Warren Buffett has criticized trading platforms that overly gamify investing in the past, lamenting once in an annual meeting for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that such platforms resemble gambling parlours more than investment platforms.
The financially successful Buffett has long credited his wealth not to high intelligence or risky bets, but rather patience and a stoic temperament.
With this in mind, Vancouver-born fintech has launched what it dubs “Buffet Mode,” a digital investing product that aims to give everyone the opportunity to manage their wealth in a manner inspired by the icon himself.
Mogo agrees with Buffet that investors are “losing money through frequent and speculative trading that the self-directed investing industry promotes” and has thus launched Buffett Mode, a self-directed investing app to “entrench the discipline, patience and approach that legendary investor Warren Buffett has long promoted.”
“The meme stock craze is yet another example of the issue we’re trying to combat,” explains David Feller, chief executive of B.C.-based Mogo.
“Investors have been tricked into thinking that the next ten-bagger stock is around the corner, and that a FOMO-style of investing is the best way to generate outsized returns,” he says, “when the reality can’t be further from the truth.”
Many trading apps look more like gambling apps “because they make way more money by getting you to gamble than to invest,” Feller says.
“The fact is, many investors lose money and the vast majority would be better off simply investing in the S&P 5002,” the CEO posits.
The new Mogo app includes a combination of features to help Canadians become better investors, according to Feller. For example, it leverages behavioural science to gamify thoughtful long-term investing while aiming to minimize speculation and gambling.
Another feature is a “Build Your Legacy” calculator, which inspires investors to focus on a long-term wealth-building strategy versus a get-rich-quick approach (that usually leads to losses).
Mogo is charging $15 per month to invest on Buffet Mode.
Founded in 2003, Mogo boasts more than two million members and nearly $10B in annualized payments volume, and has been buying back its own shares.
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