An update from our CEO, Ron Hodge

According to Mitch Sneddon, InvestSMART Head of Portfolio Services, we’re “like a duck moving steadily through water whilst our our feet are going a million miles an hour below the surface”.

There’s probably something in that. With so many passionate people working to improve the products and services we offer to over 680,000 members, it can be hard to keep up even for me.

In reviewing our progress, here’s my pick of the best four things to happen at InvestSMART over the past few months:

1. The return of Alan Kohler - Re-joining us in December at the helm of Eureka Report, Alan’s already making a difference with more CEO interviews, #AskAlan live webinars, Talking Finance podcasts with James Kirby. Plus of course his much-loved Weekend Briefing.

2. Intelligent Investor’s Ideas Lab - This enables our team of passionate analysts to bring even more interesting companies to your attention that have yet to pass muster as formal recommendations. With four entries over the past month alone, Ideas Lab offers you more investing ideas.

3. InvestSMART Capped Fee Funds - This is an Australian first. No matter how much you invest in our capped fee ETF portfolios, you’ll never pay more than $451 a year for us to manage your investment and provide tax reporting.

4. Australia’s first ACTIVE Ethical Exchange Traded Fund. Along with Paul Clitheroe, Alan Kohler and Nathan Bell, I’ll be investing in this fund because I’ve seen the research; companies that incorporate environmental, social and governance concerns into their strategy have a higher chance of outperforming those that don’t (although the competitive fees and value investing approach also help). Here’s a video introduction, if you’d like to know more before the offer closes on Friday, 31st May 2019.

What else? Soon you’ll see several navigational changes to the website to make it easier to find everything you need. This redesign will also improve the InvestSMART App, which now has over 50,000 users.

The launch of our automated statement of advice engine is also imminent, allowing you to generate a tailored investment plan and get specific advice on ways to improve your portfolio based on your financial goals. We’re looking forward to hearing what you think of it. 

It’s been a busy six months but we’re not done yet. We hope you enjoy - and profit from - the fruits of our efforts. As ever, please feel free to let me know what you think. 

Cheers,

Ron Hodge, CEO