Summary

Wise Alpha is considered an online platform offering individual investors high yield corporate bonds, senior secured, and loans directly from United Kingdom companies.

Established in 2014, and owned by Rezaah Ahmad, you essentially invest in Participation Notes on Wise Alpha that in turn are backed by bonds and loans that are senior secured that was acquired by Wise Alpha.

The Wise Alpha platform opens the institutional, corporate bonds market for individual investors where they will be able to start investing for a mere 100.

Wise Alpha forms part of the Wise Alpha Technologies Limited corporation which is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom.

Investors simply need to visit the homepage of Wise Alpha and locate the Open Account tab at the top of the Wise Alpha homepage.

Broker Information

User Rating
Leverage 1
Instruments
Commissions Variable Spreads
Founded 2014
Min Funding $100
Regulation

    NOT REGULATED

    Introduction

    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

    WiseAlpha is considered an online platform offering individual investors high yield corporate bonds, senior secured, and loans directly from United Kingdom companies. Established in 2014, and owned by Rezaah Ahmad, you essentially invest in Participation Notes on WiseAlpha that in turn are backed by bonds and loans that are senior secured that was acquired by WiseAlpha. As an investor at WiseAlpha, you are not lending fund to a borrower. Instead, you are basically investing in Participation Notes from WiseAlpha that is considered a debt security. Investors can look forward to an average return of approximately 8%.

    The WiseAlpha platform opens the institutional, corporate bonds market for individual investors where they will be able to start investing for a mere £100. Corporate bonds are regarded as a defensive asset class, providing lower risk investment. Should the company go bankrupt, these corporate bonds will have priority over shares. WiseAlpha provides a truly innovative way for investors to start making a profit in the long-term. For instance, 36% of the United Kingdom pension funds are invested in bonds. Investors don’t have the opportunity to invest in corporate bonds due to the fact that you need at least £100,000 to invest in a bond. This creates a massive barrier for investors on a daily basis, and therefore WiseAlpha entered the market to make it more suitable for everyone.

    Licensing and Regulation

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    WiseAlpha forms part of the WiseAlpha Technologies Limited corporation which is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom. The company is situated in England with offices in Canary Wharf, London. The Financial Conduct Authority essentially ensures the best protection for clients at WiseAlpha. The regulatory body basically focuses on the regulation of conduct by both wholesale and retail financial companies.

    Mobile Trading

    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

    WiseAlpha has recently launched Robowise which is essentially a new automated investing service. This is a brand-new feature in the corporate bond market and will allow investors to create their own portfolio based on the return/risk they want. In 2019, the company is striving to expand their platform and products and will hire more developers to create new analytics and features on the site. This also includes a dedicated mobile app. At the moment, WiseAlpha does not provide a mobile app for iOS and Android users. However, it does offer the ability for mobile users to visit the site on their web browsers. The web-based site looks exactly like it’s desktop counterpart and comes equipped with all the features and products as well. If the company can launch a mobile app in 2019, it will make investing far more convenient for clients around the world.

    Brand & Functionality

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    The WiseAlpha brand is considered a first of its kind and comes with a wide range of functionality aspects that will appeal to both beginners and experienced investors. The market section comes packed with various buying opportunities, such as Smart Interest, John Lewis, Vue Entertainment, Tesco, Perform Group. Cabot Financial, InterGen, Virgin Media, and more. Each markets gives you an indication of how much is available, the total amount invested, and the coupon percentage, current yield percentage, and YTM percentage. Investors can also take advantage of the High Yield Market, the Special Situations category, and Perpetuals, including various banks. Apart from the market section, investors can also learn how WiseAlpha functions, claim several promotions and read multiple guides on how wealth building is actually achieved.

    Registration Process

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    Registering a new account at WiseAlpha is very easy and only requires a few minutes of your time. Investors simply need to visit the homepage of WiseAlpha and locate the “Open Account” tab at the top of the WiseAlpha homepage. Once you click on the tab, you will be taken to a new page where you will need to choose between a Corporate Account and an Individual Account. Thereafter, you will need to provide your email address and create your password followed by agreeing to the terms and conditions of the site.

    Once these details are completed, you need to enter your home address, telephone number, and a few security questions that will be asked when logging into your account. This includes a memorable name or a memorable place. The site will then request that you choose an investor type you are interested in. These include Retail (Restricted) investor, Advised Retail Investor, Sophisticated Investor, High Net Worth Individual, and Investment Professional. Once this is completed, you will be taken to a multiple choice quiz. You will need to get all the correct answers to advance with the registration process.

    Once you completed the multiple quiz, you will gain access to main markets, high yield markets, perpetuals, and special situations tab. You will also be able to explore and set up Robowise and will be able to fund your account.

    Depositing Process

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    Once your account is registered, you simply need to click on the “Deposit” tab located in the top right-hand corner of the screen. This will take you to a new page where you will firstly need to provide a few financial details before you can fund your account. This includes sources of money, such as salary, compensation, cash savings, and retirement income, along with your occupation, current address, and how long you’ve lived at the current address. Once these details are provided, you will need to upload two documents, including a copy of your utility bill and a copy of your ID or Passport to confirm your date of birth and address details registered on your account. Your account will also be activated once the documents are verified by WiseAlpha.

    As soon as your account is activated, you are more than welcome to fund your account. WiseAlpha provides a handful of deposit methods to transact on your account, including a debit card and BACS. Payment with debit cards usually occur instantly, and investors simply need to choose the amount they wish to deposit on the site. With BACS, investors can transfer money from their bank accounts directly to their WiseAlpha accounts. Alternatively, you can visit your local bank and deposit funds into your account from there.

    Product Offering

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    WiseAlpha provides an intuitive, sophisticated, and modern market section that will allow investors to choose from a wide range of investment opportunities. The platform also comes equipped with a truly advanced Robowise platform. Robowise is essentially provides intelligent and automated investing opportunities. It also offers smart portfolio re-balancing along with automatic re-investing. This newly-developed technology will diversify your money across several investment markets and will give you the choice between two income portfolios, including Adventurous and Balanced. The Balanced portfolio comes with a yield maturity of 6.43%, while the Adventurous portfolio comes with a yield maturity of 8.03%.

    Trade Execution

    ★ ★ ★ ★

    WiseAlpha essentially pre-purchases a huge chunk of bonds from several global banks. The company then breaks this down into smaller pieces where investors will be introduced to buy them through the company’s marketplace. Investors will be pleased to know that the trade execution on these purchase occur immediately without any delays or interruptions.

    Banking

    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

    The banking section at WiseAlpha is one of the most secure and safest sections on the site. Investors will be able to effortlessly fund their accounts through two deposit methods, including debit cards and BACS, which is essentially a wire transfer from your bank. The site is secured with the most advanced encryption technology which protects both your personal and financial information on the site.

    Customer Support

    ★ ★ ★ ★

    One of the biggest selling points ta WiseAlpha is undoubtedly the customer service centre. The site will allow investors to get in contact with a WiseAlpha representative through several contact channels, including email, live chat, and telephone. The customer service center is only operated by a handful of staff members at the moment which means it does not offer customer support around the clock. However, you will be able to reach them via live chat during weekdays, and if you send an email, you will receive a response within 24 hours. The company is planning to expand its offices during 2019 which means the support desk will also be more convenient in the near future.

    Trading Tools

    ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

    WiseAlpha does not utilise a trading platform as it does not provide financial trading on commodities, indices, or any forex products. Instead, it gives investors the opportunity to trade on several investment opportunities within their market. The trading tools are all available on the site and comes equipped with high-quality borrowers, asset security, comprehensive due diligence, and typical borrower structure. Investors can invest in senior secured bonds, senior secured loans, and high yield unsecured bonds. It’s also worth mentioning that WiseAlpha will only take a 1% annual servicing fee from all investors.

    As with all investing, your capital is at risk. The value of your portfolio can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you invest.