Cura Tatou. Welcome to this special episode of Shared Lunch called Brooker Hoo. I'm Brook Roberts, one of the co founders and Coco's at Cheza's, and I'm really fortunate to be here with the fellow co founders and co CEOs of Chezia's, Leyton and Sonya. Usually we have some experts or business leaders in, but I've got you lot also experts and business when we're here. In this special episode, we're going to peel back what we've been doing here at Chezy's over the last year and talk a bit
about where we're going. And I've heard that there is this box with some sweet competition that we're going to have to have, which we know that we love a bit of competition amongst us, so bring it on.
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You might hear some jingles in the background. Sonya and I are wearing antlea airs and some sweet as Christmas tops that the team set us up in but Laton has the most ridiculous head piece on that makes them look like a Christmas tree. I don't really know how to explain it, but why you calls themselves the star of the shows because at the top of the Christmas tree there's a star and he says he's here with two goats and he's the star. So that is what is audibly visually aptic right out.
You do both, and thankfully I haven't seen me.
Yet to kick off, Well, how are you feeling? How has this here been? What are you been reflecting on? Have you even got to that yet?
Look, firstly, I think the way investors on the investing platform have stuck to their guns. We've grown the number of auto investors on the platform for a tough economy, and my personal view as we're coming out of that now, and I know things are still tough out there, but with interest rates dropping, inflation much lower, I think my personal view again, we're probably at the start of an ext good cycle, so an opportunity for some people to really grow their wealth. And then I'll add one more,
which is cheersy's really becoming a wealth fap. So we've got a bunch of people saving on the platform. We've got a bunch of people ensuring their cars on the platform, We've got a bunch of people saving for retirement in their first home, and the key receiver, and I'm really excited for all the things we can deliver over the next year there too.
I'm personally feeling like I guess it's stunning in Wellington at the moment, and that always brings quite a nice vibe to the end of the year, sitting back, you know where we started the air. Of course, there's been so much that's happened in the external environment. There has been a lot of change and shift about I think really I'm coming into the year, especially like from Cheerze's perspective, feeling really proud of what we've achieved as a team.
We started Cheersy's trying to make it easy to invest, and I think the change that we're making now into the future around really helping people grow their wealth and
laying some of the foundation for that. And this year and over the past few years seeing that come to life has been hugely impactful, and I really think so that's feeling really great for us as a business, and I think we're solving more needs for people at a time where people are really thinking about money, and hopefully we're having those money conversations in a really empowering way.
And that's the feedback I'm getting from people and bump into them on the street when I'm wearing my Chess t shirt, just to touch on how many like the different ways that we try and create that shareholder relationship now. So the number of people who have also been given
like staff shares through Chess now is really great. So I think looking back seeing all those highlights of how just were creating those different ways that people can touch and get engaged with their money, I feel really toughed about that.
Yeah, it's how about you. I don't feel like the year's ended yet, you know, I still feel like there's so much more to do. I mean, today we launched PI Save. When this go's live will be few days old, but within a few hours it's already got over ten million dollars in it. It just shows the ways that we're helping build our health happenings both of you mentioned actually help people grow wealth. We've really started to deliver on that heaps this year. We did start the year as
an investment platform. Really we had Key we Save added at the end of last year, but now we do have insurance save key we Savor, and we all look at it through that lens of how do we actually help people develop wealth? And so really chuffed with where we've got to in that journey, but it also still feels like day one to us. It's not even you know, a tenth of the way of where we had our initial aspirations of where Chess can go. So I can't wait to start bringing more of that.
To life next year.
And then yah, working more with businesses because as we learned, you know, a lot of companies they did want to they do want to have better relationships with their retail investors, and they do want to be able to have better
yeah communications with all their shareholders. And so it was great to bring Orchestra into the shares as FA No this year and you know, support companies, whether they're listed or not on with their shareholder communications and management and star share schemes, which ultimately, you know, we do really hope that anybody's working in a company, part of their rent package they get shares in't it. So it's quite
cool to start seeing that attraction towards that. So really chuffed actually with how we've been progressing this year and personally feel like I've just been out there. You know, you were in Australia if you live there this year. Any other things you want to share about this year.
Yeah, we have been growing our Australian business over the last three years and so this year and you've Brook and Land. I've spent time there already, but this year I spent some time over with our Australian team, and I think there's lots of ambition and aspiration in Australian culture. I think there is, you know, so much kind of desire and aspiration to grow wealth, and there are kind of other platforms over there doing it, but no one really playing in cheesea space, So I think that's it
just kind of speaks to the opportunity. And we've developed some really great partnerships to date over there as well and really kind of taking the Cheeseys brand over to Australia, and we do have a fantastic team there. So we also got our license to be able to operate, so all the kind of pieces are falling into place. I feel like Sunshine is my word at the moment, but are like, there's definitely like sunshine through winter over there,
which was nice to experience. But you know, we've got such a great product, such a great team, but also such a like this big opportunity as well to really make a difference here. So I think feeling really positive about Australia in my time there.
So we love a game.
The Seared Lunch team have pulled together some questions for us that we then write on our whiteboards what we think the answers. Have got whiteboards here, each of us with a red pen, and then we'll show them and see who gets the answers, right, sonya you get to open the first.
Do I think how many total buyers were placed this year to date on Shesyes?
Real so later Billie's been the average trade size of about six hundred dollars. You're fucking correct.
Across the Zealand in Australia.
Later, how many cells so.
Over thirty five millions?
Income investors?
Yeah, I must say I love when I get my little notification. It's a highlight.
Dividends been paid in for your.
Wallets and on top of it that goes into the DRPs.
Yes, and a dividend reinvestment a DRP is when if a company is paying out dividends, you can make that money reinvested to buy more she is in the company. So other three most widely held investments from our key we investors this year, oh I had Smart which was Smart shares ETFs, the NZ Top fifteen, US five hundred, Smart US five hundred and New Zealand and Top fifty. Yeah, and two of those funds were ones that were on the two six and when we started shares Ease time good point.
How much did our save customers make an interests this year?
So we paid out seven point five million in interest this year. And pis save Frixley Baked, so pis save We just we've just launched. The first day, it had over ten million dollars deposited in the first few hours of it launching. And a PI save means that the top tax rate for a pie product PI text rate is twenty percent. If your prescribed investor rate is higher than twenty eightercent, then the max is twenty eightercent, So that is where people can get a higher effective savings
rate essentially. So yeah, it's pretty cool that we've launched that now how much was added to kiwisaver and this is to Scheresy's Kiwi Saver. It is one hundred and ten million.
So the quiz was a little bit of a little bit of a stitch up the tree of wisdom over here though.
Start of the show.
Turns out Brooke and I had the answers later that was all just from his own mind. So finger on the pulse, mate. It's fun fun to look back over the year and like, the thing for us is what those numbers will represent is our mission to create financial empowerment for everyone. And all of those numbers moving in.
The right direction.
People engaging on the platform, getting paid, dividends, buying, selling, owning companies, owning funds, all piecing it together to build their wealth is so so important to us. And I think all of us would say that we're just at the beginning of that journey for Shareses, and so we're keen to give a bit of a what's exciting you for next year or for the future. We'll start with Europe.
Yeah. Cool. One thing we're working on at the moment, it's really all on here at Cheesy's behind the scenes, is the release of Spend, which will be coming next year. So we've done a deal with master Card. We were going to have a Cheesy's debit card which you can have in your wallet or you know, or sweet as
physical card. And why I'm excited about this is I'm really excited for people to see that the money that they earn, all the money that they have, is their wealth and then thinking about it rather than just money, It's like my wealth and what am I doing with it? And how do I, yeah, make sure that I'm investing in the now and how we live life now, but also how can we make sure that is setting us
up well for the future. And I think the way that we think about money here and how we think about wealth, I think once we have those insights, we're we're really able to help people create really awesome financial habits, which at the end of the day is what ultimately develops wealth. So pretty excited for that. Yeah, what about you, laden.
Yes, I'm excited for that as well. And I'm excited for I think I probably said this last year, but things always take longer than what you think. Today is the US markets into Kiwisaver, so that's going to include the US five hundred fund, so which is that by far?
I think it's like there's three different versions of that fund that are three of the most popular investments on the platform, which is really really cool, and also some self select options and there for people as well to build their portfolios in a way they want, which is really exciting. And again US markets are popular on the platform, so we know they're going to be popular and heaps
people asking for them. So it's so fantastic to have lots of epic local investment going into our own exchange. We want to keep building that. But there's also lots of lots of Kiwi who you know, who have founded companies and then they've released them on to the US exchanges, so available on the air, and of course there's lots of people and you see them as well, who work for companies offshore. So there's lots of reasons to like that. Plus just the sheer market size an opportunity that comes
with us. I'm really really excited about that.
Nice What about you, Sonny, Just as you were saying that, I thought of that quote of you underestimate what you can deliver, yes in ten years and over, and do estimate what you can deliver in a year. So yeah, super excited for what's to come. And I think we are ambitious in the one year end in the ten years at Chea's, which is really cool. So hopefully we'll deliver more than what we think we can in the ten year. If we come even shorter that it would be a beautiful place.
I think.
I'm really excited. Like you talked about how we're adding spend to Chears's, and we're also developing the entire proposition around that. So we talked about Cheesy's becoming a wealth app, and that's just pushing that even further. It's looking at how all those products connect to drive better outcomes for you and your faro. So also how we connect you to the people in your life, because we know that
that's really important as well. So we're seeing lots of change coming in that space, looking at how we can add rewards and make investing for the long term great and the short term as well, and making sure that people really do feel like they've got the tools and the support and the motivation to really drive those outcomes that they want for themselves and the people around them. So I'm like super excited for next year. I always say this a way.
I need a new win hat.
Yeah, I've got the Christmas tree now, but here's my win hats down there, and I reckon it's going to be a good year for people next year. I'm wishing everyone all the best.
Course, So that's a rap for Shared Lunch twenty twenty four. I want to give a massive shout out to everybody who has been on these episodes this year, to our Shared Lunch team who make it all happen, and to the nearly five hundred thousand of you who have been tuning in throughout the year. We can't wait to show you what's in store for twenty two. And as you'll you would have heard just before, we've got some really
cool things happening at Cheersy's. We've got some really interesting conversations to have too, as we hopefully thrive in twenty five