SoFi Blog

Pacaso’s Spin on the Timeshare Model

Many people who are feeling cramped at home are searching for more space to work and practice social distancing. This, and other factors, have led to a spike in demand for suburban housing. Pacaso, a startup created by two former Zillow Group (ZG) employees, has come up with a creative way to fill that demand.

Pacaso is using the timeshare business model to sell partial ownership in homes. While traditional timeshares give buyers the opportunity to stay in homes by the beach or the mountains, Pacaso plans to offer stays in more ordinary suburban neighborhoods outside of cities such as Austin or Detroit.

Launching During a Pandemic

The idea for Pacaso was sparked before the pandemic. The company’s founders, though, made some adjustments to the business model in response to people’s unique needs at the moment and see now as an ideal time to launch.
Pacaso, named for the artist Pablo Picasso, will target people who want to keep their homes in urban centers and are not ready to buy second homes, but want the opportunity to escape somewhere with more space on a regular basis. Pacaso will aim to offer homes within a two-hour drive from customers’ main residences.

Looking Ahead

Pacaso has secured $17 million in venture funding from investors including Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks (SBUX) CEO, and Jeff Wilke, an Amazon (AMZN) executive. The timeshare model is a notoriously difficult way to turn a profit, both for operating companies and buyers. However, Pacaso’s unique take on the business model could change this.

Pacaso launched last week with four homes, and has plans to be operating in 25 US markets with hundreds of homes by next year.

Please understand that this information provided is general in nature and shouldn’t be construed as a recommendation or solicitation of any products offered by SoFi’s affiliates and subsidiaries. In addition, this information is by no means meant to provide investment or financial advice, nor is it intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision or recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Keep in mind that investing involves risk, and past performance of an asset never guarantees future results or returns. It’s important for investors to consider their specific financial needs, goals, and risk profile before making an investment decision.
The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. These links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement. No brands or products mentioned are affiliated with SoFi, nor do they endorse or sponsor this content.
Communication of SoFi Wealth LLC an SEC Registered Investment Advisor
SoFi isn’t recommending and is not affiliated with the brands or companies displayed. Brands displayed neither endorse or sponsor this article. Third party trademarks and service marks referenced are property of their respective owners.
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SAN FRANCISCO, CA – October 5, 2020 – SoFi announced today a strategic marketing alliance with T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services to offer a comprehensive suite of financial wellness resources, including educational tools and content, to T. Rowe Price plan participants. Plan Sponsors will have the option to include additional SoFi offerings like employer contribution services, student loan refinancing, and payroll deduction to 529 College Savings plans. These optional benefit offerings will be made available through the SoFi at Work financial wellness platform.

Employee access to the comprehensive suite of financial wellness tools and educational content will be integrated into T. Rowe Price’s participant website, giving participants the ability to manage and plan for their student loan needs, while also saving for retirement. The website will provide connectivity to SoFi offerings selected by plan sponsors. For plan sponsors, helping employees manage their education costs can result in greater participation in the retirement benefit, prevent productivity loss, and can also help attract and retain talent. With the new optional solutions from SoFi at Work, including a centralized Dashboard that houses the debt navigation tool, as well as benefits including student loan employer contribution services and student loan refinancing, employees now have multiple options to help them better manage their financial needs and better manage their debt.

“We are pleased to work with T. Rowe Price to offer valuable financial wellness benefits as well as education and tools to help their participants better manage their student debt and get on track for achieving financial independence in the future,” said Anthony Noto, SoFi CEO. “Given the current macroeconomic environment, employee circumstances are continually changing and more employees are seeking broad guidance on how to manage debt, build their savings, and ultimately improve their financial health. Together with T. Rowe Price, we are committed to providing the most meaningful ways to help employees address their toughest financial concerns head-on.”

“Our focus, as we continue to enhance our financial wellness offering, is to find solutions that help participants successfully manage all of their competing financial needs–like budgeting, paying down debt and loans, and saving for health care expenses,” said Kevin Collins, head of T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc. “Student loan debt can have a significant effect on an individual’s financial situation and we recognize that many individuals may need help finding the balance between managing or planning for education costs while also saving for retirement; our strategic alliance with SoFi will help individuals navigate this successfully.”

To learn more about SoFi at Work offerings, please visit sofi.com/sofi-at-work/.

About SoFi

SoFi helps people achieve financial independence to realize their ambitions. Our products for borrowing, saving, spending, investing, and protecting give our more than one million members fast access to tools to get their money right. SoFi membership comes with the key essentials for getting ahead, including career advisors and connection to a thriving community of like-minded, ambitious people. SoFi is also the naming rights partner of SoFi Stadium, home of the Los Angeles Chargers and the Los Angeles Rams. For more information, visit SoFi.com.

About T. Rowe Price

Founded in 1937, T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ-GS: TROW) is an independent global asset management company with $1.34 trillion in assets under management as of August 31, 2020. The firm is focused on delivering investment excellence and retirement services for institutional, intermediary, and individual investors. Our strategic investing approach, driven by independent thinking and guided by rigorous research, helps clients feel confident in pursuing financial goals. troweprice.com, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook.

CONTACT

SoFi
[email protected]

T. Rowe Price
Monique Bosco
410-345-5740
[email protected]

Laura Parsons
443-472-2281
[email protected]

DISCLOSURES

SoFi at Work is offered by SoFi Lending Corp. or an affiliate, licensed by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the California Financing Law, license #6054612; NMLS #1121636 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org). The Student Debt Navigator tool and 529 Savings and Selection tool are provided by SoFi Wealth, LLC, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. For additional product-specific legal and licensing information, see SoFi.com/legal

Economic Data

Today, look for the September ISM Services Index and September Markit services PMI. PMI stands for purchasing managers’ index. This metric is based on monthly surveys of US companies about the state of their businesses and the economy. Service reports generally track transport and communication firms, financial intermediaries, business and personal companies, information technology and computing, hotels and restaurants. Along with manufacturing data, these readings contextualize underlying trends in the economy.

Tomorrow, August job openings and August trade deficit data will be released. Trade deficit measures the difference between a country’s imports and exports. Between June and July, the US trade deficit rose from $53.5 billion to $63.6 billion.

On Wednesday, be on the lookout for Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes and August consumer credit. Consumer credit measures debt that people take on to buy goods and services. In July, consumer credit climbed by a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.5%.

On Thursday, initial jobless claims will be released. First-time jobless claims released last week came in at 837,000, marking a 36,000 decline from the prior week. Continuing claims were down by almost 1 million, hitting 11.8 million. Though recovery for the job market is still gradual, these numbers showed a somewhat encouraging trend. That said, there is still a long way to go to get back to pre-pandemic levels of jobless claims.

To round out the week, August wholesale inventories will be released on Friday. This metric measures how much stock wholesalers have that they cannot sell. A high amount of inventory means retail demand is depressed while a low amount of inventory means demand is high. From June to July, wholesale inventories climbed by 4.6%, showing that demand for retail goods fell as some states rolled back reopening measures in July due to rising COVID-19 cases.

Earnings Reports

Third quarter earnings season will begin this week. Investors will be eager to see how companies are adjusting to what some see as a “new normal.”

Tomorrow, Levi Strauss &Co (LEVI) will report its latest results. The pandemic has been hard on most clothing companies due to store closures. Jeans makers have had a particularly difficult time as many people are choosing to wear leggings or sweatpants while working from home. Due to decreased revenue, Levi Strauss cut 700 corporate jobs, or about 15% of its corporate workforce over the summer.

Paychex Inc. (PAYX) a company that provides payroll systems, human resources help, and other services to small and medium-sized businesses, will also report earnings tomorrow. The company facilitates payment for one out of every 12 American private sector employees. It recently created new systems to help employers deal with the pandemic, including COVID-19 leave tracking and screening.

On Wednesday, Lamb Weston Holdings Inc. (LW) hands in its report card. The Idaho-based company supplies frozen potatoes, vegetables, and other food products to restaurants and grocers. It is likely that the company’s restaurant business has been hampered by the pandemic, but its grocery store business saw growth. This report will give insights into how well the company was able to alter its supply chains over the last quarter.

On Thursday, look out for an earnings report from Domino’s Pizza (DPZ). Domino’s is the world’s largest pizza company by sales and has 17,100 locations in more than 90 markets. Domino’s has been at the forefront of online ordering and delivery for some time, and when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, it stepped in to fill a surging demand for food delivery. Their digital strategy has driven sales which has continued to push the company’s stock price higher.

Delta Airlines (DAL) is also expected to report earnings on Thursday. Along with other air carriers, Delta has faced severe hardships due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last week, the Treasury Department extended loans to seven major US airlines, but Delta and Southwest (LUV) both decided to opt out and stick to funding from private markets.

Please understand that this information provided is general in nature and shouldn’t be construed as a recommendation or solicitation of any products offered by SoFi’s affiliates and subsidiaries. In addition, this information is by no means meant to provide investment or financial advice, nor is it intended to serve as the basis for any investment decision or recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Keep in mind that investing involves risk, and past performance of an asset never guarantees future results or returns. It’s important for investors to consider their specific financial needs, goals, and risk profile before making an investment decision.
The information and analysis provided through hyperlinks to third party websites, while believed to be accurate, cannot be guaranteed by SoFi. These links are provided for informational purposes and should not be viewed as an endorsement. No brands or products mentioned are affiliated with SoFi, nor do they endorse or sponsor this content.
Communication of SoFi Wealth LLC an SEC Registered Investment Advisor
SoFi isn’t recommending and is not affiliated with the brands or companies displayed. Brands displayed neither endorse or sponsor this article. Third party trademarks and service marks referenced are property of their respective owners.
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Allbirds, a shoe company, raises $100 million to invest in physical stores. VTEX, an e-commerce platform, secures $225 million at a $1.7 billion valuation.

Hard to believe, but it’s already been over a year since we launched our first exchange-traded funds (ETFs), starting with the zero-fee* SoFi Select 500 (SFY) and SoFi Next 500 (SFYX) funds and growing to include the Gig Economy (GIGE) and SoFi 50 (SFYF) ETFs.

Well, we’re extremely proud to announce today the latest addition to our ETF family: the SoFi Weekly Income ETF (TGIF) — the industry’s first-ever weekly dividend-paying fund**. It was overwhelmingly the most popular choice in a recent survey of SoFi members, so we made it happen.

TGIF is an actively managed fund that seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in U.S. dollar-denominated investment grade and non-investment-grade securities and instruments, and it plans to distribute income from its investments to shareholders on Friday (hence the ticker!).

We designed TGIF to seek consistent income at attractive interest rates, at a lower level of risk than the stock market, and we would love to hear what you think of the new fund. Please visit sofi.com/etfs for more information on the SoFi Weekly Income ETF, as well as the other ETFs in our fund family.

Disclosures
Before investing you should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. This and other information is in the prospectus. A prospectus may be obtained by visiting www.sofi.com/invest/etfs. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest.

*The Fund’s investment adviser has agreed to waive its Management Fees for SoFi Select 500 ETF and SoFi Next 500 ETF until at least June 30, 2021. Investors buy and sell ETF shares through a brokerage account or an investment adviser like ordinary stocks, brokerage commissions and/or transaction costs or service fees may apply. Please consult your broker or financial advisor for their fee schedule.

** The Fund intends to pay out dividends and interest income, if any, weekly. There is no guarantee these payouts will be made.

There is no guarantee that the Fund’s investment strategy will be successful. Shares may trade at a premium or discount to their NAV in the secondary market. These variations may be greater when markets are volatile or subject to unusual conditions. A high portfolio turnover rate increases transaction costs, which may increase the Fund’s expenses. The Fund is new and has a limited operating history. You can lose money on your investment in the Fund. Diversification does not ensure profit or protect against loss in declining markets.

Since the Fund is actively managed it does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index. The Fund may frequently trade all or a significant portion of its portfolio; and have higher portfolio turnover than funds that do seek to replicate the performance of an index.

High-yield securities (also known as “junk” bonds) carry a greater degree of risk and are more volatile than investment grade securities and are considered speculative. The Fund’s investments in high-yield securities expose it to a substantial degree of credit risk.

The value of the Fund’s investments in fixed income securities will fluctuate with changes in interest rates. Typically, a rise in interest rates causes a decline in the value of fixed income securities owned indirectly by the Fund. On the other hand, if rates fall, the value of the fixed income securities generally increases. Investments in foreign securities may involve risks such as social and political instability, market illiquidity, exchange-rate fluctuations, a high level of volatility and limited regulation. Investing in emerging markets involves different and greater risks, as these countries are substantially smaller, less liquid and more volatile than securities markets in more developed markets. Privately placed securities generally are less liquid than publicly traded securities and the Fund may not always be able to sell such securities without experiencing delays in finding buyers or reducing the sale price for such securities.

SoFi ETFs are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC.