This week we’re excited to share that Stockspot turns 4!
Here’s a quick look back at where we’ve come..
Helping Australians reach their potential
Since Stockspot launched in 2014 I’m delighted we’ve been able to help thousands of Australians invest to get closer to the life they want to be living.
We’ve seen clients who have been able to fund all sorts of aspirations, including buying first homes (including one houseboat!), travelling, home renovations, take career breaks, buy a car, pay for school fees and retire.
We love to see the diversity of different people who can be empowered by smart investing.
One of our earliest clients who joined in 2014 is a couple from regional Queensland who had been burnt by owning direct shares during the Global Financial Crisis.
We’ve been in regular contact with this couple over the years as we’ve managed part of their SMSF. Stockspot has helped give them the piece of mind not to worry if particular shares go up or down, while still earning a much better return than cash in the bank!
At the same time, we’re also assisting the younger generation. That includes impressive elite athletes like Bruce Djite who’s saving up for his kids school fees while playing professional soccer around the world.
Stockspot 4 year returns
We have always believed that investing shouldn’t be complicated. Over the long term, the simplicity of diversifying into low cost ETFs is a winning strategy for anybody.
The best investment advice I have for someone investing $2,000 or $2 million is simply to start today. Investing is a marathon not a sprint, it takes consistency and there are no shortcuts.
To be successful you need to avoid the temptation to chase what’s hot (like bitcoin or tech shares), invest in a broad mix of different assets, keep your costs low, rebalance occasionally to reduce risk and don’t worry about what happens over the short term because the daily news cycle is just there to shake out those who are speculating not investing.
Even with the peaks and troughs of the market, our portfolios have climbed higher to deliver average returns of 5.7% p.a. to 7.9% p.a. over the last 4 years. We’ve been able to do this while taking 30-60% less risk than if clients had just owned Australian shares over that time.
| Topaz | |
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| Emerald | |
| Turquoise | |
| Sapphire | |
| Amethyst |
Total return after ETF and management fees (1st May 2014 – 1st May 2018)^
Last November we made the first changes to our portfolio weights, which has helped to reduce the impact of market volatility over the past few months.
The industry is changing
The Banking Royal Commission has shown that traditional financial advice is an industry that hasn’t been working apart from helping itself and a small fraction of society. That’s a message our annual Fat Cat Funds Report has been relaying for years – investing shouldn’t be compex, expensive or only for the wealthy.
It hasn’t been easy viewing; particularly seeing how people’s livelihoods have been dismantled because of bad advice and greed. However, more Australians are realising the old guard of wealth management is broken and in need of a shake up.
Financial advice is important, and technology is changing how people get it. Technology driven advice (robo advice) has made expert investment advice more affordable, safe, transparent and free from the biases of traditional advisers.
The results prove it too, our clients have been able to stay the course and not panic during market dips and amplify the power of compounding by dollar cost averaging to build their wealth in a steady way.
On behalf of the Stockspot team, thanks for supporting us for the last 4 years. We love hearing about all of the people who have been able to harness the power of smart investing and compound returns to get closer to their goals. We hope to help a lot more over the next 4 years!
Find out how Stockspot makes it easy to grow your wealth and invest in your future.
^ How does Stockspot calculate returns?.
Investment in financial products involves risk. Past performance of financial products is no assurance of future performance. Please read our Advice Disclaimer.
