Sebastian Rau co-founded the financial knowledge platform “Finanzwissen.de”. Getty Images / Westend61 / Collage Business Insider / Finanzwissen.de
Sebastian Rau is 31 years old and has built up a six-figure portfolio. In the interview, he reveals which stocks he is betting on and which ETF complements his strategy.
Sebastian Rau, co-founder of Finanzwissen.de, has a deposit worth around 150,000 euros in addition to four apartment buildings. The 31-year-old has around 42 stock positions and an ETF, and he reinvests his dividends. Rau prefers companies that pay dividends and have growth potential. Growth is more important to him than the amount of the dividend.
“I started investing in 2017,” remembers Sebastian Rau. At the beginning he simply bought a few books on the subject of stock valuation for beginners. “After that, I did a lot of research online and watched YouTube videos to find out how others invest. After my research, I decided on a dividend strategy.” Rau is clearly cash flow-oriented. “That’s why I later started investing in real estate to increase my monthly cash flow,” says Rau.
I wasted around 20,000 euros. That was almost 50 percent of my portfolio at the time – that hurt.
He then has 2021 Finanzwissen.de co-founded. The first stock he bought was the semiconductor company AMD. “I bought it for around two euros and then sold it for a 10 percent gain. I was happy back then – today I look back with tears in my eyes,” admits Rau. But his biggest investment mistake was Wirecard. “I wasted around 20,000 euros. That was almost 50 percent of my portfolio at the time – that hurt.”
In addition to four apartment buildings, Rau now has a deposit worth around 150,000 euros. The 31-year-old relies on individual stocks and an ETF. In the conversation, Business Insider got an insight into his portfolio and his strategy.
These eight stocks are the top positions in his portfolio
“I am currently investing in individual stocks and have an ETF.” 1,000 euros flow into his portfolio every month plus his dividend, i.e. 1,270 euros, as well as 100 euros, which he invests in an ETF. “The fact that I reinvest my dividends is fundamentally not rational. If I were to simply rely on accumulating products, then I would save myself the withholding tax and could expect higher price gains.” Nevertheless, he thinks it’s nice when companies pay out a profit share, even if the prices are in the basement. “In this way you separate more from the market value of the companies and are more likely to see the participation.”
Rau currently has around 42 stock positions in his 150,000 euro portfolio. His greatest titles are: