Betashares expands footprint with investing platform

Betashares has announced the launch of its new investing platform, designed to help investors in their wealth journey.

In its initial stage, the Betashares Direct platform will allow self-directed retail investors to invest in any ETF traded on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) with zero brokerage. This includes investments in both Betashares and other ETF managers. 

Alex Vynokur, Betashares chief executive, highlighted how the fund manager has grown over the last 12 years to manage over $30 billion in assets and service over 1 million clients and their advisers.

“As the next step in our journey, we are excited to introduce this innovative investment platform, which will allow us to add significantly more value to Australian investors,” Vynokur said.

“Betashares Direct has been meticulously built based on our experience and understanding of Australian investors, and we believe it will play a meaningful role in enabling Australian investors to progress on their financial goals.”

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The initial launch features of Betashares Direct will be joined by a growing range of tools and functionality, he added. 

It is underpinned by bespoke proprietary technology, built in-house by Betashares’ engineering and product teams.

The platform embraces automation to streamline the investing process, such as setting up recurring investments and offering streamlined, personalised performance and tax reporting to make investments simple to administer and manage.

Its Autopilot feature currently contains an initial range of three professionally constructed pre-built portfolios covering a range of risk profiles, including Balanced, Growth and High Growth. AutoPilot also contains an ability for users to build their own custom portfolios with up to 10 ASX-traded ETFs. Both features allow investors to automate their investing journey with no minimum investment size. 

Looking ahead, the fund manager has flagged its intentions to add financial adviser-specific features to the platform, including the development of a referral program to link investors with more complex needs to financial advisers.

A Betashares spokesperson told Money Management: "We’re actively exploring the development of adviser-specific features including a referral program to link investors with more complex requirements to a financial adviser. We’re currently engaging with advisers, a number of whom have been very proactive, and receiving their feedback on this referral program as well as getting a more general understanding of which features would add most value to them and their practice."

Last month, Betashares announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Bendigo and Adelaide Bank’s superannuation business, marking a “transformational step” for the firm.

The deal is expected to complete in 2024, subject to regulatory approvals.

Currently, Bendigo Superannuation has assets of $1.4 billion and more than 19,000 members.

"The immediate focus for our plans for superannuation include finalising the transaction and securing required regulatory approvals. Over the longer term, we’ll be looking into opportunities to develop functionality for the Direct platform that will allow us to engage customers right across their wealth creation journey," Betashares said in a statement.

"For financial advisers, we will also be seeking feedback around the opportunity to develop functionality to allow advisers to view and manage clients’ superannuation assets together with assets held outside of super."

According to Betashares, the two initiatives are complementary components of a long-term strategy to continue expanding the business into the broader financial services sector.

“The launch of Betashares Direct is another important milestone for us,” Vynokur said.

“We are proud to bring genuine innovation and choice to Australian investors, assisting them in making informed investment decisions and helping them reach their wealth creation goals.”