Superhero plans 'mass affluent' wealth play

Superhero has welcomed its first chief investment officer, as it targets Australians seeking sophisticated solutions without the need for advice.

Superhero said it is looking to "evolve beyond traditional sharetrading to offer sophisticated portfolio management tools for the mass affluent market."

It is targeting what it says is a largely underserved segment - those looking for "a higher level of sophistication in portfolio construction and management while maintaining a simple, intuitive user experience."

To lead this, Superhero has appointed former State Street Global Advisors head of investment strategy and research Raf Choudhury to the role of chief investment officer.

Choudhury was with SSGA for more than 17 years before leaving in April 2022 to work at Aberdeen as an investment director.

In the new role, he will oversee Superhero's $3.2 billion in funds under administration, which will be bolstered through the launch of new offerings.

Superhero said it is planning new investment options, including managed and micro investment portfolios, as well as a portfolio management tool to help investors build long-term wealth without the need for financial advice.

The new offerings will be funded by a recently completed $11 million capital raise; the money came from existing investors, including Perennial Private, Regal Funds Management, Zip's Larry Diamond, and Afterpay's Nick Molnar. It follows a $3 million raise in February.

"There's a huge segment of Australians who want to invest with purpose and direction but don't necessarily know what to pick or how to build a diversified portfolio," Superhero founder John Winters said.

"Our aim is to bridge that gap, giving people confidence and clarity without going down the often costly personal advice route.

"Advice is one of the biggest unsolved challenges in our space. We haven't seen anyone truly crack the nut on it yet, but we think we're pretty close. Our goal is to make it accessible, understandable, and affordable for the mass market."

Superhero has added three other senior executives to help drive its ambitious strategy.

Nathan Dearinger has been appointed head of risk, joining from Rest where he was head of enterprise risk up until December last year. Prior to that, he held senior risk roles with Westpac and BT Financial Group and is the former head of finance and governance at AustSafe Super which merged with Sunsuper in 2019.

Simon Keast joined in April as chief financial officer, having most recently worked at Ovanti. Before that he was chief financial officer, US at Zip and also held roles at Macquarie, IAG and Westpac.

And Tim Johnson has been promoted to chief customer officer. He joined Superhero in February 2024 as director, strategic programs. He previously worked at ING for close to eight years, including as head of super and head of growth and development - wealth.

Following the most recent raise, Superhero is now valued at $150 million.