Pictured above: Ms Christiana Teuma

In life, saving money is vital, but it is only one piece of the puzzle. Investing is a good way to put one’s money to work and potentially grow one’s wealth as it is never too late for one to start investing.

“The most valuable lessons in investing” is the theme of the next BNI Business Briefing (BBB) being held via Zoom on Wednesday 18th May 2022 at noon. This 30-minute session will be delivered by University of Malta Professor, Joseph Falzon, a Director at Medina Asset Management, Relationship Manager, Mrs Ann Marie Lia, and Client Relationship Associate, Ms Christiana Teuma, both working for Medina Asset Management.

Medina Asset Management is an investment company licensed by MFSA. Medina’s mission is to protect and grow the wealth of its clients. This is achieved by helping families and businesses to save and invest wisely, whilst always putting them and ethics first.

Ms Christiana Teuma will provide a thorough explanation of the fundamental financial concepts used in finance. The definitions of individual stocks and bonds will be followed by an explanation of a portfolio of funds. She will outline the current events in the financial market, such as high inflation, rising interest rates, and the effects of the ongoing war in Ukraine. She says: “Achieving long-term financial objectives entails embracing the risk-reward trade-off and comprehending the historical dynamics of various types of investments”.

The salient takeaways from this session will be covered by Mrs Ann Marie Lia, where she will go through the main principles for investment success. To have a better chance at investment success, one has to focus on what s/he can control. It is very easy, and very tempting, to just focus on the market, the performance of individual funds, or the economy, which can lead one to overlook the basic principles of investment success.

Lastly, Professor Falzon will provide a brief history of the stock market, covering market uptrends and declines while highlighting the critical lessons of investing which is the fundamental message of this BNI Business Briefing. One has to keep in mind that many of the market declines of the last decades are becoming faded memories and long-term investors know that the market and the economy generally recover over time. To give a real-life example, during the 2008 financial decline, the US market declined 48% and many investors sold off their holdings. However, after the market bottomed in March 2009, it eventually recovered to its former levels and well beyond. In fact, between the beginning of the bull market in March 2009 and the end of January 2022, the US stock market increased 6.4 times (15.4% increase per annum), which means that for every €100,000 invested in March 2009, this would have grown to €640,000 by the end of January 2022. Prof. Falzon says: “Investors should be positioned for such a rebound, as in the long term these short-term fluctuations do not affect one’s investments.”

The Malta BNI Business Briefings (BBB) is a series of free online short sessions organised by Malta BNI that are held remotely at lunchtime via Zoom. BNI is the largest and most successful business networking organisation with Members and Chapters in over 74 countries.

Visitors are welcome to join these three speakers from Medina Asset Management Ltd., a BNI La Valette Chapter member, to learn about investments and as to why the stock market should be viewed as a vehicle to compound one’s wealth and be better off financially.

Registration for the upcoming business briefing is free and may be done at https://bit.ly/3vtNUE8. Contact Carmel Bonello at carmelbonello2020@outlook.com, David Bullock at david.malta.bni@gmail.com, or Viviana Premazzi at viviana@gmdmalta.com for additional information about this free event.