Stockspo‪t‬ review

• Stockspot is a robo-adviser that customises investment advice to investors’ risk management needs.
• Portfolio options, themes, and accounts are available for different investor preferences and values.
• The investing platform caters for nearly all ages and levels of investment experience.

For those who have little to no stockmarket experience, it can be daunting to enter the world of investing. Even experienced investors face the ongoing challenge of ensuring that their portfolios remain healthy.

Stockspot aims to address these issues and ticks many of the boxes investors look for in an investment platform: low management fees, easy registration process, and a good range of choices.

Read our comprehensive review to compare Stockspot's fees, features and more.

About Stockspot

Stockspot is a robo investment platform founded in 2014 by Chris Brycki. Robo-advisers use software algorithms to offer low-cost investment services.

Stockspot offers its users low-fee investing options, a feature that has attracted thousands of users since its launch year. So far, Stockspot portfolios have performed well, with the highest return on investments at 10.7% p.a. over a period of five years ending in September 2021.

The lowest risk portfolio posted a 7.2% ROI within the same period, which is generally considered a good return for stock investments. These numbers, of course, do not in any way predict future Stockspot portfolio performance.

Is Stockspot safe?

Stockspot Pty Ltd (ACN 163 214 319) is regulated by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC). It is a licensed financial services provider and an authorised representative of Sanlam Private Wealth Pty Ltd (ABN 18 136 960 775) with Australian Financial Services Licence No. 337927.

The company has successfully completed several funding rounds. Past and present investors include Rocket Internet, H2 Ventures, Graham Tuckwell, and Alium Capital.

Reviews on other comparison websites and review aggregators like Trustpilot are all in agreement: Stockspot is legit and trustworthy.

Who is Stockspot designed for?

Anyone looking to invest in ETFs, and Australian and global shares can benefit from Stockspot. It is suitable for users with varied investing experiences, offering investment advice suited to the risk levels that individual users consider acceptable.

With Stockspot, investors can determine the level of management and control they exercise over their portfolios with the ability to either customise it fully or follow Stockspot's recommended portfolio allocation.

Key features

Stockspot offers three types of products:

• Investing
• Sustainable investing
• Stockspot for Advisors

Investing products are automated, diversified portfolios personalised according to the investor’s financial goals.

Sustainable investing offers portfolios that include only environmentally friendly and socially responsible companies.

Stockspot for Advisors is for professionals wanting to create diversified portfolio allocations customised for their clients. The product includes the automated monitoring and rebalancing of portfolios to align these with clients’ goals.

Users can choose from the following options when they open a Stockspot account:

• Individual
• Joint
• Kids
• Self-managed super fund (SMSF)
• Company structure
• Trust structure
• Not-for-profit

Stockspot offers various portfolio options and asset classes. Users with higher value portfolios can adjust their holdings to different Stockspot investment themes.

Investment themes are essentially a way to further diversify and manage portfolio allocations. Each theme highlights the markets or fields in which an investor may seek more exposure. Stockspot users can choose from:

• Total market ETF - US, China, Japan, Australian, and Global shares
• Active stock picking ETF - fields related to technology and healthcare
• Australian ETF - shares related to the Australian market
• Property ETF - shares related to Australian and global properties
• Defensive ETF - high-interest cash, Australian corporate and inflation bonds, and global bonds

Users can set three themes per portfolio. Themes are recommended for long-term investments from three to 10 years to maximise returns.

Gold tier and platinum clients are awarded four and five theme changes per year, respectively.

Portfolios and asset classes

Stockspot offers five portfolio options classified for risk management. The options with their respective growth to defensive ratios are as follows:

• Topaz: high growth (78% growth and 22% defensive)
• Emerald: growth (70% growth and 30% defensive)
• Turquoise: balanced (60% growth and 40% defensive)
• Sapphire: moderately conservative (50% growth and 50% defensive)
• Amethyst: conservative (40% growth and 60% defensive)

There are standard and sustainable versions of these portfolio options. The standard portfolios are for investors who prefer to focus on stock ETFs. The sustainable portfolios are for those who prefer ethically themed ETFs.

The latter option supports companies engaged in initiatives that meet Stockspot’s social responsibility, good governance, and environmental sustainability criteria.

The different Stockspot portfolio options are built from five asset classes:

• Australian shares - comprises companies listed on the ASX
• Global shares - consists of the largest companies worldwide
• Emerging markets - includes companies from Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa
• Bonds - consists of low-risk, government-issued bonds that provide reliable and fixed returns
• Gold - rides above inflation and market activity

Fees and costs

The higher the value of a portfolio, the lower the management fees, as shown in these Stockspot fee tiers:

• Bronze ($2,000 - $ 10,000 balance) - $5.50 per month (first six months free; free for kids)
• Silver ($ 10,001 - $ 50,000 balance) - 0.66% p.a.
• Gold ($50,000 - $ 200,000 balance) - 0.66% p.a.
• Platinum ($200,000 - $ 2,000,000 balance) - 0.528% p.a.
• Diamond ($2,000,000 or above balance) - 0.396% p.a.

How to set up an account

Follow these steps to open a Stockspot account:

1. Answer a questionnaire for portfolio recommendation. Users can consider options other than the recommendation.
2. Provide your details for verification. Include income, assets, tax file number, and an ID, which must be verified online.
3. Once the agreements are signed and set, choose an account type and set it up.

Users may deposit top-up funds into their accounts. Stockspot automatically distributes the funds to their portfolios.

Children under 18 can have investment accounts opened in their parents’ or guardians’ names. Children’s accounts remain legally held in the adults’ names until the children turn 18. There are no management fees for children’s portfolios under $10,000.

Pros and cons

Alternatives

Australians are spoiled for choice when it comes to investment platforms, especially in the robo-adviser space. Here are some of the best alternatives to Stockspot you can consider.

• Spaceship Voyager. More experienced investors may prefer to invest in diversified portfolios. In that case, they can try Spaceship Voyager's Universe Portfolio, which invests mainly in global companies.
• Raiz. A very popular robo-adviser that pioneered the space in Australia. Links with your account and invests roundups.
• CommSec Pocket. A simplified version of CommSec geared towards passive investing with ETFs.
• OpenInvest. Specialises in values-based investing, offering portfolios aligned with investors’ social and environmental causes.

FAQs

Does Stockspot have a mobile app?

Stockspot has a mobile app available for download from Google Play and the App Store.

What is the minimum amount that I can invest through Stockspot?

The initial investment starts at $2,000. Succeeding investments start at $500 for portfolios below $50,000, and $2,000 for portfolios worth $50,000 and higher.

Are the Stockspot portfolios available on other platforms?

Stockspot has an app and a website where users can directly log in to their accounts.

Is Stockspot a managed fund?

Stockspot is not a managed fund because it does not pool together different investors’ money. It is a robo advice platform that runs algorithms to provide investment advice and manage individual investors’ ETF portfolios.

Verdict

Stockspot is a robo-adviser, an all-in-one platform that provides automated investment services. It is government-regulated and CHESS-sponsored.

Any investor, beginner or experienced, young or old, could find value in what Stockspot offers. But if you want to to make your own speculative stock picks, it's probably not for you.