Partner FundsCashmere FundInsights
Happy February! We have a great edition of The Spool in store for you today - it's a 4-minute read.
In February's edition:
So let's dive in!
One notable shift is becoming increasingly apparent in the financial world: the growing influence retail investors have in alternative investments like Sweater’s Cashmere Fund.
You and your fellow retail investors have a collective impact on both the public and private markets.
During Covid, approximately 30 million brokerage accounts were opened in the US between 2020 - 2022 due to advancements in new technologies. In 2021, retail investors comprised 25% of total equities trading volume according to Public’s The Retail Investors Report. And you’ve stuck around.
In February 2023, retail investors pushed an average of $1.51 billion every day into U.S. stocks, the highest amount ever recorded, according to data from VandaTrack.
Over the next decade, we anticipate a significant rise in the proportion of retail investors engaging with alternative assets that mirror the historical trends of ETFs, mutual funds, and stock trading.
The Federal Reserve's triennial Survey of Consumer Finances shows that in 2022, nearly 58% of American households owned stock, either directly or indirectly through mutual funds and other investment accounts. Direct ownership of stocks increased "markedly" between 2019 and 2022, increasing from 15% to 21% — making it the largest change on record, the Fed said in its report.
The success of this shift in making stock trading more accessible to you is a testament to the power of technology and visibility. Individual stock trading transformed with the advent of user-friendly platforms and real-time information.
Similar changes in technology and accessibility can pave the way for increased retail participation in alternative investments, like venture capital. Here at Sweater, we’ve designed a fund structure and technology stack to meet both the needs of fund managers and your investor demand.
The rise of retail investors in alternative investments is inevitable. In a recent iCapital survey, advisors reported allocating between 5 and 15% of their client's portfolios to alternatives, with 50% of advisors saying client interest in alternatives has increased in the past two years. The lessons learned from the evolution of ETFs, mutual funds, and individual stock trading emphasize the profound impact that increased accessibility and technology can have on market dynamics.
By embracing these changes and adapting to your evolving needs, the landscape of alternative investments like venture capital is headed for a decade-long transformation that will redefine the composition of market participants.We couldn't be prouder to bring you and all retail investors more alternative investment opportunities.
News 🗞️
Beem just announced their integration with Grow's award-winning platform, delivering seamless credit-building opportunities via subscriptions and cell phone payments to their more than two million users. This partnership ensures that Beem continues to lead the way in empowering users to take control of their finances.
Congratulations to the Frances Valentine team on their 9th brick and mortar opening in Naples, Fl at the Waterside Shop! To see where you can shop
Frances Valentine irl, click here. You can always shop their full collection online.
Hearth Display is saying goodbye to limited drops with waitlists and hello to rolling orders! To pre-order your Hearth Display, click here.
IQBAR’s IQMIX is now available in 40 individually packaged sticks. Get your sugar free, hydration sticks packed with magnesium and adaptogens here.
Jobs 🚀
Get your Sweater fix on-demand. To view our entire library of on-demand content, click here.
Salar Shahini, co-founder and CEO of Barnburner winner SweatPals, is revolutionizing what it means to create community. Along with his co-founder Mandi Zhou, Salar is on a mission to harness the power of fitness to bring people together and find a sense of belonging, transcending boundaries of origin, religion, or accent.
Salar has a knack for igniting passionate groups of people. His entrepreneurial spirit started at age 16 when he made pinback buttons with Persian cartoon characters and sold them to his classmates to save up to come to the United States from Tehran to earn his Master of Science in Engineering from Northeastern University. While attending, Salar created a deep tech application called Streetlogix to help cities manage their assets which is now used in over 250 cities across two countries.
The idea for SweatPals comes from the time Salar spent living in new cities. Meeting friends can be challenging, but he always was welcomed and found new friends in health and fitness communities. When he relocated to Austin though, he discovered that fitness communities often don’t have the tools to grow or be discovered. Salar decided to change that.
Since launching a year and a half ago, SweatPals has grown to a community of 40,000 members and hosted 8,000 events in 450 communities. With exciting expansion plans on the horizon and driven by a powerful mission, we can’t wait to see what the SweatPals Team accomplishes.
Want to invest in SweatPals and other innovative start ups? Click here to make your initial investment in the Cashmere Fund.
