Retail investment apps have revolutionized investing for millions who can now buy and sell shares – or even portions of shares – at the click of a button. IR Magazine talks to Andrew Pesco, head of investment management at newly launched Domain Money, a trading platform that offers retail investors access to actively managed strategies.
Founded by Adam Dell, former head of product at Marcus by Goldman Sachs, Domain Money’s actively managed strategy is curated by an investment team and counts ex-employees from Goldman Sachs and Bridgewater Associates – as well as a senior fellow at Stanford University – among its advisors.
Domain Money differentiates itself through its actively managed investment strategies. Can you tell me more about how this works for a retail-focused investment platform?
We focus on building our customers’ wealth over the long term, which informs everything we do. Our investment approach starts by identifying meaningful secular growth trends that appear ready to provide a tailwind for our customers’ investments.
Over the next decade, we believe investing in innovation areas like financial technology, blockchain, the Metaverse, cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, autonomous technologies and the continued digitization of the economy has the potential to provide customers with superior investment returns. Accordingly, we offer clients actively managed portfolios that include stocks and crypto to capitalize on the distinct opportunities in both asset classes.
We provide these investment solutions in a beautifully designed app with a focus on transparency and investing education.
What does this mean in terms of engagement with companies and proxy voting?
We currently allow our customers to vote their shares. But we are exploring taking on that responsibility as an investment adviser over the next two to four quarters.
What advice can you offer companies when it comes to communicating and engaging with a rapidly increasing retail base? Can you share any examples of companies you think do this especially well?
We generally find companies that can clearly and concisely synthesize their purpose, strategy and goals with respect to their business and sustainability are the best positioned to gain the support of the retail investor base.
Millennial and Gen Z investors are growing in economic power and research has shown that this constituency favors investing in companies that have corporate values that align with their personal values. Accordingly, we think transparency around core business goals as well as sustainability goals in a format that is approachable to all investing audiences can make a big impact.
Finally, where do you see the retail space going in the near to mid-term?
We believe the rise of the retail investor in 2021 is here to stay – but this class of investors was historically underserved with respect to high-quality data, research and investing products. We believe there is a new awareness of the size of the retail investing market and are excited to see new platforms enter the market with the goal of leveling up the knowledge and skill of retail investors.
