Business
Chained to the system – why building another pillar of wealth is key to having the freedom of choice
Published
6 months agoon
By
editorial
By Marcus de Maria, Founder of Investment Mastery.
For many of us, our lives are already mapped out from the get-go. Go to school, college, then potentially university, get a job and mortgage, whilst spending the rest of our lives paying it off to enable us to have a comfortable retirement.
This is the pathway we have been led to believe we should follow, and many do blindly follow, chained to their desks to pay their mortgage or bills, spending their disposable income to get a better car, bigger house, or enjoy a couple of weeks in the sun.
But for me, I wasn’t happy with this pathway. I didn’t want to be forever paying off a mortgage and saving for a few precious weeks of holiday each year. I wanted more.

Marcus de Maria
So, I took the plunge and started investing – but fell hard and lost a lot of money. Why? The reason was I didn’t educate myself first. I didn’t have a strategy and I didn’t seek advice from others who had done it before me. Why do people go to university for 3-4 years, study to become a doctor or dentist for 5-7 years or an accountant for 4 years? Because training and education are essential, and the same can be said for the stock markets.
Once I had learned this (the hard way), I worked hard to educate myself and started building my own new pillars of wealth.
Investing isn’t a get-quick-rich scheme. For most, it is not an alternative to working or a reason to quit a lucrative career. It is quite simply another pillar of wealth that gives you the freedom to live a life of more choice. Investments will ripen over the years, and we advise starting as early as possible to ensure you have maximum funds for later in life, when children, ageing parents and retirement can all affect finances.
The other thing to remember when investing is the level of risk. We say you should never invest any more than you can afford to lose and to keep perspective, as markets are likely to go down as well as up. Investing alongside working in a secure job role is the best option, as you can then funnel small chunks of money into your portfolio each month.
Here are some tips to build a new pillar of wealth:
Where to invest – are you interested in stocks, precious metals, commodities or Cryptocurrencies? If stocks, which Stock are you entering and why? If Crypto, do you know enough in such an unregulated or volatile asset class? Is it on a technical basis where you like the chart pattern or a fundamental basis where you think the company has long-term growth potential?
What price to get in at – I prefer buying low, so I set an order in advance and allow the price of the Stock or Crypto to fall to my entry point. Sometimes I will wait weeks, even months, for this to happen. But I wait because those are the rules.
When to exit with a profit – I know in advance when I am exiting the trade or when to exit with a small loss. So, in order to ensure I am doing the right thing when the Stock is falling, I enter with an automatic order below my entry point, called a ‘Stop Loss’ or ‘Limit Sell Order’ in some cases, to minimise my losses.
How much to invest – this is part and parcel of keeping risk low. I ensure that by the time the stock price falls to my predetermined stop loss, I will only be risking 1% of my portfolio. So, if I have £10,000 to invest, I would only risk 1% or £100 on any one trade. It’s a mathematical equation EVERYONE should know before they start trading. Unfortunately, very few people know this equation, and even fewer utilise it.
For anyone wanting to secure their financial future, increase their pension pot or simply live a life of more choice, building another pillar of wealth is key. Get educated, keep the risk low and be prepared to be in it for the long term – you may be surprised at the results!
Business
How app usage can help brands increase their online revenues and customer retention
Published
1 day agoon
March 23, 2023By
editorial
Arunabh Madhur, Regional VP & Head Business EMEA at SHAREit Group
Brands are continuing to invest heavily in the e-commerce market despite current market and economic challenges – and they need to. Indeed, the current global e-commerce market is valued at around $5.5 trillion. Further to that, estimates show that online retail sales will reach $6.7 trillion by the end of 2023 – and e-commerce making up 22.3% of those sales.
So despite the economic and market climate, businesses must still plan for success and cater to customer demands to make the most of the global e-commerce opportunity.
Mobile apps are key
Mobile apps are now a fundamental component of retail, as they provide customers with a convenient and engaging way to shop from their phones. The past couple of years has been rocket fuel for digital transformation, providing an opportunity for the retail industry to innovate. Whilst global trends continue to point to the user growth of Facebook, TikTok and Instagram, the trends underneath the headlines highlight significant opportunities to drive new customer acquisition, which in turn demands a targeted customer retention strategy from companies.
According to research from Baymard Institute, 69.82% of online shopping carts are abandoned and with demand expected to continue, pressure is growing on retailers to expand current offerings and create personalised experiences to tackle this. One of the big challenges e-commerce companies face, though, is analysing and maximising the behaviour of users, and bringing down the cost of their marketing and engagement against how much is earned through a customer making a purchase.
To meet customer demand, mobile apps offer a variety of features such as push notifications, product recommendations, exclusive discounts and offers, and easy checkout processes, to make the shopping experience easier for customers. By leveraging the power of mobile technology, brands can create an immersive shopping experience tailored specifically to their customer’s needs, and this in turn helps increase customer loyalty, customer return rates, and maximise online revenue.
Re-targeting and re-engaging customers
Brands should focus on re-engaging with returning consumers through a personalised strategy as this can help increase the lifetime value of users, which in turn helps brands bring the cost of their marketing down knowing that brand loyalty has been achieved. According to research from Google and Storyline Strategies study, 72% of consumers are more likely to be loyal to a brand if they offer a personalised experience.
Optimising the online shopping experience is crucial in retaining customers. Today, consumers need a more ‘human’ touch, i.e., smart product suggestions based on buying history & behaviour that helps build a one-to-one relationship between brand and buyer. In particular, push notifications haven’t just enhanced personalisation but also increased app engagement by up to 88%. Push notifications have also proven to get disengaged users back, too, with 65% returning to an app within 30 days of the push notification.
Another strategy to consider is the option of adding buy now pay later (BNPL) options at checkouts for customers. Brands that add the option of financing at the checkout allow customers to spread the cost over time, which according to Klarna has resulted in a 30% increase in checkout conversation rates.
Publisher platforms allow brands to leverage their reach and sticky user base. Especially with open platforms such as SHAREit, which can help e-commerce brands create a strong revenue conversion with higher average order value with unique retargeting and user acquisition solutions. Because users are not just sharing product links, but also sharing e-commerce apps and deals among their community. Users of these publisher platforms are also encouraged to share products and apps through platform activities.
What the future of e-commerce holds for brands
E-commerce is positioning itself as a key facet in retail, and its future. With Advancements in technology, customers can access various products and services worldwide through their smartphones – making shopping more accessible than ever. Brands must put consumers at the heart of everything they do, like never before. Offering incentives and payment options, personalising customers’ experiences and re-engaging them, as well as targeting new customers, in an effective and un-intrusive way, are all ways in which they can influence purchasing decisions and improve retention figures.
Business
Does the middle market have a financial edge?
Published
2 days agoon
March 22, 2023By
editorial
Ilija Ugrinic, Commercial Solutions Director at Proactis
Companies tend to look up the ladder when searching for ways to improve efficiency and business performance. What are larger competitors, or others outside their industry, doing right that they can learn from and implement?
What smart technologies or bright ideas do they have that could create efficiencies for them, too?
As we enter yet another likely volatile year for business, punctuated by recession, should businesses continue to only look up? And could the approach of a slightly smaller business offer more of a competitive edge?
Large corporates tend to pioneer innovation in automation by simple virtue of the resources they have. Home to transformation directors and departments, with the ability to implement large overarching software systems, they pave the way for others and are often the first to digitise their source-to-pay cycle at pace.

Ilija Ugrinic, Commercial Solutions Director at Proactis
While growing businesses understand the merits of full automation, implementing it is often too expensive and it doesn’t bring the rapid realisation of benefits that they need. They need to consider what will bring them the biggest return on investment – and the reality is that those in the middle market don’t necessarily need all the elements of an ‘all-doing’ piece of software. What’s more, without dedicated personnel to project manage a transition, they frequently lack the currency of time to be able to comfortably transform working practices, and take staff with them on the journey, without taking resource from other areas of the business.
For SMEs, digital transformation has never been quite as seismic a shift. Instead, they tend to take a modular approach, employing digital solutions only for particular areas of their finance department, where they need them. This has never been a particularly strategic move. Rather, for a growing business that values quick results and watches their outgoings with greater scrutiny than their larger counterparts, it’s something that suits them better. A modular approach also comes with very little disruption and can be implemented relatively seamlessly into their existing organisational setups.
But while growing businesses are opting for a modular approach because it’s the most cost and time effective option for them, the benefits go far beyond that. The beauty of a modular approach is that it is agile. The last three years – with pandemics, an increasingly challenging climate and shifting geopolitical tensions impacting our global economy – have only served to remind us of how suddenly, and drastically, a business landscape can change. The companies that have weathered the storm are those that have reacted and adapted quickly – those that have been capable of changing the way they do things with little impact on day-to-day operations. A modular approach can offer just that.
Businesses using modular finance technology can integrate small solutions that sync up with the rest of their processes, quickly and seamlessly – and these systems can be integrated into their existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), too. There’s no restriction of a monolithic or aging piece of software either – finance teams can add and update small solutions to their daily operations without the upheaval of having to replace or update large IT infrastructures or wider working practices within the business to accommodate the new software.
Unrestricted by entrenched and hard-to-change systems, the speed with which SMEs are able to react to market changes is miles ahead. A prompt software add-on to manage risk, or create a quick fix in response to a market shift, can be virtually a knee-jerk reaction. SME’s abilities to bend and flex to today’s world efficiently is seeing them reap the benefits of a modular approach. It’s lean, it’s fast and it’s facilitating their growth with a strong competitive edge. And as some of these companies’ growth propels them into the large corporate sphere, they’re choosing to keep a modular approach to finance. It will certainly be interesting to watch those middle-sized companies which grow to the extent that they find themselves competing in the same space. With no financial remodelling to assume a large ‘all-doing’ piece of software, they’ll be competing against their counterparts with completely different tools in their arsenal.
With technology, working life and business needs continuing to change day to day, we have another year ahead of us that will see companies running to keep pace with each other – and fast-growing companies’ approach to finance could be the silver bullet that enables them to catch up with, and even take on, big enterprises. It might just give them a competitive edge against large corporates in these turbulent times.
Magazine
Trending


How app usage can help brands increase their online revenues and customer retention
Arunabh Madhur, Regional VP & Head Business EMEA at SHAREit Group Brands are continuing to invest heavily in the...


Will ‘Britcoin’ change the way we bank?
The Treasury and Bank of England recently announced a state-backed digital pound is likely to be launched in the UK...


In-Store, Online & In-App – Unifying Payment Authentication
Michel Roig, President of Payment and Access, Fingerprints Often, new technologies are lauded as the death of existing ones....


Why the future is phygital
By Eric Megret-Dorne, Head of Card Issuance Services and Service Operations at Giesecke + Devrient Digital banking has become...


Why Keeping Track of Cash Is Key to Economic Survival
By Joshua May, Consulting Manager EMEA, BlackLine Finance and Accounting (F&A) has always had a reputation for its calm...


Does the middle market have a financial edge?
Ilija Ugrinic, Commercial Solutions Director at Proactis Companies tend to look up the ladder when searching for ways to...


Hybrid Intelligence – The only way to face the problems of the future
Author: Prof. Dr. Iris Lorscheid, Vice-Rector Research and Professor of Digital Business and Data Science Computer Science at the University...


Consumer demand driving sustainable payments
Jenn Markey, VP Payments & Identity, Entrust Sustainability is a buzzword that seems to be at the forefront of...


Adyen drives conversion uplift with advanced authentication solution
The company’s expanded authentication offering optimizes authorization, security, and end revenue Adyen (AMS: ADYEN), the global financial technology platform...


It’s time for financial institutions to take personalization seriously
David Hetling, Global Marketing Director, Financial Services, RWS Financial institutions will always play a critical role in society, offering...


The Future of Capital Markets: Democratisation of Retail Investing
Nicky Maan, CEO of Spectrum Markets Over the past decades, global capital markets have undergone tremendous changes. There have...


5 Often-Overlooked Investment Options To Consider Exploring In 2023
When choosing what to invest in, many people will initially focus on the stock market which is considered a more...


New Open Banking platform Archie waves a timely hello to Britain’s beleaguered businesses
Archie is a game-changing payments and data platform that’s inherently human in its approach; a refreshing proposition in the jargon-heavy...


Innovating inclusivity: How invoice financing is diversifying access to financial streams
“Entrepreneurs, particularly those in the supply chain in Europe, the United Kingdom, and indeed the rest of the world, frustrated...


The data behind AI’s success in the financial sector
Or Lenchner, CEO at Bright Data AI (Artificial Intelligence) has taken the world by storm. The OECD estimates that...


The Risks Of Company Mergers And How To Avoid Them
There are a lot of benefits to agreeing on a company merger with another business, and this includes, but is...


How diversity is evolving in the fintech industry
by Elena Dimova, VP HR Bulgaria and Operations & Technology at Paysafe. With both finance and technology being traditionally male-dominated...


How the Isle of Man is encouraging a new generation of FinTech innovators
FinTech’s potential to transform how finance and business operates has gained attention around the world in recent years. In 2022,...


Protecting Customer Data in Online Business
With the increasing number of online businesses, protecting customer data has become more important than ever. Cybersecurity breaches can cause...


END OF AN ERA OF CHEAP MONEY
Professor Milos Petkovic, PhD Lecturer at Berlin School of Business & Innovation Prior to 2022, the global financial market...

How app usage can help brands increase their online revenues and customer retention

Will ‘Britcoin’ change the way we bank?

In-Store, Online & In-App – Unifying Payment Authentication

Why the future is phygital

Why Keeping Track of Cash Is Key to Economic Survival

Does the middle market have a financial edge?

RBI’s MASTER DIRECTION ON DIGITAL PAYMENTS SECURITY CONTROLS

EMV® 3-D SECURE: ENABLING STRONG CUSTOMER AUTHENTICATION

HOW TO SIMPLIFY IDENTIFICATION IN THE GLOBAL DIGITAL ECONOMY WITH THE LEI

EXEGER – CHANGING THE PERCEPTION OF POWER

FUTURE FX PROMO

FutureFX Profile
Trending
-
News4 days ago
Adyen drives conversion uplift with advanced authentication solution
-
Business4 days ago
Consumer demand driving sustainable payments
-
Finance4 days ago
It’s time for financial institutions to take personalization seriously
-
Business2 days ago
Does the middle market have a financial edge?