Christmas has come early for the bank’s shareholders with the decision to slightly increase the 2024 dividend – despite a single-digit decline in the net profit and cash earnings.
Beating the market benchmark is never easy, with 72 per cent of Australian actively managed global equity general funds trailing the S&P World Index in the six months to June 30, 2024. Domestic equity funds performed slightly better, albeit against a significantly lower bar set by the S&P/ASX 200 Index.
Raiz Invest ETF portfolios to open for SMSF investors
Listed fintech RAIZ Invest (ASX: RZI) this week announced they had ‘established the process to allow SMSFs to invest’ in their diverse range of ETF model and Custom Portfolios. The announcement flags an acceleration of the $665 million platforms growth strategy as it continues to disrupt the Australian investment landscape.
RAIZ has traditionally focused on the in-demand millennial investor market, building a community of 400,000 active customers since launching in 2016. The platform leveraged off the micro saving market allowing users to invest their ‘spare change’ into a series of low-cost, ETF-driven model portfolios.
The platform has grown to offer 13 different products in 2021, including the latest ‘Custom Portfolio’. This option, which allows users to construct their own tailored model portfolios and automatically invest into them garnering $28 million since its launch in January this year. One of the key differentiating points is the ability to include an allocation to Bitcoin, subject to position sizing limits, which has become increasing popular with investors of every ilk.
Commenting on the recent success COO Brendan Malone says: “Offering a Custom Portfolio gives our growing client base greater choice. As we discovered after offering the Sapphire portfolio with Bitcoin as part of the investment strategy, clients continued to ask us for more control over their portfolios. We believe Custom Portfolio will help meet this need.”
According to the company some 30,000 if their 400,000 active customers fall into the over 50 age bracket, with the $730 billion SMSF sector deemed the logical next step.
Shares in RAIZ Invest have had a strong start to 2021, increasing from $0.95 to $1.66 on a strong half yearly report.
