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Budgeting is often pushed as an essential ingredient needed to take control of your personal finance. Whilst the concept of a budget is straight forward, it is common for people to struggle with its execution. This is especially pertinent in today’s day and age, given changing economic conditions.

One of the most popular budgeting methods often talked about is the 50/30/20 budget. This budget stipulates that you should divide your after-tax income so that:

50% is allocated towards your needs, such as fixed living expenses, bills and essentials (rent, groceries, utilities etc.).
30% is allocated towards your wants – everything you spend money on that is non-essential. This includes things like eating out, going to movies, and streaming subscriptions – anything that you spend money on to make life more enjoyable and entertaining.
20% is allocated towards savings and investments. This can also include making debt repayments and other financial goals.

It is important to note that these percentages are not necessarily fixed. The needs and wants percentages are the maximum amounts you should spend for those categories, leaving the 20% allocation for savings as a minimum requirement.

The 50/30/20 Budget Rule — The 50/30/20 Budgeting Rule

Over the last decade, the cost of housing/rent and utilities such as electricity have risen substantially. From September 2017 to September 2018, the Australian consumer price index (CPI), which measures the price levels of a common basket of consumer goods and services, rose by 1.9%, with the wage price index (WPI) only growing by 2.2%.

Wage growth is only just keeping ahead of increased costs of living. This is also just an average, so for some parts of the population, the cost of living would have risen faster than their wage growth.

What this means is that sticking to budgets can become harder if wants and needs begin to take up larger proportions of your income. What if your needs start to take up more than 50% of your income? If that’s the case, then you may need to scrutinise your expenses and look at where you can save money.

This could be hunting around for a cheaper phone plan or limiting usages of utilities like electricity and water to reduce bills.

If you can’t keep needs below 50%, there’s no need to panic. All budgets will be slightly different depending on the person, and the exact percentage breakdown can be altered to make it more optimised for you. Perhaps you could cut back wants to 25% and increase needs to 55%.

The bottom line is to manage your money by tracking your expenses, staying on top of and disciplined with your spending, and resolving to save/invest as much as you can afford (but remembering to leave yourself a little bit to spend on the nice things and enjoy life!).

The mathematics behind compound interest shows how powerful saving and investing can be. If you were to invest $10,000 into an index fund every year, for 30 years, assuming average returns of 7% p.a. that investment will have grown to be worth $944,607. That’s a total return of $644,607.

Check out ASICS MoneySmart compound interest calculator see how much money you could have after saving different regular amounts.

Compound Returns Graph — *Most managed funds will charge fees for their service, but for the sake of simplicity this graph does not include nor reflect their affect on returns – see ASICS managed funds fee calculator to get an estimate on how fees and costs can affect your investment.

Apps like Raiz can be useful tools for helping to keep track of your spending and save money at the same time. ‘My Finance’ is a free feature within the app that provides you with personalised insights and notifications on how you are spending. For more information on Raiz fees, click here.

It does this by tracking your purchases and breaking them down into categories (e.g. food and dining, bills & utilities etc.), allowing you to see how much you spend on a month to month basis.

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

download-raiz-app — Click to download the Raiz app

Important Information

The information on this website is general advice only. This means it does not take into account any person’s particular investment objectives, financial situation or investment needs. If you are an investor, you should consult your licensed adviser before acting on any information contained in this article to fully understand the benefits and risk associated with the product.

A Product Disclosure Statement for Raiz Invest and/or Raiz Invest Super are available on the Raiz Invest website and App. A person must read and consider the Product Disclosure Statement in deciding whether, or not, to acquire and continue to hold interests in the product. The risks of investing in this product are fully set out in the Product Disclosure Statement and include the risks that would ordinarily apply to investing.

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

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Today we are excited to be named finalists in four categories of the 2019 Fintech Business Awards! The Fintech Business Awards, one of the leading awards programs in the Australian financial technology sector, celebrates the leading individuals and organisations who demonstrate outstanding innovation and entrepreneurship.

The awards that we have been shortlisted for are:

Investment Innovator of the Year
Investment Platform Innovator of the Year
Personal Finance Innovator of the Year
Fintech Thought Leader of the Year (George Lucas, Raiz CEO)

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on the 28^th of March, so stay tuned to see if we take home any silverware! We want to thank everyone in the Raiz community for your support, for bringing us up with your friends and family, for sharing your stories and for thinking of us when others ask for recommendations. Without your support, Raiz and these nominations would not be possible!

Read more:

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

Important Information

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

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Market update from Raiz CEO, George Lucas

Global growth concerns continue

After a fine start to the year, equity prices came under a bit of pressure early last week due to concerns about the health of the global economy and I suspect that there is more stock market weakness to come this quarter.

The signals last week included official GDP data from China showing that its economy slowed in the last quarter of 2018 and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revising down its projections for GDP growth this year and next in advanced and emerging economies.

The reason for the IMF’s downgrade was risks associated with trade tensions, the unwinding of fiscal stimulus in the US, downward GDP growth revisions for the euro-area.

On the plus side, reports that the Federal Reserve was considering an early end to its balance sheet reduction programme helped US and European stocks end the week higher.

Market looks ahead to US-China trade talks

At the same time as some softness in equities, the US dollar, the Japanese yen – viewed by investors as “safe” assets – strengthened a bit while 10-year government bond yields generally fell, particularly US Treasury yields. The market also digested a mixed batch of quarterly US stock earnings.

All eyes are now on this week’s US-China trade talks in Washington and whether US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin can strike deal with the Chinese delegation led by Vice-Premier Liu He.

US President Donald Trump and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He — The US will negotiate with a Chinese delegation led by Vice-Premier Liu He (right).

Draghi: Eurozone faces economic downturn

Turning to Europe, the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Mario Draghi, warned that weaker growth in the global economy would continue to be felt in Europe, fuelling talk of a possible shift in policy guidance.

President Draghi’s comments came after the ECB left its key policy settings unchanged and indicated it is unlikely to raise them until summer, acknowledging the economy still needs monetary stimulus.

The ECB’s language was a significant shift away from the previous “broadly balanced” view of the outlook for the European economy, citing the persistence of risk factors, including trade tensions between China and the US, Brexit and a slowdown in China.

What’s more, while Draghi said there was no need to ease monetary policy, for now, I think the market suspects that the ECB will change the forward guidance on interest rates and unveil new targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTROs), before long.

The outlook for the euro-zone economy has deteriorated sharply in recent months and as a result I think that the ECB will leave rates on hold this year and next.

China’s economy cools in Q4

Looking more closely at breakdown of China’s Q4 GDP data, it points toward softer service sector activity on the back of slower property sales and weaker consumer spending. It’s likely that services growth will come under further pressure this year, as the labour market continues to weaken and households become even more cautious.

Meanwhile, in Australia, the decline in the unemployment rate to 5 per cent in December shows that the housing downturn hasn’t had much of an impact on the labour market yet.

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

Important Note: The information on this website is provided for the use of licensed financial advisers only. The information is general advice and does not take into account any person’s particular investment objectives, financial situation or investment needs. If you are an investor, you should consult your licensed adviser before acting on any information contained in this website.

Investors only: The information in this Document is confidential it must not be reproduced, distributed or disclosed to any other person unless it is part of their statement of advice. The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions and may change without notice. This may impact the accuracy of the information. In no circumstances is the information in this Document to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of making a decision about a financial product or class of products.

General advice warning: The information contained in this Document is general information only. It has been prepared without taking account any potential investors’ financial situation, objectives or needs and the appropriateness of this information needs to be considered in that context. No responsibility or liability is accepted by Instreet or any third party who has contributed to this Document for any of the information contained herein or for any action taken by you or any of your officers, employees, agents or associates.

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To meet your goals via investing and saving through Raiz, the first step is choosing the portfolio that suits your goals objective and time horizon.

How to choose a portfolio?

For a savings goal that is short term (less than three years), a conservative portfolio option is probably the best choice.

A conservative portfolio option will be less influenced by equity market fluctuations. You wouldn’t want to be close to reaching your goal and then find yourself in the situation where a sudden downturn in the stock market may result in you missing it. Because it is a short-term goal, you may not have enough time on your side for the stock market to recover (which they usually do in the long-term).

Having a short-term goal while being in an aggressive portfolio option means that stock market declines may have a larger emotional impact on you, as market uncertainty increases the chance that you will not reach your goal in the chosen time frame. With a conservative portfolio, you are more likely to remain disciplined to your short-term saving and investing goal in a market decline.

On the other hand, if your savings goal is greater than 5 years, then you may experience all types of market conditions. An aggressive option may suit you if time is on your side since markets do tend to go up in the long-term. In the short-term you may have set backs in your portfolio value, but in the long-term you could earn positive returns.

However, you must also balance this against your ability to remain disciplined to your saving and investing approach (known as your risk appetite). If you feel emotional just reading about a market fall of 20%, then a more conservative portfolio option, like the moderate portfolio option, may be your best bet.

The key to long term investing is discipline. For Raiz this means investing small amounts regularly to avoid timing the market. Long-term strategies utilise the advantages of time in the market – that is, the longer you are in the market, the more likely you are to see a healthier return.

Related Reading: Understanding Risk

The wrap up

We all experience the emotional highs and lows that come with investing. However, by maintaining a disciplined and automated approach by using Raiz and choosing the right portfolio, you can reduce short-term stress and take advantage of dollar cost averaging and compound returns over time.

In the end, it is your choice. We cannot recommend a portfolio choice for you. Raiz is not a get rich quick scheme – it is about developing a habit of regular saving and investing to meet your savings goals. For more information on Raiz fees, click here.

Remember: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now.”

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

Important Information

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

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Market update from Raiz CEO, George Lucas

US-China trade deal hopes lift global stocks

This week saw equity prices recover across the board. In local currency terms, MSCI’s USA Index rose by roughly 5 per cent, its World ex USA Index ticked up by 3 per cent, and its Emerging Markets Index lifted by 2 per cent. This is a big change from the prior three months when the indices fell by about 16 per cent, 13 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively.

The recovery in stock markets was partly driven by the latest round of US-China trade talks and growing optimism there would be a deal struck. Expectations were low coming into the talks in Beijing, so the prospect of a deal buoyed sentiment. Equity prices could get a further boost if there is some positive announcement in the coming days.

‘Small’ bounce likely if trade deal struck

However, any such US-China deal would probably only give markets a small and temporary lift due to the limited influence on the markets of the trade war. While it is often used in the media to justify big moves in equity prices, its role has often been exaggerated in my view.

For example, when equity prices in emerging economies began to under-perform those in the US in June last year, this was widely attributed to US President Donald Trump’s decision to slap tariffs on Chinese imports. But the under-performance coincided with weaker economic data from China, which probably played as big a role in dragging down markets.

Why it’s starting to feel like 2016 again

In a similar vein, the latest recovery in markets probably has more to do with other developments like last Friday’s stronger-than-expected US jobs report and dovish comments from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that investors read as signalling the Fed’s three-year tightening cycle is drawing to a close. Meanwhile, in China there was a further cut in the required reserve ratio and the announcement of more fiscal stimulus.

Some are drawing comparisons with the start of 2016, when stimulus in China and expectations that the Fed would delay further tightening helped fuel a recovery in stock markets around the world. But I am not sure this is the correct way to view it.

While there are some clear similarities with the first few months of 2016 I am not anticipating another rebound like the one that ran from early 2016 to 2018 and currently the backdrop globally is not conducive for strong stock market performance.

Key Brexit vote looms in UK

Turning to the UK, recent Brexit developments have created more uncertainty around whether Prime Minister Theresa May’s controversial deal will be ratified.

British lawmakers are set to vote on May’s much-maligned Brexit deal on Tuesday but I think whatever the outcome now markets will take it in their stride.

Given the wildly different possible Brexit outcomes, it’s best to focus on three scenarios: Brexit with May’s deal, probability has fallen to 25 per cent; Brexit with no deal, probability has risen to 25 per cent; and some form of “fudge and delay” involving an extension of Article 50, to probability of 50 per cent.

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

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It’s the start of the new year and the time is ripe for making New Year’s resolutions. Consolidating your super makes for an easy and effective resolution to potentially save you extra money.

It is important to know that many super funds charge fixed costs. The more super funds you are a part of (you may not know you have more than one), the more you pay in fixed costs, regardless of the size of your balance in each fund. For example, fees of $100 p.a. on a balance of $1000, with an annual return of 7%, would result in a net decrease of $30 to your balance after one year. Put simply, by consolidating your super, you may only have to pay one set of fees.

It is also important to check for lost/unclaimed super, which may in some cases be held by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). If you’ve ever changed jobs, it’s possible that you have unclaimed super you don’t know about. This isn’t all that uncommon, with to date $17.5 billion dollars in unclaimed super being held by the ATO.

How do you find and consolidate your Super?

Consolidating your super is a relatively simple process. Before online superannuation products came out, it could take hours to sort this all out, and cost you thousands of dollars if you asked a financial planner for help. However, today it can be done in a few minutes. This can potentially save you a significant amount for tomorrow for only a few minutes today.

Raiz Super makes the consolidation process easy, and can be done in minutes from within the Raiz app. When you sign up for Raiz Super, we will automatically search for any funds and unclaimed or lost super to your name, giving you the option to pick which ones you want to roll into Raiz Super. If you find the funds but choose not to roll into Raiz Super then you occur no fees and you have not opened a Raiz Super account. You will not incur a fee or open your Raiz Super account until your first contribution, so you can utilise this search function for free. For more information on Raiz fees, click here.

Below is a quick video demonstrating how you can use Raiz Super to simply and easily look for lost super and consolidate on your mobile phone.

How much do you need for retirement?

It’s easy to say why super is important – in order to grow your nest egg, but how much super is enough to live a comfortable retirement? According ASIC’s MoneySmart, in order to support a ‘comfortable’ lifestyle in retirement, it’ll cost singles $42,764 per year, or couples $60,264 per year. MoneySmart also has a superannuation calculator on their website, that calculates how much super you will have when you retire based off your age, employer contributions, and voluntary contributions. This is useful for tracking how your super is performing and planning how much you need to contribute to hit your retirement goals.

Consolidating your super is a simple and easy way to start working towards hitting your target for a comfortable lifestyle, well worth the few minutes it will take to search via the Raiz app – and we think it would also make for a nice and easy New Year’s resolution! 😊

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

Important Information

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

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Market update from George Lucas, CEO Raiz Invest.

Weak Chinese data for November

The week began on a positive note. In particular, US–China trade tensions eased with China allowing US Soya Beans in again and reducing the tariff on US cars to 15 percent even though Huawei’s CFO, Meng Wanzhou, was facing extradition to the US.

But then China reported its activity and spending data, which confirmed a dismal November. Growth in investment, industrial value-added and retail sales all slowed last month, with the latter now at a 15-year low. This adds to the evidence that China’s economy is under significant pressure, not from the trade war, but primarily for domestic reasons.

On top of that, Chinese lending data showed the People’s Bank of China’s preferred measure of credit growth at its lowest since 2005, indicating that the central bank’s efforts to turnaround the Chinese economy with looser monetary conditions are not working yet.

Ugly Purchaser Management Index fans euro-zone growth fears

In Europe, there was also the release of weaker-than-expected data. The closely-watched flash Purchaser Management Index (PMI) slumped to 51.3, its weakest since November 2014 (but still signalling growth), and the market began to concern itself that global growth is now slowing.

The gloomy PMI was largely driven by a sharp drop in France’s data, perhaps suggesting that the yellow vests protests had a serious economic effect. However, even if France’s index rebounds with the protests now over, the euro-zone economy has clearly shifted down a gear and looks set for more moderate growth next year.

Yellow Vest Protest in France — Gloomy PMI suggests yellow vest protest had a serious economic impact.

Blowout month for US retail sales

Across in the US, where all the uncertainty began, the news was more upbeat on the economy. The highlight was a 0.9 per cent surge in underlying retail sales for November, suggesting that real consumption growth has remained strong in Q4.

There was also a solid gain in monthly industrial production, which rose 0.6 per cent due to better utilities and mining output. However, manufacturing output was flat in November.

Meanwhile, Johnson and Johnson shares plunged more than 10 per cent after reports the company knew for years that its baby powder contained asbestos, including in Australia. The US pharmaceutical and cosmetics giant strenuously rejected the claims.

Read our previous blog, 6 Ways to Save More For Christmas

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

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Raiz is a micro-investing app that works by allowing you to start investing with as little as $5. Users can invest into their Raiz account through round ups, recurring investments, and lump sum deposits.

Money in your Raiz Investment Account is invested into a mix of exchange traded funds (ETFs) in accordance with one of seven different Portfolios selected by you. Raiz provides Australians access to start early, invest often and reach their financial goals.

With Raiz, saving and investing is easier than ever before.

First, connect a bank account to your Raiz account. This is where all deposits and withdrawals to and from your Raiz account will come and go.

Next, you’ll need to choose a Raiz investment portfolio. The portfolios are ‘Conservative’, ‘Moderately Conservative’, ‘Moderate’, ‘Moderately Aggressive’, ‘Aggressive’ and ‘Emerald’. The offering of portfolios are designed to suit the differing investment goals of investors, in terms of acceptable level of risk and planned time in the market (see our PDS for more info).

For example, an aggressive portfolio may suit you if you want higher returns in the longer term, but will accept a high risk of losing capital over the medium term.

Raiz moderately aggressive Investment Portfolio — An example of the Moderately Aggressive Portfolio.

Then, set up your spending accounts in Round-Ups. Raiz can track credit cards, debit cards and other bank accounts and will round up every purchase to the nearest dollar and keep track of this amount. When your round-ups hit your round-up threshold, we’ll withdraw it from your bank account and invest it for you.

Your new shares will then appear in your Raiz account, where you can watch them potentially grow over time.

Raiz roundups on phone screen — Round-Ups can help you save in the background of life

You can also set up a Recurring Investment plan or Savings Goal to help your account grow even faster.

If you have spare cash you can always invest into your Raiz Account at anytime using a Lump Sum investment.

Feel confident in saving more and investing with Raiz.

For more information on Raiz fees, click here.

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

Important Information

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

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With the festive season beginning, you might be stressing more about the potential hit your bank account is going to take, rather than looking forward to celebrating and spending time with friends and family. Don’t worry, because here are 6 tips that can help you save more for Christmas and secure confidence in your personal finance. 🎁 💳

1. Create a budget

One of the easiest and most effective strategies to manage your spending over Christmas is to create a budget beforehand. Pre-planning a budget, and following it, will prevent you from spending more on presents, food and drinks than you can afford. It is a common trap that many of us fall into when we forget to track how much we are spending, only to then realise all those costs stacked up more than anticipated.

The ‘My Finance’ tool in the Raiz app can be helpful in planning a budget. You could take your average monthly spending, and then decide how much more you can afford to spend in a month on top of that for your holiday shopping. Or, you could see how much you can cut back on other non-essential purchases to keep your spending similar for December. For more information on Raiz fees, click here.

2. Stick to a list

By making and sticking to a list, you avoid buying more presents than you really need to (how many socks does Dave really need?). This list would tie into a budget, making sure that you spend the correct amount of money on the correct number of presents. Keeping a list of what you have gotten for whom and what you still need to buy eliminates mistakes of overbuying, and any awkward social situations where you forget someone’s present. Receiving a present from someone, and then remembering you’ve forgotten to get them something in return is a cringe worthy moment no one wants to experience.

Christmas List — Stick to a list over Christmas

3. Take Advantage of Raiz Rewards

Take advantage of over 150 online retailers through Raiz Rewards. Why not get a gift back from our partners from your gifting shopping? Shop through Raiz Rewards and get a cash reward invested back into your Raiz account. This is on top of any sales and deals leading up to Christmas, so browsing these sites to find the best price, and using available discount codes, can save you a decent sum of money. Please also check the T&Cs within the app.

Most sites will offer free shipping once you meet a certain expenditure threshold, e.g. free shipping for purchases over $70. So, if you can coordinate your shopping to meet this threshold, you’ll save a nice little sum of money, rather than paying shipping for every individual present. Say, for example, shipping is $10, and you purchase 5 gifts from the same site, but separately, that’s $50 you could have saved by buying at the same time and meeting the free shipping threshold.

Staying on the topic of shipping, getting organised with your shopping is also important. If you order something say, 3 days before Christmas, you run that risk that it won’t arrive in time for Christmas eve/day. Alternatively, you might have to cough up a few extra dollars for express shipping.

4. Jump on post-Christmas Day sales

The day after Christmas, retailers no longer want to stock Christmas decorations and wrapping paper, since there is no longer a demand for them (more often these days the sales are starting earlier each year). Therefore, the prices get significantly reduced in order to offload stock.

This is a great opportunity for you to stock up these items for next year’s Christmas and save a bunch of money the following Christmas. If you’re super prepared you could even buy presents for next year with all the Boxing Day sales around.

5. Share the cost of Christmas meals

If you’re hosting a Christmas lunch, dinner etc. this year, instead of buying and preparing all the food, ask friends and family to help contribute. For example, you could cook the main Christmas staples, and ask others to bring the salads, desserts etc. This is a simple strategy that can save not only money, but also the time and stress that comes with the burden of preparing a Christmas meal by yourself.

6. Organise a Secret Santa

Organising a Secret Santa can be a great way to cut down on the cost of presents, whilst also getting everyone involved. The benefits of a Secret Santa are two-fold. Firstly, setting a budget for the presents removes the ambiguity of how much you should spend. The obvious second benefit is everyone only having to buy one present.

One of the best elements of Secret Santa’s is that you can adjust the budget and tone of the gifts to suit different groups. A less formal group of friends, for example, might assign a $10 budget and buy each other trivial presents, whereas a family could establish a larger budget with more sincere gifts.

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

Important Information

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

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You just deposited $10 into your Raiz account, the funds leave your bank to be used to buy Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) units, and your Raiz balance increases. But where, exactly, are these ETF units held for you?

They are not held by Raiz, but are held by an independent Custodian.

When you deposit funds into your Raiz account, there are a number of actions that happen before you see your balance increase. This diagram, taken from our PDS, provides an overview of what happens when you invest into your account.

Structure of the Raiz Fund showing the role of the custodian — Structure of the Raiz Fund

As you can see, Raiz doesn’t hold any ETF units. When we buy ETF’s on behalf of investors, the actual ETF units are then held by an independent Custodian (Perpetual Corporate Trust Limited).

What is a Custodian?

Put simply, a Custodian’s job is to hold assets (in this case ETF units) on behalf of the investors in the registered managed investment scheme (Raiz). They could be thought of as a bank for Raiz, whose only role is to hold and safeguard the assets of the fund. The chosen Custodian, Perpetual Corporate Trust Limited, is a respected and leading provider of custody services. Perpetual Corporate Trust is a member of the Perpetual Limited group which has provided trustee and custodial services since 1886. Perpetual Limited is an ASX listed company.

What benefits does a Custodian provide to Raiz users?

The primary benefit of our fund’s assets being held by a custodian is the assurance an independent custodian provides Raiz users. Hypothetically, if Raiz was to suddenly go out of business, the assets are still held by the Custodian and the dollar value of every user’s account would be returned to them. The ETF units, held by Perpetual Corporate Trust, would be sold on market by the Custodian so that their value in AUD would then be deposited back into users’ bank accounts.
Another benefit is the checks and balances a Custodian provides to Raiz users. They have a compliance function to ensure everything matches up.

If you’d like to read more in-depth about our Fund structure and Custodian, have a look through our PDS

Don’t have the Raiz App?

Download it for free in the App store or the Webapp below:

Important Information

The information may be based on assumptions or market conditions which change without notice. This could impact the accuracy of the information.

Under no circumstances is the information to be used by, or presented to, a person for the purposes of deciding about investing in Raiz Invest or Raiz Invest Super.

Past return performance of the Raiz products should not be relied on for making a decision to invest in a Raiz product and is not a good predictor of future performance.

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