August 30, 2022

17:08

Ana Pastana – from Amazon Agency*

SÃO PAULO (SP) AND MANAUS (AM) – The focus on socioeconomic inclusion and the market integration of the Amazon with the rest of the country guided important debates, lectures and workshops of one of the largest investment festivals in the world, Expert 2022, promoted by the company XP, in São Paulo, where more than 30 thousand people passed by on August 3 and 4. 

More than 3.8 thousand kilometers away from the large commercial centers in the Southeast of the country, Manaus, in the state of Amazonas, is among the Brazilian capitals that make up XP’s network, with a 250-square-meter space located in the Center-South Zone of the capital, to strengthen market studies, financial education, and to be a reference in researches in the North of the country.   

Present at Expert 2022, the regional leader of XP in Amazonas, Djan Amorim, informed that the installation of a company office in Manaus – which occurred in April of this year – is part of the company’s regional integration policy and analysis of the region’s potential.

“Manaus has the sixth largest economy in Brazil and hosts an important Industrial Center for the North Region. It is not fair that its inhabitants do not have access to XP’s financial education projects and market studies because of their geographical condition”, pointed out the executive.

The capital city of Amazonas has a 20.18% participation in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the North Region, and 1.12% in the national GDP. Amazonas, where the Manaus Free Trade Zone (MFTZ) is located, was responsible for 48.71% of the federal tax collection in the 2nd Fiscal Region of the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service in 2021 – also formed by the states of Acre, Amapá, Pará, Roraima, and Rondônia. 

The percentage is equivalent to more than R$ 15 billion. Added to the economic value is the environmental contribution, since, according to information from the Superintendence of the Manaus Free Trade Zone (Suframa), the model is responsible for the preservation of 98% of the Amazon Forest in the State.

The sustainable development in the Amazon also entered the lineup of great Expert 2022 lectures, such as that of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, between 2016 and 2019, Theresa May. May held remote participation, with live streaming, in which she spoke about environmental issues and world leadership.

“I can say that I believe the world cares about the Amazon. It is an important part of the world’s environment and we want it to be able to be preserved. Whoever is in power has to honor that commitment and implement ways for that commitment to be fulfilled. The world is watching”, she observed.

Financial Education

The financial autonomy of the people who live in the Amazon was addressed by XP’s regional leader in Amazonas, Djan Amorim, in an interview at the Expert 2022 event, which had, among its objects of study, Financial Education guidelines.  

Despite being among the largest generators of wealth in the country, Amazonas leads the ranking in the list of the Federation Units with more adults in default. According to data from Serasa Experian, 51.8% of the Amazonas inhabitants have their names in bad debt, followed by the inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro and Amapá. 

“The high degree of indebtedness points to an urgent need to review financial management and this occurs all over Brazil, since there is no culture of Financial Education in schools, but XP has projects in this area and wants to contribute to Amazonas”, added Djan Amorim. 

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), financial education is “the process by which individuals and societies improve their understanding of financial concepts and products so that, with information, training, and guidance, they can develop the values and skills necessary to become more.

Investment Market

The lack of financial structure sometimes also leads to the postponement of dreams and plans that depend on financial resources. Transforming this reality is possible through an investment routine, but many believe that this universe is limited only to market experts and big investors, which is not true. The applications can help bring more financial health to those who are still organizing their savings.

For the regional leader of XP Inc. in Amazonas, Djan Amorim, investing safely is fundamental to bring profitability to investors, since just saving and keeping money “under the mattress” means losing opportunities to monetize it. 

But knowing the various opportunities to make your money grow faster and steadily does not eliminate the false thought that you need to have a large amount of money to invest.

“It is a myth that you need a lot of money to start investing. Currently, it is already possible to invest from R$1 to R$100, for example. It’s also not worth leaving the money in savings or in the bank’s current account, because the tendency is that the investor will take longer to achieve his goals”, explains Amorim.

The specialist says that, for example, in Tesouro Direto, which is the government’s public bond trading program, it’s possible to invest with a little more than R$30. However, he warns about the importance of periodicity, so that the investor gets results. 

“The idea of how to invest money is about having recurrence, not mattering much, in a first moment, how much you are applying. After all, recurrence goes against the logic of compound interest, which helps a lot to multiply money in the long term, but all of this goes through the search for knowledge”, Djan Amorim analyzes.

Entrepreneurship, a culture

Reaffirming the role of education for the country’s economic future, XP Investimentos founder Guilherme Benchimol spoke at the Expert 2022 event, in the panel “Transforming the Future of Brazil”, with generations of entrepreneurs and remembered the opportunities generated by Brazilian entrepreneurs.

“Who makes Brazil happen are the entrepreneurs”, said the founder of XP Investimentos. According to him, education, entrepreneurship, and a culture of excellence are the main factors in the development process.

In Benchimol’s view, there is a lot of information asymmetry in the market, in different themes. So, being close to people who have already made things happen makes all the difference. According to him, sometimes it is a detail that makes all the difference and changes your trajectory. “You can always get good things out of conversations.”

How to sustain a startup culture in companies that are already far from being startups? On this topic, Benchimol was pragmatic: the company that gets too big runs the risk of not having ownership: “Nobody knows who does what and, in the end, everything is lost”. 

For the founder of XP, it is necessary to have the right leaders, aligned with the mindset of the company, with the right values. Benchimol also highlighted the importance of having agility and that everyone feels they can make a difference. “It is a process that engages and connects, so the company always wins”, he concluded.

XP Manaus

The XP Space in Manaus gives access to experiences with interactive activities about financial education and stock market, among other forms of financial investments, besides economic scenarios analysis.

About XP

XP is the leading platform for financial services in Brazil. The company is part of XP Inc., whose purpose is to transform the financial market to improve people’s lives, promoting financial education and democratizing the access to quality investments. Founded in 2001, the company created an innovative investment advisory model.  For more information, access the XP website.

About XP Inc.

XP Inc. is one of the largest financial institutions in Brazil, owner of the brands XP Investimentos, Rico, Clear, Infomoney, XPeed, Spiti, among others. XP Inc. has more than 3.5 million clients and R$ 873 billion in assets under custody. Over the last 21 years, the company has been transforming the Brazilian financial market to improve people’s lives, ensuring more transparent relations between clients and financial institutions. For more information, access: https://www.xpinc.com/

(*) With support material from the Press Office

The subject was the cover story and special report in the new issue of CENARIUM MAGAZINE for the month of August 2022. Click here to read the complete content.