Talking Investment Management

Andrew J. Binetter certainly knows a thing or two about investment management. As a trailblazing entrepreneur and pioneering business executive, Andrew has seen numerous business trends come and go. Formerly the Director of the Australian Fruit Juice Association, Andrew was also the co-founder–and later CEO–of Nudie Foods Australia. These positions, as well as the many others he would take on throughout his illustrious career, presented ideal opportunities by which he could utilize his creativity and unconventional marketing approach.

Andrew was appointed CEO of Nudie in March of 2005. At that time, the company–which he himself co-founded–was pulling in a very respectable $15 million in annual revenues. This was a pretty impressive accomplishment by most measures, and was due in large part to Andrew’s entrepreneurial expertise.

Searching for a reliable beverage brand? Look no further than Nudie Juices #food #juicehttps://t.co/l3vTyTiPYa

— MOVER (@moveresilience) August 1, 2016

But Andrew was never one to rest on his laurels, and he continually worked to find ways by which an already up-and-coming brand could be made even better. With his pioneering marketing abilities and slightly off-kilter business sensibilities, Andrew helped make the then 2-year-old company one of the biggest brands in the Australian consumer market. With Andrew at the helm, Nudie Foods shot all the way to the top, eventually being awarded first prize at the Beverage Innovation Awards held in Moscow in 2008. When the company was sold in January 2015, it was pulling in an estimated $86 million a year in revenues.

Binetter’s business savvy and personal touch was apparent in many aspects of Nudie Foods’ operations. The company struggled for acceptance in the Australian beverages market in its early years, which was by then already crowded with numerous competing brands. Even before becoming the company’s CEO, Andrew played a crucial role in setting up offices and distribution centers in Perth, Melbourne and Brisbane.

• He also helped set up a factory in Sydney.
• Oversaw the operations of the company’s R&D/NPD teams.
• Managed its procurement, manufacturing, warehousing, and transport/logistics divisions.

Through it all, he constantly had a pulse on Nudie’s sales and brand/marketing management, and even found time to manage the accounts/finance department.

Andrew has an equally impressive resume as an investment manager. In June 2004, he played an instrumental role in securing an investment from Champ Private Ventures, which was then the largest private equity firm in Australia. With the contracts signed, Champ owned 25% of nudie shares to the tune of $20 million.

When pressed for the secret to his success in investment management, Andrew is quick to say that it isn’t due to any single factor. But one of the first things he would suggest is to diversify. Throughout much of his career, Andrew strove to build a well-balanced, low cost, and diverse portfolio, taking into consideration factors such as risk tolerance, time horizon and investment objectives.

He is also a big proponent of staying committed to business goals and investing for the long-term, as proven repeatedly throughout Nudie’s long and sometimes rocky history. For the tenacious and endlessly creative entrepreneur, these qualities are essential for helping investors weather the many challenges that lie ahead, with success being the inevitable result. To learn more about investment opportunities with Andrew, visit: https://www.crunchbase.com/person/andrew-binetter.

Stock Investing

There are many possible avenues for investors to set funds aside for future uses, such as in retirement or to achieve distinct financial goals. Stock investing is one of the most popular options for investors, and incredible gains can be had for those with the risk tolerance and understanding to leverage opportunities. Investing in stocks can be relatively straightforward, but savvy investors know that certain tips can help hedge one’s bets. Here is a look at five of the most critical stock investing tips:

1. Evaluate current financial situations – too often, potential investors forget to check whether they can free up enough funds to make a stock purchase. To succeed, investors should have little or no debt and about six months of emergency funding to cover living expenses for personal and family uses. If both of these criteria are met, investing in stocks should be comparatively painless.

2. Assess risk tolerance – not everyone can handle the high-stress environment of volatile stock investments. While high-risk investments have the potential to produce greater returns, most investors prefer to balance these options with lower-risk investments; returns are generally lower, but these lower-risk options tend to be more stable over the long term.

3. Diversification – financial experts agree that spreading investments over multiple accounts and types can help protect asset values over the long term. Stock investors should seek out multiple investment categories, including automotive, manufacturing, aviation, agriculture, computer technology, and pharmaceuticals, only to name a few of the many options. When one market experiences a downturn, others may be on the rise, helping to preserve value and to produce stable returns.

4. Invest in companies that are well-managed – larger corporations with solid business track records tend to make better investments than startups or other companies without a long history. While nothing is guaranteed in stock investing, leaning toward established companies can help preserve asset value, even if returns tend to be smaller than more volatile ventures.

5. Do your research – there is a wealth of information available for new stock investors, including guides that help one navigate the complex and confusing investment industry language. Many financial information resources can help investors understand what terms mean and how to best leverage information for smart, safe, and lucrative investing options.

Facebook’s Cryptocurrency Initiative in the Spotlight

Cryptocurrency has taken the financial world by storm in recent years. With the introduction of Bitcoin and the staggering gains and losses experienced by the virtual currency, numerous other players have entered the picture. Today, dozens of cryptocurrencies are available to investors, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. In June, 2019, social media giant Facebook announced that it was entering the cryptocurrency field, releasing plans for the company to launch a new currency called Libra. Immediately, financial experts and privacy advocates were skeptical of the plan.

Libra – A New Cryptocurrency Model?

In an effort to create a new global payment system for goods and services, Facebook announced ambitious plans centered on Libra, its new cryptocurrency model. Facebook will bring together 27 like-minded organizations, including tech companies, payment processing providers, and others, under a non-profit collaborative venture called the Libra Association, which will be based in Geneva, Switzerland. Libra, the organization’s cryptocurrency, is scheduled to be launched in the first half of 2020. 

Existing cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero, Ethereum, Zcash, and nearly 4000 others, face significant market swings that influence valuations. The typical model is decentralized, and most cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile. Facebook’s Libra, on the other hand, is designed to be tied to government-backed funds, which in theory will create a more stable environment for investors. Facebook has indicated that it won’t directly manage the currency itself, but rather will create a third-party digital wallet management division called Calibra. 

Financial and Privacy Concerns

Facebook has been plagued by numerous privacy breaches that have affected millions of the social media platform’s daily users. The company has been slow to respond to these breaches, and many industry analysts are therefore hesitant when it comes to the Libra cryptocurrency initiative. Financial transactions, especially those that occur in the digital environment, must be private and must employ end-to-end security encryption in order to succeed. It is unclear if Facebook is up to the task of providing a secure environment for these transactions; its track record of information security is spotty, at best. 

In Conclusion

Resolution of claims regarding processing or accounting errors is another area that has financial industry analysts holding their breath. There is a patchwork of regulatory provisions regarding cryptocurrency, and most users of these currency models do not enjoy the consumer protections available in more traditional financial payment/processing models. If something were to go wrong with Libra, consumers may not have adequate legal remedies. Investments in Libra are not protected by deposit insurance. This alone may make Libra and other cryptocurrency choices remain on the fringe of the financial world for years to come unless consumer rights reforms are passed. For now, Libra sounds good on paper, but the reality suggests that Facebook’s cryptocurrency will join thousands of others as having limited practical uses for the foreseeable future. 

Portfolio Management

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Andrew Binetter: Uncertainty in Today’s Investment Markets

Recent developments in world markets have been unprecedented. Some of the largest stock markets and indexes have seen record highs and corresponding lows as trade disputes and a strengthening U.S. economy have generated upheaval. This volatility in the markets have driven investors to seek new information and new guidance.

Some of the information investors sought have revealed insights into the prevailing atmosphere – one of uncertainty and of fear.

Investopedia, a leading online financial knowledge resource, has tracked many of the terms investors are searching for, and have noticed a strong uptick in interest of what the market is doing and where it is headed. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the terms that are driving investor search traffic.

Highest Spike: “Bear Market”

The term “bear market”, or a market in which share prices are plummeting, experienced the largest spike in search traffic by Investopedia, showing a nearly 6500% increase in interest in the final weeks of 2018. According to a survey conducted by the American Association of Individual Investors, 50.3% of investors were bearish on the market, while nearly 32% were bullish.

Capitulation

Showing an 869% spike in interest, the term “capitulation” is closely related to bear markets. In simple terms, the work means investors selling off holdings during declines in the stock market, erasing any gains they may have had previously. In December, 2018, just over $75 billion in assets were sold off from exchange-traded and stock mutual funds in the United States alone. This massive figure represents the largest amount of asset outflow ever recorded.

Market “Correction”: Generating Search Traffic

When stock markets see dramatic increases in investor activity and price, there are times when those markets undergo correction. Investopedia defines the term “correction” as a 10% or greater decline in the price of a given security from its most recent high or peak. Many investors wondered if a market correction was coming, and so increased search traffic on the Investopedia website to the tune of 655%. A similar review of Google search traffic indicated that many other people around the world were searching for information about corrections, with the highest interest in the term appearing toward the end of 2018.

Light at the End of the Tunnel: “Bubble”

All was not doom and gloom in investing information searches. While market volatility and an uncertain future have led many investors to brush up on some of the most fear-inducing investment terms, there was one term that actually experienced a drop in search traffic. That term was “bubble”, or the phenomenon of a given market or security experiencing a short or unusual spike in price before losing value rapidly. This term has been used to characterize several investment markets, such as in real estate or stock indexes. Bubble saw a 13% decline in search traffic volume in the later part of 2018.

Article brought to you by Andrew Binetter

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Diversification

If you hadn’t had the chance to read my latest blog post, check it out. You can read the full post here.

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Noteworthy Mention

Who is the Author?

He is the former CEO of nudie Juices. With an extensive collection of skills and knowledgeable experience, he became the ideal candidate for any consumer based corporation. His notable accomplishments have created a sense of widespread success in the business world.

What does his academic background consist of?

• In 1983, he advanced from the Sydney Grammar School.
• In 1986, Andrew earned a Bachelor of Commerce at the University of New South Wales.
• In 2002, Binetter graduated with a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of Sydney.

What are some of his noteworthy accomplishments?

In 2015, Binetter and his business partners sold the brand Nudie Juices after over 12 years of continuous input.

To learn more about him, visit here.

To view his complete resume, click here

Manufacturer Spotlight: nudie Juices

This image depicts the joy that juices bring to the world.

What is Nudie Juices?

Founded in January of 2003, nudie Juices was established as a typical juice company. Little did anyone know that it would eventually become a powerhouse seller within the international market. The brainchild of noted business leader and organic consumer products expert and a small team of like-minded entrepreneurs, nudie had humble beginnings. After making delicious fruit juices at home for friends and family, Andrew realized that there was nothing quite like homemade juices available on the commercial market. The idea for nudie was born. First, small batches of juices were blended, bottled, and labeled, then sold to local shops in Australia. In fact, in the first week of business, nudie sold 40 bottles of juice. Customer response was overwhelming, with demand far exceeding the company’s production capabilities. As the company grew through word of mouth, new processing facilities were secured. With a factory dedicated to making all-natural fruit juices and national distribution centers on board, the company grew by leaps and bounds. nudie also partnered with key retail operations, giving the company the chance to connect with consumers across the country. Today, nudie Juices can be found around the world.

The key components of the creation of the company were simple; a blender and a selection of natural fruits. The main objective of the company was to create a product for consumers that was 100% authentic without all the nasty preservatives, artificial flavorings, and additives typically found in commercial juice products. nudie has partnered with farmers throughout Australia to source the very highest-quality fruits available; these fruits are the foundation of the company’s products and its mission.

Each of our super nudie fibres contain more than 5,000 chia seeds! pic.twitter.com/ezS73p8wyA

— nudie juice (@nudiejuice) July 30, 2016

What makes the company special?

nudie’s motto is “Creators of Good”, and we live by our motto. Consumers across the globe are more aware than ever before — concerned with the additives in food and beverages and seeking natural solutions. nudie delivers time and again, producing pure, delicious products free of anything artificial.

nudie Juices is a unique company, faced with significant hurdles in its first years of production. Starting small, the company focused on delivering the highest quality of consumer products possible, then made strategic partnerships with retailers and distributors in and around the Sydney area. The company was able to create a blend of over 200 fruits within a short amount of time. Within the first 5 months of establishment, customer testimonials flooded in with overwhelming results. It was clear that people were thrilled with nudie products, and demand grew exponentially. nudie delivers a quality product that is enjoyed by many people around the world.

A devastating fire destroyed nudie’s first production facilities. Many companies would have given up at that point, but the nudie staff was dedicated to recovering quickly. Forming small teams, new production facilities and offices were located and production began anew. With new labeling and marketing efforts, nudie returned to retailers bigger than ever. Within one month of the fire, nudie was back up to speed. From there, the sky is the limit as we continue to grow each year.

Looking for more?

Today, nudie is known throughout the world for its all-natural juice products. That’s not all the company produces – in fact, a full range of delicious, healthful products can be found on retailer shelves the world over. From flavorful, nutrient-rich breakfast drinks to yoghurts, bottled fruit crushies, and pure, additive-free coconut water, nudie continues to expand its product family. To learn more about the wide range of natural products, visit nudie online or take a look at this comprehensive product sheet of all the products that they offer.