Investor Profile: Chris Clarke is obsessed with Tesla and Tesla shares
Published on 21 August 2020
Chris has just turned 60 (“How did that happen?!”), and works in marketing and communications for the NZ Government. He uses Hatch to support the global movement towards sustainable energy (and to make some money while having some fun!).
A bit about Chris
Chris thinks it’d be great to win Lotto, but he also knows that the key to happiness is not getting what you want, but wanting what you have. Easy to say when you’ve got a Model 3 Tesla (TSLA) parked in your garage! He feels like he’s living his dream life already with his gorgeous wife, healthy child, home & rental home, and, did we mention the Tesla? Push him and he might admit to dreaming big: “I do want to spend a few days in space…”. Via his mate Elon Musk’s Space-X, no doubt!
What Chris knows about money
Chris has a lot of intuition when it comes to smart investments, but when he was in his 20s he didn't have the money needed to get into the game. “I called Waiheke a future paradise in 1977; told people to buy land in Wanaka in 1980; knew about Google when shares were $10 USD.” He’s picked a lot of winners, but only as a spectator. As a struggling DJ in his youth, Chris got paid little but had champagne tastes. “There was never enough to spare for investing. We had to borrow the deposit for our home from my wife's parents – $10k, in 1993. We’d probably still be renting if we hadn’t!” For Chris and so many others, the hardest part is just getting started. “The earlier you start, the better. Hatch, where were you in 1992 when I needed you?!”
What Chris knows about investing
Chris doesn’t think investing is all that complicated, but he’s fully aware of the risks involved. Being 60, he was around for the 80's share rally that followed the Labour government's wholesale changes to NZ’s capital markets. At the time, his wages were only $130 a week. “Sure, suddenly “anyone” could be an investor, but you still needed a bit to start – more than I was able to find.”
Fast-forward a few decades and Chris fell in love with Tesla. He’s a green, big picture kind of person who is more worried about the survival of the species, not when he can holiday in Bali again. Tesla was essentially made for him and this ethos. In 2013, after realising that using a traditional broker would cost 20% of his planned investment, he bought 5 Tesla shares (for USD $130 each) using an online trader called Halifax. Halifax eventually got caught playing with shareholder funds and went into liquidation. “It's still playing out today – they expect a resolution late next year so there might be a possibility I’ll see those shares again, but I'm not holding my breath. Chris had to learn the hard way that knowing your investment company is very important!
Despite this financial fiasco, he stands by his decision to invest in Tesla. “The potential of Tesla was there from the start, and the established auto-industry seemed slow to see the potential. The need for the change was very clear, and Elon Musk had made himself a lot of money already; the man is clearly not a fool. So, I invested in the idea, in my values, and in the man.”
Why Hatch?
After Chris’ Halifax experience, he was disappointed and a bit gun-shy. But, ever the Tesla fanatic, he still wanted to buy more Tesla stock. “Someone told me about Hatch about 2-3 months after you launched. My main disappointment was that I didn't find out about you sooner!” Chris loves the low fees, beautiful interface, responsive chat, and the fact that Hatch is backed by Kiwi Wealth. “It's freedom with security, and exactly what I needed.”
So, what’s in his portfolio? Um, Tesla (TSLA). Just Tesla. “I’m open to other things of course, but I have a strong emotional commitment to Elon Musk. I believe he’ll be remembered as our greatest ever engineer.” That said, he wants to buy shares in Starlink Space-X, when possible.
Be like Chris
“For me investing is a good way of learning more about yourself. You get interested in something, you learn more, then you decide to invest and see what happens next. Each of these stages has lessons, and the more you grow as a result of these lessons, the more likely you are to find investments that work for you.” Here are his top tips:
Choose a company doing something you understand and believe in.
It's not enough to think a company will make money. You have to understand how they will make money – where the growth will come from.
Don’t invest in anything you don't don’t understand.
The best advice is start.
How to talk to kids about money
Research shows that encouraging honest and positive conversations from an early age helps boost money smarts later in life. Check out what our Head of Experience, Natalie, has to say about talking to kids about money; you’ll create little financial whizzes in no time!
