Last month I provided a review on the spare-change roundup investment app, Acorns. Another well established FinTech firm founded here in Australia is Simply Wall St.
I particularly think this website/app will be of great interest to our readers. Simply Wall St turns complex and dynamic financial information about shares, companies and exchanges into simple infographics. Users can research potential investments and decide if the asset fits their investing preference.
The app first launched late November 2014 and covers the Australian Securities Exchange, the London Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange. Their technology is designed in a way that simplifies the challenge of successful stock exchange investing. It provides people of all experience with a fantastic, easy to follow report on a particular security or investment.
What makes the app unique is its primary focus on providing its users with simple visuals. Rather than presenting numbers, spreadsheets and graphs, Simply Wall St presents a ‘snowflake’ (see below), which encompasses five key variables: income, value, future, past and health. Inside the snowflake is a blob, whose shape depends on these variables. When you hover your mouse over different parts of the snowflake, a box pops up providing a rating out of six for each variable. This tool alone allows you to assess a company on its key metrics and filter companies out of your own ‘personal investment universe’ relative to these metrics.
Simply Wall St offers different results based on what filters the user chooses. Filters include ‘Companies suitable for your first investment’, ‘Companies that pay a dividend which beats your savings account’, ‘Companies with high growth expectations’ and many more.
Clicking on a snowflake reveals the infographic for that company and the infographic helps the user to understand why the snowflake is the shape it is. At this point, new users are asked if they want to turn on ‘Beginner Mode’ which then adds an additional layer onto the infographic. The aim is to help a complete beginner understand the information they are being presented.
This app will be most useful for those that like to do a bit of direct equity investing themselves, which I think will be almost everyone reading this. Although the free version of the service is somewhat limited, it is a great resource to have and use before buying any stock. To find out more or sign up, visit www.simplywall.st
