Chip to launch investments with BlackRock ahead of premium launch

Savings platform Chip has launched investment portfolios, managed by asset management giant BlackRock, ahead of the launch of its premium paid-for product ChipX. 

Chip has been testing the new service via a controlled rollout to a queue of 17,000 customers. It is available to all Chip customers on ChipAI and, soon, ChipX plans. 

Chip will offer three risk-targeted portfolios from BlackRock’s Consensus range: BlackRock Cautious, BlackRock Balanced and BlackRock Adventurous through its existing ChipAI plan as well as ChipX when it launches in a few weeks’ time.

The former will charge a 0.75 per cent annual platform fee on top of the cost of the ChipAI plan, which is £1.50 every 28 days. ChipX plan will charge a 0.25 per cent annual platform fee as well as its £3 charge every 28 days.

Chip launched in 2017 helping users with automated savings by connecting to bank accounts via open banking. It says it has seen half a billion pounds to date saved by its 355,000 users.

The fintech plans on adding more funds as it develops the product including thematic funds (Clean Energy, Healthcare Innovation and Emerging Markets) and multi-asset funds

Simon Rabin, CEO of Chip, says the firm’s goal is to “democratise the world of investing” but is critical of some aspects of the booming private self-directed investor market.

“We believe investing should not be about stock picking, or single-share trading, or a get-rich-quick gambling culture. With our investment platform, we wanted to build something that offers returns over the long term, of course investors' capital is still at risk, but we’re aiming for much less drama than you’d get with stock-market hype, like the recent GameStop stock saga,” he said. 

“I believe that all people should have access to tools that aim to grow their wealth steadily over time; trading meme shares or buying bitcoin is not it,” he added.