Japan’s Mirae acquires controlling stake in robo-adviser Stockspot
afr.comSydney robo-adviser Stockspot, founded by ex-UBS portfolio manager Chris Brycki a decade ago, has sold a sizeable stake in the business to Japan’s Mirae Asset Global Investments, best known in Australia for being an early investor in exchange-traded fund powerhouse Betashares.
Street Talk can reveal Mirae would own just over 50 per cent of Stockspot in a deal that was expected to close on Wednesday morning. It would tip in $20 million and pave the way for some Stockspot shareholders to cash in, while leaving room for growth spending.
Neither side used financial advisers, but Mirae tapped Minter Ellison for legal advice. Talks between the two started after Brycki reached out to Mirae’s James McGrath, after the latter left venture capital firm OneVentures to hunt for Australian start-ups for Mirae to invest in.
Chris Brycki of Stockspot has sold a slice of the company he founded a decade ago. Louie Douvis
Stockspot has about 13,000 active users, to whom the company makes personal advice recommendation on investment products constructed from low-cost ETFs. It is licensed to provide personal advice – which it does via a questionnaire instead of a human adviser – and charges 0.40 per cent to 0.60 per cent annually in fees. The business does just under $5 million annually in revenue and looks after $650 million in assets.
Brycki said it would use Mirae’s investment to ramp up marketing, and on its tech and product offering.
Mirae’s James McGrath.
“Australia is a few years behind on robo-advice. It has a roughly 20 per cent penetration in the US… the US and UK have much larger players who have spent hundreds of millions on advertising, whereas in Australia robo-advisers have grown more organically,” he said.
Mirae last year
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