SatrixNOW platform ‘democratises investing’
South Africans are notoriously poor savers, a dilemma not made any easier by a financial services industry that comes across as elitist and self-serving.
For the CEO of Satrix, Helena Conradie, democratising investing is an imperative.
“In theory, this is about enabling everyone, whether rich or poor, investment savvy or not, to invest and own a piece of the market,” Conradie says.
“In practice it means providing access to information, to affordable and transparent products, and to a cost effective and easy way to access that product.”
This is particularly relevant in South Africa: “It’s transformational in a big way.”
Passive investing, introduced through exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in 2000, was a significant step in this direction, Conradie believes, because it made products available that were cost-effective and easy to understand.
In this regard, the SatrixNOW platform launched in partnership with EasyEquities is a leader.
It carries no annual fees and no minimum investment amount due to the innovation of fractional share ownership.
“It’s about democratisation, access, the evolution within the industry, fintech, the new generation client, and allowing the client to be the disruptor.”
But Conradie argues that much more still needs to be done, particularly for people without easy access to the internet.
“We need to speak in a language that everyone can understand,” he says.
“I do think it’s very important that we really try to not confuse the investor with too much choice.
“We actually need to make it as simple as possible for someone to understand why they are investing and what their options are.”
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