Gear Investments, a new UK-based digital investment manager, has completed the onboarding of customers from its waiting list and is now offering its services to the general public.
Gear Investments offers an automated, low-cost fixed fee discretionary wealth management service open to anyone regardless of income or experience with a minimum investment of GBP3,000.
Five different strategies are available – all linked to a different risk profile – which use exchange traded funds (ETFs) selected by Gear Investments’ investment analysts and are managed on an active basis.
Gear Investments’ CEO Jaime Bolivar says: “The new service provides an easy access investment route for people who would like to invest in a managed portfolio for a fraction of the price of a human, financial adviser. Gear Investments combines the best of technology, investment expertise and customer support to deliver a streamlined, transparent and low-cost financial products and services."
The system is designed to be easy to use and new customers can typically open an account via desktop, tablet or mobile phone, in less than 10 minutes. Gear Investments currently offers both a General Investment Account and a stocks and shares ISA account with a SIPP wrapper planned for later this year.
The platform is designed to allow customers to see exactly how their investment is performing, which ETF’s they are invested in, and to set up regular payments and to add and withdraw funds at any time without penalty.
Gear Investments’ annual fixed fee is 0.95 per cent of asset under management, which include active management, regular rebalancing, custody and administration charges. This is based on the overall value of the customer’s portfolio and is payable on a monthly basis, with an underlying fund charge of approximately 0.25 per cent per annum.
The service open to both direct to consumer (D2C) and business to business to consumer (B2B2C) and is aiming to appeal to both new and inexperienced investors as well as those who have existing, more expensive managed funds and are looking for lower-cost automated alternatives.
Gear Investments have also launched a B2B2C offering with a range of API's to facilitate institutional customers seeking to have their own or white-labelled services.
