Hi! It’s money once again. 

I hope you had a great weekend. Because I definitely did not!  

The past week was filled with numerous updates that have spiraled me into a world of uncertainty and devaluation. I mean N1,500??? 😲 

But to be honest, my weekend was not all gloom, Nigeria made it to the Semi-finals of the Afcon and the way the team played got my friends at Zedcrest Wealth thinking about the similarities that exist between football and mutual funds. 

 

Before we delve into this, let’s define a mutual fund. A Mutual fund pools money from various investors with the same investment objectives to buy stocks, bonds, and other securities. Now how is this similar to football? A football team and mutual funds are similar because they pool together the efforts of the goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, and striker together to create a winning team. How a coach manages all the different players in various positions is how the collection of investments in a mutual fund will be managed by an asset manager. The Asset manager is Jose Peserio (Nigeria’s coach) in football terms. Before you come for Me, I am banking on a trend, seasoned winners like Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp are also great examples, because that is what asset managers do, make informed decisions. 

What makes Mutual funds and Football similar is Diversification in the positions. The different player profiles in various positions make it easy to find a good replacement in case one falters. In football we have attackers, midfielder defenders, and goalkeepers, in Mutual funds there are bonds, stocks, Treasury Bills, etc (depending on the fund type). 

The silky skillful attackers Nigeria has at the AFCON like Osimhen and Lookman are a stock of the best in the world. Likened to the short-term excitement you experience when Ademola Lookman dribbles past an opponent or the long-term joy you have of a last-minute winner. Stocks are securities that can provide short-term gains or life-changing value if you invest in the right company’s stock. 

Frank Onyeka; our defensive midfielder’s hard tackles and balancing act between the midfield and the defense earns him the title of our Bond. Bonds are low-risk investments that represent loans made by investors to borrowers (companies, governments, etc.). They have a fixed interest rate and a maturity date, with a considerably lower risk than equities (stocks). 

 

Our Captain Ekong is a solid block at the back that reduces our risk of conceding goals, a treasure in the heart of our defense, just like a T-Bill. A Treasury bill (T-Bill) is a short-term government debt obligation with a maturity of one year or less. Since the government backs T-bills, they’re considered the lowest-risk investments. 

 

Just like the portfolio managers at Zedcrest Wealth make informed decisions about what financial security to direct funds to, Jose Peserios unifies the pooled efforts of our Nigerian football team to win matches. The similarities in both are common because they both need the pooling efforts of different aspects to work and provide the best possible outcome.  

Regardless of what happens against our amapiano rivals in South Africa, I want you to know my friends at Zedcrest win all the time. 

That means there is sufficient growth potential and return on your investment whenever you invest in a mutual fund. 

Ready to take your finances to the next level? Invest in the Zedcrest Mutual Funds here.