By Tanisha Lele
The US-based business made its first global leap with a plunge into the Hong Kong market.
San Francisco-based digital personal finance company SoFi announced its first successful expansion into the international market with its acquisition of Hong Kong-based investment app 8 Securities. The company did not disclose any financial details of the acquisition.
The new venture will be called SoFi Invest, or SoFi Hong Kong. It offers a first-of-its-kind simple mobile experience, along with financial advice and education, the company said.
The company also said that following the acquisition, it will be the only comprehensive investing platform in Hong Kong to offer access to brokerage, automated investing, and exchange-traded funds, with zero commission trading, platform fees, and custodian fees.
SoFi’s products for borrowing, saving, spending, investing, and protecting funds enable about one million members to gain fas access to financial tools to ‘get their money right,’ according to SoFi CEO Anthony Noto. Members will also be able to keep a track of their own performance ranks.
Other advantages include an overview of investment portfolios of top-performing members of the application, and updates on the latest trends among buyers and sellers.
SoFi was founded by Mike Cagney, Ian Brady, James Finnigan and Dan Macklin in 2011, and aims to help people achieve financial independence. The company’s global expansion plans kicked off in 2017, but were pulled back due to multiple lawsuits from employees alleging sexual harassment against former CEO Mike Cagney, who eventually stepped down.
CEO of SoFi Anthony Noto said in a press statement, “When it comes to achieving financial independence, investing is not optional – it is imperative. We at SoFi, underwent an extensive evaluation process when considering our first international market, and it was clear that Hong Kong, a financial capital of Asia, is ripe for innovation and a launching pad for further expansion in both product and geography.
“SoFi, along with 8 Securities, can meet the needs of both experienced and novice investors alike supporting our overall efforts to make headway on our mission to help people get their money right,” he continued.
Co-founded by Mathias Helleu and Mikaal Abdulla in 2012, 8 Securities is a stock trading firm and also provides robo-advisory services. As one of Asia’s pioneering robo-advisors, it aims to provide simple, transparent and affordable mobile investing solutions for its users.
The stock trading firm has raised a total of $54 million in funding over four rounds in the past. Their most recent funding was raised on April 3, 2018, in a Series B round.
By localizing SoFi Invest in Hong Kong, the digital finance company will continue to serve existing 8 Securities customers, as well as expand their customer base to an ever-growing market.
Header image by jannoon028 on Freepik
