This week, we talked to Temitola, a consultant for a risk management organization. She started investing after realising that the Nigerian economy was in a free fall.
Hello, Temilola. What do you do?
I am a consultant for a risk management organisation.
What does financial wealth mean to you?
At the end of the day, it is about making sure that you get your money’s worth and are able to attain a level of financial independence.
More simply, it is being able to account for what you have worked hard for, after hustling.
At what point did you think you needed to invest?
It was when Naira began to drop. I recall the Naira was 360 to a dollar in 2016 before the economy started crashing. That was when I knew we had to hedge our money against the declining economy because I wanted to make sure we were not losing money by keeping it in the bank.
What options did you find then?
The first thing we did was to put our money in naira denominated mutual funds, which was great at first because the interest rate was 10%. A few months later, it fell to 3%, which was too low; so, we started considering other options.
Oh Oh.
Yeah, we considered the agricultural investment fund, which means you’d put your money in an agricultural business and then after a certain period of time, you’d get some interest. This also worked for a while, until we considered how risky the business was, so we had to look for other viable options. We also ventured into the logistics business but the risk was even higher and the environment was volatile too, so we had to keep looking because high-risk portfolios were not the right fit for us.
Interesting. So, at what point did you consider dollar-denominated investment?
I was on Twitter one day and I saw Victor Asemota post about Risevest and that piqued my interest. So, I went online and saw what Rise does and I subscribed to your services. What’s funny is that by the time I got home, I shared the link with my husband and coincidentally, he had it in mind to discuss Rise with me, too. So it just clicked and we said to each other, “you know what, let’s go for it.”
Ah Ah, love to hear it. What has been your experience so far?
If I must say, my husband is a banker and he understands all about diversifying our portfolios and all that. We both joined in February, earlier this year and started by first investing in the low-risk portfolio which is fixed income and then real estate. After the first cycle, I said to my husband, “you know what? Let us go for the stock, let us go big.” I won’t lie, the stocks option has put me in a constant state of shock, lol. You know how the stock portfolio works. So, we’ve agreed to just forget the money we have in stocks because stocks are for the long run and we know that it would pick back.
What kind of investor would you call yourself today?
I think I am more of a passive-aggressive investor because I would love to, of course, do high-risk investments but at the end of the day, it is all about our financial goals. At this point, it is not in our interest to be aggressive, so we are still maintaining the level we are in our portfolio.
So what philosophy guides your investment?
My philosophy about investing generally is all about high risk, high reward. So, if you want the reward, you have to take the risk at the end of the day.
Go big or go home!!
Yes, because at the end of the day, you still have to ascertain your risk appetite, what your risk appetites are like. Once you understand your attitude towards risks, stick to it. Also, don’t go into things you don’t know about, try to be as informed as possible, so that you can make the best decisions.
Since you started investing, what have you gained the most?
The reason we started investing in the first place was to make sure we were not losing the value of our money. Risevest has been able to help us achieve that and in just a few months. These days, we get a notification that there is an increase in the exchange rate and my husband and I look at each other and be like, “We made the best decision.” Our money is growing and we are happy.
Wow, this is nice! So, have you made any losses?
Oh, there are so many tales, believe me. I think recently, my husband was having that discussion with some of our neighbours on the schemes that we have lost money to. So, yes, quite a lot.
Do you want to share?
Yes, the agricultural and logistics business I told you about earlier. They failed.
How?
For the logistics, the business ran into debts and it got stuck. And for the agricultural one, we just did not hear back from them, lol. We got tired of waiting. What’s funny was the number of the account person assigned to us literally stopped ringing, so we used another number to call him and it rang, that was when we knew that he had blocked us.
He did what?!!!
Yeah, he blocked us, and I would like to think that we are too intelligent to have fallen for that type of scam. Some days ago, another popped into my phone, guaranteeing me 40% returns and I knew that it was Ponzi, lol. Because where is the 40% interest coming from?
What are the lessons learned?
If it is too good to be true, avoid it. Do not take financial decisions without speaking to the right people and understanding what decision you are about to make. The more knowledgeable you are, the better decisions you make.
So, what do you think about your investment position today
Yeah, I think it is good at the moment, but of course, I am always looking for a better opportunity. I believe it can be better.
How would you advise beginners looking to start Investing
It is good to stick to people that can manage your portfolio for you, so give your money to Risevest, let them manage it for you. I mean, for a beginner, you probably don’t have the time to start understanding how the market works, how crypto or stock exchanges work, so just trust the people that already know it. Trust Risevest to handle your funds properly and help you grow your money.
On a scale of 1 to 5, how likely are you going to recommend Risevest to new users?
5. I recommend Risevest to almost anyone I come in contact with.