An Aussie finance expert has launched an investment fund that could get you into the southeast Queensland property market for less than a Macca’s soft serve icecream.
GPS Investment Fund, which specialises in registered first mortgage investments, recently launched Arkus, which was the brainchild of its chief operating officer, Shelby Clark.
“You can throw $1 in that coin jar in the kitchen, plenty of people do,” Ms Clark said.
“But if you wanted it to work for you, that same $1 gets pooled with others and lent out to fund bricks and mortar townhouses, duplexes, units going up across southeast Queensland.
“We’re not saying $50 a week is going to buy you a penthouse but that’s kind of the point, Arkus isn’t about overnight wealth.
“It’s about making property-backed investing possible for everyday people who don’t have thousands of dollars to buy in.
“We’re not here to promise the world, just a practical way to get moving.”
Generic view of the Brisbane skyline and houses
Brisbane-based Ms Clark said she was inspired to launch Arkus after finding it difficult to crack the investment market herself.
“If I was locked out of decent investing, working in finance, doing everything right, what does that say about the way property investing actually works in Queensland?” she said.
“They keep saying ‘just save more’, but when every fund wants thousands of dollars to start and the housing market’s sprinting away from you, how’s that realistic?
“It’s not. It’s the rich-get-richer system, and most of us are priced out before we even begin.
“I built Arkus because I was shut out. I had a good job, a mortgage, managing my money well but I still couldn’t find an investment that felt both safe and accessible.
“Everything either wanted $10,000 up front, or felt like gambling.”
Ms Clark said that most people started out investing $10 a week, or $50 a fortnight.
“We’ve got teenagers doing that, parents, even a couple of entire families who’ve turned it into a kind of group habit,” she said.
“One investor literally deposited $7.26. We figure that’s what she had left in her account at the end of the week, and she chose to put it to work.
“You don’t need to be rich, just curious. We’ve seen starters for $1 – purely to test if we are real and not a scam.
“A month later, after a few emails with me and seeing his first statement, he started putting in proper amounts.”
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Arkus founder Shelby Clark
Among those who have invested in the fund is 38-year-old Wynnum mum Emma.
“My brother started investing when he was young,” Emma said.
“He’s done everything – stocks, blue-chip shares, even an Australian honey company.
“I always loved hearing about it, but no matter how many times he explained, I never really understood it.”
Emma said that whenever her brother asked her to invest, it was never in her budget or was too daunting to contemplate.
Now it has become a family affair.
“My family each has an account. My two teenagers are putting in their own money and building it up themselves,” she said.
“I like how this has provided an opportunity for them to consider their finances.”
Emma
Arkus currently offers a target rate of 6.5 percent per annum, paid monthly, with the flexibility for investors to contribute weekly, fortnightly, or monthly at any amount they choose, with the ability to withdraw monthly.
GPS Investment Fund founder and managing director Richard Woodhead said Arkus marked a significant milestone in the company’s mission to make financial growth more inclusive.
“GPS has long specialised in property-secured mortgage investments across southeast Queensland,” he said.
“With Arkus, we’re extending the same reliability to a new generation of investors through a modern, easy-to-use platform offering accessibility and flexibility.”
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