Parthian Group Bridges the Safety Gap in Retail Investing through its i-invest app

Technology is fast changing everything in finance, from savings to making payments to trading. FinTech companies in Nigeria are playing a major role in this transformation as they continue building capacities that enhance client relationships, financial inclusion, user experience, reduction of structural costs, facilitation of regulatory compliance, and tackling existing industry challenges such as investments and trading operations.

The i-invest mobile application, an investment application created by Parthian Partners in collaboration with Sterling Bank, is one of the leading platforms providing access for retail investors in Nigeria to access investment opportunities like treasury bills, Eurobonds, and Equities in the Nigerian Capital market.

According to Oluseye Olusoga – the founder and CEO of the Parthian Group, “The i-invest app was initially created as a mobile app to access what you can call the treasury bills market. In 2018, retail investors didn’t have access to high-interest yielding products so, at Parthian Partners, we felt it was an opportunity to allow Nigerians who weren’t institutional investors to gain access to the lucrative space and that was how i-invest was founded. However, i-invest has morphed from an app that allows people to invest in treasury bills with interest rates up to 17% to a financial management app that allows users to save, pay bills and monitor their spending.”

In recent times, the Nigerian Fintech space has experienced defining moments with popular retail investment platforms facing government sanctions and some of these platforms recommending investment schemes that have failed investors, thus stirring fear and distrust in the minds of investors. Investors are increasingly concerned about the safety of their capital. Over the years, i-invest has been able to steer its boat away from controversies and yet maintain its status as one of the safest investment apps in Nigeria currently. Commenting on the platform’s safety, Vice President of Partnerships & Operations for i-invest; Ibilola Ashcroft said that “Ensuring the safety of investors’ funds and the overall safety of the i-invest app for our users is our top priority as a team. We do this by ensuring that there is full disclosure regarding all investments offered on the platform (i.e., full transparency on where customers’ funds are invested). Whereas, what you experience on other platforms is different. Most of these platforms basically offer high returns without disclosing how the funds are being invested, thereby exposing users to high risk.”

In a bid to further improve on the safety of investors’ funds on the platform and transparency, i-invest partnered with Parthian Securities Limited, a trading license holder of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) which is also regulated by SEC, NASD and FMDQ. Describing the role Parthian Securities Limited plays as a brokerage partner to i-invest, Ahmed Olaitan Banu, who is the Chief Strategist at Parthian Securities explained that “Parthian Securities supports i-invest with the execution of its clients’ equities mandate. Parthian Securities also supports i-invest customers with research/data/insights into trends in the equities market therefore enabling investors make informed decisions when choosing which stocks to buy/sell.

i-invest is Nigeria’s foremost digital platform for investing and now the preferred financial services marketplace in Africa. It gives you access to investment opportunities from various financial service providers within one safe & secure platform.