Thomas Guenter on ETFs and personal finance

Introduction

Curvo: It's great to talk to you today. We've given you a brief introduction, but could you perhaps tell us a bit more about yourself and how you got into finance?

Thomas: Thanks for the invitation! I am following Curvo's story closely, so it is very nice to speak with you today. I am Thomas, 29 years old and live in Antwerp and Ghent. I ended up in the financial world by chance. Besides my job as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group, I was working a lot with finance: for myself, but also for my father and for friends and family. To help others with their finances, I set myself the goal of putting 100 videos with tips and tricks online. Those videos were viewed a lot, more anyway than I expected.

As my reach increased, I also got more and more requests from companies to come and give workshops or speak, families asked me to be their new adviser or family officer, followers asked if they could book a 1-on-1 meeting with me, etc. I left the consulting world behind to focus 100 per cent on my role as a financial trustee.

Financial education via social media

You successfully launched your educational content via Instagram and TikTok. Why did you set yourself the goal of making 100 videos at the time?

Today, I still try to regularly post a financial video on Instagram, TikTok or YouTube. I started with 100 videos last year because I found that there is little information online that is not only accurate, but also relevant. Many news articles, books and videos are long-winded, wrong and/or irrelevant. I wanted to contribute to financial education in Belgium by sharing practical insights. I always hope people get something out of my videos, which is why I started making videos and will continue to do so in the future.

You reach hundreds of thousands of Belgians every month with your content. How do you explain your success yourself?

I would look for the explanation not so much with me, but with the context. As I mentioned, there is a huge need for accurate and useful financial information. Inflation is high. Pensions are under pressure. Financial advisers do not always represent the client's interests; often they simply cannot do anything else but sell their own or their boss's products. People want to know what to really do with their savings. There is a huge need for independent advice. Those who do their best to contribute to financial education in Belgium will automatically reach many people. The book "De hangmatbelegger" by Curvo co-founder Yoran and Tim, for instance, was also a huge success, with now even a translation into French.

Writing your first book 'Personal finance'

You yourself have also written a book on personal finance. Would you like to tell us more about it?

Sure enough, in September my first book came out: "Personal finance met Thomas Guenter". In the book, I try to give readers a step-by-step plan to put their money to work. I cover - in chronological order - the basics of wealth accumulation in Belgium, building a savings buffer, buying real estate, investing on the stock market and alternative investments such as private equity, private credit, precious metals and crypto.

Why did you write it?‍

As my reach grew on social media, I was approached by some publishers. I didn't hesitate for long then and will probably write books in the future. It is nice to be able to inform and inspire people who are not active online as well. Compared to videos, a book is also a more convenient medium to go into depth. It also just feels logical for me to write because I love doing it and because the content is an extension of the content I bring in videos and the advice I give to clients. Quite honestly, I am by nature a writer rather than a video content creator, although by now I am completely comfortable in front of the camera. In the beginning, that was different!

The importance of ETFs for young Belgians

Why do you think it is important for young Belgians to invest?

To secure your own future. Life is one big balancing act. By not spending all your money today, but setting aside some for later and investing, you make your money work for you and you don't have to worry - or worry less - about your old age. Many Belgians are too dependent on their regular pension. What if that were to disappear? The affordability of pensions is under pressure. I see the stock market savings pot I build up as an extra pension. Every month my portfolio grows, and at some point I will stop making deposits, and I will take some off my portfolio every year. Those who only save through a savings account get poorer.

What role do you think ETFs should play in the portfolio of young Belgians?

Stock ETFs should play an important role in the asset mix of young Belgians. ETFs such as IWDA have historically delivered net returns of just over 12 per cent a year since their launch. There are products such as private equity and venture capital investments that historically yielded even more, but the big advantage of ETFs is that, on average, they not only yield nice returns, but they are also liquid and you can start with small amounts.

The moment you want to buy something from real estate or need money for some other reason, you can easily sell your ETF investments. So I see the role of ETFs as a good, diversified and especially liquid part of my portfolio. Just this week, I made an offer on a flat. If my offer were accepted, I could sell some of my ETFs to pay the required cash deposit and fees.

What should a young Belgian do to live a good financial life now and in the future?

Don't make it too difficult. Make sure you have a savings buffer in a savings account with a nice interest rate. Borrow to buy your first home and invest in stock ETFs every month. As your wealth continues to grow, diversify further through private equity and venture capital. Precious metals, private credit and crypto are asset classes you could also allocate some of your wealth to. So those who want to make it harder can certainly do so, but for most people, especially in the first few years, I would recommend keeping it simple: savings buffer, real estate and stock ETFs.

Future plans for Thomas Guenter

Your reach has grown very fast and your book is doing well. What does the future hold for you?

If you had asked me about my future last year, I probably would have answered that I could see myself working in consulting for a while. Making those 100 videos changed my life and made me realise once again that it is difficult to predict the future. I assume I will continue doing what I am doing now for a while: from Monday to Thursday I work for Finhouse clients, and on Fridays I have one-on-one conversations with my followers about their finances. I will also do my best to continue helping people through keynotes and follow-up books. It is not always easy to find time for it, but I will also do my best to keep sharing a financial tip or trick regularly on my social media channels.

My next step will probably be to set up my own fund that invests in other funds that invest in unlisted companies. As a multi-family officer or adviser to multiple families, I come across many interesting unlisted funds, but the minimum entry amounts are often several hundreds of thousands or even millions of euros. The best would be to be able to make these accessible to a wider audience.

Thank you very much for the interview. Where can our readers and listeners go to find out more about you and your work?

Thank you for the nice conversation! You can find out more about me on my website. On my Linktree page you will find an overview of my social media channels. For example, I am on Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube. Be sure to also take a look at my Spotify channel, as I plan to put more podcasts online there in the future - you are hereby invited to drop by as a guest!

Thomas' book is available in all bookstores. Order it from Standard Boekhandel.