World's largest custodian bank State Street backs Aussie micro-investing platform Raiz

The new partner, which is the asset management business of the world's largest custodian bank State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT), has acquired a 4.8 per cent stake in the Australian company for $1.97 million as part of the deal.

State Street's investment at $0.41 per share represents a 9.3 per cent premium to Raiz's previous closing price, but is just a quarter of the $1.617 per share paid by Seven West Media (ASX: SWM) in late 2021 to secure a 6.6 per cent stake in the group, with its $10 million injection coming primarily in the form of advertising inventory.

Other key investors in Raiz include Tiga Trading, which is linked to Alex Waislitz-affiliated Thorney Investment Group, as well as Melbourne-based high conviction funds manager SG Hiscock & Company and US micro-investing fintech Acorns.

Raiz CEO Brendan Malone told a webinar this morning that the company would also be launching a share purchase plan (SPP) for eligible shareholders to raise a further $2 million.

Malone said the strategic relationship with State Street had been formed over many years, with both parties committed to product innovation and improving the financial literacy of retail investors.

"Raiz will leverage State Street Global Advisors' trusted global brand to broaden market awareness and financial literacy to all its customers in Australia, and accelerate customer acquisition and FUM (funds under management) on the Raiz platform," he said.

The strategic relationship offers potential to explore an expansion of State Street Global Advisors’ exchange traded funds (ETFs) on the Raiz platform, from basic ETFs through to superannuation retirement portfolios.

"We're also working with State Street on some other products including our retirement income strategy, which will go into a pension phase of our superannuation product as we only have an accumulation phase now. So we're looking forward to building that out over the next six to nine months," Malone said.

State Street Global Advisors CEO and president Yie-Hsin Hung said the group was excited to be expanding its relationship with Raiz, a "proven fintech leader in bringing important tools and educational resources to investors across the region".

"This strategic investment reinforces our strategy to join forces with wealth firms who share our commitment to help investors globally manage their investments and savings for retirement," Hung said.

"This investment is a natural extension of the successful relationship we have enjoyed with Raiz since launch in 2016," added Meaghan Victor, State Street Global Advisors head of intermediary Asia Pacific.

"Both of us share a passion for making financial tools and solutions accessible to all investors, and through this strategic arrangement we will leverage our respective capabilities to help Australian investors plan and save for retirement," Victor said.

Malone said Raiz didn't necessarily need the extra cash as it already had $8.5 million on hand, which was up $1.7 million year-on-year after the group's Australian revenue rose 19 per cent to $21 million.

"I think we've got a strong balance sheet with the cash that we have here in the Australian business, but the use of these funds will help build out three pillars in our strategy going forward, and that's the AI (artificial intelligence) and data development, product development, and looking for and completing some of these strategic opportunities and partnerships that we currently have in the works," Malone said.

Unlike Raiz's Australian business, its operations in Malaysia ran at a $709,000 loss in FY24. Malone told the webinar that following agreements to divest the Malaysian business, the group was working closely with Raiz Malaysia and the country's regulator to ensure an "an orderly close down for business over the coming months, and we anticipate this to be finalised in this coming year".

On a statutory basis, Raiz reported a loss from its Australian operations of $905,000, although the total loss is double that at $1.8 million when taking into account the Southeast Asian operations that Raiz will be exiting.

Malone highlighted "massive momentum going into this new year" with strong uptake on new products. FUM for the Raiz Plus offering was up 66.4 per cent at $177 million, Raiz Invest Super's FUM was up 28.1 per cent at $288 million, while FUM for Raiz Kids more than doubled to $44 million.

In addition, the fund's Raiz Property division acquired a 12th property in July 2024, taking the segment to FUM of $27 million - up 32.4 per cent.

"We expanded our product suite and our customers are increasingly utilising multiple products, leading to higher account balances and FUM," Malone said.

"We are at an exciting time in our growth trajectory, with a scalable business model that is well positioned for both organic and M&A growth opportunities."