Canstar sat down with the guys at Sharesies to ask them a few questions about their great investment app.
What is Sharesies?
We are an online investment platform that was founded in 2017, here in NZ, by six co-founders. Now, we have over 350,000 investors who have together invested over $1.2bn. At Sharesies, our purpose is to create the most financially empowered generation. It's our vision to give someone with $5 the same investment opportunities as someone with $500,000.
What can people invest in through Sharesies?
Through Sharesies, you can invest in over 6500 companies, exchanges-traded funds (ETFs) and managed funds. We provide access to the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX), Nasdaq, New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
Why invest in Sharesies and not other apps?
We are a wealth development platform, giving people the opportunity to invest affordable amounts, regularly, over a long period of time.
As well as giving access to investment opportunities, we're also focused on providing education and information, so that people feel confident and motivated to invest.
Some key features of Sharesies include:
- $1 fees on kids accounts
- Low brokerage fees when buying shares
- Giving our investors the opportunity to invest in overseas exchanges and the ability to have all your investments (NZ, US & AU) in one place
- The option to auto-invest making it easier to invest affordable amounts regularly
How much does it cost to start investing with Sharesies?
There's no minimum investment. Sharesies lets you buy fractionalised shares of everything – companies, ETFs and managed funds – so you no longer have to buy whole shares when you invest! You can spend as little as 1c to … well, whatever you can afford.
How can you find out what to invest in?
Before you start investing, there are a few things you need to consider. We believe that it's important to do your due diligence. This means taking the time to research whether you're going to invest in something or not.
There are lots of ways to do your due diligence, and it's personal to what's important to you, but can include things like:
- Googling a company or reading annual reports; understanding their story, strategy, how they're performing, who's in charge of the company. Taking a view on what the future might look like for a company; what do they have planned? Will they still be around in ten to 15 years? What are the risks?
- What's the company's impact on the world? Integrated reporting covers the company's impact on things like the community, or the environment
- Before investing you should also consider your time horizon. Do you want to invest short-term, or build your portfolio over time? Will this be over a year, five years, ten years, or more?
- All investing involves risk, but it's worth considering what your personal appetite for risk is. How will you balance risk and return? And how will you manage the risks you take? (i.e. through diversification, dollar-cost averaging, etc.)
Overall, there's no right or wrong answer. It's about gathering info and taking a view on whether it's the right investment for you.
How much does Sharesies cost?
Sharesies has three monthly paid plans, however, a standard unpaid option is available. Our monthly plans can be cancelled at any time:
$3 monthly plan
Each month you get:
- Transaction fees covered on $500 of buy and sell orders
- Transaction fees covered on $1000 of auto-invest orders
$7 monthly plan
Each month you get:
- Transaction fees covered on $1000 of buy and sell orders
- Transaction fees covered on $3000 of auto-invest orders
$15 monthly plan
Each month you get:
- Transaction fees covered on $5000 of buy and sell orders
- Transaction fees covered on $10,000 of auto-invest orders
- NZX market depth
- US live pricing
A $1 monthly kids plan is also available. More information about paid plans can be found here.
Standard unpaid option
There is no minimum investment with Sharesies, which charges transaction fees, known as brokerage fees, on each purchase. Up to the capped amounts, there is a 1.9% transaction fee on the amount invested. Cap amounts are region dependent:
- NZ shares capped at NZD$25 per order
- OZ shares capped at AUD$15 per order
- US shares capped at USD$5 per order
If you buy shares in more than one investment, they're treated as separate orders and have separate transaction fees.
Sharesies charges a foreign currency exchange fee of 0.5%
There's also a management fee built into the price of ETFs and managed funds, charged by the fund manager. The fees are different for each fund, so check the fund info before you invest.
Sharesies charges a 0.8% transaction fee on crypto transactions, which aren't covered by its monthly plans.
Guide to the lingo
If you don't speak finance, here are a few of the most common terms, as used above, and what they mean:
- Shares: When you buy shares, you invest in a particular company, like Tesla or Facebook. Shares can be bought or sold between people on an exchange, which is a market where people can trade shares.
- Exchange traded funds: ETFs are a group of different assets rather than one particular company, but they trade like shares on an exchange. Think of it in terms of a bakery. Buying individual doughnuts is like buying shares. You pay the price for each different kind of doughnut. An ETF is like buying a box of doughnuts, you get all the different types, which can be grouped by a theme.
- Managed funds: These work a bit like ETFs, except they don't trade on an exchange. There's a person behind the fund doing the calculations. You can buy them directly from the fund provider or through an investment app.