Meet the seven-year-old investing in ETFs

Jonathan ShapiroSenior reporter

Aug 26, 2021 – 4.50pm

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This week’s tale profiles our youngest ever investor – seven-year old Sam Reavley, from Redland Bay, Queensland.

ASX-listed SelfWealth is the latest of several online brokers to offer minor accounts to existing clients, as lower brokerage and small minimum investments makes them easier to establish.

They’re proving popular for some to increase their children’s wealth and improve their financial literacy. They allow users to set up subsidiary trading accounts for their children, presumably for them to inherit when they’re old enough.

Seven-year old Sam Reavley has shares held for him in a minor account.

One of the first customers to take advantage of this feature is Adrian Reavley, who set an account up for his son Sam. Adrian is 56 and owner of print and signage company Express Print and Sign in Redland Bay.

The father-son team just made their first investment – an ETF. They’ve gone pretty vanilla with VGS, the Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF.

The $3.8 billion ETF gives exposure to the widely tracked global sharemarket index at a low cost of 18 basis points.

“At this stage, the plan is to invest in ETF funds, but as my son’s knowledge grows, we will teach him how to invest into individual companies,” Adrian tells The Australian Financial Review.

He hopes these investments will give Sam an early education in investing, and says he’s discussed with him the different options and risks involved in each investment, and also the power of compounding interest.

“He is only seven but is getting a good knowledge base for future investments,” says Adrian.

So, are Adrian and Sam in it for fun or fortune?

“He does enjoy seeing how his portfolio is going, but more importantly, we are teaching life skills about savings, finance and wealth growth.”

Adrian say he wants Sam to stay invested beyond his 18th birthday, when he will then be old enough to assume full control of the portfolio.

“I want him to keep investing. This is the start of his wealth journey, and we want him to be able to be financially independent as soon as possible.”

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Sam’s investing journey is the latest in our Trader’s Tales, which appear exclusively in The Australian Financial Review’s new weekly newsletter, Wealth Generation. Wealth Generation provides you with essential and understandable information if you’re hoping to become the next Warren Buffett, retire early to a tropical island or just live free of money stress.

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Here’s what else is in our latest edition:

We explore this push back to the workplace with a report by Natasha Gillezeau that contrasts the views of Australian tech firms with those in America.
Jemima Whyte and Liam Walsh meet the ordinary men and women around our vast land who “picked Afterpay”.
We hear from Afterpay’s Millennial co-founder himself, Nick Molnar, about why Gen Z is so important to him.
Crypto sleuth Jessica Sier ventures deeper into the metaverse.

Join our team of expert financial journalists as we pull back the curtain on the murky world of investing and show you how to generate wealth and wellness.

Jonathan Shapiro writes about banking and finance, specialising in hedge funds, corporate debt, private equity and investment banking. He is based in Sydney. Connect with Jonathan on Twitter. Email Jonathan at jonathan.shapiro@afr.com