More and more people are dealing with the topic of investing money. Among other things, the capital markets and their return opportunities are interesting. At the same time, many savers want a certain degree of security. ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) are a financial product in which investors can decide for themselves how risky they want to invest their money. For example, Raisin Invest’s Robo ETF gives you four different options to choose from.
We therefore asked customers how exactly they became aware of ETFs and what convinced them about Raisin Invest’s products. In the coming months we will publish interesting interviews from people who have chosen our financial products. We were able to welcome Mr. Steffen Marske to our first interview. He is 50 years old and works as an entrepreneur in Rostock:
How long have you been dealing with investments?
I was already interested in investing when I was a student. So it started more than 30 years ago. At that time I initially invested in a few individual stocks and a little later also in funds. In the meantime, I also dealt with more complicated investment products, such as currencies and options, albeit on a very manageable scale. Over the years, of course, I not only had good experiences, but also negative ones, so that over time my investment strategy became more and more calm.
How did your strategy evolve?
My interest in various investment opportunities has remained quite high over the years. That’s why I always adjusted my investments to the market and my personal liquidity needs. This included, among other things, plannable overnight money and fixed-term deposits. That was particularly interesting for me when I only needed a specific sum to finance a project at a certain point in time, for example for a property. Most of the time I found suitable offers for these two investments via WeltSparen. Since the big investments in my private life have been completed so far, I’ve been more involved with other investment products again.
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How did you discover ETFs for yourself?
In the current environment of low interest rates, an investment in the capital market makes the most sense to me due to the higher potential returns. However, I don’t want to take any more high risks. Although I used to have more speculative and less diversified investments, I had to deal with them on a daily basis. For example, if I was on vacation for two weeks and didn’t track the investments, the portfolio would sometimes collapse massively during that time. I no longer want the risks of individual stocks. Since then, ETFs have been a component of my investment strategy. I invest money that I don’t necessarily need at a certain point in time in order to be able to wait out short-term negative market developments.
What Raisin products do you currently own?
I have had call money and time deposits as well as the ETF Robo for several years. Recently I have also decided to include the ETF Configurator in my portfolio. One of the reasons was that I wanted to customize my ETF selection and incorporate my own investment preferences.
Why did you decide to invest in our ETF Robo?
It’s a lot more comfortable to invest in a product that doesn’t require me to do the work myself to decide how to build my portfolio. Even with the annual rebalancing I have no effort. I don’t have to familiarize myself with a process that is new to me. This means that I hardly need to invest any time and can still choose the ratio between bonds and shares that suits my strategy.
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Were there any reasons that made you hesitant to invest your money in a digital product?
No, for me, a digital product is actually the simplest and most uncomplicated way to invest. I don’t want to have to make an appointment with a bank advisor to ask a question or to invest. If an issue can be solved online, that’s an effortless way for me with simplified processes.
Overall, what do you like about what we offer at Raisin?
A big advantage of Raisin for me is the ease of use. I can transfer money from my current account to the WeltSparen account and distribute it from there to my various investments with just a few clicks of the mouse. I also like that a transfer can be made at any time and not just at the turn of the month, for example. As soon as I initiate the payout in online banking, my money will be paid out to the deposited reference account. On the one hand, this is of course an important point when it comes to safety. On the other hand, my money can be invested quickly and easily and is well structured in one place.
Dear Mr. Marske, thank you very much for the interview!
