In this series, we show investment portfolios of real self-guided investors and ask about their investment philosophies, wins, and mistakes. Our goal is to bring a holistic perspective to retail investing and normalize conversations about wealth building.
None of this information is financial advice or recommendation. Do your own research.
Investor profile
Name: Sonia (@sonia_nigam)
Age: 26
Family: Not married, no kids, no dog
Location: San Francisco, CA
Job: Co-founder/CEO of Change | Giving Experiences
Portfolio overview
What type of an investor are you? What are your goals, activity level, risk profile etc?
When I was in high school, “Santa Claus” gave my brother and I a small pool of Tesla and Palo Alto Networks stock for Christmas. At the time I was very confused (and honestly would have preferred a new sweater), but I’m now very grateful for my early and atypical introduction into the world of investing. This foray into the stock market quickly taught me the joy and excitement of betting on individual companies and team visions. To-date I reserve a small pool of funds for higher-risk investments, and tend to gravitate towards technology companies since that’s the industry I understand most. That being said, I invest a bulk of my funds into stable assets like ETFs and mutual funds.
Can you describe your current portfolio and how you got there?
A majority of my holdings are in ETFs and Mutual Funds, which I’ve set aside for long-term milestones like a house and a dog. As mentioned, I’ve always dedicated a small portion of my assets to higher-risk investments like individual stocks and crypto -- bets that really excite me. I also have a strong pool of individual PYPL stock, since I spent my last few years at Braintree, (a PayPal company) and continue to be bullish on digital payments.
I have more cash on hand than I would like, which is a consequence of time and my manual investment process -- I didn’t introduce Betterment-like tools into my routine due to their take model. I plan to reduce my cash on-hand to a conservative emergency fund, and distribute the difference across stable investments and a few higher risk plays.
Any investment wins or mistakes you can share?
My biggest mistake is my tendency to sit on too much cash, which has a high opportunity cost over time! I think introducing a routine of frequent, consistent investments is important to long-term portfolio health. My second biggest mistake is selling Santa’s Tesla stock back in 2017 💔🎅
What investment opportunities are you excited about in the future?
I’m really excited about the rise in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) investments, as sustainability becomes table stakes for businesses to succeed. I believe investment philosophies are going to dramatically shift over the next decade, as the rising generation continues to place value on non-financial practices.
I’m also really interested in the quickly evolving DeFi space, and emerging IPO access products. On both fronts, I think the rise in tooling, education, and general access will democratize two major investment opportunities.
Where do you get investing information, inspiration and validation?
I got up to speed on the basics by reading general “Investing 101” resources, but more than anything was lucky to have a dad that was excited to teach me the ropes!
I often validate high-risk investments with close family and friends that have a strong track record and expertise in the given segment. I also like to follow vocal thought leaders on Twitter to keep a pulse on interesting industries and high-profile investment opportunities, including Chamath Palihapitiya and Roham Gharegozlou. My co-founder, Amar, also loves talking shop during our daily commute to work 🥳
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