GRIT Acquires 'Rate of Return' Newsletter and Names Austin Hankwitz as Head Analyst
The Rise of the DIY Investor Has Changed the Investment Game
TORONTO, September 6, 2024 (Newswire.com) - GRIT is excited to announce the acquisition of the rapidly growing "Rate of Return" newsletter — a go-to source for curated financial news, analysis, and commentary — as well as the naming of Austin Hankwitz as Head Analyst.
Launched in 2020, GRIT's mission is to democratize Wall Street insights traditionally held by the 1% and make them accessible to the 99%. From its humble beginnings with 5,000 subscribers, GRIT has grown rapidly to +245,000 free subscribers, thousands of paying members, and a social media following exceeding half a million. This impressive growth has been driven organically and through strategic acquisitions. GRIT and CEO Genevieve Roch-Decter have been featured in major media outlets, including Forbes, FOX, Business Insider, and Bloomberg/BNN, among others.
Genevieve Roch-Decter, the CEO of GRIT, was nominated for the 32nd Annual RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards in 2024 and earned a spot in LinkedIn’s Top Voices, an invite-only group of experts representing less than 1% of members. She and GRIT have provided expert commentary alongside finance heavyweights like Morgan Housel (award-winning author of the bestseller “The Psychology of Money”) in the award-winning documentary "This is Not Financial Advice," which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2023 and hit #3 on AppleTV.
“We are thrilled to welcome Austin as our Head Analyst,” said Genevieve Roch-Decter, CEO of GRIT. “His talent for making complex financial content engaging and understandable aligns perfectly with our mission. With the surge in DIY investors, Austin's expertise will be invaluable to the GRIT community.”
Austin Hankwitz is a renowned investor, influencer, and top podcaster in North America, with features in Bloomberg, CNBC, Business Insider, and The New York Times. With over one million social media followers, he co-hosts the Rich Habits Podcast, consistently ranking in the Top 10 Business Podcasts on Spotify, and has garnered over six million downloads in only 18 months. Additionally, he co-hosts "Mind the Business: Small Business Success Stories" with iHeartRadio and Intuit QuickBooks (over one million downloads since its inception). Until recently, he also co-hosted "After Earnings” for Morning Brew & Stakeholder Labs where he interviewed C-suite execs at publicly traded companies like Affirm, Cava, Celsius, Elf Beauty, Monday.com, ServiceNow, Sprout Social, and many more.
Joining him is his business partner Christian Blackwell who will act as the General Manager for GRIT. Blackwell was formerly a Management Consultant at PwC with a focus on Pricing and Profitability, as well as co-head of Creator Partnerships at MoneyLion alongside Hankwitz. In 2020, he co-founded Witz Ventures — an early-stage investment company and provider of advisory services to leading finance brands. Blackwell serves as the Executive Producer of the Rich Habits Podcast, leading business development and monetization throughout its rise to the top of the Spotify charts. Blackwell also co-authors the “Rate of Return” newsletter alongside Hankwitz.
Hankwitz and Blackwell have worked with and consulted for numerous Fortune 500 companies and well-known fintechs including AARP, Betterment, Charles Schwab, Coinbase, Fundrise, H&R Block, Intuit, MoneyLion, NerdWallet, Public, TradingView, UnitedHealth Group, and more.
In January 2023, Hankwitz launched an investing challenge to build a $2 million portfolio in eight years, sharing his journey through the "Rate of Return" newsletter. GRIT's acquisition of this newsletter will allow subscribers to benefit from Hankwitz’s transparent and educational investment journey — sharing both the ups and the downs along the way.
“When Christian Blackwell and I created 'Rate of Return' in August of 2021, we had no idea it would grow to the size it stands today,” said Austin Hankwitz. “Since day one, our mission with 'Rate of Return' was to help shrink the wealth gap by introducing as many people as possible to the investor class — to not just be consumers, but also investors in the companies they consume from. Now that we’re a part of the GRIT ecosystem, we’ll be able to share actionable twice-weekly market news and analysis with over +245,000 subscribers. Together, we’ll empower our community to navigate the investing landscape with confidence and clarity.”
The GRIT team is excited to “Relentlessly Chase ROI” alongside Austin Hankwitz and Christian Blackwell.
ABOUT GRIT:
GRIT is a financial media platform democratizing investment knowledge built by former +$100MM money manager Genevieve Roch-Decter. GRIT's mission is to democratize Wall Street insights held by the 1% and make them available to the other 99%. GRIT offers its subscribers detailed analysis on the stock market, with an attitude. Stripping away jargon and fluff, GRIT has a no-nonsense approach that its readers unapologetically love. Through special personalities, unique expertise, and an incessant drive to deliver ROI, GRIT is building the next global media powerhouse. We are focused on four core pillars: Content, Community, Creators, and Data. Ranked as a top free finance newsletter on Beehiiv, GRIT has +245,000 free subscribers, thousands of paying subscribers, and a social media following exceeding half a million.
To find out more: Gritcap.io.
Source: GRIT
