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Murray Ward
Micro-investing disruptor Raiz Invest has ticked off a major leadership transition, locking in financial services and digital platform heavyweight Craig Keary as its new chief executive officer.
The new hire comes as the multi-award-winning fintech business primes its operations for a major new strategic growth push across the Australian wealth sector.
Keary assumes the top job immediately, bringing a significant corporate pedigree to the company’s executive table.
The company says his background features deep tier-one financial and wealth platform experience, highlighted by high-profile executive stints with blue-chip institutions including HSBC, Westpac and AMP Capital.
‘The Board worked with Brendan to determine the right time and approach for leadership transition as Raiz enters its next phase of growth.’
Raiz Invest chair Ms Kelly Humphreys
Crucially for Raiz’s next development phase, he also holds direct fintech leadership credentials as the former chief executive officer of rival ASX-listed online wealth platform Selfwealth.
To secure the financial heavyweight, Raiz has locked in a total fixed remuneration package of A$500,000, comprising base salary and superannuation. Under the material contract terms, the incoming boss is also eligible for short-term and long-term incentive arrangements.
The board-led transition will see outgoing managing director and chief executive officer Brendan Malone step down after a highly successful six-year tenure at the helm.
Mr Malone has been part of the Raiz fabric since its very inception, steering the platform through its critical early evolutionary phases and successfully listing the entity on the ASX.
His leadership was defined by a massive cultural and operational push to build financial literacy among everyday Australians, effectively democratising the domestic investment landscape.
He will remain on hand to assist with a one-month handover period before taking gardening leave until late May next year.
Raiz Invest chair Ms Kelly Humphreys said: “On behalf of the Board, I thank Brendan for his contribution. Under his leadership, we repositioned the company to focus on our core Australian operations and achieved steady growth, including in revenue, active customer numbers and funds under management. This growth has resulted in the company generating underlying net profits and cashflow, a major achievement during Brendan’s time as CEO.”
Malone’s strategy appears to be clearly paying dividends, building on a formidable corporate backstory that began when the business launched as the Acorns Australia joint venture.
After rebranding and charting its own independent path as a standalone ASX-listed entity, Raiz pioneered the iconic automated “round-up” investment mechanism in Australia.
Its platform has shaken up the traditional wealth landscape by automatically funnelling loose change from everyday transactions into diversified portfolios, cracking open the door to the market for first-time retail investors.
This resilient micro-contribution model has helped drive operational scale, allowing the business to weather recent market volatility to hit a record-breaking A$2.17 billion in total funds under management. The sticky customer ecosystem has steadily grown into a deeply engaged community of 347,354 active users, pushing average account balances up by 18.1 per cent to A$5996.
Notably, higher-value products appear to be driving deep engagement-fuelled growth across the platform’s broader product offerings. The company’s specialised “Jars” product has surged a whopping 142.4 per cent year-on-year to 33,331 active accounts, while specialised Kids and Plus Jars delivered equally punchy annual gains of 26.3 per cent and 22.4 per cent, respectively.
Furthermore, its entry-level Lite plan leapt 86 per cent quarter-on-quarter to 5867 users in March, while standalone superannuation portfolios edged higher to 15,196 active accounts.
This multi-pronged inflow engine has allowed Raiz to maintain its full-year financial guidance, with underlying EBITDA forecast to land in a range of A$4.5 million to A$5.5 million.
With a new chief executive now firmly at the helm, the company says its next step is to double down on growth by streamlining its services, rolling out new products, and expanding its profitable domestic footprint.
Management has already moved to scale its proprietary tech stack, utilising advanced artificial intelligence marketing to boost customer acquisition and to maximise long-term customer stickiness across its high-margin offerings.
Raiz appears to have methodically assembled a robust digital foundation, transforming loose change into a serious multi-billion-dollar wealth powerhouse.
With an experienced corporate navigator now at the helm, the company looks perfectly positioned to shake up the digital wealth landscape even further and accelerate growth for this fast-growing micro-investor.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
