Pearler: Auto-investing and brokerage-free trading

More and more people are talking about the investing platform Pearler. But what is it and how is it different to other online share trading platforms?

What is Pearler?

Pearler is an investment and financial platform that was founded by three friends in 2018 who wanted to help Australians find financial freedom and simplify their financial lives. The platform is a one-stop shop for investments, savings, loans and insurance from multiple providers. Today, Pealers has over 11,000 investors and close to 20,000 users.

What investment assets can you trade on Pearler?

Through Pearler, you can invest in all assets listed on the ASX including: shares, ETFs and LICs. Pearler has also recently add US shares to its offering, which can help users further diversify their portfolios.

Pearler offers a number of different ways to invest on their platforms. You can manually select individual stocks or set up auto-investing which automatically buys stocks for you, and a third alternative is to start micro investing through the Pearler app where you can choose from 8 different portfolios.

And if you are still not sure where to start, Pearler offers portfolio templates that you can directly copy or customise. You can also follow the investing journeys of popular finfluencers, but bear in mind that any investment strategy you follow should be well-thought out, with your needs, goals and circumstances taken into consideration.

What is auto-investing?

Auto-investing, which is available on digital platforms like Pearler, makes pre-programmed investing and trading decisions for users based on algorithms and variables such as age, income, goals, and risk tolerance. Auto-investing could be ideal for investors who prefer a hands-off approach, or are just starting out with investing and may not be confident with making trading decisions.

Provider	Ownership model	Minimum buy trade amount	Fee for $5k trade
	CHESS sponsored	$1 AUD	$3 AUD
	Custodial	$10 USD	$2 USD (Foreign exchange fees apply)
	CHESS sponsored	$500 AUD	$3 AUD
	Custodial	$90 AUD	$8 AUD
	CHESS sponsored	$500 AUD	$11 AUD

View all Canstar rated Online Share Trading products. View Disclosures.

How does auto-investing in Pearler work?

With Pearler specifically, you can choose the shares that you want to invest in, how much you’d like to invest and how frequently. The last step is to select the strategy that suits your needs. Pearler offer three strategies that you can use:

Lowest shares: This strategy invests in the current lowest performing share in your portfolio. Taking advantage of the cheaper pricing and rebalancing your portfolio without the need to buy multiple shares.

Rebalance portfolio: This strategy allows you to rebalance your pool of assets to a specific percentage that you have determined. Typically, this option is recommended for those with a large amount to invest with.

Equal invest: Is a strategy that invests equally across all shares within your pool. Typically, this option is recommended for experienced investors.

What is micro investing?

Micro-invest is a relatively new feature Pearler is offering, and it is very similar to Raiz or Spaceship. So, what is micro-investing?

Micro-investing is about making small and irregular investments from everyday transactions. Most apps, including Pearler, allow you invest small amounts, as little as $5 at a time and round up your purchases to invest your spare change. For example, a large cappuccino at $4.50 will be rounded up to $5 and the 50 cents would then be invested. Depending on how frequently you transact and how the market treats you, over time you could accumulate a sizeable nest egg.

What are the fees?

Pearler charges a flat-rate fee $6.50 for buying and selling shares, also known as a brokerage fee. However, the platform also waives the brokerage fee for a number of ETFs if you hold them for a year or more. And for micro-investing they charge $1.70 per month to hold one fund and $2.30 per month to hold multiple funds. There are no fees to open an account with Pearler, and no maintenance, inactivity or transfer fees.

Who can trade with Pearler?

Australian residents who are over 18 and have a valid form of ID, you will be eligible to sign up for Pearler. However, if you are a foreign resident you can still sign up with Pearler, but you will be charged a $200 account opening fee.

Pros and Cons of investing with Pearler

There are a number of benefits to investing with Pearler:

Helpful features like auto-investing, micro-investing and the ability to learn from Finfluencers
Brokerage-free ETFs available
Competitive fees
No account-opening, maintenance or inactivity fees
Good for beginners and experienced investors
Safe and secure platform

However, there are some downside too:

Limited to local and US shares only
No market news or analysis available

So, should you invest with Pearler?

Pearler offers a number of notable features that aren’t available on all share trading platforms. But before deciding on which platform to use you should consider your own personal needs, where you are on you investment journey and the consider support that you may need. It’s also helpful to compare Pearler with other online share trading platforms available.

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This article was reviewed by our Content Producer Isabella Shoard before it was updated, as part of our fact-checking process.

Marissa Hayden

Content Producer

Marissa was the Content Producer for the Wealth team at Canstar, and specialised in investment content. She enjoys simplifying complex financial concepts and jargon for the ‘everyday’ Australian investor. Follow Canstar Investor Hub on Facebook.