There
are four broad categories of investors in Asset Management Funds. Institutional,
High-Net-Worth-Individuals (HNWI), Retail, and those who get left out because
the economics are hard. Institutional investors are Pension Funds, Fund-of-Funds,
Company Assets, Insurance Companies, Endowments (e.g. Universities), Charities
and Governments. Investment Committees make the decision to invest on behalf of
others. They pool the assets to reduce the costs. HNWI are rich people. They
make their own decisions, or get an adviser. Retail Investors are
non-professional but still have enough to invest that the expenses don’t
completely swallow the growth. Not having money is expensive. Scale makes
things cheaper. One of the hardest problems to crack is making investing
accessible. Two companies I follow with interest working on this problem are
Franc (www.franc.app) which aims to make investing affordable and social, and
Meerkat (www.meerkat.co.za) which focuses
on those who are in a hole of debt. Charting a path off debt reliance and
providing cover for the clear and present emergencies that can make long term
capital building a pleasant unicorn frolicking in another reality.
