Online investment platform Snowball widening access to assets

Online investment platform Snowball is expanding to offer small retail investors access to a wider range of assets, usually only available to institutions and big investors.

Snowball Effect co-founder and managing director Simeon Burnett said the company was offering a mix of private equity, private credit and long short equity funds, available to investors with small, initial stakes of between $1,000 to $5,000.

He said Snowball Effect was eliminating the traditionally high barriers to entry and lowering the minimum investment levels required to invest in these asset classes.

"Having a well diversified investment portfolio is critical to growing wealth, however accessing the optimal set of assets to properly diversify a portfolio can be very difficult in New Zealand," Burnett said.

He said private market and alternative assets were forecast to grow at more than twice the rate of public assets -- rising to US$60 trillion in 2032 from US$13 trillion last year.

"By providing access to international and homegrown managed funds, Snowball is empowering Kiwis to take control of their financial future and develop world-class investment portfolios."

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