Topic — Economics • 31st July 2023

Central Bank Currency Reserves: Understanding Who Holds What and Why

In our previous article, we explored what currency reserves are and how they help promote global trade and economic stability. In this piece, we will be looking at which currencies and assets are the most widely used ones for reserves and which central banks choose to hold what kind of reserves.

Globally, currency reserves are dominated by a large allocation to US dollars and also precious metals, especially gold. As gold is traded primarily in US dollars, this underlines the de-facto standard

Topic — Investing • 17th July 2023

Thematic ETFs: Risks and Opportunities

Thematic ETFs, while they offer investors the chance to capitalize on emerging technologies and structural shifts to possibly earn excess returns, also come with their own set of inherent risks. We’ll look at a few of them so you can form a better picture for yourself in case you decided to add thematic ETFs to your portfolio:

Thematic ETFs invest in a niche industry or theme, resulting in a very small number of concentrated holdings. If the industry, theme or public opinion towards the technol

Topic — Foreign Exchange • 10th July 2023

The Importance of Central Bank Currency Reserves for International Trade and Economic Stability

While central banks around the world are fighting inflation by raising interest rates, many people wonder about how the system of central banks’ currency reserves actually works.

Why are central banks holding currency reserves, which foreign assets are the most popular as central bank reserves, and how do reserves interconnect with economic policies and trade?

We give some insight into those questions in our article, explaining what currency reserves are and why they are important for internat

Topic — Investing • 6th July 2023

How to build a core-satellite portfolio with ETFs

A core-satellite portfolio is an investment strategy that combines passive and active investments to achieve diversification, cost efficiency and the potential for higher returns.

Unlike traditional passive investment approaches, it gives you a bit more discretion to include riskier investments with high idiosyncratic risk factors, such as individual small-cap stocks, in your portfolio without compromising on excessive risk.

It works in the following way:

The core of the portfolio consists of

Topic — Economics • 3rd July 2023

Why the City of London is the Biggest Hub for Currency Trading

The City of London, also known as the Square Mile, is still one of the leading financial capitals of the world today. While Wall Street is much bigger in terms of stock trading, few people know that the City is still the biggest hub for currency trading on the globe.

In fact, London accounts for 38% of volume in global foreign exchange, much ahead of Wall Street, which is responsible for 19% of global trading.

We look in detail at why the Square Mile has held this leading position throughout h

Topic — Foreign Exchange • 26th June 2023

Exotic Currencies — Everything You Need To Know

As globalisation has dramatically increased over the past decades, businesses are increasingly dealing with suppliers and customers all over the globe. As a result, the foreign exchange market has also become more open, exposing companies to receivables and risks in what are called ‘exotic currencies’. We look at what exotic currencies are, what the risks are when dealing in such currency pairs and how to hedge these risks.

The term ‘exotic currency’ is a catch-all term for any kind of currency

Topic — Investing • 19th June 2023

The 60-40 portfolio with ETFs - Explained

How to construct a 60-40 portfolio using ETFs

Building a 60-40 portfolio is something that anyone can easily do themselves with an online brokerage account or with the help of a robo-advisory platform. Here's what you need to do to build a 60-40 portfolio using ETFs:

As you probably know, you should speak to a financial adviser or use an online advice service to properly identify your risk tolerance and goals. However, the 60-40 portfolio is the universal answer for those who don't want to go

Topic — Economics • 12th June 2023

Exploring Currency Boards Around the Globe: Europe, Asia, the Middle East and more

Countries around the globe have used currency boards to stabilise their economies and maintain a fixed exchange rate for a long time. Although we’re living in a world with more flexible exchange rate regimes, there are surprisingly many currency boards still in place today.

In this article, we explore the use of currency boards in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, America and Africa.

Because of the strong economic and political interlinkage in Europe, a number of countries had currency boards in

Topic — Economics • 6th June 2023

How Does a Currency Board Work? Understanding the Mechanics of Currency Pegs

With Bulgaria likely joining the Euro in 2025 despite political difficulties delaying the adoption, one of the most successful currency boards in history will lead to the full adoption of the Euro.

Bulgaria’s currency board with the Deutsche Mark, and now the Euro, successfully stopped hyperinflation in 1998 and has remained stable since, even during the financial crisis.

In our article, we explore how currency boards work, how a currency peg is maintained and what distinguishes successful fro

Topic — Real Estate • 22nd May 2023

Exploring property prices around the globe | Most expensive locations in 2023

With the uncertainty of 2023 looming, one investment that comes with a lot of questions is property. High interest rates have made buying a property a much more expensive proposition, and it’s not just limited to one region — the same challenges exist all over the world.

In this article, we look at where it is the most expensive and where it is the cheapest to buy in the world, what the outlook for real estate prices is and which factors affect them.

Despite real-estate prices declining global

Topic — Economics • 15th May 2023

The importance of a 2% inflation target for economic stability

Do you know why inflation targets are so important for the health of our economy? In this article, we’ll explore why inflation targets are important, how they are set and why the current target of 2% makes the most sense for our current economic situation.

What is an inflation target?

An inflation target is a specific annual rate of inflation that a central bank aims to achieve for a country’s economy through its monetary policy. This target-based approach focuses on maintaining price stabilit

Topic — Investing • 17th April 2023

How to Spot Trends in Trading and Investing via APIs

Trends are often used in trading and investing to help predict the direction of a particular market or asset. A trend is a tendency for the interest in, newsflow in or the price of an asset to move in a particular direction over time. Trends can be either up or down and can last for any length of time, from minutes to months.

Topics — Economy • 17th April 2023

How to hedge against inflation — best hedging strategies

Although the latest inflation reading in the United States shows that inflation has cooled to 5%, it is still running at double-digit levels in most of Europe and the UK. To help combat inflation, in this article we look at different ways you can protect yourself against it.

Topic — Real Estate • 11th April 2023

Why real estate syndications sell every 3-5 years

Real estate syndications are a popular way to invest in real estate. But why do these properties sell every 3-5 years? It’s simple – it’s about maximizing profits.

By selling the property at its peak value, investors can reap the benefits of their investment and move on to the next opportunity. Read our blog post for more details or, if you prefer a video, here are some great insights from our CEO:

Topic — Real Estate • 4th April 2023

UK property market — what to expect with rising interest rates

The property market has been the bedrock of the UK economy for decades. However, as interest rates have risen, the market has slowed significantly and house price growth has stalled.

In this article, we look at what is likely to happen to the property market if interest rates remain high for longer.

Topic — Foreign Exchange • 20th March 2023

How high interest rates affect foreign currency transactions

With global interest rates on the rise and expected to remain elevated through the rest of the year, we would like to look at the issue of higher interest rates and their impact on international currency movements.

Elevated interest rates can notably impact the relative value of currencies against each other, and we will investigate how this occurs.

Topic — Investing • 8th March 2023

Genius Autopilot Stock Trading via APIs

With many providers offering trading and API access for investing, it isn’t quite something more and more people consider. One thing is for sure… someone should not take it on without further research beforehand. While manual trading keeps everything under your control, trading with APIs requires a lot of trust in the provider of the stock data API and the trading system. We will show you how to put your stock trading on autopilot with APIs but also warn you of the dangers.

How to get started w

Topic — Payments • 21st February 2023

Developing currency hedging strategies for SMEs

With the volatility of foreign exchange rates increasing dramatically over the past months and inflation making the value of currencies much less predictable, many small and medium-sized businesses are finding it increasingly important to hedge their foreign exchange exposure.

In this article, we will look at the reasons why you should consider hedging your FX exposure and the strategies you can use.

Topic — Investing • 19th February 2023

How Data Can Help You be a More Effective Stock Investor

Understanding how the economy works is crucial whether you are a novice or a seasoned investor.

When monitoring economic data, there are a few indicators that you should focus on. The most important economic indicators include releases on the labor market in terms of the non-farm payrolls ("NFP's") report, the gross domestic product (GDP) and consumer price index (CPI) releases, as well as central bank meetings with interest rate decisions (FOMC).

Tracking these key metrics will typically move

Topic — Payments • 14th February 2023

Analysing the impact of high inflation on the cost of living

It is impossible to pick up a newspaper these days without reading about the cost of living crisis and skyrocketing inflation. In this article, we will dissect the inflation data and look at how problematic inflation really is.

Who is most affected by inflation?

Inflation isn’t fair, and that’s why it’s as much a political issue as it is a central bank issue.

The current inflationary wave we are experiencing disproportionately affects low-income households because it is a wave of cost-push in