Kiwi investment startup Sharesies celebrates one-year milestone

Online investment platform Sharesies is celebrating its first year in business this week, as well as the introduction of a flexible new subscription pricing structure that now makes it free for investors of up to $50.

The company has rapidly exceeded expectations since launch with $15.7 million invested through the platform and 15,410 customers signed up to the service over the past 12 months.

Founded by seven New Zealanders, the low-cost platform offers Kiwis the opportunity to build their own investment portfolio from as little as $5 at a time.

The team created Sharesies after they realised that people wanted to invest their money, but didn't know how.

To date, 206,529 trades and a total of 114,331 deposits have been made via Sharesies, with the lowest deposit made being $0.01 and the highest being $100,000.

And while the platform has investors ranging from the minimum age of 18 years right up to 88 years of age, the majority of users – 80% - are aged under 40 years old.

Sharesies CEO Brooke Roberts says, "Our first year has absolutely exceeded our expectations. The appetite we've seen from Kiwis for investing through Sharesies has been incredible and shows that there is a growing shift in attitude towards wanting to invest in the share market and take control of their money.

"We've grown Sharesies from an idea to an investment platform that is now used by nearly 15,500 investors, with more than $15.5million under management.

"Most of our customers are new to investing. It has been great to provide an accessible way to get involved in investing," she says.

To match its impressive growth statistics, Sharesies has also marked significant business milestones over the last 12 months – most notably the website launching out of Beta; growing the Sharesies team to 14; introducing 'Sharesies Gifts', a gifting option; and appointing Alison Gerry, director of Spark, Infratil, Wellington Airport and Vero Insurance, to the board.

The company has ambitious plans for the next 12 months and intends to make the platform even more accessible to Kiwis.

Sharesies co-founder Sonya Williams says one of the biggest changes is the restructure of Sharesies' existing subscription pricing.

Since launch, Sharesies has offered an annual subscription fee of $30.

However, signing up to the platform and the first month of use is now free.

Following the first month, the subscription will be based on users' Portfolio value – with $50 or less being free, between $50 and $3,000 costing $1.50 per month, and over $3,000 costing $3 per month.

All customers will have the option to pay $30 annually if they'd prefer.

"We have some exciting plans to extend the platform to a wider customer base by launching Sharesies accounts for children. We are also planning to conduct targeted industry research, increase the number and range of funds available, explore robo-advice and 'auto-invest' options, and continue educating existing customers," says Williams.

"Our goal has always been to provide New Zealanders with a practical, low-cost way to get involved and have their own investment portfolio, and we are always pushing ourselves to be as accessible as we can be – we want someone with $50 to have the same investment opportunities as someone with $50,000.

"Looking at the last year, we feel we're definitely on track with this goal and hope that our new subscription pricing will make this even more achievable. We are in such an exciting stage of growth and can't wait to see what the next 12 months offer.