Youtuber Caspar Lee shares his investing journey and tips for beginners
After 10 years on YouTube, travelling the world, interviewing musicians and actors and building his brand, Lee then co-founded a business called Influencer.com – a global influencer marketing company. Lee also co-founded MVE, a talent management company representing clients such as Olympic diver Tom Daley.
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'In terms of getting into investing, that happened as I was a creator who became an entrepreneur,' Lee says. 'Other entrepreneurs then became interested in how I could potentially support them when it came to the creative part of their business. They were interested in having me as an investor.'
Working with his cousin, Lee spotted an opportunity to help creators become investors and, after a major success, the pair launched
Creator Ventures
, which specialises in consumer internet companies.
When it comes to investing for beginners, the seasoned businessman says people should start early. 'Start as early as possible because compounding is very powerful,' Lee explains. 'The earlier you invest, the more time your money has to grow.
'At the same time, you need to understand what you're investing in. There's a lot of very complicated products out there, and my advice is always to try and stick to the more simple stuff because it's going to cause less headaches. Also invest in things you can trust and that is fully verified – you're not looking for a lottery-winning investment, but something that's structured and safe to a point.
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He explains that your approach to investing also can depend on your age. 'The younger you are and the more time you have, maybe the more risk you can take as it can be flattened out over time.
Caspar Lee (Connor McLaren)
'Thirdly, diversifying is also really important and something I have managed to do on a personal level with my businesses. When it comes to investing, you don't put all your chips into one thing, especially if it's higher risk. It needs to be diversified so you also have that low risk alongside it.'
For those starting with just £100, Lee suggests exploring beginner-friendly investing apps like Revolut, Freetrade, Trading 212 or Vanguard.
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If he could start over, Lee says he'd be more cautious about property investing. 'Growing up, my parents had a lot of success with property investing,' he explains. 'You hear about how they put in £50,000 into a property and 25 years later, it's worth £500,000. Whereas, now when I invested in London, it hasn't been very good and it could have been a lot simpler, less work and a better returns to just put that money into a global index fund. However it does depend on where you live, where you're doing it and the kind of property.'
Lee says that investing is essential for protection against inflation and building long-term wealth. 'If you've got your money sitting somewhere, and it's not gaining interest and if you're lucky enough to have access to money sitting somewhere, you want to beat inflation, otherwise you're going to be losing money every year.
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'The other thing is, it helps build wealth, which can help with financial freedom in the future. It stops you if you have that extra money, spending on things you don't necessarily actually need,' he adds.
Lee adds that 'investing is now more accessible than ever.' 'You don't need thousands to start,' he says. 'It's just such an interesting and good thing to be able to start now, and over time it compounds and you learn more. I also would like to say not investing is also a risk. Some people think so much about risks when it comes to investing. Of course there are loads of associated, but also not doing something is a risk too.'
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