Australian investors struggling to navigate the myriad of available investment avenues can now breathe easy following the official unveiling of InvestmentMarkets’ pioneering platform - designed exclusively for the discerning, self-directed investor.
A first in Australia, InvestmentMarkets.com.au is a comprehensive all-in-one-place resource dedicated to simplifying the complex landscape of investment opportunities.
Billed as the definitive ‘compendium style’ search engine for investors, the platform encompasses an extensive spectrum of asset classes, sectors, and investment product stages. The website, provides access to managed funds and ETFs, alternatives, property, fixed interest and term deposits, growth and income focuses, start-ups, crowd-sourced funding and ESG opportunities.
InvestmentMarkets has been designed for ease of use, sporting an interface reminiscent of realestate.com.au's property filtering system or Compare Club's comparison features for insurance and loans.
The current iteration of the website permits users to refine their search based on a diverse set of criteria, including asset class, investor type, liquidity and investment goals, with ambitions to broaden these filters within the forthcoming year.
Founded by Angelina Wu and Chris Morton, who merged their extensive experience in financial advisory and funds management, the site aspires to democratise the investment process for all. Their collaborative vision was to produce a platform that both demystifies investing, and is universally accessible without barriers or costs to the individual investor.
After some years of research and meticulous development, the site boasts nearly 500 funds and investment products. The offerings span reputable industry titans such as JP Morgan and Magellan to banks like Bankwest to niche providers and emerging fund managers, accommodating a wide investment range starting from accessible entry points up to exclusive high entry wholesale investor funds.
InvestmentMarkets is poised for growth and anticipates the burgeoning interest of product issuers keen on reaching a broad spectrum of self-directed retail, Self-Managed Super Fund (SMSF), and wholesale investors.
CEO Angelina Wu sees InvestmentMarkets as a potential epicenter of investment in Australia - a gateway to a diverse portfolio that promotes judicious and informed investment choices. “We believe that once the platform reaches more maturity the Australian capital markets will not have seen anything with the breadth and spectrum that it will offer. It will indeed be the ‘go to’ Investment Central and in some ways a ‘Google like’ facility.”
“We are here to help investors to find the products that meet their objectives,” she added.
The platform has a robust array of tools, a potent search engine, a user-friendly dashboard, and sophisticated filtering options that foster a frictionless investment discovery experience.
InvestmentMarkets also takes pride in its commitment to providing a wealth of unbiased resources, including analytical articles, instructional videos, and educational events such as investor webinars - all readily available and impartial. Wu says, “Our current webinar has over a thousand registrations and it’s only early days for us in this area.”
The platform's adherence to impartiality is evidenced by its operational model, which avoids commission-based earnings from investment activities.
The platform is backed by a diverse coalition of financial services professionals, innovative entrepreneurs, family offices, and venture capital funds - all united in the mission to democratise access to capital markets.
The initiative is poised to elevate visibility for emerging businesses and funds, often overshadowed by established institutional entities, reinforcing its values of independence, clarity, accessibility, and educational outreach.
For issuers, InvestmentMarkets offers an unrivaled reach to a burgeoning demographic of self-reliant investors. Chairman and co-founder Morton is confident in the site's growth trajectory.
"We've just started to scratch the surface of our potential in the number of our products and investor users as well as the value and the benefits that we offer,” he says.
"We're humbled by the recognition and support we've received from many different quarters including government. It validates our mission to make investment opportunities accessible to all and supports our belief that a platform like ours is needed in the Australian market."
The support and acknowledgment from a diverse range of stakeholders bolsters the platform's vision and substantiates the need for such a transformative portal within the Australian financial landscape.