How does Spaceship make money?

  • Spaceship is an online micro-investment platform founded by Dave Kuhn, Andrew Sellen, Paul Bennet, and Kaushik Sen in 2016. The platform was created to give young or inexperienced investors the chance to build wealth in a simple and affordable way.
  • Spaceship makes money by charging management fees and administration fees across its various investment and superannuation (retirement) products.
  • Management fees are capped at $2.50 per month for investment portfolio balances exceeding $100. Investment fees and administration fees are the domain of Spaceship’s two superannuation products, with the latter fee waived for balances under $6,000.

Origin story

Spaceship is an online micro-investment platform founded by Dave Kuhn, Andrew Sellen, Paul Bennet, and Kaushik Sen in 2016. 

Spaceship was founded to create a product that would disrupt the Australian investment industry, which at the time was dominated by outdated governmental practices and a distinct lack of diversity and transparency.

The platform is targeted at millennial consumers who have become disenfranchised from investing because of excessive fees, complicated processes, or jargon-heavy products.

Spaceship Super was launched in 2017, a retirement fund the company claims can be set up in as little as five minutes.

Spaceship Voyager was launched the following year, offering a simple and affordable way to invest in over 200 companies across various diversified portfolios. 

Many of the companies users can invest in meet what Spaceship calls “Where the World is Going” criteria, with Spotify, Apple, Tesla, Square, and Microsoft the most obvious examples.

Investors who consider ESG criteria to be more relevant can invest in another portfolio comprised of companies such as Atlassian, Shopify, Starbucks, and Nvidia. 

Spaceship surpassed $1 billion in funds under management during July 2021 and boasted over 200,000 users across Australia.

Spaceship revenue generation

Spaceship makes money by charging management fees, investment fees, and administration fees across its various investment and superannuation (retirement) products.

Let’s take a look at these below.

Investment

  1. Spaceship Universe Portfolio – for investors who want a portfolio comprised of companies with growth potential or a competitive advantage. Some of the criteria Spaceship considers include innovation, the presence of a moat, robust management, and high expected returns.
  2. Spaceship Earth Portfolio – for investors who want a portfolio of companies making a positive impact on people and the planet.
  3. Spaceship Origin Portfolio – for investors who want exposure to some of the world’s largest companies, including Alphabet, Amazon, and Johnson & Johnson.

The management fee for all three portfolios is $2.50/month for balances exceeding $100.

Note that there are no other fees or costs, even if the user wants to set up multiple portfolios.

Superannuation

  1. Spaceship GrowthX Option – the company’s flagship investment option with a diversified portfolio of global technology companies. Spaceship charges a 0.196% investment fee and an administration fee of $78 + 0.720% per annum.
  2. Spaceship Global Index Option – for the index investor looking for a passive investment option. The portfolio is predominantly comprised of finance, healthcare, consumer discretionary, industrial, and communication services companies. Here, Spaceship charges no investment fee but does charge an administration fee of $78 + 0.577% per annum.

For both superannuation products, the administration fee is waived for balances under $6,000.

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