Australian FinTech company profile #144 - Six Park

1. Company Name: Six Park

2. Website: www.sixpark.com.au

3. Key Staff & Titles:

• Pat Garrett, co-CEO
• Nuvan Aranwela, co-CEO
• Ha-Dieu Ford, Head of Partnerships
• Tuula Keto, Chief Operating Officer
• Adrian Cretu-Barbul, Chief Technology Officer
• Erika Jonsson, Head of Communications

4. Location(s): Melbourne, Australia

5. In one sentence, what does your fintech do?

Six Park provide an online way for people to receive affordable, professional investment management advice and execution.

6. How / why did you start your fintech company?

I started Six Park for several reasons:

• I could see a major problem in the market, both from a personal and professional perspective, that too many people could not access the help they wanted and needed with their investment management activities
• I felt that people needed help, not just easy trading/DIY service, and had the unique ability to draw on the experience of my co-founder ot have Six Park assemble a world class investment management committee to oversee the investment parameters of the service we deliver via technology/digitally
• We created the service by building an end-to-end technology stack that includes everything from our marketing page through to the full delivery of investment advice and ongoing portfolio execution and management
• The emergence of the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) market and API-led brokerage services made the construction of such a service possible

7. What is the best thing your company has achieved or learnt along the way (this can include awards, capital raising etc)?

We have roughly doubled or tripled in size (client, assets managed) every year since launching in 2016, and most importantly, our customers are delighted with our service (our NPS of 50 is extremely strong for our industry). We have also produced extremely good investment returns for clients, on a risk adjusted basis, which is ultimately why people give us their money to manage.

8. What’s some advice you’d give to an aspiring start-up?

Only undertake a startup if you are 100% passionate about the mission, as it’s hard, and that passion is needed for the rough spots. Also, build a strong, supportive and resilient culture based in part on respect and transparency. Lead by example on this front, as this culture dynamic is what gets start ups though the rough patches.

9. What’s next for your company?

And are you looking to expand overseas or stay focussed on Australia? We will focus on Australia, as the size of the market here is large, and the acute need to help consumers (and also the intermediaries who serve them) is still relatively unmet.

10. What other fintechs or companies do you admire?

• Pearler, because they are teaching people how to invest responsibly and passionate about their mission
• A little left field, from my hometown, Marriott International, because it’s had a high-performing ownership/management team that has stood the test of time, a clear mission, and has evolved over time with success

11. What’s the most interesting or funniest moment that’s happened in your company’s lifetime?

Our co-CEO and I had a pitch to a strategic partner and the person on the other end of the phone could not recognise, hear or control the fact that several active conversations in the same room as him were incredibly loud and distracting for us, but not him. We asked to improve the sound backdrop, but the person was oblivious, and we were equal parts frustrated and humoured by the dysfunctional nature of the call, after two years of such communication in the working world. It was not our finest hour, but we had a great laugh afterwards, and we did get the partnership aligned!