These wealth management apps can save your finances in 2022

Take control of your spending habits, invest and save money, and grow your net worth with these wealth management apps.

In Nigeria, your savings needs to earn at least 12% cumulative interest every year, for you to beat inflation. Nigeria’s annual inflation rate fell for the eighth straight month to 15.40% in November of 2021, from 15.99% in October. It was the lowest rate since November last year, amid the continued deceleration in food inflation (17.21% vs 18.34%), according to Trading Economics.

Previously, we told you that to beat Nigeria’s continuous inflation rates, you will need to leverage fintech investment package, stocks, mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), save in other currencies (USD, Euro, Swiss Francs, etc.), cryptocurrency, bonds, agro-investment and real estate investment.

As 2022 begins, you need to pay attention to these strategies, hence I curated a list of some fintech companies offering wealth management services for Nigerians and Africans.

SFS Fund

SFS Fund is a ‘AA’ financial planning product, licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria (SEC), allowing you to invest and earn highly competitive interest rates.

SFS Fund (“SFS FIF” or “the SFS Fixed Income Fund”) is an open-ended Collective Investment Scheme. Launched in May 2014, the fund invests primarily in high-yielding securities issued by the Federal Government of Nigeria (AAA rated), sub-nationals and highly rated corporate institutions (with at least an “A” rating by an SEC-registered rating agency).

SFS Fund is therefore a low-risk financial planning product with an investor base ranging from retail to institutional clients including Pension Fund Administrators in Nigeria as regulated by the National Pension Commission (“PENCOM”). SFS Fund has over 40,000 subscribers and investments can be made in any international currency.

SFS Fund is managed by the multiple award-winning SFS Capital Nigeria Limited (SFS Capital) which is registered and regulated by the SEC and has over 60,000 clients with an Asset Under Management of more than 100 billion Naira.

Investment and Liquidity

With 5,000 Naira, you can start your investment journey on SFS Fund and start earning interest immediately. Withdrawals also take between 24 to 48 hours

Interest rate

Since its inception, SFS Fund has consistently outperformed its peers and its benchmark. For transparency, its interest rates are updated daily and visible on the user's dashboard each time they open the App (mobile and web). On the website of FMDQ and FMAN, daily rates are also visible.

Ease: The App is easy to navigate. SFS Fund has also made available several investing channels within the App. Asides from the debit card (Visa or MasterCard), USSD or Bank Transfer features, you can now generate a Dedicated Virtual Account that allows you to have a bank account attached to your investment account. With this, you can easily make a bank transfer to the Dedicated Virtual Account and the value immediately reflects on your SFS Fund account. You can also share this Dedicated Virtual Account Number with a third party to accept payments.

SFS Fund is also available in its web App and mobile App on iOS and android making it easy for investors to invest without any human intervention.

Automated investments

You can automate your investment in SFS Fund by creating a standing order. This can be daily, weekly, or monthly. You choose the interval, and SFS Fund honours every request using technology. The company does not make deductions that are not authorized by users, users receive a notification each time a deduction is made.

Parties:

There are several parties to the fund working together to ensure the safety and effective management of the funds.

• SFS Capital Nigeria Limited (Fund Manager)
• Stanbic IBTC Nominees (Custodian): They are responsible for the safekeeping of all the fund’s assets and investments.
• STL Trustees Limited (Trustees): They are responsible for ensuring that all parties comply with the provisions of the Trustees deed and giving feedback to SEC
• Securities and Exchange Commission (Regulator)
• Listings on Financial Markets Dealers Quotations (FMDQ) and Nigerian Exchange (NGX)

Financial advisory

Every investor on sfsfund.com is automatically assigned an investment advisor who is available to attend to all their investment needs. As a company, SFS Fund has won multiple awards including the Business Day award for Best Performing Fixed Income Fund 3 times in a row and our senior management has over 120 years of combined experience in investment management.

In addition, its client support team is available to help you set up your account, provide clarity on every feature within the product and assist you with calculating your expected interest based on how much money you are looking to invest.

There are no hidden fees and no pre-termination charge.

Trove

With a deposit of $10 or ₦1,000, you can commence your investment journey of buying global and local stocks and bonds on Trove. You can invest in over 4,000 stocks on Trove, including U.S. ETFs, American Depository Receipts (ADRs), and companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Mutual funds are also available on the app.

Trove is backed by Ventures Platform and ARM (Asset and Resource Management company), one of the biggest asset managers in Nigeria. Also, they received a grant from ARM Labs and the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Founded in 2018 by Oluwatomi Solanke (CEO), Austin Akagu, Desayo Ajisegiri and Opeyemi Olanipekun, Trove is only available to Nigerians with a bank verification number via Android and iOS devices.

Risevest

Rise allows its users to allocate capital across a portfolio of US stocks, US rental properties and global fixed-income assets, all in dollars. As a wealth management app, users cannot trade or pick securities by themselves; Rise provides selected and managed portfolios.

In 2020, Rise said its return rate for stocks was 40.77% and 87.7% in dollars and naira, respectively. Meanwhile, real estate scored 6.0% in dollars and 54.7% in naira. With $10, you can kick start your wealth management journey on the various investment offerings.

For real estate and fixed-income plans, users can withdraw on maturity, and the shortest duration is three months. Meanwhile, for stock plans, there is no lockup period therefore users can withdraw at any time. All withdrawal requests are processed within 24 hours.

Registered in Delaware, U.S., Rise invests globally through a registered and regulated investment advisory firm in the US and all investments are held with regulated third parties, while ARM Trustees provide oversight for users.

HerVest

Founded by Solape Akinpelu, HerVest aims to bridge the $42 billion gender finance gap for urban and last-mile women in Nigeria with an emphasis on women in agriculture.

With HerVest, women can save for short and long-term goals, make seamless fund transfers across different platforms and support other women while earning financial returns. As of press time, the female-focused wealth management app does not have an investment plan so users can only save but the minimum investment is ₦5,000 with a 20% ROI in four months.

Say you fund a female-owned, Irish potato farm for N25,000 at an interest rate of 10% in 5 months, your money will grow at 2% every month. With HerVest, your interest accrues daily and compounds monthly. - HerVest

All HerVest funds are held and managed by FBNQuest Trustees Limited, a member of FBN Holdings. FBNQuest Trustees Limited is regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Fundbae

FundBae offers an easy-to-use application that offers flexible savings and higher interest rates on their savings offering up to 15% interest per annum relative to a traditional bank account.

Users can save as low as ₦100. Interest accrues every 24 hours and they can liquidate their investments at any time. However, specific plans attract 5% on the total amount you are withdrawing if this falls outside of free withdrawal days, loss of all interest accrued if you liquidate before maturity on your Vault Plan and also withholding tax of 10% on total accrued interest due.

Fundbae is licensed through its collaboration with a CBN-licensed microfinance bank — Kwacofocus MFB. In 2021, over 30,000 users saved on the app, exceeding a ₦1 billion transaction value.

Ladda

Ladda offers users the opportunity to grow their own personalized portfolio of mutual funds, Eurobonds, local and international stocks that are available in one secure location and easily accessible at all times with a minimum of ₦500.

Currently, the investment options on the app include naira and dollar mutual funds with a 7% return on investment annually.

i-Invest

i-Invest allows investors to purchase diverse instruments, including treasury bills, fixed deposits, equities, Eurobonds, commercial papers and life insurance.

This app requires a minimum of ₦10,000 for investments in treasury bills. Meanwhile, the minimum investment for fixed deposits is ₦100,000, and withholding tax is deductible from accrued interest.

Microvest

This platform allows its users to start saving with as low as ₦1,000 in the following plans:

• MiSafe: This feature avails users the opportunity to make untenured contributions, accessible at any time for withdrawals.
• MiTarget: This contribution variant is for the continued build-up of contributions targeted at a project. It is a tenured account, only accessible at the end of the period set by the user or at any time, minus a 3% penalty.
• MiLock: This is a one-time fixed contribution for at least one year, accessible only after the said period or at a penalty of 3%. The tenure can be renewed and additional deposits can be made at any time.

Overwood

Overwood is an investment platform that protects its users' principal and enables then to earn up to 12% per annum. This platform invests in mutual funds, money market instruments, government bonds, credit-backed instruments, capital market instruments, and treasury bills, offering an 8 – 15% annual interest rate on investment.

Cowrywise

Cowrywise is designed to help its users to save as little as 100 Naira using multiple plans and circles. The app also has a feature for mutual funds in dollars and naira as well as an emergency fund plan that ensures you don't touch your main plan.

Piggyvest

Piggyvest enables its users to save money to meet their goals. Users can choose to save little amounts of money periodically (daily, weekly or monthly) towards a specific target or lock away funds for a specified period of time.

The platform also offers people the opportunity to invest their money in various ventures and get up to 25% return on investments for as little as eight months or more. Saving money attracts up to 13% interest.

In 2019, Piggyvest introduced Investify so users can invest in low-risk investment opportunities. Founded in 2016 by Joshua Chibueze and Odunayo Eweniyi, Piggyvest is arguably the biggest digital savings and investment technology platform in Nigeria. They have over three million users.

What you need to register for most of these apps

Registration is easy, just have your bank verification number at hand, a valid phone number, and a smartphone, and you are ready to go. You will also need to upload your KYC [know your customer] documents after you have registered. These documents include:

1. A picture (preferably a portrait)
2. Government-issued ID card — international passport bio-data page, driver’s license, voter’s card or national ID card (All documents must be permanent and valid).
3. Evidence of address – Recent utility (including electricity, water, and waste) bill, permanent driver’s license, permanent voters card, bank account statement, tenancy agreement or land use charge (All documents must bear your address).

Note: This does not apply to all of the platforms.

Update: January 13; MiDollar was removed from the plans Microvest offer and the penalties were reduced from 10% to 3%.