Top ten FAQs for new InvestSMART investors

As an investor, do I legally own the shares/ETFs InvestSMART buys on my behalf?
InvestSMART is a "digital wealth platform" but can I speak to a real person?
Can I automate my investing with InvestSMART?
When are the portfolios rebalanced?
Does my investment receive dividends?
Do I receive franking credits and a tax statement?
What is the minimum investment?
Is there a minimum investment timeframe?
How do I view my portfolio and make changes if I need?
Are my investments safe with InvestSMART?

As an investor, do I legally own the shares/ETFs InvestSMART buys on my behalf?

Yes, all investments held within your InvestSMART PMA are held in your name (or chosen entity e.g. SMSF) in a CHESS sponsored broking account.

You are the registered legal and beneficial owner of a portfolio of securities. You can log into the investor website at any time to view the individual securities that make up your Account.

InvestSMART is a "digital wealth platform" but can I speak to a real person?

Yes, we have a team dedicated to helping our clients and you can reach them through whatever means you are most comfortable be it:

• Onsite chat: During business hours the team is live to take your questions. Outside of business hours the chat bot will assist to provide you an answer, if unsuccessful a team member will respond the next business day
• Email: InvestSMART has a dedicated email address just for clients where your query will be promptly followed up on
• Phone: The old fashioned phone is still a great go to for a quick answer. We can be reached on 1300 880 160

Can I automate my investing with InvestSMART?

InvestSMART aims to make building and maintaining your wealth easy. The best investing is done slowly, almost forgotten about in the background and a great way to ensure you continue to grow your wealth is to use the InvestSMART automated account settings.

Growing your wealth

• Regular contribution plan: Turn on a regular contribution plan to have a minimum of $100 per month direct debited from your bank account into your InvestSMART account.
• Automatic dividend reinvstment: The default setting for your InvestSMART account is to automatically reinvest the distributions. But, instead of just going straight back into the ETF they came from, they are reinvested across your portfolio to maintain balance.

Maintaining your wealth

• Automated income settings:
  • Income sweep: Every month we scan your account to see what dividends have been paid. They are bundled up and transferred out to your bank account. Clients living off the proceeds of their portfolio make use of this setting.
  • Regular withdrawal plan: Have a preset amount withdrawn from your portfolio each month. The InvestSMART team will ensure your portfolio maintains the right balance whilst providing you with regular funds.
  • Adhoc withdrawals: Withdraw funds as and when you need to fund your lifestyle or take advantage of market highs.

When are the portfolios rebalanced?

There are two answers to this question as there are two main triggers for a rebalance:

Investment committee led rebalance: Our Investment Committee meet once per quarter to review each portfolio and decide if a rebalance is required. This rebalance is done to ensure the portfolios risk profile remains in line with the mandate of each portfolio. The Investment Committee also review new ETFs coming on to the market to determine if a new ETF could provide better exposure to an asset class in a portfolio.

Cash increase or decrease: Our trading team monitor each account daily as clients can transfer in cash whenever they wish and we want to put this to work for them. When new cash is received (be it from a client contribution or the reciept of dividends) this will increase the percentage of cash in the portfolio. Each asset class in the portfolio (including cash) has a target weight. As cash grows it increases the percentage and when it is above the target weight we will bring the portfolio back into balance through buying underweight investments. Additionally, clients can withdraw funds whenever they wish. This will reduce the cash balance and a rebalance will be required to bring the account back in line with the desired weights of the portfolio.

Does my investment receive dividends?

Yes. Your account will receive dividends (distributions from ETFs). All ETFs with the exception of the cash ETF used pay quarterly distributions. The cash ETF used pays monthly distributions. These distributions come back into the account as cash and are used to buy more investments for you as the cash balance builds (see "when are the portfolios rebalanced"). For those wanting to take the income, you can use the income sweep setting. This is where we scan your account every month and transfer out any distributions paid.

Do I receive franking credits and a tax statement?

Yes. You will receive a comprehensive tax statement at the end of financial year and you will receive the franking you're entitled to once you submit your tax return.

What is the minimum investment?

The minimum investment is $10,000 per investment portfolio.

Is there a minimum investment timeframe?

No, there is no lock in time period or any penalties for withdrawing your funds. We do recommend paying attention to the recommended time period of each portfolio. Good investing is a long-term pursuit and in the short-term the market can fluctuate.

How do I view my portfolio and make changes if I need?

Account visibility and administration is all done via your InvestSMART login. Once you have started the process of opening an account you will see the progress of your account via the InvestSMART website. We are a digital business and all administration is done via the website without the need for paper forms.

Are my investments safe with InvestSMART?

When clients ask if their investment is safe with InvestSMART there are two main categories they are referring to; investment risk and the security of their investment.

Investment risk:

When you invest in anything other than a term deposit, you are taking risk. Investing is not about avoiding risk; it is about balancing risk with return and having an understanding of the risks associated with each asset class.

The InvestSMART team build investment portfolios designed around different risk profiles from conservative through to high growth. These portfolios hold the same asset classes and ETFs, but the weighting allocated to each asset class varies depending on the risk profile. The portfolios are designed to wear the bumps of the market.

Additionally, we recommend this article on how ETFs can help you manage risk.

Security of your investments:

We take the security of our investors accounts seriously and have built our service around this:

• All client's investments are CHESS sponsored. They are held on a HIN in the clients name. This means the client is the legal owner of the shares and not a beneficial owner.
• Clients are able to transfer out their holdings.
• Investors can enable two-factor authentication for account login
• Two-factor authentication is required for all account changes
• Bank level web security keeps client information safe and secure (that's our 256-bit SSL/TLS certificate)

What can investors do?

Investors can give their investments the best possible chance by selecting a portfolio in line with the same timeframe as their goal and risk appetite. Additionally, the best defense against volatility is time. Sit tight and allow your portfolio to recover. All investing comes with volatility and occasional uncertainty but, as the famous investor Charlie Munger says, never interrupt your compounding unnecessarily. 

If you have more questions about the InvestSMART service we highly recommend checking out our helpful Help Centre! Additionally, feel free to start a chat with the team in the bottom right of your screen.