Raiz Invest has reported a 1.4 per cent decline in funds under management (FUM) for its Australian operations during February.
Total Australian FUM of $992 million was reported by the firm, dipping back below the $1 billion milestone achieved in November last year.
“During February, the uncertainties of a potential Russian-Ukraine conflict, and the subsequent invasion, as well as large shifts in central bank policies weighed on investor sentiment globally,” said Raiz Invest MD and joint group CEO George Lucas.
The biggest decline was seen in Raiz’s retail FUM, which fell by 1.6 per cent to $803 million, while funds in superannuation dipped 0.7 per cent to $189 million.
In addition to the lower FUM, Raiz said that the change in investor sentiment had also led to slower growth in its active customer base.
The number of active customers in Australia during the month rose by only 0.1 per cent to 293,671 with an increase of 11.6 per cent over the past 12 months.
Australian investment accounts moved 0.8 per cent higher to 579,000 while customer sign ups lifted 0.9 per cent to a total of 1.21 million.
“Although we expect markets to remain volatile, with little improvement in business conditions in March, geopolitical events – even ones as tragic as the Russian invasion of Ukraine – rarely have a long-term negative impact on markets,” said Mr Lucas.
“That said, we must acknowledge the negative market sentiment and weaker business conditions, and, as such, have temporarily reduced our marketing budget globally – a move we have successfully executed in the past.”
Globally, Raiz’s active customer base grew by 1.8 per cent after a surge of 52.7 per cent over the past 12 months.
A total of 1.30 million investment accounts were recorded globally, up 3.4 per cent on a monthly basis and 79.2 per cent annually.
Growth in the firm’s operations in Southeast Asia exceeded that seen in Australia, including active customer growth of 4.0 per cent for Indonesia and 1.9 per cent for Malaysia.
