Vested opens doors to the US
An online platform enables Indian investors to invest in the US stock market:
Vested Finance is a Californiaheadquartered, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) providing an online investment platform for Indian investors to invest in the US stock market. The company’s mission is to enable sustainable wealth creation by allowing local investors to go global. A winner of Berkeley’s most prominent startup accelerator (LAUNCH) in 2019, the company was founded by 4 entrepreneurs with global exposure- Viram Shah, Darwin Arifin, Eric Huynh and Yinghan Lin, respectively from India, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore.
MULTI-PLATFORM, USER JOURNEY
Vested Finance uses an online KYC process for onboarding customers, allowing them to open a US brokerage account. The customer is required to answer a series of suitability questions and upload proof of date of birth and address. Approval happens in 1-2 days.
Says Yinghan Lin, CTO and Co-Founder: “Our investment service is accessible through multiple digital platforms - web app (desktop and mobile) and native mobile apps (Android and iOS). A user funds his account via his Indian bank account under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme of the Reserve Bank of India. We have partnered with multiple banks to simplify this investing process.”
BUY-SELL STOCKS
The user can start investing in US-listed stocks, ETFs and pre-built strategy and theme-based portfolios using the Vested Finance platform. The buying and selling process requires only a few clicks. Lin gives details: “Orders are completed in realtime when the US market is open. Users can withdraw the funds in their account whenever he wants to. The company collects users’ Indian bank details and work with their partner banks in the US to transfer the money, in Indian rupee directly into the user’s Indian bank account. We help customers track cost basis for tax reporting at the end of the Indian fiscal year. Our content includes updates on US markets, as well as deep-dives into specific companies. We have a newsletter, which is read by some 30,000 + people.”
DIGITAL STRENGTHS, PARTNER
Vested Finance connects with its users through email, SMS and WhatsApp modes. Lin says this has enabled the users to gain comfort and trust, which leads to increased investment volumes. “Our strengths include state-of-the ar t encr yption, sec urity, redundancy, and recover y; localized solution for Indian investors and commission-free fractional investing. We have partnered with DriveWealth, a SECregistered broker in the US, serving clients in 150 countries and we are a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, insuring securities in the customers’ accounts up to $500,000,” says she.
FINANCE-TECH TALENT MUST
Lin says the past year has seen large swings in the market as a result of uncertainty and speculation.
She also says as a fintech company enabling people from other countries invest in US securities, it is no surprise that the company seen increased scrutiny from retail investors. “We need to expect the unexpected. We have some of those answers. One in particular is talent - engineers who understand enough about finance or finance-savvy individuals who understand enough about technology, and who are able to put the two (finance and technology) together to make the right decisions quickly,” she says.
She says a ‘fire’ in technology occurs when something does not go the way as expected. “It could be a bug as a result of a bad production push or a failure in one of many dependencies across third party providers and partners. We have to quickly understand its potential implications, make a plan to handle the situation and execute it. In fintech, money is almost always involved, which further intensifies the urgency to handle such fires quickly.”
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY SKILLS
Many employees first enter the workforce going deep into a subject matter - be it finance, engineering, or something else. Lin believes that over time, however, one realizes the benefits of being multidisciplinary, not just across teams, but as individuals. “We see communication and collaboration across individuals and teams become more efficient and meaningful,” she adds.
She also says the need to develop multidisciplinary skills in fintech becomes obvious very quickly. It is important, he says, to ensure that everyone knows enough about both fin and tech and also understands the ‘why’. “Every person we hire can be deep subject matter experts but should have the ability to work across disciplines. This can be achieved with bite-sized training sessions. A session like ‘Investing for Beginners’ or ‘SQL Basics’ is simple to offer. A UI/UX designer who understands the complexities of money transfer might not be able to solve a decadelong problem, but may be able to design a product that offers a more seamless alternative,” says she.