviors.

The simple act of looking at how much money you bring in, how much you have to set aside for essentials like food and housing, and how much you have left will let you know what you have to work with. Choosing to save or invest a good chunk of your paycheck, rather than going into the red every 30 days, is a far better strategy.

Life can be unpredictable, and insurance is there to cushion the blow when the worst happens. This applies to all sorts of areas, from damage and theft at your home to bouts of ill health that leave you with big medical bills to pay.

So while saving and investing is all well and good, you could find that your nest egg is depleted quickly by any number of costly catastrophes if you do not have adequate insurance to protect it.

The longer you wait to start your wealth-building journey, the more potential opportunities to generate cash will pass you by. If you do not want to suffer from retrospective FOMO, then it is always a good idea to start saving and investing right now; not tomorrow, or next week, or next month, but today.

Of course you should still do your research and get expert advice as suggested, but also remember that procrastination has never helped anyone.

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5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building Wealth - SWAAY

We are today at a juncture where optimistic equity outlook and multiple rounds of liquidity rush have led equity markets to an elevated valuation.(Image: REUTERS)

By Dinesh Pangtey

We are today at a juncture where optimistic equity outlook and multiple rounds of liquidity rush have led equity markets to an elevated valuation projecting us a far optimistic economic recovery, whereas actual macroeconomic indicators indicate very different picture. Indeed, the Indian macros have a long way to catch up with the high valuations of the equity market. As a result, any setback to the economy e.g., second wave, has elongated the recovery process thereby exposing equity market to risk of corrections. On the other hand, positive developments on the capex, inflation, fiscal deficit, divestment plans etc. may take the valuation of the equity market to higher level. Thus, investing in such times could be tricky.

Before addressing this dilemma let me first touch upon the basics of investing. Investing without a purpose and goal is most common mistake investors tends to do. The first and foremost thing Investor need to do is to define their objective of investment. This brings clarity to investors vision,which enables them to take calculated risk.Thus, defining the purpose of investment is first step towards successful investing.

Now coming back to our question, well, I would like to see this as a part and parcel of the long-term growth story of India. To me, these events are nothing more than investment opportunities. If you are convinced on the relatively faster recovery of India as compared to our peers and if you are committed towards long term commitment in India equities, these events must not bother you. In fact, investors must capitalize on such opportunities.

In my opinion, the high valuations, to a large extent is factoring in long term measures taken by our government, the result of which we may see in near future. Measures such has multiple rounds of financial support to curb pandemic led slowdown, promising divestment plans, much awaited listing of LIC of India, regulatory initiatives like recapitalization and privatization of PSU banks, relaxations in regulatory norms for banks and Real estate sector, introduction of Performance Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme in several sectors is expected to give impetus to the growth going forward. Government seems to be stepping its foot in the right direction. In fact, we are witnessing some green shoots already in the form of highest GST revenues, strong recovery in auto sales, improving trade balance, SIP flows touching record high of Rs.9200 crores in month of March 2021 (source: AMFI https://www.amfiindia.com/). This coupled with expected near normal rainfall will lay solid foundation for faster economic recovery in coming years. These facts corroborate that long term growth is intact. Hence, I urge investors to invest in Indian equities. Ideally for retail investors, investment through SIP is the best way to participate in equity market. One of its advantage is that it helps in mitigating volatility in the equity market.

I believe investment yields best return only if it is done over a long period i.e., 8-10 years.Hence investors need to have a vision and discipline to become successful investor. Longer period investment coupled with vision and discipline helps one to create a corpus through value accretion and making most out of the power of compounding. Another advantage of long-term investing is that it gives opportunities in volatile market to re-enter.Investors should continue to do SIP while look for sharp market corrections as an opportunity to invest lumpsum in equity funds. As I would like to say,you may never be able to time the market however through long term investment, you might be able to time the opportunities. The recent fall in the equity market was a perfect example. Long term investor would have accumulated more by investing more in the crash.

The best way to make most out of Indias equity market potential is to invest through SIP in diversified fund. Equity market continues to show buoyancy. However, one cannot anticipate which sector might outperform others. Thus, it is better to diversify your portfolio across funds like Large cap, Mid cap, Small cap, Thematic funds etc. SIP in above type of mutual funds shall ensure investor do not miss any significant rally in any particular type of sector/ company/ theme. Diversification not only helps you to broad base your investment, but also reduces risk of concentration in particular sector/ company/ theme.

Investment in equities demands data and facts driven approach.Fundamental investment requires investors to have higher level of involvement and hence is no different than any full-time job. It is almost impossible for retail investors to do fundamental research along with their current profession. That is whereroleof Mutual Funds become important. Mutual Funds have a dedicated workforce in the form of fund managers who actively manages investors money and seasoned analysts having hands on experience on different sectors continuously looking for investment opportunities. Rigorous fundamental analysis, backed by investment philosophy, monitored through multi-level appraisal process helps Mutual Funds to efficiently identify opportunities and threat in the market and take necessary actions. Mutual Funds have been in the service for decades making retail India financially independent. Hence, I would urge Investors to trust the capabilities and invest in equities through Mutual Funds.

Investor may also look for professional advisory service having expertise in providing investment services to retail Investors. Be open to them about your objectives, share your vision, return expectation and risk appetite with them. Advisors may share their knowledge and outlook on the markets. After thoroughly discussing with the advisors,advisors shall help you on asset allocation mix to best suit your vision, return expectation and risk appetite. Thus, with the help of financial expert you would be able to build a well-planned portfolio.

To sum up I would request investors with a long-term horizon, to build discipline through investing in SIPs across funds and build corpus by maximizing the power of compounding. Meanwhile Investor should also look for market crash or corrections as an opportunity to re-enter in the market. Avoid direct investment in stock markets unless experienced. Believe in the expertise and caliber of Mutual Funds. As far as possible take help from financial experts to plan your investments.

Investing with a purpose, commitment for long-term investing and choosing right channel of investment are the milestones towards the path to financial independence.

(Dinesh Pangtey is the CEO of LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in the article belong solely to the author. Please consult your investment advisor before investing.)

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Timing the market may not be everyones game but heres what could help investors - The Financial Express

LONDON, July 15, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Celsius, the leading global cryptocurrency yield-earning platform and the blockchain building technology company HorizenLabs have launched zkAudit, a fully decentralized and independent proof-of-reserve blockchain built on the Horizenplatform. This is the first and only privacy-preserving automated blockchain-based audit system on the market that doesn't require any third-party validators.

zkAudit is built to solve the inefficiency and lack of transparency in traditional auditing processes. By leveraging Horizen's scalability and sidechain protocol, Zendoo, with zk-SNARK privacy technologies, zkAudit can secure, verify, and validate proof of community assets in the Celsius network in near-real-time without relying on third-party validators. Sensitive data will be encrypted by Horizen Labs' zero-knowledge toolkit, making use of transaction data without revealing the underlying data itself. This provides transparency while preserving the privacy of Celsius' customers.

"Traditional double entry auditing processes are slow and lack transparency. The process of auditing happens at the end of the year and can take months from inception to completion and rely on one to two auditing firms and trusting their information is accurate," said Alex Mashinsky, CEO of Celsius Network. "zkAudit enables triple entry audit by using the blockchain and making auditing transparent and removes the need for the slow antiquated process of traditional auditing. We're thrilled to collaborate with Horizen Labs in this endeavor to bring Proof of Community to life and set the standard for transparency in blockchain finance."

zkAudit is the first major milestone in the Horizen and Celsius partnership announced in November 2020. During the initial phase of the partnership, the two projects introduced the proof of concept of building Celsius' own entirely decentralized environment and enabling the existing functionality available on the network through Horizen's scaling and sidechain solution, Zendoo.

"This is a major milestone for both Horizen and Celsius," stated Rob Viglione, Horizen co-founder and CEO of Horizen Labs. "We are thrilled to work together to disrupt traditional audit by leveraging zero-knowledge proofs and Horizen's Zendoo. I'm confident that zkAudit is going to change how the world does auditing."

This proof of reserve blockchain is offered by Horizen Labs as an integration-ready blockchain that can be utilized by any company.

"zkAudit is a perfect example of how other projects can utilize the open ledger technology with zero knowledge privacy technology to verify information without relying on any third parties while preserving privacy," said Alberto Garoffolo, Engineering Director of Horizen and CTO of Horizen Labs. "We built zkAudit to be fully programmable and flexible for seamless integration into existing systems."

About Horizen

Launched in 2017, Horizenis the most secure and scalable interoperable blockchain platform that enables the deployment of their own public or private blockchains on the largest multi-tiered node network. With its unique scaling and sidechain solution, Zendoo, Horizen provides all necessary components for an easy and fast deployment of a fully programmable blockchain. For more information, visit horizen.io.

About Horizen Labs

Founded in 2019, Horizen Labs provides the most efficient and cost-effective ways to create blockchain solutions for real-world usage while ensuring information integrity and data privacy, without compromising both scalability or security.Horizen Labs' proprietary blockchain deployment tools allow users to create blockchain solutions leveraging Horizen's robust and secure public blockchain platform with enhanced privacy features, low transaction fees, and configurable revenue models. For more information, visit horizenlabs.io

About Celsius

Celsius helps hundreds of thousands of consumers worldwide to find the path towards financial independence through a compounding yield service and instant low-cost loans accessible via a web and mobile app. Built on the belief that financial services should only do what is in the best interest of the customers and community, Celsius is a blockchain-based fee-free platform where membership provides access to curated financial services that are not available through traditional financial institutions. For additional information please visitwww.celsius.network.

CONTACT: Brianna Herlihy, [emailprotected]

SOURCE Celsius Network

https://celsius.network

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Celsius and Horizen Release zkAudit - the First and Only Fully Decentralized and Privacy-Preserving Audit Blockchain - PRNewswire

Earlier this year, Whitney Wolfe Herd made history when she became the youngest female founder to take her company public. She rang the Nasdaq bell dressed in a bright yellow power suit, a hat tip to Bumbles signature colorwhile holding her toddler son, a hat tip to the millions of women who have been working from home with kids crawling all over them during the pandemic. Women like me.

This image stands out not just because of the bright yellow suit and the baby in hand, but also because of how extremely rare someone like Wolfe Herd is. More than 2,000 companies went public in the U.S. between 2013 and 2020. But only 18 of them were led by a female founder and CEO.

This stark statistic is itself a consequence of who gets funded. Venture capital provides the dollars that fuel companies from two guys (yes, guys) in a basement to ringing the stock exchange opening bell. And while billions of dollars are invested in the space every year, just over 2% of those go to female-founded companies.

This shocking number is also a consequence of who does the funding. According to data from Women in VC, only 4.9% of U.S.-based VC partners are women, and fewer than half (2.4% of the total) are founding partners who control an outsize proportion of a firms investment decisions. The Securities and Exchange Commission recently reported that across all asset classes less than 1% of $70 trillion in global financial assets are managed by minority-owned or women-owned firms.

So if less than 0.01% of all U.S. IPOs are led by female founders, and this is partly because only 2.3% of VC dollars go to female founders, which itself is partly because only 2.4% of VC founding partners are women, it begs the question:

Why arent more women starting VC funds?

If you go by what you read, by and large they are. Hundreds of new microfunds, many of them led by women and underrepresented investors, are popping up and making waves. But the noise is not yet the signal: The Women in VC report from 2020 found that only 5.6% of U.S. venture funds had at least one female founding partner. Jessica Peltz-Zatulove, cofounder of Women in VC, estimates that there are fewer than 1,000 women in the entire world who are founding VC partners. Thats half as much as the number of people who get killed by lightning in the world every year.

Raising a VC fund is hard for most people. You need grit, business and financial acumen, specialized knowledge of the space, access to dealflow, excellent storytelling skills, and the ability to negotiate and close deals over time without pissing people off. Most important, raising a VC fund requires money and access.

The traditional route to starting a venture fund requires a certain level of financial independence and an extensive network of prospective investors, says Martina Welkhoff, managing partner at WXR Fund.

Mainstream VC funds are funded by limited partners (LPs), typically large institutions and ultrahigh net worth individuals, each of whom invests up to hundreds of millions of dollars at a time. But these institutions want to see a funds trajectory before they invest, so the bulk of these dollars are not available to new fund managers. Whats more, these investors are not easily discoverable. You have to have an in.

Weve been friends with a few incredible women emerging managers who had impressive returns, several exits, and some top Silicon Valley founders in their portfoliosand still were facing challenges while pitching to LPs, says Sophia Platt, founding partner at the Bridge, a conference that connects emerging managers with potential investors. Some of these women take 60-plus meetings a week but still struggle to close small proof-of-concept funds.

Emerging funds are more likely raised from individual investors each contributing a relatively small amount. You need dozens, if not hundreds, of wealthy individuals willing to take a chance on you when nobody else is. For people who are not already well connected and wealthy, this exercise is daunting.

For underrepresented funders, it is the convergence of unconscious/conscious bias and a perceived lack of relevant experience which makes breaking into VC and raising a fund from the ground up difficult, says Cat Hernandez, partner at the Venture Collective (TVC) and general partner at TVC Momentum Fund. The biggest challenge, by far, is deeply integrating yourself into networks of high net worth individuals and family offices.

A number of initiatives have sprung up to address this gap. For instance, tech executive and Community Fund general partner Lolita Taub launched a matchmaking tool to help other emerging managers connect with like-minded LPs. If GPs meet with the right-fit LPs, magical things can happen like launching a fund, she says.

Platt and her cofounder, Emna Ghariani, are attempting to connect the dots at scale through the Bridge. Our mission is to create the worlds largest ecosystem for women fund managers and prospective investors in their funds, says Ghariani. The two Bridge conferences so far have resulted in more than 400 fund-investor matches and nine successful investments. The cofounders are aiming to double those numbers with the next Bridge conference this summer.

The goal is to get these women fundedto put them in front of prospective investors who they could never access otherwise, Platt says. We give opportunity to anybody who has the ambition, the skill, and the track record to raise a VC fund.

Leslie Feinzaig is the founder and CEO of the Female Founders Alliance.

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Why it's incredibly rare for women-led companies to IPO - Fast Company

Also more appealing than ever is the stock market, which made a quick comeback after its early pandemic dive and flourished even as the economy continued to founder. Suddenly, investing your money seemed like the smartest (and safest) thing to do with it, even if you didnt have much. And with the rising popularity of retail investment platforms like Robinhood, many novice investors got curious.

A lot of people started reaching out to ask about cryptocurrency, and I was like, OK, we can talk about that, but first lets talk about index funds, Ms. Souffrant said. I think you should have the basics down first before you get into things like crypto. Do you know what a Roth I.R.A. is? Are you investing your 401(k)?

For Kayla Marshall, a 28-year-old finance manager for a private university in Florida, the past year brought a new set of daunting responsibilities when she moved out of her mothers house and bought her first home in Brevard County, Fla.

I needed to feel like I was going to be OK if everything fell out from underneath me, Ms. Marshall said. As a single mother of a 5-year-old, she also had a specific set of financial needs that often werent addressed in many traditional personal finance blogs or books. She finally got some answers by joining Facebook groups with women who were discussing FIRE and financial independence.

A year later, she may not be on track to retire early, but shes in better financial shape than ever before.

Ive learned to find the pleasures in life more modestly, she said. I still love to travel, but now we go camping instead of spending money on a hotel room or an amusement park. Ive realized that my son is just as happy going for a walk on the beach as he is in Disney World. Paring back on trips and other discretionary expenses has allowed her to pay off about $10,000 of debt since 2020.

Financial preparedness didnt inoculate anyone completely from the trials of the pandemic but it certainly helped. Jess Fickett, 34, who lives in Denver and co-runs the personal finance website Bitches Get Riches, was laid off from her book publishing job in mid-2020.

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How The Pandemic Forged New FIRE Followers, With a Difference - The New York Times

ST. LOUIS St. Louis CITY SC welcomed their newest founding partner and official banking sponsor Wednesday in Together Credit Union.

St. Louis CITYs CEO Carolyn Kindle Betz, VP of Community Relations Khalia Collierhosted the announcement made at 423 Lynch Street.

Focused on community involvement, community collaboration and financial empowerment .

A big welcome to @together_cu our newest Founding Partner and Official Banking Partner of the club! pic.twitter.com/4nRumtRoU2

St. Louis CITY SC said the partnership will bring opportunities to underserved St. Louis neighborhoods through financial literacy programming.

Together Credit Union has been in the St. Louis area for over 80 years and has 13 branches in the area to date.

Our partnership with Together Credit Union is extremely special to the club because of our shared values and commitment to the city, Betz said. How incredible is it that both of St. Louis CITY SCs first two founding partners are so deeply rooted in the St. Louis community? We couldnt ask for anything better than that.

Through our partnership with St. Louis CITY, we hope to broaden our outreach efforts by creating sustainable, long-term financial wellness programs, Together Credit Unions Chief Operating Officer Tom Kraus said. Our goal is to help young people and their families on the path to financial independence and success.

The credit union will now offer St. Louis CITY SC-branded debit and credit cards for their members. Those with the cards will receive special stadium offers and access to events.

The Together Credit Union will also sponsor the Together Credit Union Club on the stadiums main concourse. St. Louis CITY SC ticket holders will be able to hang out there on game days.

The Together Credit Union Club will provide a one-of-a-kind experience inside the stadium where fans can come together on matchday to enjoy deliciousSTLMadefood and beverages reflective of the diverse culinary flavors of St. Louis, Kraus said.

Most recently, St. Louis CITY SC announced local chef Gerard Craft as their Flavor Officer. Craft will work with area chefs and the teams fans to create the clubs in-stadium food experience.

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Together Credit Union is St. Louis CITY SCs official banking sponsor - KTVI Fox 2 St. Louis