Ms Voronina, in 2013 quirion opened up the digital investment advice segment in Germany. How has robo-advice developed in Germany since then?
Anna Voronina: The market for robo-advice here is still a high-growth niche, but it has enormous potential. By the end of 2017, assets under management in Germany will have multiplied to more than 1.2 billion euros. And next year the volume could nearly triple to around three billion euros.
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What are the drivers of this trend?
There are three main reasons for it: first, the rapid technological progress in the field of artificial intelligence. It creates the conditions for faster, cheaper and easier access to superior investment concepts that used to be available only to the very wealthy. On top of that, people are better informed and, in times of low interest rates, are looking for alternative ways to invest their money. And, not least, many are dissatisfied with the performance of their „analogue“ investment advisers.
What can a robo-advisor do better?
We replace the investment adviser with a smart intelligence that combines science and technology. This lets us avoid the emotional mistakes that creep into investing – for example: frequent and unnecessary reshuffling, missing the right moments to buy in and sell out, and investing according to trends or in supposedly familiar markets. Above all, though, we do without expensive, complicated products whose high fees and commissions eat into returns.
How does quirion invest instead?
For our investors, we assemble a broadly diversified ETF portfolio that invests across a wide range of sectors, regions and currencies based on scientific, Nobel-Prize-winning insights. Here our focus is on selecting global equity indices and specific categories of equities that have delivered above-average returns over long periods.
But other robo-advisors do that too ...
First, not all of them do, and second, we have the most experience in this market and are the provider that acts genuinely independently in the sense of the German Securities Trading Act. That means we forgo commissions entirely. What's more: right now, anyone can invest their first 10,000 euros with us free of charge. This lowers the barrier to entry and removes the initial hurdles, so we can win people over. On top of that, we've optimised the user journey to the point where every investor receives a personal, meaningful investment proposal in ten minutes. That gives you the easiest access there is – and you can test it out quite simply!
What effect is the relaunch meant to achieve?
The new look is a visual quantum leap. The old website didn't yet reflect the digital intelligence we've since achieved in the backend. The user journey puts the customer at the centre and shows that a personal dialogue on equal terms with the customer is possible online too. Because we're independent, we can't and won't define ourselves on the website through product partnerships. Nor do we want to come across as elitist. On the contrary: we democratise investing in an inspiring way that leads to lasting investment success. „Live and let invest“ – that's the message that needs to land with the customer. And I think we're achieving that very well with the new look.
Visually, after the relaunch there are essentially no similarities left with Quirin Privatbank AG. Is that intentional?
Without Quirin Privatbank, quirion wouldn't exist. As a future spin-off of the bank, we won't only adopt its model based on independence and fee-based advice – unlike other market players, we'll also continue to meet the high quality standards of a German private bank. As a public limited company, though, quirion will operate independently in commercial-law terms and drive its business model forward with confidence. This marks the start of a new chapter for us, and we're all already very excited about it.
