Most Common Questions
SmartWealth is an online investment advisory portal. Our goal is to help you take control of your financial future by making make it easy for you to save regularly and invest in the best companies in Nigeria.
To do this, SmartWealth helps you assess your risk tolerance profile, provides a smart investment plan, and a flexible, automated savings feature. You also get timely and regular recommendations on what to buy, as well as help with placing your trade orders with your broker. Finally, you can monitor your portfolio online and get portfolio management tips and action plans.
SmartWealth is simple, secure and completely transparent way to generate and preserve wealth over the long-term. You enjoy financial advice that is tailored to your unique needs and circumstances. You earn the highest available interest rates when you buy fixed income securities. This way, you do not have to take what is handed down by financial service providers because you can invest directly in the same instruments as they do. You also earn dividends when you buy shares of listed companies and enjoy potential price appreciation from your holdings. By investing in a diversified portfolio of securities, you enjoy an optimal risk-adjusted return potential.
We do this by helping you build a diversified portfolio of financial assets that give you an excellent chance of meeting your life-stage goals. You tell us your financial goals and a little bit about yourself so that we can understand your circumstances. We then use this information to assess your risk tolerance, craft your personalised investment plan and design your smart, diversified ‘target’ portfolio.
Your savings are invested directly (with you as the owner or holder) in shares of companies listed on the stock exchange and in fixed income instruments such as treasury bills and bonds. By investing in these instruments, you earn interest and dividend income and you also enjoy potential price appreciation. By staying invested and ploughing back some or all of your interest and dividend income, you benefit from the power of compounded returns and your wealth grows over time. It’s that easy, and that is why Albert Einstein called ‘compounding’ the eighth wonder of the world, and went further to say, “he who understands it, earns it and he who doesn’t, pays it”!
That’s easy. Just visit www.smartwealthadvisors.com, click on risk assessment and following the instructions. To complete the sign up process, you need a bank account, an active debit card and a stockbroking account. Nothing complicated, really. And we’re here if you need any help.
It takes only a few minutes to set up if you already have a stockbroking account. Once the details you provide are verified from your broker, you can start investing from your first savings amount. If you don’t have a stockbroking account, you will need to open one first, before you can complete your account set up. For brokers that provide online account opening, you can complete this process within within 48 hours if you provide all the required KYC documents. You can then return to complete the set up process on SmartWealth.
Saving regularly is the most important thing you have to do. We make every other thing quite easy for you. From buying financial assets to post-trade related activities, we provide you with step by step guidance at every step of the way.
We do not take deposits or hold your money at all, the flexible, automated savings feature of SmartWealth only makes it easy for you to save regularly. And your savings go directly to your stockbrokers. It is through your broker that you then buy the shares and bonds that will make up your portfolio.
And yes, your money is safe! You see, on one hand, stockbrokers are registered and regulated, so they have a high standard to keep to. On the other hand, they’re just an intermediary between you and those you by shares and bonds from. So once you make a purchase, they don’t even hold your money anymore. In exchange for your money, you’re registered as the owner of the securities you bought and you will remain so until you choose to sell, no matter what happens to your broker.
Whatever plan you choose, you pay us 0.5% of your planned savings for the year plus 5% VAT. And that translate into a starting annual fee of just N315/annum if you save N5, 000 monthly. You pay us once every year and nothing else. No hidden charges. No gimmicks. See our pricing page for details.
You can sell all or part of the securities you own anytime you desire-no charges for early withdrawals-and the proceeds go straight to your bank account! You do not have to wait for anyone to process your withdrawal request and you do not need to transfer money from our portal. Wondering how this is possible? Well, every user on our platform is signed up to use a settlement option called ‘direct cash settlement’ (DCS). With this option, proceeds from the sale of shares go straight to your registered bank account on T+3 days. E-dividends mandates forms are also processed for shares you buy so that your dividends go straight to your account. The same applies to interest income from treasury bills and bonds as well as the principal repayment on these instruments.
We’re here to assist! You can reach us via our in-app chat, email or phone call. A good place to start however, is our resources page where you will find a lot of useful information such as investor education primers and other references to several helpful materials. Also, when you sign up on SmartWealth, you gain access to a team of advisors who are available to help with your queries.
Every investment has an element of risk which cannot be completely eliminated. And investments with higher return potentials usually come with higher risks. For instance, investing in stocks provide the best return potential and it is also the more risky option when compared with bonds and real estate. While risk means different things to different people, the primary concern for most people is the risk of losing their capital and not meeting their financial goals. So short-term fluctuations in your portfolio or in the financial market in general should not be confused with risk.
Every investor needs to understand his/her risk tolerance rating for determining how much risk they are able to take on in order to reach their investment objectives.
Every investor requires a stockbroking account to participate in the capital market. It is the account you will use to buy and sell stocks and bonds of companies, governments and other institutions.
We have a short compilation, within our app, of the names and websites of SEC registered stockbroking firms that provide online account opening. You can open an account with anyone you choose.
This list in our app is not exhaustive and has been provided as first step to assist you in your broker search. It should not be construed as a recommendation of any of these firms, and you should do an independent assessment of their services. We are not affiliated to and we do not receive remuneration from any of them.
You should look out for two things when choosing a broker. Trading commission and best execution ratings. The SEC sets the upper limit for trading commission and some brokers charge less than others. The efficiency with which a broker executes your trade orders can be known either from an independent review or from your experience using them. You should go for a broker that combines competitive pricing with excellent execution.
SmartWealth is a solution not a legal entity. The owners of SmartWealth, Ifriqiya Limited is currently providing this service under the regulatory sandbox created by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for Fintech firms that are using innovative technologies to provide improved access to the capital market products and services in Nigeria.
Reaching your goals is generally a function of the amount you save and potential returns you get on your investments. We are here to help you form realistic expectations as well as help you adopt the right approach towards meeting your goals.
Projected returns are indicative, you may actually earn more or less. The projections are based on historical trends.
The SmartWealth solution is simple and easy to use. But we provide additional step by step guidance via in-app user guide, email and chat.
You will receive a notification for every transfer.
The security recommendation feature of SmartWealth provides you with timely advice on what to buy every time you save. When you reach specific targets or any other time you choose to sell, you also get suitable advice on what securities to sell to meet your cash needs or planned withdrawal. Orders are placed in-app at the click of a button!
You will get a notification. And the portfolio view on your dashboard will be updated to reflect your executed orders.
You manage your account directly so you have complete control over your finances. We only provide you with timely and expert advice to help you reach your investment goals.
SmartWealth and your broker are two independent organisations. Each providing you with separate but complementary financial services.
Yes you can! Your existing portfolio with your chosen broker can be reflected on your SmartWealth dashboard. All you need to do is provide us with the latest CSCS statement from your broker.
Post-trade activities describe what new investors need to carry out to ensure that their buy/sell activities are accurately captured by the relevant capital market operators. They entail filling share verification forms and setting up e-dividends mandates with the registrars for every new stock you buy.
Share verification is the process of registering your ownership of the stocks you buy with the central depository and with the relevant registrar. You simply fill the verification form and send it to your broker for onward processing.
The e-dividends mandate is an instruction you give to a registrar, authorising them to pay dividends you earn directly to your bank account.
The process simply enables you to receive dividends that may be paid by the companies whose shares you own, straight into your bank account. You fill and submit a form for each registrar of the companies whose shares you own, through your bank.
Direct Cash Settlement (DCS) allows you to get the proceeds of your share sale directly into your bank account on T+3 days without the money passing through your broker’s account. With DCS you do not need your broker to pay your proceeds to you, the central depository-Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) limited, credits your account directly.
CSCS means Central Securities Clearing System. It is the central depository of all securities in Nigeria. It is a kind of central clearing house, where securities that change hands between investors are reconciled and settled.
