If you’re new to investing, the range of apps trying to get your attention can make things seem complicated. At one end of the spectrum, some apps are very focussed on making investing more exciting, faster, cheaper, with more options to trade, like overseas markets, with split-second pricing, and research on stocks. Then there are micro-investing or robo-advice apps that try to boil down investing to be so simple, that it seems like they’d prefer you not know what you’re investing in, just keep dropping money in.

These two extremes don’t really fit how most of us think or live our lives. For work and play, we learn, explore, start small, make small mistakes, grow, get confident and make most decisions to suit our specific needs.

Pearler allows you to do that with investing.

We started with simplified share investing and now we’ve launched Pearler Micro, a micro-investing platform for everyday people, from those ready to take those small first steps or experienced ETF investors that want to simplify their investing even further. Pearler Micro is built for both.

What is micro-investing?

The micro-investing pitch is relatively simple: invest small amounts easily and passively and let the app do the work.

For early-stage investors, this may equate to as little as $5 per investment. It generally takes a lot of the effort out of the equation, allowing you to build wealth in small chunks without really feeling it. This whole ‘forget the app exists’ is actually not a bad approach, however it doesn’t create a whole heap of opportunity to learn and grow, personally.

With Pearler Micro, over time, through being a part of the Pearler community, as you learn and earn more, you can invest larger amounts and eventually feel confident enough to jump into the wider world of ETFs and shares with a Pearler Shares account.

So, investors can start with as little as a few dollars, and invest for free up to $100. In other words, you can build a sensible portfolio with the change from your morning coffee (or your recent Shares purchase).

How does Pearler Micro address these micro-investing problems?

Since our launch, Pearler has been about empowering people to build wealth over the long-term. We believe that long-term investing should be attainable for everyone, no matter how much or how little they can invest.

To date, our top holdings for Pearler Shares have comprised largely of ETFs and LICs and you can browse these freely at pearler.com. However, we saw some of our younger investors buying the most popular ETFs in small parcels of around $500, a few months apart. To us, this highlighted an issue for investors who can’t (or would rather not) invest in larger parcels.

Whilst the competition amongst share-trading apps has continued to focus on lower prices making trading more accessible, these options still require upwards of $500 per trade according to ASX rules.

In short, we saw a need to create something with the same simplified investing experience as Pearler Shares, with lower overall fees for regular investing. This way, our community could invest anywhere between $5 and $500 per trade and still see value.

The feedback from our investors has been simple. They want the simplest, most cost-effective way to invest in a handful of ETFs. At the same time, we’ve spoken to younger would-be investors who have a long-term mindset, but don’t have enough to invest on their own HIN.

With Pearler Micro, we’ve been able to meet both goals. Now someone with a few dollars can have largely the same investing experience - only without the market complexity, the registry hurdles, or the need to find a use for those paper letters.

Pearler Micro is a managed fund that sits alongside our CHESS-sponsored holdings in a single app, allowing investors to build their own portfolios with our most popular ETFs and then invest to suit their lifestyle, not ASX minimums, from flat rates starting at $1.70+ a month.

How to invest in popular ETFs in four easy steps

Here’s a quick step by step guide to setting up and automating your investing with Pearler Micro.

1. Choose from 8 popular ETFs

2. Add your preferred ETF to your portfolio

3. Review the ETF's price and details, then hit "Buy"

4. Confirm how much you want to invest

"Where can I get started?”

Great question! Head on over to our Pearler Micro page and start building your micro-investing portfolio with as little as $5.