A Woodford House old girl is co-founder of the half-a-billion-dollar investment company Sharesies. Brooke Roberts was home last weekend to accept a prize recognising her achievements. She chatted to BayBuzz and gave some tips for those who think investing is only for rich people.
One of the country’s most successful entrepreneurs has been celebrated by her home school, Hawke’s Bay’s Woodford House. Sharesies co-founder Brook Roberts received the Tempus Award for Outstanding Achievement at a special ceremony last weekend.
Sharesies is a household name these days, attracting people of all ages and backgrounds to have a go at stock market trading – formerly seen as the domain of stiff, suited and booted people with a nose for finance.
Today the democratising nature of Sharesies’ business model has brought stock market investing to everyday Kiwis, with its quirky marketing and simple proposition. It’s based on the idea of low barriers to entry. Anyone can make a trade for as little as $5, because the investment platform ‘fractionalises’ investing so more people can get in on a trade.
Today, more than 500,000 Kiwis and Aussies trade with Sharesies, with an average balance of $4000 in their trading wallet. The company is now valued at more than $500,000,000.
“We chose Brooke not only because of her entrepreneurship and well-documented business acumen but because of her generosity of spirit. Brooke has always looked out for opportunities to give back – to her team, to her business community, and to the girls of Woodford House,” said president of the Woodford House Old Girls Association, Mary Sherratt.
Roberts’ education at Woodford House set her on the path of entrepreneurship, she said, when she was awarded the Kate Hutchinson Award for Entrepreneurial Spirit as a student.
Roberts said she always knew she would start a business and it was something that came naturally to her.
“It always interested me and I was very curious in that way. I feel like starting a business is a great way to create change and was something worth putting my energy towards.”
She founded Sharesies with five others in 2017, after gaining a BCOM and Masters in Finance. The company recently became B Corp accredited, and is part of the Institute of Directors’ new future leaders programme, giving aspiring leaders the opportunity for board experience.
Back at Woodford House she said she was fortunate to have a maths teacher who understood that she liked business and made an effort to encourage her thinking along those lines by putting math problems into a business context for her to solve.
Later at university, studying marketing and international business, she recalls the lecturer asking students to put up their hands if they liked numbers. She was one of only three in 300 that did. This was the moment she realised there was an opportunity for her and she decided to pick up finance.
She and her now husband Leighton Roberts, also a co-founder, had been thinking about starting a business in finance but it was the idea for Sharesies, around equalising the playing field, that felt like the best one to pursue. This came from another co-founder Sonya Williams, but all six funders brought a contribution to the table, she said.
Before starting the company, the founders did a lot of market research, which showed people felt they needed to be rich to be an investor and know lots of jargon, which isn’t true, she said.
“We started Sharesies because we believe that everybody deserves an equal opportunity to growth their wealth, and six years ago when we founded it people didn’t think they could be an investor and that it was really locked off and didn’t feel accessible.”
“With the technology today there is just no reason why someone with $5 or $5 million can’t have the same money opportunities. Wealth breeds wealth, so how can we help people make the most of that time on their side. That was the founding rationale.”
Today they have everyone from amateurs to professionals using their platform, some with a few dollars and others with multi-million dollar portfolios, she said.
Roberts said she’s keen see more people educated around financial literacy, and she tries to get involved in the community to do that, especially with rising interest rates and inflation hitting households hard right now.
Her top tips:
- The most important aspect of money is time – create opportunities for the future by putting money away today;
- Build your wealth every pay day, by investing amounts you can afford;
- Learn by doing – tap into the blogs and podcasts available to get exposure to good financial and investing information.
Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air