Innovative micro investment technology platform and investment fund Raiz Invest has cracked $1.5b in funds under management after a experiencing nearly 32 per cent year on year growth in held funds. The $1.512b funds under management figure represents an 8.3 per cent quarterly jump.
A solid overall stockmarket performance coupled with an AI-powered retail marketing blitz also saw Raiz’ revenue hike 15.2 per cent year on year as at the end of the September quarter to touch $5.66 million. That number represented a jump of 2.6 per cent for the quarter, driven by a 4.9 per cent uptick in active customers, higher funds under management and an increased average revenue per user of 1.5 per cent to $73.3.
Raiz Invest has posted a positive quarterly update.
Notably, Raiz also ripped the bandaid off and withdrew from its costly Malaysian division in July.
Whilst Raiz operates a somewhat typical fund, the source of some of its funds is not so typical. Its technology platform allows its customers to round a purchase up to the nearest $1, $2 or $3 with the rounded-up portion then contributed to a fund in that customer’s name that Raiz invests.
Impressively, management said customer growth has surged for the quarter, adding 3,824 new active customers in the three months to September quarter and a further 3527 in the first three weeks of October, bring the customer total to 314,127.
Raiz Invest managing director and CEO Brendan Malone said: “Our marketing strategy is beginning to show positive momentum, accelerating growth in new customer acquisition, strong growth in users for Raiz Plus, Raiz Super and Raiz Kids and FUM of over $1.5b. Our operations are scalable with a low marginal cost of trading. Raiz is well funded to execute on our growth strategy, we remain focused to accelerate a strong upward trajectory.”
Notably, the company’s superannuation portfolios - a specific up-selling target - were up 9 per cent and Kids portfolios boomed 18.2 per cent for the quarter. The smaller property fund also saw moderate growth of 3.7 per cent, with Plus portfolios up an impressive13.6 per cent for the period.
Plus portfolios, which allow customers to curate their own investments, have been a particular focus of Raiz in the past 12 months. In July, the service was also opened up for the first time to superannuation clients and the response, according to the company has been very positive with Super Plus funds under management growing $7 million in just two months.
Another initiative launched in July was Raiz Rewards, which offers customers the option of paying in-shop discounts back to their Raiz account for investment purposes. As one of the first of its kind in Australia, Raiz Rewards has now been adopted by 43 merchants since launching with 21,900 new rewards actively tracked back to Raiz accounts.