Investment advice and education firm Rask and wealth management platform InvestSmart have launched three exchange-traded fund (ETF) portfolios on their joint investment service, which debuted last month.
Rask Invest will offer three portfolios – passive income, growth and high growth – via the InvestSmart platform. Under the arrangement, Rask will be the external investment manager of funds, while InvestSmart will provide the back-end administrative, compliance and technology platform.
According to Rask founder Owen Rask, the white-label service had been developed to meet market demand and has received a positive response, with over 600 investors placed on the waiting list for the offerings.
“Over the past six years, we have built a 200,000-strong community of highly engaged investors. Our community is diverse in terms of age, net wealth and investing experience, but share a desire for trusted investing information and guidance,” Rask said.
“While it is early days, we’re really excited by the initial traction, which has reinforced the InvestSmart-Rask proposition that can be leveraged by all types of investors.
“Given the transparency, security of assets held on holder identification numbers and scalability, so far it is proving very popular with direct investors via their SMSF, family trusts or even kids’ accounts.
“We’ve also begun to engage with very high-quality financial advisers, who are eager to outsource select clients to a trusted investment partner who can automate the client’s investment journey.”
InvestSmart chief executive Ron Hodge said the new service will appeal to individuals who are seeking the stability of a professionally managed portfolio but may not be able to afford traditional investment advice.
“We see our technology stack as robo-advice 2.0. A further step in democratising retail investors’ access to professionally managed investment portfolios, without the hefty fees charged by traditional fund managers,” Hodge noted.
“The platform is not just a rebrand of InvestSmart portfolios. Our aim is to empower advisers, stockbrokers and financial institutions to create and manage their own ETF portfolios, using InvestSmart’s technology for compliance, trading and administration.
“With 49 per cent of investors aged between 25 and 49 years old, there is a broad demographic who either can’t afford professional advice or don’t see the value in it, but should have some of their investments professionally managed.
“Wealth management is changing. Firms need to innovate with technology to ensure they capture the trust and imagination of future investing generations.”