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If you’re wanting to invest in the small side of the Australian share market, then the two small caps listed below could be worth a closer look.

Here’s why these small caps are rated highly by analysts:

Infomedia Limited (ASX: IFM)

The first small cap share to look at is Infomedia. It is a leading global provider of software as a service solutions to the parts and service sector of the automotive industry.

In FY 2021, the company overcame tough trading conditions to deliver a solid full year result. It reported a 3% increase in revenue to $97.4 million and an 8% lift in net profit after tax to $20 million.

Looking ahead, management is expecting a much stronger performance in FY 2022. It has given revenue guidance of $117 million to $123 million for the year. The mid-point of this guidance range implies revenue growth of 23% year on year.

One broker that is very positive on Infomedia is Bell Potter. It currently has the company as its second favourite pick in the tech sector. The broker has a buy rating and $2.00 price target on its shares.

Over The Wire Holdings Ltd (ASX: OTW)

Over The Wire is a telecommunications, cloud, and IT solutions provider. It offers an integrated suite of products and services to business customers including data networks and internet, voice, data centre co-location, cloud and managed services.

The company has been growing strongly in recent years and this continued in FY 2021. For the 12 months ended 30 June, Over The Wire reported a 29% lift in revenue to $112.7 million and a 36% jump in EBITDA to $23.5 million. Pleasingly, its revenue is now almost entirely recurring in nature. In FY 2021, the company’s recurring revenue grew 38% to $103.2 million.

Looking ahead, management is confident that it will deliver organic recurring revenue growth of at least 15% in FY 2022.

The team at Ord Minnett are positive on the company. The broker currently has a buy rating and $5.06 price target on its shares.

The post 2 top small cap ASX shares analysts rate as buys appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

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• 2 small-cap ASX shares showing excellent growth

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Infomedia and Over The Wire Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has recommended Infomedia and Over The Wire Holdings Ltd. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Are you looking for some dividend options for your portfolio in September? if you are, check out the two ASX shares listed below.

Here’s why these ASX dividend shares have been tipped to as buys this month:

Scentre Group (ASX: SCG)

The first ASX dividend share to look at is Scentre. It owns and operates the pre-eminent shopping centre portfolio in Australia and New Zealand with retail real estate assets under management valued at $50.1 billion and shopping centre ownership interests valued at $34.3 billion.

This comprises 42 Westfield shopping centres, which management notes have strong franchise value and the ability to attract the world’s leading retail brands.

While lockdowns are weighing on its near term performance, the company’s medium term outlook looks positive. Especially given its leverage to inflation and the very favourable inflation expectations in Australia. This should be a boost to its rental income in the coming years.

It is largely for this reason that Goldman Sachs has a buy rating and $3.32 price target on the company’s shares.

In addition, Goldman is forecasting a 14 cents per share dividend in FY 2021 and a 16 cents per share dividend in FY 2022. Based on the latest Scentre share price of $2.99, this equates to 4.7% and 5.4% yields, respectively.

Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN)

Another dividend share to look at is Suncorp. It offers insurance, banking, and wealth products and services through some of Australia and New Zealand’s most recognised financial brands. These include AAMI, Apia, Bingle, GIO, Shannons, Vero, and the eponymous Suncorp brand.

It was on form in FY 2021, reporting a 42.1% increase in cash earnings to $1,064 million. This was ahead of the market’s expectations. In addition, the company announced a final dividend of 40 cents per share, a special dividend of 8 cents per share, and a $250 million on-market share buyback.

One broker that was very pleased with the result was Goldman Sachs. In response, the broker has put a buy rating and $13.74 price target on Suncorp’s shares.

Goldman is also forecasting a 61 cents per share fully franked dividend in FY 2022. Based on the current Suncorp share price of $12.60, this will mean a 4.8% dividend yield.

The post 2 buy-rated ASX dividend shares for income investors appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) share price has been one of the best performers on the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) in 2021.

Since the start of the year, the logistics solutions company’s shares have risen an incredible 66%.

Why is the WiseTech Global share price rocketing higher?

Investors have been bidding the WiseTech Global share price higher this year following a very impressive performance in FY 2021.

For the 12 months ended 30 June, the company reported an 18% increase in revenue to $507.5 million and a 63% jump in EBITDA to $206.7 million. The latter was well ahead of its EBITDA guidance of $165 million to $190 million.

Also giving the company’s shares a lift was its guidance for the year ahead. Management advised that it is expecting further strong growth in FY 2022 and has provided guidance for EBITDA growth of 26% to 38%.

Is too late to invest?

Unfortunately, one leading broker doesn’t see enough value in the WiseTech Global share price at present to recommend it as a buy.

According to a recent note out of Bell Potter, its analysts have put a hold rating and $47.50 price target on the company’s shares.

Based on the current WiseTech Global share price of $50.58, this implies potential downside of 6% over the next 12 months.

Bell Potter commented: “We have upgraded our FY22 and FY23 EBITDA forecasts by 23% and 26%. We now forecast FY22 EBITDA of $294.3m which is above the top end of the $260-285m guidance range while our FY22 revenue forecast of $622.8m is within the $600-635m guidance range. Note we forecast the EBITDA margin to increase from 40.7% in FY21 to 47.3% in FY22.”

“The net result is a 51% increase in our PT to $47.50 which is a modest premium to the share price [at the time] so we maintain our HOLD recommendation,” it added.

In light of this, investors may want to hold out for a better entry point before considering an investment.

The post Broker gives its verdict on the WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) share price appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Why the WiseTech (ASX:WTC) share price is on watch today
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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended WiseTech Global. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) share price increased yesterday after the business made a larger bid for Australian Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (ASX: API).

How big was the Wesfarmers bid for API?

The new offer was a cash bid of $1.55 per share. This revised bid represents a 37% premium to API’s one-month volume weighted average price of $1.133 per share to 9 July 2021, which was before the initial offer by Wesfarmers.

This bid allows for the payment of fully franked dividends up to a maximum of 5 cents per API share, including any final dividend declared for FY21. The cash consideration of $1.55 will be reduced by the cash component of any dividends.

What is API going to do?

The API board has stated it intends to unanimously recommend the revised proposal assuming the agreement proceeds, Wesfarmers completes confirmatory due diligence, no better proposals are received and an independent expert concludes this higher offer is in the best interests of API shareholders.

API’s major shareholder Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) has agreed to vote its 19.3% shareholding in API in favour of Wesfarmers’ revised proposal. Soul Patts has also granted a call option about its API shares in favour of Wesfarmers.

Management commentary

The Wesfarmers managing director Rob Scott explained the thought process behind the offer and why this was part of its strategy of investing capital in areas where it can leverage its capabilities to create long-term value:

Wesfarmers supports the community pharmacy model, including the pharmacy ownership and location rules. If the proposal is successful, we see opportunities to invest to strengthen the competitive position of API and its community pharmacy partners by expanding ranges, improving supply chain capabilities and enhancing the online experience for customers. API would also provide the basis of a new healthcare division of Wesfarmers and a platform from which to invest and develop capabilities in the growth health, wellbeing and beauty sector.

The size of the bid included the earnings impacts from the extension of COVID-19 related restrictions beyond the end of July 2021.

Continued diversification plays by Wesfarmers

The Wesfarmers share price and profit may currently be predominately influenced by businesses like Bunnings, Kmart Group and Officeworks, but it is continuing to make diversification moves which open up new earnings avenues for the company.

Wesfarmers says that API will be a founding part of a healthcare division, which may suggest that more moves are being considered.

Another non-retail play that Wesfarmers is doing is lithium. It has a stake in the lithium project called Mt Holland, together with Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile.

Earlier this year, Wesfarmers said that the concentrator and refinery production capacity would be approximately 50,000 tonnes per annum of battery grade lithium hydroxide. There is also the potential for a second phase of the project to expand production capacity at Mt Holland and the Kwinana refinery.

The first production of lithium is expected in the second half of 2024. The capital cost for the development of the project is estimated at approximately $950 million.

Wesfarmers share price valuation

Using the earnings estimate on Commsec, the Wesfarmers share price is valued at 27x FY23’s estimated earnings.

The post The Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) share price rose after the API (ASX:API) bid appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison owns shares of Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Company Limited and Wesfarmers Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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On Thursday the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) was back on form and charged higher. The benchmark index rose 0.6% to 7,460.2 points.

Will the market be able to build on this on Friday? Here are five things to watch:

ASX 200 expected to fall

The Australian share market looks set to end the week on a disappointing note. According to the latest SPI futures, the ASX 200 is expected to open the day 14 points or 0.2% lower this morning. This follows a mixed night on Wall Street, which saw the Dow Jones fall 0.2%, the S&P 500 drop 0.15%, and the Nasdaq rise 0.1%.

Telstra shares rated as a buy

The Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS) share price could be good value according to analysts at Goldman Sachs. In response to its T25 update, the broker retained its buy rating and $4.40 price target on the telco giant’s shares. It commented: “Telstra held its T25 Investor Day, with the key strategic/financial updates consistent with our prior expectations. FY25 targets for strong earnings growth were provided, implying a high degree of confidence in the outlook, given expectations for mid-single digit EBITDA growth p.a. and a similar quantum of mobile service revenue growth.”

Oil prices mixed

Energy producers such as Santos Ltd (ASX: STO) and Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL) will be on watch after a mixed night for oil prices. According to Bloomberg, the WTI crude oil price is flat at US$72.60 a barrel and the Brent crude oil price is up 0.25% to US$75.65 a barrel. An easing storm threat in the US weighed on oil prices.

Carsales goes ex-div, dividends being paid

The Carsales.Com Ltd (ASX: CAR) share price could trade lower today after going ex-dividend for its 22.5 cents per share fully franked final dividend. Elsewhere, Fletcher Building Limited (ASX: FBU), Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd (ASX: PNI), and Tabcorp Holdings Limited (ASX: TAH) shareholders can look forward to being paid their dividend this morning.

Gold price sinks

Gold miners Newcrest Mining Ltd (ASX: NCM) and St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) could come under pressure today after the gold price dropped. According to CNBC, the spot gold price is down 2.3% to US$1,754.10 an ounce. This was driven by a rise in the US dollar thanks to strong US economic data.

The post 5 things to watch on the ASX 200 on Friday appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended PINNACLE FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended PINNACLE FPO and Telstra Corporation Limited. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The South32 Ltd (ASX: S32) share price went up by 4% today, helping it reach a multi-year high.

Shareholders of South32 hasn’t seen the shares this high since the middle of 2019.

What has been helping the South32 share price?

It has been a buoyant time for investors in the ASX 200 resource share. The last month has seen it rise by 20.2%, it has risen by almost 30% over the last six months and it has gone up 62.50% over the past 12 months.

Growth in revenue or profit are often what investors look at when deciding what to value a business at.

Just under a month ago, South32 reported a “strong” operating result with record production at Worsley Alumina, Brazil Alumina and Australia Manganese. It also beat its production guidance that it initially gave for South Africa Manganese, Cerro Matoso and Cannington.

FY21 numbers

South32 saw a slight 4% increase of revenue to US$6.34 billion. Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 32% to US$1.56 billion, underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) grew 89% to US$844 million and underlying ‘earnings’ increased 153% to US$489 million.

However, various items unrelated to the underlying performance of the business, such as impairment charges totalling US$764 million (primarily relating to coal), resulted in a loss after tax of US$195 million.

Another element of the result was that the board decided to pay a full year ordinary dividend of US 4.9 cents per share, an increase of 133%, as well as a special dividend of 2 cents per share. Cash dividend payouts may also assist investor thoughts about the South32 share price.

During the year, South32 also worked on reshaping its portfolio. It completed the divestment of its South Africa Energy Coal business, the TEMCO manganese alloy smelter and a portfolio of non-core precious metal royalties.

In terms of its production guidance for FY22, the guidance was largely unchanged. Worsley Alumina guidance was for production of 3,965kt in FY22, with an estimated increase to 4,000kt in FY23. However, FY22 guidance for Brazil Alumina was reduced by 6% to 1,300kt due to repair work. Cannington guidance was increased by 10% thanks to the planned transition to 100% truck haulage in the fourth quarter of FY22 as well as the continuation of underground mine efficiencies that supported production growth in FY21.

Investor thoughts on the miner

The commodity prices may also be impacting investor thoughts on the South32 share price. One of the investment funds that recently commented on the miner and owns (or owned) shares was WAM Leaders Ltd (ASX: WLE). 

The fund manager of WAM Leaders noted that:

South32 derives almost half of its cash earnings from aluminium and alumina output. In August, aluminium prices surged to 10-year highs, as smelters in China face tighter controls on energy consumption to meet green targets. Driven by strong demand and news flow on supply disruptions, aluminium prices have almost doubled in the last year and contributed to South32 announcing a strong result in August. Through both dividends and an ongoing share buy-back, South32 will have returned to shareholders approximately $800 million, or 8% of its market capitalisation, in the 2021 calendar year.

At the end of August 2021, South32 was one of WAM Leaders’ largest 20 holdings.

The post The South32 (ASX:S32) share price just hit a multi-year high appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Tristan Harrison has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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Are you looking for some dividend shares to boost your income portfolio? If you are, then you might want to look at the ones listed below.

Here’s why these high yield ASX dividend shares could be in the buy zone:

Adairs Ltd (ASX: ADH)

The first dividend share to look at is Adairs. It is a leading retailer of homewares and home furnishings in Australia and New Zealand through both retail stores and online channels.

It has been in fine form over the last 12 months thanks to a redirection in consumer spending and the housing market boom. This led to Adairs reporting a 28.5% increase in sales to $499.8 million and the almost doubling of its earnings before interest and tax to $109.1 million.

While it will be hard to top this in FY 2022, the team at UBS are still expecting a generous dividend. Its analysts are forecasting fully franked dividends of 19.6 cents per share in FY 2022 and then 29.9 cents per share in FY 2023.

Based on the current Adairs share price of $3.91, this will mean yields of 5% and 7.6%, respectively. UBS has a buy rating and $5.40 price target on its shares.

South32 Ltd (ASX: S32)

Another ASX dividend share to look at is mining giant. South32 has exposure to a range of commodities such as alumina, aluminium, energy coal, metallurgical coal, manganese ore, nickel, silver, lead, and zinc. The key commodity right now is arguably aluminium.

This is because analysts at Goldman Sachs believe aluminium is in the early stages of a multi-year bull market. This bodes well for South32 and could underpin strong earnings and free cash flows in the coming years.

As a result, the broker has put South32’s shares on its conviction buy rating with a $3.80 price target.

In addition to this, the broker is forecasting some very generous dividends in the coming years. Goldman has pencilled in dividends per share of 29 US cents in FY 2022 and 31.9 US cents in FY 2023. Based on current exchange rates and the latest South32 share price of $3.51, this will mean fully franked yields of approximately 11% and 12%, respectively.

The post 2 ASX dividend shares with big yields appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• There are the 3 most traded ASX 200 shares so far today
• 3 reasons this broker says the South32 (ASX:S32) share price is a buy
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• Why Adairs, Beach, Catapult, & Myer shares are charging higher
• The latest ASX 200 mining shares to get hit by broker downgrade

Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended ADAIRS FPO. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The Worley Ltd (ASX: WOR) share price continued its negative run today, falling lower throughout the day.

At the end of Thursday’s market session, Worley shares finished down 2.3% to a year-to-date low of $9.79.

It was also the most heavily traded stock on the ASX 200 today, with more than 59 million Worley shares swapping hands.

What did Worley announce today?

Investors offloaded their holdings in Worley shares after the company provided the ASX with a disappointing update.

According to the release, Worley advised it received a note from Jacobs Engineering Group Inc last night after market close.

Jacobs notified Worley that it had entered into a block trade agreement with Citigroup Global Markets Australia to sell all of its shares in Worley. This translates to roughly a 9.85% stake in the company.

Jacobs became a Worley shareholder following Worley’s acquisition of the Jacobs Energy, Chemicals and Resources division in October 2018. However, Jacobs was released from the lock-up of Worley shares in late December 2019, removing any share-trading restrictions.

Worley’s CEO Chris Ashton aimed at appeasing existing investors, saying: “We welcome the shareholders who will join our register.”

Are Worley shares a buy?

A number of brokers weighed in on the Worley share price following the release of its full-year results last month.

Morgan Stanley cut its rating on Worley shares by 2.7% to $11.00 per share. Citi also followed suit, reducing its price target by 4% to $12.28.

The last broker note came from Credit Suisse, which raised its outlook by 4% to $10.40.

About the Worley share price

A leading global engineering company, Worley provides design and project delivery services, including maintenance, reliability support services, and advisory services. The business operates in the energy, chemical, and resources sectors.

Over the past 12 months, Worley shares have been on a rollercoaster ride, recording gains of just 3%. In 2021, the Worley share price has fallen almost 15%, brought on by uncertainty in the economy due to COVID-19.

Based on today’s price, Worley commands a market capitalisation of roughly $5.1 billion, with approximately 522 million shares on issue.

It’s worth noting the company’s shares can be considered expensive, with a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 59.33.

The post Why the Worley (ASX:WOR) share price finished the day lower today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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The CSL Ltd (ASX: CSL) share price edged higher today despite no news having been released by the global biotech.

However, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has had its best day over the past 2 months, buoyed by positive investor sentiment.

At the closing bell, the CSL share price finished up 1.13% to $308.32. In comparison, the ASX 200 Index ended the day 0.58% higher at 7,460 points.

A recap on CSL’s performance

Last month, CSL provided investors with its full-year scorecard for the 2021 financial period.

The group delivered a strong result against a backdrop of very challenging conditions brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Regardless of the uncertainty and complexities faced, CSL’s Behring and Seqirus businesses recorded robust growth. However, the CSL share price fell on the result.

CSL Behring revenue rose by 6% thanks to strong demand for its immunoglobulin portfolio. This was led by its market-leading subcutaneous product, Hizentra. Sales rose 15%, driven by a preference for home administration and uptake for the treatment of Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP).

On the other hand, its influenza vaccines business, Seqirus, recorded an exceptionally strong performance with revenue up by 30% (constant currency). This was driven by record demand for seasonal influenza vaccines.

CSL noted that COVID-19 presented challenges for the collection of plasma, an essential raw material used in the production of its therapies.

Current plasma numbers are said to be around 20% below the levels recorded in FY20.

While plasma collections across the industry were adversely impacted, the company implemented multiple initiatives to mitigate this. As such, 25 new facilities were opened to attract lapsed and new donors through its doors.

Furthermore, marketing initiatives were also implemented to draw back its existing customer base.

In FY22, the company plans to open another 40 centres, expanding its presence mostly across the United States.

More on the CSL share price

Uncharacteristically, it has been a turbulent year for CSL shareholders. The CSL share price has recorded a modest gain of around 6% over the past 12 months. Year-to-date, the company’s shares are up by around 8%.

CSL has a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 38.55 and commands a market capitalisation of roughly $140.4 billion.

The post CSL (ASX:CSL) share price lifts amid ASX 200’s best day in 8 weeks appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Is the CSL (ASX:CSL) share price too expensive right now?
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• How is the CSL (ASX:CSL) share price performing against its sector in 2021?
• How have ASX healthcare shares performed during the August 2021 earnings season?

Motley Fool contributor Aaron Teboneras owns shares of CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended CSL Ltd. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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There has long lingered the notion that those investing in cryptocurrencies are nearly all men. Some reports go as far as branding it a “boys club”.

While the male demographic makes up the majority of people dabbling in cryptocurrencies, recent data shows there is an increasing trend towards more involvement from females. This is based on the findings from BTC Markets’ inaugural annual investor report.

Breaking stereotypes

Although it might have been true of the past, the cryptocurrency community is fast outgrowing a concentrated demographic. Yesterday, we covered how more people of retirement age are entering the market. At the same time, the balance between genders participating is also equalising.

According to data from BTC Markets, females now make up 23% of all users on its cryptocurrency exchange. During the last financial year, the exchange witnessed a significant uptick in female investors signing up to the platform. In numerical terms, new female investors increased at a rate of 172%. This compared to a 79% increase in new male investors.

Not only that, females tended to initially deposit larger amounts than males — potentially demonstrating a higher degree of confidence and conviction in their investment behaviour.

On closer inspection, BTC Markets is not the only one citing this trend. A study conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago, published in July 2021, found that 41% of crypto ‘traders’ were women. Interestingly, the study found this to be higher than the number of women invested in stocks, at 38%.

Cryptocurrencies are opening up investing opportunities for more diverse investors, which is a very good thing.

Angela Fontes, Vice president in the economics, justice, and society department at NORC

Australia isn’t the only geography seeing more females investing in cryptocurrency. According to the Economic Times, Indian crypto exchanges are witnessing at least half of all new signups being women in the last 3 to 4 months.

Not only investing in cryptocurrency

The cryptocurrency space has not only been ripe for investing, but it is also teeming with talented developers and entrepreneurs.

Many females are playing important roles in building the new digital finance world. For those interested, CryptoWeekly has a full list of the top 50 most influential females in crypto for 2021.

Examples of females making valuable contributions include:

• Elizabeth Stark: cofounder and CEO of Lightning Labs – a network client that scales and speeds up the Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) network.
• Cathie Wood: CEO and chief investment officer of ARK Invest – an advocate of Bitcoin and blockchain innovation
• Galia Benartzi: cofounder of the Bancor Protocol and CEO and founder of Particle Code
• Vansa Chatikavanij: CEO and founder of OmiseGo, a second layer scaling solution for Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH)

Finally, the company, whose data kicked this whole article off, BTC Markets’ CEO Caroline Bowler leads Australia’s largest digital asset exchange.

Bowler commented on the increase in females investing/trading in cryptocurrency, stating:

More women trading cryptocurrency dispels misconceptions around cryptocurrency investors being risk lovers. This is because behavioral finance studies have found women to be more risk-averse in their investment decisions than men. It also shows a calculated appetite for the volatility that is still a feature of this asset class.

The post Cryptocurrency stereotypes are challenged as more female investors join appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

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• Downer (ASX:DOW) share price hits 52-week high, up 16% since reporting
• Broker tips Suncorp (ASX:SUN) share price to shoot higher
• Here are the top 10 ASX shares today

Motley Fool contributor Mitchell Lawler owns shares of Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. owns shares of and has recommended Bitcoin and Ethereum. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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