InvestNow Review - making sense of the DIY investment platform

InvestNow offers the InvestNow KiwiSaver Scheme – A KiwiSaver Scheme that has 28 managed funds, 9 expert fund managers and no KiwiSaver administration fees. You can mix and match from 1 fund up to 28 funds. 

Each fund manager will charge a management fee (the average across all InvestNow funds is 1.04%, however, this average is of the total fund charges by the fund managers, which includes management fees, admin costs and any performance fees) which is taken out of your investment. This means if the value of the shares your fund invests in go up 5% in one year, your return on investment would be 4% if the fund had a 1% management fee. The “Free Fees” marketing promoted by InvestNow refers to their own platform fees, as well as free buying and selling of funds. 

InvestNow is owned by Implemented Investment Solutions (IIS), a Wellington-based company which managers funds under the names “Russell Investments” and “Hunter Global”. These funds charge different fees, but InvestNow offers plenty of alternatives and doesn’t actively encourage in their related company funds.

There is a huge range of funds, all offering different levels of risk and fees. For index funds, any investment means you’re putting money into a number of companies, so if one doesn’t perform as expected the strength of other companies will balance out the bad eggs. For example, the NZ Top 50 fund invests in the 50 largest New Zealand listed companies, so you are well diversified. Other funds invest in 500 or more companies, meaning you are well diversified.

If you’d like to make regular contributions to savings outside of a KiwiSaver fund, InvestNow has relatively low entry points. Each fund needs to have a minimum of $250 to be established, or a commitment to invest $50 on a regular basis. With no per-fund establish fee or platform fee, we believe that InvestNow is very accessible and an affordable way to build up your chosen fund(s) at no marginal cost.

Logging in to InvestNow displays your portfolio value for every fund invested in, updated daily. You’ll be able to see details like increases or decreases in value from the previous day and monthly returns. It’s made very user-friendly for beginner investors.

Many of the shares your fund invests in will pay dividends. These cash payments represent the profits from companies returning it to the shareholders, i.e. you. When a company declares a dividend, your fund will receive money and buy more shares in the ETF with the dividend received. For example, if you receive a $100 dividend and the ETF is currently priced at $2.00, your ETF will buy 50 more fund units on your behalf. You’ll need to check with the specific fund to see their policy, as some also offer the alternative of dividends being paid out in cash. Reinvesting dividends is the best way to increase the value of your investment in the long term.

Making your initial investment with InvestNow is very straightforward, even for the most inexperienced investor. You’ll need to set up login access first, using an email and creating a password. After this, you’ll need to complete your registration by entering in personal details (tax, bank account numbers, financial disclosures and dividend preferences). You can then fund your account and once the money has cleared (usually occurring every weekday morning), you’ll be able to start investing.​

If you want to start an investment for your children, InvestNow offers investments in any of their funds. You’ll only need a proof of ID – proof of address can be in the parent or guardian’s name.

InvestNow promotes a couple of funds that are socially responsible – the Vanguard International Shares Select Exclusions Index Fund (0.20% annual fee) and the Pathfinder Global Water Fund (1.30% annual fee). Beyond these, it’s uncertain which funds are “socially responsible” and therefore their status cannot be implied or assumed. 

Responsible Investments, according to InvestNow, are defined by the investor and what the investor considers to be ‘responsible’, for example, an investor may consider a fund that simply excludes investing in tobacco, responsible. But another investor might hold a higher view of Responsible Investing, for example, a fund that only includes investments that have a positive impact, such as renewable energy.

All funds in the range of Managed Funds on InvestNow, to some degree (via exclusions or inclusions), follow a Responsible Investment strategy. For more information on Socially Responsible Investment, see Mindful Money’s website or our Responsible Investing: Explained article.