Drawing comparisons to Blackrock, Wealthfront and Robinhood, investing management app Titan is graduating from Y Combinator this week. “Titan’s first product isn’t technically a hedge fund, but it’s built like one,” reports TechCrunch. The app, with reportedly more than $10 million in assets under management, is the latest mobile-friendly, millennial-focused investing app aiming to take a bite out of the legacy financial services industry.
Interested investors fill out a risk profile, fund the $1,000 minimum investment and then Titan goes to work. The investing service makes long-side purchases of shares, including fractional shares, of the top 20 public stocks held by a number of hedge funds, mimicking the funds’ turnover and concentration. The portfolio is automatically updated every quarter. Downside protection is enabled by linking the user’s risk tolerance with a shorted hedge of up to the bottom 20 percent of the market.
The firm charges an advisory fee of 1 percent of assets and does not charge a performance fee, according to its site. There is no lock-up period, although Titan notes the app is built for investors with “patient capital,” more of a buy-and-hold outlook in other words. Apex Clearing and Third Party Trade provide execution, custody and clearing.
Seeking to differentiate itself further, Titan also provides educational elements and newsletters to its users. There are plans in the works for an IRA offering and the report notes that future product launches of a diversified group of products could mean Titan will soon be competing with Wealthfront, Coinbase and Robinhood.
“If we fast-forward 10 to 20 years in the future, millennials will have inherited $10 trillion, and at this rate they’re not equipped to handle that money,” says co-founder Clayton Gardner, in the report. “Financial management isn’t something taught in school.”
