Starting is the first step – with Thabiso Clarence Kwena

EasyVSTRs embark on their financial wellness journey for different reasons 😎. For Thabiso, it's an opportunity to spread his risk while investing for his retirement.📊

Thabiso Clarence Kwena is a 35-year-old EasyVSTR who works as a deputy director and civil engineer in a public office. Aside from his day job, Thabiso works at continuously building his portfolio using a high-risk, long-term strategy.

"I first learned about investing when I was doing my Masters in Business Administration (MBA)," he says, explaining how he got started. For him, the journey was beyond life-changing, adding that, "the ability to have your money work for you even when you cannot physically work is just mind-blowing for me."

Portfolio insights 🕵️‍♂️

By making sure his portfolio is well diversified, Thabiso is able to mitigate his overall risk. He does this by investing in small and large cap shares and ETFs, local and internationally. Some of these holdings include:

South African 

4Sight Holdings, African Rainbow Capital Investment Ltd, Aveng Group Limited, Purple Group,

Redefine Properties, RMH Property, Sibanye Stillwater

American

Apple Inc, ARK – Fintech, ARK – Innovation, Nio Inc,

Plug Power Inc, Tilray Inc

Thabiso said Sibanye Stillwater and African Rainbow Capital are among his favourite stocks.

Sibanye Stillwater Limited

"I chose Sibanye Stillwater because of the minerals portfolio that's diversified,” he says. “The group uses the latest technology to mine at a cheaper cost, which benefits the investors. I look forward to growing with this company and seeing it become the leading miner globally.”

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African Rainbow Capital Investments Limited

"Tymebank (a subsidiary of ARC fund) has the potential to become a leading bank in South Africa together with Rain, a network among the brands in the ARC portfolio.

“The portfolio of ARC reflects the ambitious future targets this company is likely to achieve going forward.”

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Purple Group Limited 

"Purple Group has broken all barriers of entry into investing. What the group has achieved in such a short space of time is just amazing. A large amount of investors who use EasyEquities are Purple Group shareholders."

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Thabiso looks at a few different factors when he is choosing investments. Some of the qualities he values in companies he buys shares in are: innovation, research, ethics, management style and balance sheet. He also looks for stocks that are trading at a low price which have the potential of becoming the next big thing. 🔥😎

Living and growing up in the rural areas made him see a lot of people work up until the age of 75 or older, while others had nothing when their sources of income were disrupted.

"I was motivated by these factors to start investing, along with the financial freedom that allows one to determine one's own destiny without being scared of what the future might hold."

As part of his retirement plan through his tax-free savings account (TFSA), Thabiso invested in exchange-traded funds. These ETFs include 1nvest SA Property ETF, Satrix SWIX Top 40 ETF, Satrix Divi Plus, and Sygnia S&P 500.

While the journey to get started may seem daunting, Thabiso says that starting early is one of the best decisions he's made in his financial wellness journey. This includes remaining consistent and disciplined. Notably, "let it be fundamentals that guide you,” he says, "surround yourself with like-minded people and always do your own research no matter how popular the stock is."

Learn more about starting to invest here or below