Indonesian Wealth Management App PINA Founding Team
While many of the Indonesian investment apps are focused on attracting new investors with low fees and initiating deposits, PINA focuses on the middle to upper classes with asset management services. The app announced today that it has raised $3 million in seed funding from AC Ventures, Vibe.VC and Y Combinator, with participation from XA Network.
The company was founded in 2021 by Daniel van Leeuwen, former head of country marketing at Grab Indonesia. He is joined by tech co-founder Fajar Kuntoro, who was previously head of tech and engineering at Indonesian digital agency Mirum, Christian Hermawan, founder of Trust Securities, and Hendry Chou, formerly product design lead at edtech startup Zenius.
Van Leeuwen told londonbusinessblog.com that PINA came about because of the founders’ own challenges with personal finance. As a result, they wanted to ensure that all Indonesians have access to financial advice, not just those who can afford the fees and minimums charged by personal wealth advisers.
He said Indonesia’s middle and upper class now numbers 52 million people, and PINA was created to give them access to investment services without high minimums and fees as they invest for purposes such as home buying, retirement and education. of their children.
“Our first-hand experience working with private financial services firms made us realize that change would never come from existing providers,” said Van Leeuwen. “Chou, Fajar and I worked at [Indonesian conglomerate] Mirum where we consulted major financial services firms on how to digitize and transform their businesses. It opened our eyes to the challenges and opportunities of making wealth management accessible, but it was also frustrating to see our clients unable to bring viable products to market due to their outdated infrastructure and business models.”
PINA is one of several Indonesian investment apps that have recently raised venture capital. Some examples are Pluang, GoTrade, Bibit, Ajaib, Pintu and Pluang.
Van Leeuwen said current solutions are great for novice and new investors by charging low minimums, but PINA stands out for its focus on integrating scheduling, money management and scheduling into one platform. “By bringing everything together on one platform, we want to provide an experience that they could never replicate with a human advisor or with a finance folder on their phone full of point solution apps,” he said.
Using PINA’s money management tools and advisors is free and they make money by charging fees when customers make an investment through the platform. Features include automatically managed portfolios and investments that require increased user engagement. PINA also has customized financial advice, automated money management and investment tools in its apps. To use PINA, users link all their financial accounts to the app and set their savings and investment goals.
PINA’s auto-diversified portfolios work by first determining a user’s investment goals, time horizon, risk tolerance, and priorities. It then invests in a portfolio of low-cost mutual funds. Van Leeuwen said his software automatically rebalances investments, selling investments that exceed users’ target allocation and buying more that fall below it. This is done when users fund their portfolios or when the portfolio drift reaches 5%.
As for its asset management functions, Van Leeuwen said PINA “wants to bridge the so-called ‘advice gap'” by providing financial advice that is both affordable and personal. By linking their financial accounts, including their bank accounts, e-wallets, AOW and investment accounts, users can see their net worth, monthly cash flow and how their budget has fluctuated over the past few months. The app also allows them to book a slot with a certified financial advisor.
PINA plans to use its funding for user acquisition and to build out its advisory and investment functions and additional services, such as access to career coaching and exclusive member events.
In a prepared statement, AC Ventures founder and managing partner Adrian Li said, “The increasing adoption of non-cash transactions along with the proliferation of mass wealthy individuals in Indonesia has enabled the creation of new billions of dollars for wealth management platforms that operate a full range of services, including money management and investing, PINA’s team brings in-depth knowledge and connection to the financial services industry, making PINA one of the most promising companies in the field.”