Muhab Hasan (@muhab_hasan) is a Rising Star in eToro’s Popular Investor Program and at 19 years old, he is also one of our youngest PIs. A student of engineering at one of the UK’s top universities, Muhab considers himself a value and growth investor who focuses on undervalued stocks with strong fundamentals and high growth potential. We asked him to tell us more about his investment style and strategy.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I am originally from Jordan, and now a full-time mechanical engineering student in the United Kingdom, as well as a part-time Popular Investor with eToro. I’ve been investing with eToro since early 2019. However, I bought my first stock at the age of 12, as I’ve always been passionate about investing.
I’ve always been excited to learn and teach people about stocks and investing. My ambition is to simplify stock investment for people and to teach young adults, mainly university students, about the importance of investing at a young age and the power of compounding. I currently do that through my YouTube channel and on eToro’s social platform.
What drives your passion for investing?
I am very passionate about investing in businesses and seeing them grow. It is a great opportunity to put my money into ideas and companies in which I believe and to profit at the same time.
Why did you choose eToro?
eToro has perfected gamifying the investing experience. As a Popular Investor, the more you help and support people, the higher level you’ll reach and be rewarded for it by getting more services, features, helpful reports and tips. In addition to all of that, the customer support and account managers are extremely helpful and responsive.
How would you describe your investment style?
I invest long term (at least 3 to 5 years) in fundamentally strong stocks with great growth potential, while maintaining a medium risk score of 4 to 5. My aim is to beat the top three indices in the US: the S&P500, the Dow Jones, and the Nasdaq. I also only invest in ethical and socially responsible stocks with low debt (“Halal stocks”).
What do you think will happen to the markets in 2020? Will this affect how you invest?
I believe that the markets will keep on going up in 2020 as we approach the US election. Trump will push for growth, as it will help him get re-elected as president. The signing of a second US-China deal will boost the US market even higher. However, we might see slight drops in market growth due to the coronavirus.
On the other hand, if something major happens like a debt default (for example, student loans), a change in a major currency (from the US dollar to something else), a war, or the Feds not being involved in smoothing over the economy (which is very unlikely), then the market will be much more affected. This may cause a recession or even a depression. I believe that the large-scale economy (macroeconomy) is very weak in the US and the world. The level of US and global debt is insane. If you look at the large scale, we’re actually all extremely poor.
Despite all that, this won’t change my investing strategy much. I invest in stocks with low debt like Facebook & Intuitive Surgical and in companies that are dominant in their markets like Amazon & Alibaba. If something bad happens to the economy for some reason, I would see this as an opportunity to buy even more stocks. In the meantime, I might get stricter when it comes to the debt level in a company in which I am willing to invest.