The Vegvisir

  Hi all, Been a minute and thought I would take the blog in a different direction and focus more on some travelling aspects. Like most I enjoy travelling.  I came across this hidden gem of  Portugal purely by chance but it was like stepping back in time. I put up a video about the Schist village on my Youtube Channel - check it out!

  Hi guys, So as I have aforementioned, I have been spending some free time to look at different side hustles in an attempt to generate a supplement to my main income.  It has now been a  month since I had started this quest and I can share I have made a total of £564 ($635) this month. It has been extremely lightweight work and I do not feel burnt out or fatigued in the slightest. This is something I will continue to be doing this month and aim to release two more videos; how you can set yourself up in the mentoring space (which has generated 400 this month!) and another on how to write a personal statement which is mostly the area I have been targeting.  if you want to see the full breakdown and my commentary on this do check out my Youtube video below! Cheers, Demitrius

  How to Write a Personal Statement Hi guys,  To contextualize this page, I have been mentoring and reviewing applications to both Russel Group and Ivy League universities for quite some time now. Consequently, I want to share with you how to make your University applications stand out, given that it is the application season.  The Three Golden Rules for the Ideal Application:  1) Strike a balance between the application being a story and a professional document I have read a range of different applications and it seems that some individuals struggle to maintain a balance. A personal application should read as a story BUT should not be too emotive or sensational. The best applications will contain a professional tone and therefore avoid adjectives such as "Tremendous", "Superior" or "Undying" or anything else that is a more sensational adjective.  Think of the Personal Statement being a report which will detail your story in a professional manner whilst st...

Hi guys, So recently I decided to start a pursuit of a side hustle. I want to generate some additional spending money alongside my main wage so I will be sharing my learnings and journey to find the ideal side hustle for myself. I would love for you guys to join me on my quest and, who knows, maybe you will find something right for you too. Please see the video below for insights into my first experience; online surveys.  My first experience was through online surveys. I had tried out four different providers over the course of 2 and a half hours and converted my experience into a hourly rate. The best one averaged out to £30 a hour!  Please note however that the per hour earnings relates to the time in which I actually did any work. Surveys can be infrequent and you may only get one a day. In short, it will not make you rich or be a substitute for a full time job. What it will do is generate some additional spending money in your free time. So instead of mindlessly scrawling...

  How to make your CV stand out? Hi guys,  Thought I would share one of my tricks to make a CV stand out; it is extremely useful for a job search, especially as a graduate, and it can quickly make you look tech-savvy and innovative. Of course, these are two crucial skills in today's labour market.  They always get an eyebrow raised when I am talking to a recruiter and it definitely makes your CV stand out. And the best part?  It takes less than two minutes to add to your own CV.  If you want to find out how simply watch the video below or click on this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz2nxRns_4w Hope it helps! Demitrius 

  How to get an excellent grade on your PowerPoint Presentation.  The storyboarding of an academic presentation is what seperates a good PowerPoint from an excellent PowerPoint. A crucial part of this storyboarding is a clear one pager on the key definitions used within the Presentation.  In this quick video I take you through how to create an aesthetic PowerPoint slide for those crucial definitions that will, hopefully, help you achieve that excellent grade you deserve. This video assumes you will have three definitions but this can easily be edited to fit more or less.  Please click on this link or simply click on the video below: As always, thanks for watching.  Demitrius 

Hi all,  As I start my Microsoft Office Tutorial Project, I will begin by sharing some PowerPoint skills I have been developing.  I have also set up a Facebook group to establish a key knowledge sharing point for all things powerpoint as well, please join via  this link . This video focuses on how to make or create a Key Points PowerPoint Slide but this can also be used as a List Presentation PowerPoint Slide. Please do take a look and share some feedback. I will also use the tutorials to demonstrate some Slide ideas. Once a few different videos have been uploaded I will then move onto Excel Tutorials.  But please do take a look at this video via the link:  Key Points Slide  and any feedback will always be well received.  Or just watch below! Cheers,  Demitrius

  Hi all,  As I start my Microsoft Office Tutorial Project, I will begin by sharing some PowerPoint skills I have been developing.  The first video focuses on how to make or create a Introduction PowerPoint Slide but this can also be used as a Three Step Presentation PowerPoint Slide. Please do take a look and share some feedback. I will also use the tutorials to demonstrate some Slide ideas. Once a few different videos have been uploaded I will then move onto Excel Tutorials.  But please do take a look at this video via the link:  Introduction Slide Or just watch below! Cheers all - much  love, Demitrius

 Hi all, Been a while since i posted here. Just to provide a quick update my most recent project is focusing on building up an array of PowerPoint slides that look both professional and attractive. An example below: If you think this would interest you please make sure to visit my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDZdVhdUUHKsyptC3O43ZXFQ4Hmis80_B Cheers, Demitrius

  The Tale of Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci and his Introduction of Roman Numerals Did you know that it was through the works of Leonardo Pisano Fibonacci that the Roman Numeral System replaced the then commonly used Roman Numeral System? He was responsible for the square root notation and the bar that is used by fractions today. But who was Fibonacci? Fibonacci was an Italian mathematician, number theorist and author. In fact he was arguably ‘the most talented Western mathematician of the middle ages’. Born in Pisa, educated in North Africa and having studied mathematics in Bugia (Algeria) Fibonacci travelled around the Mediterranean coast, meeting with many merchants and learning about their systems of doing arithmetic. Through his education and conversation, he realised the superiority of the Hindu-Arabic system which included the utilisation of zeros and a place-value system (decimals) which the Roman numerals lacked. In fact, doing arithmetic through Roman numerals typicall...

The purpose of this post is to briefly surmise LIBOR and its history, explain why a transition to SONIA is taking place and briefly introduce SONIA.  What is LIBOR? The London Interbank Offered Rate is a benchmark interest rate at which major global banks lend to each other in the international inter-bank market for short-term loans. It indicates the borrowing costs between banks and is calculated and published by the Intercontinental Exchange (AKA ICE)  It is based on the following currencies: USD, GBP, EUR, JPY and CHf It is available on different maturities: overnight / spot / next / one week / one month / two months / three months / six months / twelve months The combination of those five currencies and seven different maturities leads to a product of 35 different LIBOR rates being calculated and reported each business day. The typical quoted rate is the 3m U.S. dollar rate - commonly known as the current LIBOR rate How is LIBOR calculated?  LIBOR is calculated by the...

A summary of negative interest rates Typically employed as a last resort when faced with deflationary pressure or a very weak growth of the economy A monetary policy tool designed to penalize savings and holding of cash and incentive banks to loan out cash  Commercial or retail banks would be charged for holding their cash with the central bank  Some economists argue that negative interest rates are a unsustainable tool and can cause detriment to the economy if used over the long term Can sometimes be effective in preventing deflation within an economy and get back to more healthy economic environment such as the case with Sweden  Introducing negative interest rates With interest rates at an all time low this places a lot of pressure on retail and commercial banks to make money through the net interest margin - but with the global economy as it is with many economies reporting significant contractions in GDP terms could economies go further down the line to utilization of...

Hedging is a means of mitigating risk that arises out of potential losses in investments by taking an opposite position in a related asset. This does not come without a come and can reduce potential profits. Hedging strategies typically employ the use of derivatives which can include options and futures contracts. The easiest way to understand hedging is by taking into example a personal asset that has high value, such as a house. To 'hedge' the risk of an unforeseen event incurring a high cost on this asset you may take out insurance; a position in a related asset. By investing in insurance you protect your own personal investment. In financial terms this is more complex and can involve the use of put options, call options and futures contracts. We will consider each of these in turn. Put options A put option is a derivative that enables its owners the right (but crucially not the obligation) to sell a specified amount of an underlying security at a specified pri...

Foreign exchange risk is the risk of losses emerging in international financial transactions due to the fluctuation of currencies. It describes the possibility that an investment's value may decrease due to changes in foreign currencies. There are three types of foreign exchange risk; let us consider each in turn: 1.) Translation risk: This is the risk when foreign operations / investments need to be translated back the base currency. this can be considered through MNCP's who have foreign operations must have their revenues translated back to the parent company's base currency. This can also effected investors; let us consider an example. For example, if an investor in the UK has a lot of cash invested in different US equities and the dividends are returned in USD. It was assumed that the difference between the USD and GBP was 1:1. If the dollar appreciates against the pound that so that it is 0.9:1 the investor will experience a 10% lower return on investment d...

Repurchase agreement (AKA Repo) A repo is the equivalent of a short term collateralized loan. The owner of a marketable security would sell these securities for cash - and then agree to purchase back the security at a later date, usually at a higher price than he/she sold it for. The spread between the two prices is equivalent to interest. These are used by institutions who look for quick easy ways to make additional cash  with their current cash at little to no risk. So if  a bank had a surplus cash of £1 million, it would buy a repo, put in x buyback date and pay y for this lending as it is the buyer. The owner of the securitised assets would be selling or borrowing the cash in exchange. y is considered the equivalent of interest. To avoid the risk of the seller being unable to buy back those assets repo agreements are usually collateralised with securities with a market value in excess of the amount paid for them. As a consequence of this agreement the goals of bo...

What is fixed income?   Fixed income is an umbrella term that refers to financial instruments that pay investors fixed interest or dividend payments until its maturity date - these rates are known in advance. These securities are typically of low risk which in turn pays back low reward. When the maturity date is reached investors are paid back the principal amount they had invested. This is in contrast to equities that may pay no return to investors, or variable-income securities, where payments can change based on some underlying measure like interest rates.  Government and corporate bonds - typically seen as much safer investments - are common examples of fixed income products. Were a company to become bankrupt, fixed income investors are often paid before common stockholders.  Fixed income instruments are typically recommended to those who are more conservative and tend to be more risk averse.  What are the types of fixed income products? ...

Bank capital Bank capital is the difference between a banks assets and its liabilities. It represents the new worth of the bank or its equity values to investors. The asset portion of a banks capital includes its cash, government securities, and interest earning loans (mortgages, letters of credit and inter-bank loans). The liabilities section of a bank's capital includes loan-loss reserves and any debt it owes. A bank's capital can be thought of as the margin to which creditors are covered if the bank would liquidate its assets. Basel I, Basel II and Basel III standards provides a definition of the regulatory bank capital that market and banking regulators closely monitor. A banks capital can be divided or structured into different tiers - with Tier 1 capital the primary indicator of the banks financial health. How does it work?  Bank capital indicates the financial health of the bank. If an external force was take a hit on the bank (such as coronavirus of the f...

What is Forex?  Forex refers to the foreign exchange market - the trading of one currency to another. These trades take place on the foreign exchange market AKA the Forex market for short. This market is the most liquid market in the world with trillions changing hands each day. There is no physical centralized location but instead is a electronic network of banks, brokers, institutions and individual traders (mostly trading through brokers or banks).  Trades on the Forex markets take place for a multitude of reasons. It can be done for profit by financial traders who may bet on a currency appreciating or depreciating in value, it can be done by a treasury to ensure its business has the right amount of a currency for the right duration of time to ensure its financial health or it could be as simple as a tourist changing currencies at an airport.  What drives decisions behind Forex?  Interest rate decisions made by central banks  Th...

What is maturity?  Maturity refers to the date in which the financial instrument (be it a deposit, foreign exchange spot, forward transaction, interest rate and commodity swap, options, loans and fixed income instruments such as bonds) ends. At this point it must either be renewed or it will cease to exist. The end date will typically trigger the repayment of the financial instrument.  Some financial instruments, deposits and loans for example, require repayment of principal and interest at maturity; other, such as foreign exchange transactions provide for the delivery of a commodity. Interest rate swaps consist of a series of cash flows with the final one occurring at maturity.  What is a maturity date?  The maturity date refers to the moment within a period in which the principal of a fixed income instrument must be repaid to an investor. The maturity date is used to classify bonds into three main categories: short-term (one to three years), ...

“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”  – Socrates This post aims to give you the fundamental toolkit to understand nutrition and its application to bodybuilding. You might have the best workout in the world but if you do not have the correct application of nutrition this would be a waste as nutrition is 70% of weight loss/gain and exercise is only 30%. This post is aimed at: Understanding what body type you are Understanding the fundamentals of nutrition Understanding why timing is essential for nutrition Understanding when and why to bulk or cut What body type am I?  The first step is to understand what body type you are. This is imperative as it will allow you to not only tailor your workout but, more importantly, the nutritional intake you should be aiming at. Good indicators of your body type inclu...