July 24, 2019
Smart Investor, the online tool that enables Kiwis to search and compare New Zealand investments such as KiwiSaver,
shares and bonds, has won an international design award.
The tool was named the best Web Design and Development in the Digital category of the Good Design Australia Awards in
July.
Housed on the Sorted website, the portal was launched in February to enable KiwiSaver members to explore their fund’s
investments in detail, and compare their fund against other offerings.
It also compares other managed funds, managed investments and share and bond offers, as well as providing guides on
investing and definitions of jargon.
The Good Design Australia Awards are entered by hundreds of designers from around the world. To win its category, Smart
Investor had to show it “used technology in a clever way”, “had world-first features” and provided information that was
“arranged in an intuitive and easy to digest manner.”
“Excelling against that criteria was no small task for a site that compares financial data,” says Sorted’s Managing
Editor, Tom Hartmann.
“Our aim was to break down the barriers to investing so that all New Zealanders could benefit from this way of growing
their money – we’re thrilled the website has been recognised as doing such a good job.”
Smart Investor is managed by three government agencies – the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE),
the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) and the Commission for Financial Capability (CFFC), which runs Sorted. It was
built by web design company Chrometoaster, which entered the awards on behalf of the agencies.
Gillian Boyes, the FMA’s Investor Capability Manager, is delighted the tool has been recognised. “Our role as regulator
is to ensure providers are delivering clear, concise and effective information to investors, so people can make
well-informed decisions. The design of Smart investor has been a real boost to making things easier and less complicated
for people,” said Boyes.
The information the site provides is pulled from the Disclose Register run by the Companies Office. Financial Service
Providers are required to provide this information as part of their legal disclosure requirements. Smart Investor is
updated daily.
Consumers do not have to input any personal information to access the site’s services, which are independent and
impartial.
“We wanted to encourage greater transparency in the financial sector by sharing information with consumers, but to
achieve that we had to make the tool simple to use,” says Hartmann. “Chrometoaster did a fantastic job of working with
us to achieve that.”
ends