Why advisor remains bullish on travel stocks

One financial advisor has found more freedom in working for herself than being the executive at a top-tier banking institution. Now able to travel more than she could before, Tuula Jalasjaa, founder and advisor of The Women’s Collection, is enjoying a work-life balance she never had before.

Jalasjaa not only enjoys travel but sees tremendous growth in the sector from an investment perspective.

“I'm bullish on travel and specifically leisure cruise stocks, they will continue to do well. There's still a lot of pent-up demand from the pandemic. If you look at the stock performance on the cruise ships, you will see there's been a major increase. People may take fewer trips to save money, but they will still travel,” Jalasjaa said.

The market agrees with her. Presently it’s not just the usual suspects like technology and AI stocks that performed well in the S&P 500 this year, cruise stocks have hit the top. While big tech companies are certainly still well represented by Nvidia and Meta, Carnival Corp. shares rose 81 per cent this year, and Royal Caribbean Cruises surged 97 per cent. During the pandemic, these two stocks were among the hardest hit with operations suspended and cancelled bookings en masse. The release of pent-up demand has revitalized these companies’ revenues.

While making time to ensure a more balanced life, Jalasjaa stressed the importance of women taking the time to look at their financial plans. In recent years, while women have increased their investment activities, they are still underserved. In Canada, according to a Sun Life Global Investments report in 2022, only 15-20 per cent of financial advisors are women. The underrepresentation has a trickle-down effect where there are fewer resources and mentors available for women. It also creates a greater sense of apprehension to get started.

As the first female global platform in Canada, The Women’s Collection is tailored to women. Jalasjaa finds it important to just get started even with a small amount, “You have a lot and with the power of compounding, the earlier you start is very important. It shouldn't be a barrier, but I do think women worry about that. Do I have enough? However, vehicles like ETFs are very cost efficient.

“Women don't know where to get started, and I get asked this a lot, do I just walk into a Canadian bank branch, and say, ‘I have $50,000, I want to get started.’ But then women will question, how do I know if what they're investing putting my money in is good? When they don't know if something is a sound investment, it makes them just sit on the sideline, which is not good for women.

“More broadly as well, women tend to have a lot more on their plates. I'm not saying men don't play a role in the household, but between different groups to take care of with kids, the sandwich generation and elderly parents, women have greater responsibilities often.

“This leads to less time to focus on their financial health and planning. Women tend to move that to the bottom of the list. They'll say, ‘I'll get the groceries. I'll work on my financial plan later.’ For some reason, women just keep pushing it down the to-do list, and that should be a priority because that's really about your health,” Jalasjaa said.

Women are afraid to ask questions when it comes to investing as it can feel intimidating to address what you don’t know. However, there is a tsunami of wealth about to come into women’s hands and Jalasjaa feels the need for a monumental change in the way women’s financial health is treated.

“Over 60 per cent of women would rather talk about their own death than investing and finance. They feel that they should know these things and that they're stupid if they ask a question that they think is basic.

“Women must realize they don't need to be experts. They need to understand enough so they know what questions to ask and how to get started and to approach their financial health. Educate yourself some other stuff on the women's collection. We offer education around what is the standard fees for advisors and what you should be paying. So do the research.

“Read the fee structure and make sure you fully understand what you're paying at all costs. If you have a well-diversified portfolio that is aligned with your risk tolerance and your time horizon, then just hold on for the long term.

“For advisors it’s key to maintain strong communication to stand out. Especially in the current economic situation. Proactive communication is important, meeting with your clients on an ongoing basis, walking them through what's going on in the markets and their portfolios and again reassuring them that they're on track for their long-term goals,” Jalasjaa highlights.

While there are great benefits to being part of a large institution, such as an abundance of resources to lean on, of leaving her role at Scotiabank, Jalasjaa said,

“I miss having a lot of employees to lead. I love when you have a lot of people you're mentoring and coaching and seeing a large organization become successful.

“But what I don't miss is not having work-life balance. Life is too short and at the end of the day you can give 100 per cent of everything you have to your corporate job, but you're not significant there. You give up all those precious times when your kids are small and time that you could be traveling, and you can't get that back. I can now choose how many hours I want to work for the most part.”