Millennials turn to apps for a different way to invest their money

Are there any current users of Stake?

What is your opinions about Stake?

Looks like was launched in 2018

https://www.theage.com.au/business/...ge_busnews_am&instance=2019-01-22--20-13--UTC

Millennials turn to apps for a different way to invest their money

By Matt Bungard
23 January 2019 — 12:00am

Millenials looking for a different way to invest their money and eyeing the New York Stock Exchange to find companies they know has provided a solid start for a new app-based trading platform.

Stake founder Matt Leibowitz says he saw an opening for one of the last remaining tasks that required patience and paperwork — but stresses that he's not re-inventing the wheel.

"It’s not revolutionary, it’s just an evolution of how things should be. You can open a Facebook account in a minute or a Google account in two or three minutes, so why is it so hard to open a brokerage account? Why should it be any different?"

Leibowitz lived in the United States for three years, working on global trading teams, before the idea for an Australian-based platform that enabled locals to invest on the New York Stock Exchange began to develop upon his return home.

"The US share market is pretty much where the world trades. I think Apple trades twice as much as the entire ASX on any given day," Leibowitz said.

Stake charges zero brokerage on all trades. However, it makes money by charging US70 cents for every $100 when you transfer funds between Australian dollars and US dollars, as well as tax and regulatory fees.

Stake began 2018 with around 1500 users. That number has grown to more than 20,000, with the company hoping to at least double that again by the end of the year. Their biggest users are in the 25-34 year olds age group.

"We’re seeing this rise of young professionals who think ‘I want to be in the market’, but Australia offers them literally nothing," Leibowitz said.

"There’s definitely still a market for advisory services, but younger people just want to take control.

"They want to be active — they go to the gym and they’re active, they’re active in their social life and their job. They won’t settle for what they’re being offered right now."

Bryce Leske, 27, a young trader who hosts his own investing podcast along with friend Alec Renehan, says he now has more money tied up on Wall Street than in local shares.

"One of the basic messages you’re told is to ‘invest in what you know’ — and when you look around as a millennial, it’s Facebook, Netflix and Tesla — but they’re only available in the US markets," he said.

"I look at some of my mates who’ve started using Stake who’ve never invested in Australia and I think that boils down to them feeling like they know more about the companies they’re investing in by virtue of using them."

Australians invest more heavily in local markets than most. Nearly 80 per cent of American investor holdings are global, but their global index is 25 times stronger than Australia's.

Two thirds of Australian investment is held locally, compared with just over half in Canada and Japan, and only a quarter in the United Kingdom.

Leske says that the main reason for that was sheer convenience.

However, with the difficulty attached to foreign trading seemingly gone, he anticipates a large shift towards the US shares, from Generation Y and beyond.

"The Australian holdings aren’t as exciting and don’t move as much," he says.

"All the brands that we know are there and now we have the opportunity to buy into those which, from a beginner’s point of view, is a lot easier than looking at the ASX," Leske said.