Talk – How do young people invest?

Note: Felix recorded this interview in early July 2025.

Felix: Mattia and Henry, welcome to today's Coffee Talk. Perhaps you could start by introducing yourselves. Who are you and what are you currently doing?

Mattia: I'm Mattia, I'm 18 years old and I'm currently training to be a computer scientist. I come from Bern and I'm here today because Felix invited me to take part in this exciting discussion.

Henry: I'm Henry, I'm also 18 years old. I attended business school in Hottingen and am currently doing an internship.

Felix: Do you remember when you first became aware of stocks or funds?

Mattia: You hear about them every now and then. But I only really became aware of them about two years ago when my father brought up the subject. I'm sure I had heard about them before, but it was only two years ago that I realized what stocks and funds actually are and that they are not just dangerous.

Felix: Did the term «investing» have a rather negative connotation before that?

Mattia: When I heard that word in the past, I couldn't really imagine what it meant. When you heard about stocks, it was usually associated with something negative, with losses.

Felix: Was it the same for you, Henry?

Henry: I can't say exactly when I first heard about it, but we covered the topic at some point in economics class at school. That was the first time we dealt with it in detail. We didn't just look at stocks, but also bonds and ETFs.

Felix: And at some point, your parents opened a children's portfolio for you at True Wealth.

Mattia: Exactly, my father opened one for me. I don't remember exactly when that was, but he said to me, «Hey, I've opened an account for you.»

Henry: Yes, it was the same for me. I don't think it was long ago that he opened it. A year or two later, shortly before I turned 18, he showed it to me and said that it would belong to me later.

Felix: Is investing important to you?

Mattia: Yes, I would say so, otherwise I wouldn't do it. I think it's important to save money and not just spend it. If it also grows, that's actually a positive thing. That's what I want to achieve with this portfolio.

Henry: Yes, that was my ulterior motive too. Since I started my internship, I've been receiving a salary for the first time. I saved money before and didn't spend everything. Now I invest about half of my salary with True Wealth. I don't want to keep the money in the bank because then I'm more tempted to spend it. After all, it's easier to withdraw it from the bank than to take it out of the portfolio. Besides, I think it's great when the money grows and doesn't just sit around.

Felix: Of course, the value sometimes falls, depending on how the markets are doing. But does the fact that your money tends to grow help you not to spend everything, but to put part of your salary aside?

Mattia: Yes, that's definitely part of the motivation. Because if you have the money in a savings account, it only grows in small increments at best. With True Wealth, it can sometimes decrease if the market isn't doing so well, but it tends to grow. Compared to a bank account, you can also see that the portfolio's growth tends to be higher.

Henry: Yes, I see it the same way. Basically, you already have the ulterior motive that it will increase. That makes it much easier for me to invest my savings instead of keeping them in a bank account.

Felix: Are you saving the money you invest for a specific goal?

Mattia: I just put money aside in case I need it at some point. I put some of my money aside so that I can pay an unexpected bill, for example. Otherwise, I save to have a certain reserve. So I can finance a further education in the future, for example. As long as I'm in training and earning money, I can regularly add to my portfolio. That way, I might be able to afford to go to school for a year and spend some of my savings within reason.

Henry: Basically, I just want to have a financial buffer. That way, I know that I won't run out of money if something unexpected happens. If I do need something important, I could use my savings for it. But I don't really have a specific goal that I'm saving for.

Felix: How do you stay informed about financial topics?

Mattia: It depends. I read about financial topics from time to time, but not specific stock market reports.

Henry: I've started listening to podcasts at work when I'm doing tasks that allow me to focus on something else at the same time. In fact, I also have ChatGPT generate summaries for me from time to time. For example, if I want to invest in an individual stock, I look at the basic information, i.e., what the company does and what its current economic situation is. Furthermore, my father is usually a good source of knowledge on economic topics because he has more time and is more involved with them. I often talk to him about it.

Mattia: Yes, I know what you mean. Financial talks in the evening or quickly discussing something with your father. We have that from time to time too.

Felix: Is investing a relevant topic among teenagers and young adults?

Mattia: It depends. I notice this now at vocational school: there are people who are incredibly interested in it and are experimenting with cryptocurrencies. Others say they put their money in a savings account and deposit something regularly. So it varies a lot.

Henry: Yes, I would also say it varies a lot. Since I went to business school, there were naturally a lot more people who were interested in the topic. My friends and colleagues are also interested in it, especially since we covered the topic at school. Everyone in my internship has a similar mindset. I don't know many colleagues who spend everything they earn. I discuss this with them from time to time. Not often, but we have phases where we talk about what we are currently investing in.

Felix: Of course, you both know our product now. I would be interested to know what you like about it and what you like less. What could be done better?

Mattia: I think it's great that it's so simple. You don't need a lot of prior knowledge to be able to invest. That's ideal for me because I'm not the type of person who spends three hours every day researching which products to invest in. That's why it's a good solution for me at the moment. I find it convenient that I can simply deposit my money and it is then automatically invested accordingly. And if I want to know more, I can log into the app and access the info icons. If I don't know exactly what a certain term means, I can tap on it and it explains what it means or what a certain number represents. I think that's great.

Felix: Henry, is there anything you think we could do better? Or is there anything you particularly like?

Henry: I definitely like the simplicity with which I can invest my money without having to deal with it too much. I also feel much more secure than when I invest in ETFs or other individual securities myself, because I simply feel that there is more behind it.

Mattia: For me, your fees are another important factor. On this point, I have to say that your product is very affordable considering the service it provides.

Felix: We have worked hard to develop a product that is simple to use and looks straightforward to the user. Of course, we have the advantage of having automated and digitized many processes. That gives us a cost advantage.

Mattia and Henry, with True Wealth, you can choose the suggested investment strategy, but you can also adjust it within certain limits. Did you adjust the suggested investment strategy?

Mattia: First, you carry out a risk assessment, answering a few questions. It then generates a recommended strategy. I used the recommended strategy and adjusted it slightly. I didn't take the maximum risk, but I did choose a relatively high risk and accordingly have a high proportion of equities in my portfolio.

Felix: Henry, do you remember how it was for you?

Henry: I think I adjusted it once before I turned 18. As an adult, I adjusted it again. I know that I focused on American stocks. I realize that I'm not investing an incredible amount of money, so there's no need to take on extra low risk. The goal is to make as much as possible out of it.

Felix: Yes, when you're young, it's usually even easier because it's often not a lot of money. If something went wrong, it wouldn't threaten your livelihood.

Henry: Yes, exactly. I would say we're not dependent on how our stock portfolio performs.

Mattia: Yes, and we still have time. We're 18 now and can leave it like this for a few years. During that time, the portfolio could recover from any lows.

Felix: That's very important. Part of investing is being able to deal with losses. You may be in the red for several years. However, as you rightly said, if you have a longer investment horizon, you can take that into account and take a little more risk.

Mattia: Yes, exactly. Over a longer investment horizon, this evens out, even if you lose 300 dollars in a month.

Felix: Has that ever happened?

Mattia: Yes, just recently, when tariffs were announced in the US and the stock market was generally fluctuating, I checked my portfolio. It was down about 300 or 400 francs. At first I thought, «What do I do now?», but then I said to myself, «Okay, just leave it alone, because what can you do?» I also left the standing order in place, because I don't need the money and have earmarked it for investment. That's why I can cope with it when the value fluctuates.

Henry: It went down quite a bit at the beginning of the year. I made an extremely high return in the first year. And then in the first two or three months of this year, all my profits melted away again. Since then, I've been waiting for it to recover. That's why I haven't invested much more so far. Now I'm back on an upward trend.

Mattia: For me, it recovered quite quickly. When the issue of tariffs was no longer so topical, things quickly started to look up again.

Of course, it was still a little bit in the red, but I was surprised at how quickly it recovered. It's a lesson learned, or rather a bit of learning by doing. Because you realize that it's not always going up, but sometimes down. But it recovers again.

Felix: Exactly, that was also a motivation for developing this product. We want to offer portfolios for children and young people too, so that they learn to deal with this risk at an early age.

Henry: I would say it's actually the ideal way to get started.

Felix: I'd be interested to know how often you check your portfolio.

Henry: Most days, to be honest. If not every day, then definitely on Fridays, at the end of the week.

Felix: Do you do a quick cash check?

Henry: Exactly, on Friday and then again on Tuesday, so very often at the moment.

Felix: You don't really have to do that. They say it's best to invest and then close your eyes and go for it.

Henry: But I don't look at it because I feel like I have to deposit or withdraw something, but simply because I'm interested in what's happened. I'm interested in how current events are affecting my portfolio and whether I can see the impact immediately or whether it makes no difference at all.

Felix: Do you think your portfolio reacts strongly to such geopolitical and economic events, or not so much?

Henry: I felt that the impact of the last two weeks wasn't as strong as I would have expected. But I did notice a little bit when it reacted and when it didn't.

Felix: Yes, it has to, otherwise something would be strange. Do you check your portfolio as often, Mattia?

Mattia: When the tariffs were introduced, I checked it almost every day, simply because I wanted to know what impact they would have. It was exciting to see how it went up one day and down the next. Now I don't check it as often because my portfolio has recovered. So I just leave it alone.

Henry: I find it interesting to watch the developments. I transferred my largest positions from my True Wealth portfolio to my stock app. Then I can see what's happening during the day. That way, I don't always have to check the True Wealth app. Even if I haven't invested, I check to see if it would have been worth it or if I was lucky not to have invested.

Felix: We have a feature that lets you see what's in your ETFs. This «look-through feature» shows the individual stocks or bonds. Have you ever used this feature?

Mattia: Yes, I look at it from time to time because I find it exciting to see which companies or real estate funds are behind the ETF.

Felix: The companies that are most represented sometimes change. Depending on the situation, Tesla, for example, may be at the top of the list one day and then no longer be the leader the next.

Mattia: I followed that when the whole tariff issue happened. I checked from time to time to see which companies were in my portfolio. I wondered whether I should switch to European companies or stick with American ones. I was interested in how politics and society influence the portfolio.

Felix: Henry and Mattia, thank you very much for the interview. It was very interesting.