How to buy Upwork (UPWK) shares from Australia

• Upwork operates a global freelancing marketplace where clients and freelancers from over 180 countries meet and work on projects.
• The growth of the Gig Economy is good news for Upwork.
• The global lockdowns forced many companies to get comfortable with employees working from home (WFH) which tilted the balance further towards outsourcing work to freelancers through platforms like Upwork.

Upwork Global Inc (NASDAQ: UPWK) is a freelancing platform formed and rebranded in 2015 following the merger of Elance and oDesk platforms. Upwork is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Its subsidiaries include Upwork, Elance, Upwork Escrow and Upwork Talent Group.

This is your step-by-step guide to investing in Upwork shares from Australia.

Company overview

Upwork is a global freelancing marketplace. Its story began over two decades ago with platforms such as oDesk and Elance pioneering a better way of working. Today businesses of all sizes and freelancers representing more than 180 countries meet and work together using the Upwork platform.

Businesses can seek talent in 10,000 plus skill categories across the verticals of Admin & Customer Support, Design & Creative, Development & IT, Engineering & Architecture, Finance & Accounting, HR & Training, Legal, Sales & Marketing and Writing & Translation.

Upwork had over 145,400 core active clients in 2020, including 30% of Fortune 100 companies. Gross services volume during 2020 amounted to US$ 2.5 billion with the Upwork marketplace accounting for 90.5% of the company's revenue.

Forecasted annual earnings growth for Upwork over the next 1 to 3 years on estimates of seven analysts is 91.8%. Forecast annual revenue growth is expected to be 21.7%.

Step 1: Select a broker

There are many online brokers that offer different options. When choosing a broker, there are certain key characteristics you should look out for. These are some of the key features to look for when choosing a broker.

Commission-free trading

Many US share trading platforms offer this option. It is possible to save money on share trading by not paying commissions.

Fractional shares

Fractional share investment means that you can only buy a portion of a share, rather than the entire thing.

Intuitive trading platform

It doesn't have to be difficult to trade shares. Keep an eye out for a platform that is simple to use.

Research and reporting

You should look for platforms that have a strong research and reporting function. This can provide you with important information about Upwork such as company overview, price history and recommendations, and even price forecasts from analysts.

Step 2: Fund your trading account

Next, deposit funds into your account. If you just opened a trading account, it might take some time before the funds clear so you can trade.

Step 3: Decide how much you want to invest

Fractional investing can be a good option because it allows you to start small and take on less risk. This also means you can make more money by buying in at low prices so your total cost is lower.

Step 4: Decide to invest in an ETF or buy shares

You can either purchase shares and own them directly or invest in an ETF, which is similar to a mutual fund and can be great in certain circumstances. These funds are less appealing to active traders because they have less control over the money's destination.

ETFs such as SoFi Gig Economy ETF and iShares Russell 2000 ETF have exposure to Upwork.

Step 5: Configure your order

You can configure what you buy and for how much. There are many order types. These are the main order types:

Market order

Order to purchase/sell shares instantly. This ensures that the order is executed immediately, but does not guarantee the price.

Let's suppose Upwork shares trade at US$48. The price of Upwork shares drops to US$46 after you place a purchase order. The price of your purchase will be lower. The same applies to price increases.

Limit order

Execution-only orders for buy limit orders are executed at the price quoted or less. You may wish to buy Upwork stock at a price of US$45. You can submit a limit order for this amount. It will only be executed if Upwork shares fall to US$45 or less.

Stop limit

This type of order allows you to sell your shares at a certain price if the share price starts dropping. Let's suppose you want to sell your Upwork shares if the price falls to US$45 per share. Your stop limit order is executed if the shares drop to this price.

Stop loss

Another mechanism aimed at preventing you taking a hit on your shares if the price drops. You nominate a price at which you want to sell your Facebook shares - say US$44 per share. Your stop loss order will be executed if the price falls to that level but your order will be filled at the next available market price, meaning your shares could sell for below US$44 per share.

Step 6: Place your order

After you've chosen a broker and funded your account according to the amount you want to invest, and determined how you will invest your Upwork shares based upon the order type, you can place your order. This is usually done with a click of a button.

Step 7: Monitor your investment

Once you buy shares, it is necessary to keep an eye on your investment and watch how the share as well as the company performs.

Track Upwork’s share price and company performance

Regardless of whether you are investing with a speculative motive or to hold shares over the long term, you must watch company performance and industry trends.

Upwork’s competition

Even before the pandemic, there was a trend of people moving to gig work and companies seeking talent online. The fact that 30% of Fortune 100 companies used Upwork during 2020 shows that the trend is not confined to small and medium enterprises. Amidst lockdowns, more and more companies and people had to learn to work from home and manage projects remotely, even with their permanent workplaces and employees. So the move towards a freelancing workforce and gig working trend accelerated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The global Gig Economy is expected to grow to US$ 455 billion in 2023 from US$ 204 billion in 2018. That is at a compound annual growth rate or CAGR of 17.4%. This opens up immense opportunities for Upwork and its competitors including Fiverr (NYSE: FVRR), Airtasker (ASX: ART), Freelancer, PeoplePerHour, Guru, and Hubstaff Talent.