XSpot Wealth: Democratising wealth management

Transcript

In 2014, two investment professionals created XSpot Wealth, a wealth management business at the intersection of flexibility, transparency, technology and fees. Dimitris Kantzelis is one of those co-founders, and XSpot’s current CEO; he discusses the void created at the lower-income end of wealth management as a consequence of MiFID II, and how introducing XSpot’s AI and trading algorithms to the industry enabled the business to offer a convenient, transparent, low cost and flexible wealth management solution for everyone.

World Finance: Dimitris, why did you create XSpot Wealth?

Dimitris Kantzelis: Well Paul, it was a period of rapid regulatory changes in Europe, with MiFID I and MiFID II coming into place. And we knew that if Europe decided to push for those changes, big banks and traditional wealth management providers wouldn’t have any other option than increasing their fees; making it almost impossible for smaller clients – clients with less than €1m in their accounts – to make money in the long term.

At the same time, we had a going momentum of millennials: people who wanted to start with very low amounts, less than €10,000 possible, and they were seeking digital, robust services for an early retirement.

So, XSpot Wealth was built exactly for this: to help people of every level of income, taking ownership of their financial future.

World Finance: So how do you actually achieve that? How does XSpot innovate in order to deliver on that promise?

Dimitris Kantzelis: The key for us was the use of smart technology. We knew that big banks and traditional wealth managers, they were doing everything manually. Whereas on the other hand, us: we were already using artificial intelligence and trading algorithms when working. So we knew that if we apply some of those rules, we could democratise investing, making it available for everyone.

So, this required big investments in technology, long hours of programming, and filtrating investment strategies in order to bring these investment plans, making them available to everyone. Offering great flexibility, big transparency, and some of the lowest fees in the market.

World Finance: Why would someone choose XSpot Wealth over another wealth manager or bank?

Dimitris Kantzelis: Well I would say everything, but this could be summarised down to five key points.

Convenience: it’s so easy to open an account with us, it takes less than 30 minutes, and even if you have a question our excellent support team is there to help you.

Transparency: we’re fully transparent in the entire process, showing every bit of detail someone needs to know before opening the account, but also throughout the entire process.

Diversification: we give a very big variety of investment plans, matching almost every investment and risk profile. This is great and we let someone choose among those.

Low cost: because we believe that with low costs we help you boost your investments and grow your account even more in the long-term.

And, flexibility: flexibility in changing the plans whenever you feel like, or taking money out, because we don’t enforce high or hidden fees in our accounts.

World Finance: So looking ahead, what are your plans for the coming year?

Dimitris Kantzelis: Yes, after the COVID year 2020 being a bit turbulent – but we had great results in all our investment profiles, which makes us really happy. Our next target for 2021 is to enter another two European countries, reach the first target of 10,000 clients.

And from there onwards jump to the second target, which is 100,000 clients and €1bn assets under management. Then it would be natural to expand outside Europe and the Middle East, towards Asia and the US.