Talk Money To Me | Meet Candice and Felicity

Candice: [00:00:02] Welcome to talk money to me. I'm Candice Burke. [00:00:04][2.1]

Felicity: [00:00:05] And I'm Felicity Thomas. And this is your number one wealth podcast, where we make the complex simple. This podcast is designed to help educate you on all aspects of your financial landscape. We will draw on our extensive expertise and experience in wealth management and capital markets. We'll be bringing you clever financial strategies, investment ideas and access to market leading experts. So whether you're a first time investor or a seasoned veteran, this podcast is a must for you. [00:00:31][25.8]

Candice: [00:00:31] So to kick start our very first episode, we're going to share with you more about ourselves and give you insight into our world and what we do on a day to day basis, even though we are registered financial advisors. Please note that this podcast and the content discussed does not constitute as financial advice, nor is it a financial product. The content on this podcast is general in nature and you should seek appropriate professional advice before making any financial decisions. OK, that disclaimer out of the way. Well, Felicity, here we are, our very first podcast episode. I'm so excited and it's been something we've been talking about for what feels like ages now. [00:01:09][38.2]

Felicity: [00:01:10] I know we finally gotten our act together, five years later. So why don't we start at the beginning. Candice, tell us how you got into the finance industry. [00:01:17][7.4]

Candice: [00:01:18] So my background is that I studied a Bachelor of Business and also a Bachelor of Arts. My major was international business and finance, and the other major was French. So my degree took four years and in my final year it led me to living in Paris. And if you've seen that Netflix show Emily and Paris... [00:01:37][18.7]

Felicity: [00:01:38] I actually have shamefully. Yes, I've seen it. Yeah, it's a great show. [00:01:41][2.8]

Candice: [00:01:42] So essentially, my life living in Paris was similar to Emily. But unlike Emily, I wasn't working at a really cool marketing firm. I was working in the Finance department of Dominos France. So in that role, it was my job to crunch all the poll numbers we get in all the sales expenses, revenue for the over 200 stores across Europe. And we'd have to forecast, you know, how the business is tracking. And it was in this role that I developed a forecasting tool. So, for example, if we knew that France was playing a football match against Germany that night, the forecasting tool could tell us that online sales would jump 35, 40 percent. So it was a really cool tool to help us predict what the business needed in the future. [00:02:26][43.9]

Felicity: [00:02:26] Wow, that is impressive. So that's where you essentially learnt that you love data, numbers and business. [00:02:32][5.6]

Candice: [00:02:33] Yeah. And also living in Paris, eating baguettes. I also learnt that I love that too. But yeah, you're right. I did this role really taught me that I do love business. So it led me moving back to Australia where I started my own small cafe still operational today. And after proving to myself that I can operate a small business, I thought, you know what, it's time to dip my toes back into the corporate world. And so I did exactly that. I moved to Sydney, applied for a couple of bank roles, actually applied for Westpac in the HQ of Sydney, but turned it down for another role. But can you imagine, if I did take that job, I would have actually met you a few years earlier. [00:03:09][35.9]

Felicity: [00:03:09] I mean, you might have, but Westpac is quite a big firm. [00:03:11][1.9]

Candice: [00:03:12] It is. So anyways, I became a licenced stockbroker and was providing investment advice for about two years, which was when I met you for the first time, Felicity. So that's me. What about you? How did you get started? [00:03:25][13.2]

Felicity: [00:03:26] So how I got into industry was a little bit different to yours. I actually studied a Bachelor of Property Economics, so initially I was going to follow my family's footsteps and get into property development. However, my favourite subjects in my degree were international investing, macro microeconomics, as well as subjects where I put together discounted cash flow analysis. I studied and worked full time. I didn't get to travel to France for my studies. I was actually a sales rep for Telstra, actually cold calling ex Telstra customers and trying to win them back. [00:03:56][30.1]

Candice: [00:03:56] Oh, no. You started off as one of those people, the cold callers. [00:03:59][3.2]

Felicity: [00:04:00] I was. And I was damn good at it. I, I think in this role I actually realised I like the hunt, right? And I like changing people's opinions. I mean, I would call people and they hated Telstra and by the end of the call, they loved Telstra. OK, yeah. I also like the fact that I had unlimited earning potential and it was such a great base to learn to talk to anyone. I think anyone that wants to get into any industry needs a sales background. Definitely. [00:04:25][25.2]

Candice: [00:04:26] So after Telstra, where did you go next? [00:04:27][1.9]

Felicity: [00:04:28] So once I finished my degree, I then moved to the bank, Westpac, which actually had its subsidiary, BT Financial Group. Now I work there in customer service, in the superannuation and investment department, helping customers with queries in regards to their super and investment. And I thought, you know what, I know all of this because I learnt a fair bit about it at uni and I also learnt about it with my family. But a lot of Australians don't actually know these basic principles because I'd never been taught them or exposed to them. Now, superannuation seemed like quite a foreign concept. That's when I thought. I want to be a financial adviser. I then completed my graduate certificate in Applied Finance Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning and Masters in Financial Planning. I honestly think I've been studying on and off for over 30 years. I've recently last year completed the final piece of the pie, the fussier accreditation, which I know you also just recently completed. [00:05:19][50.9]

Candice: [00:05:20] We did, yeah. Go team go. [00:05:21][1.5]

Felicity: [00:05:22] Enough about us. We want this podcast to be valuable to people at every stage of their journey. You might have a large share portfolio. You might be managing your own super and wealth, or you might be waiting to dip your toes in the water. As it's the first episode. We thought it'd be fun to start with the stories and lessons of our first investments in shares. So, Candice, what was your fair share purchase? [00:05:47][25.2]

Candice: [00:05:48] I remember buying my first parcel in the market on my sweet 16 birthday, which was Apple, purely based on the fact that I just bought myself the new cool iPhone. And I remember, you know, that feeling that I had to have the new iPhone. So did all my friends in high school. And I thought, you know what, surely if I'm caught up in this new product, this is a good company to buy, right. For my first share parcel. [00:06:10][22.5]

Felicity: [00:06:11] And I think it's quite funny. You actually still use that analogy in our meetings, right, to look at what your children are buying. And that's where you should be investing in a good disruptive company. I mean, you do use the Apple versus Telstra in our meetings. So what are your thoughts, Candice, on Apple now? [00:06:27][16.0]

Candice: [00:06:27] If you think about, you know, Telstra versus Apple, right. In that analogy, they're very different businesses. So Apple back then was groundbreaking. They just brought out a new product, which was the iPhone, and they were really known as a portable device business, really. They had the laptops and the phones at that stage, but now it's completely different. And if you compare the two companies, Apple is a growth business. At the end of the day, it reinvests all of its profits and earnings really into growing the business versus Telstra, which has really been on the same business path and model, you know, since since I've been a young woman. So that's more of a mature business. And the share prices of Apple versus Telstra really reflect that story. So Apple today is a lot different to when I was 16. Right now, it's a full ecosystem of different products. You've got the watches, the luxury items in our home, the phones, you know, iPods list goes on. It's complete ecosystem, 100 percent. [00:07:25][58.1]

Felicity: [00:07:26] And I'm guilty of that. I have the MacBook Pro, I've got the air pods and I also have the Apple Watch. And I actually can't exercise without my Apple Watch. That's how much it's ingrained into my life. [00:07:38][12.0]

Candice: [00:07:38] Exactly. So it's a technology business at the end of the day, but it's also a major part of our daily lives. Right. So just like you said, it didn't really capture your calories unless you wear your apple watch. [00:07:49][11.2]

Felicity: [00:07:50] So have you been buying more shares of Apple over the years or have you just held onto them or have you sold any? [00:07:55][5.3]

Candice: [00:07:56] No, I have been buying them over the years. So for me, once I started to get more educated in the markets, what I really started to discover was that Apple has really reinvested and reinvented itself over the years. So cast our memories back to August twenty eighteen. It made history in becoming the first listed capital market company to reach one trillion dollars market cap so that first, you know, decade to reach one trillion took a while. And then you can see today, right, Apple's worth two and a half trillion. It's really accelerated its growth in the last only three years. So once you're inside that ecosystem, it's really hard for other competitors to join. And what we typically say in the industry is Apple has a really wide moat, so they own the rails. Right. If you are a really cool new business, they've just launched a new product which has an app. You have to ask Apple permission to join on the Apple store, which they could turn around and say, no, we don't want you. So for me, I have been reinvesting and keep continuing to top up my Apple shares over the years. [00:08:59][62.9]

Felicity: [00:08:59] So moral of your story is hold on to your investment and don't sell. [00:09:03][3.8]

Candice: [00:09:04] Correct. I hope I never sell. I mean, as we speak, the last time I checked, it's now a five bagger for me. So I'm super happy with Apple. But yeah, it was funny when I think about it now, it was a bit of a blind decision at the time, but I'm thankful for my young self for picking such a cool company to own. [00:09:21][16.9]

Felicity: [00:09:21] But it wasn't exactly like a Forrest Gump moment. [00:09:23][1.9]

Candice: [00:09:27] No, not at all. It wasn't like that. So what about you, Felicity? Do you remember your first parcel? [00:09:31][4.4]

Felicity: [00:09:32] I do. Now, my first share purchase stories are actually quite funny. My first investments were in a company called Galaxy Resources. The code is GXY and it's still traded on the ASX. And the other one is Newcrest Mining, which the code is NCM. [00:09:46][14.4]

Candice: [00:09:48] OK, so tell us more about these companies and what parts of the market they fall into. [00:09:52][3.8]

Felicity: [00:09:52] Both are mining stocks. One was a very speculative mining stock when I first purchased it in 2012 and one was more of a household name. I'm sure you can actually guess what is what now. My plan was to invest a thousand dollars into each company and then forget about it. Look at the portfolio in over seven years. I mean, for me, this was a really long term investment. Electric vehicles were not as hot as they are now, but I'd done a bit of my research and I thought lithium is where I want it to be investing over the long term, because, as you know, I really like thematic investing and I thought a mine in Western Australia was a good way to gain that exposure. The issue here is I bought the shares in 2012. The mine then went into maintenance for a few years and then we had trouble in the resource sector and my 1000 dollars in Galaxy dwindled down to thirty five point and forty six cents, which is considered an unmarketable parcel. [00:10:46][53.6]

Candice: [00:10:47] Oh, no. And, you know, as we often see right in times of uncertainty, go can do the opposite. So what about Newcrest? How did that go? [00:10:55][8.7]

Felicity: [00:10:56] Well, funny you actually say that right? Newcrest was also sold off, which was quite strange because we did see a recent example in the Covid 2020 crash where gold peaked at over 2000 dollars because people did flock to gold in uncertainty. So, you know, that was an interesting time, I think, in the market for all of us. [00:11:16][20.6]

Candice: [00:11:17] So, OK, now you're 1000 of galaxies gone down to 35 Dollars. Oh, my God. What happened next? [00:11:23][5.6]

Felicity: [00:11:23] OK, so the share register must have sent me a letter advising me that if they don't hear from me, they're going to send me a check. [00:11:32][8.3]

Candice: [00:11:32] Did you ever get that check? [00:11:33][0.7]

Felicity: [00:11:33] No, I never received that cheque because, of course, I had not updated my address from my family home to my new place. [00:11:41][7.4]

Candice: [00:11:41] Well, you'd already moved to Mars because you're so futuristically. You're a long lithium before it was a thing. [00:11:47][5.2]

Felicity: [00:11:48] That's it. So last year, you know, lithium was booming. So I thought I'd check on my position and galaxy. I should be up heaps over 400 per cent and then I would consolidate it with my adult portfolio by some more. I contacted the registry and they advised me that I no longer have Galaxy shares and that a check was sent back in 2016 for thirty five point and 46 cents. Now, I was absolutely devastated not for losing the 1000 dollars, but for not checking on my investment. [00:12:18][30.5]

Candice: [00:12:19] So imagine if the person that moved into your old place got your check invested that 36 bucks. [00:12:25][5.7]

Felicity: [00:12:25] My parents. [00:12:25][0.2]

Candice: [00:12:26] Oh, yeah, right. Yeah. Your dad, right. Oh, free money. Let's invest. [00:12:30][3.2]

Felicity: [00:12:30] I did actually contact them, like, did you receive this mail? But of course they're not going to remember. Long story short, I didn't get my shares. I didn't get my checks. We actually lost the four thousand dollars. But I had the right idea as to why I chose to invest in a company. Moral of my story is check your mail, make sure your holdings are on a hinh and check your holdings at least once a year. But don't check them too much because unless you've got nerves of steel, you might panic and sell. [00:12:57][26.9]

Candice: [00:12:58] Definitely. I mean, who even knows what to do with the cheque? I don't know what to do with the cheque... [00:13:01][3.8]

Felicity: [00:13:03] That's because you're too young. [00:13:03][0.3]

Candice: [00:13:04] Yeah, exactly. [00:13:04][0.3]

Felicity: [00:13:06] All right. Well, that's a wrap of our first episode, and we're really excited to share our investment ideas, financial strategies, deep, dive into business and invest in conversations with our network of leading experts with special guest appearances. Stay tuned. Stay safe if you're currently in lockdown and we'll see you next time. [00:13:06][0.0]

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