The problem is no longer access to markets. It’s knowing what to invest in.
That’s according to George Parthimos and Nicholas Kapes of Wolfpack, the app empowering a new generation of investors to discover opportunities with AI and embedded communities.
Benzinga spoke with Parthimos and Kapes for more on Wolfpack’s exciting global launch.
Context: Different paths to the same conclusions.
That’s Benzinga's takeaway after speaking to the Wolfpack team. Kapes, who made a name for himself trading at banks and proprietary trading desks, said that he and Parthimos both saw the difficulties millennials were having with learning about what to invest in.
Parthimos, who has built tech products sold to firms like General Motors Co (NYSE:GM), “had the idea of coming up with an app whereby people can actually put in their own investment criteria, and then our app analyzes the market for them and spits out stocks.”
Unlike Robinhood Markets Inc (NASDAQ:HOOD), Kapes says that high-frequency trading is not baked into their model. Instead, Wolfpack is focused on education and long-term investing.
“As soon as these new investors download the applications that were available at the time, they would get completely confused because they didn’t understand the lingo and complexity of how the market worked,” Parthimos elaborated. “The biggest pain point was in starting out.”
With Parthimos’ expertise in building and commercializing tech products, as well as Kapes’ extensive knowledge of markets, Wolfpack was launched in March. After a week or so, the app garnered thousands of downloads with several hundred users onboarded.
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Differentiator: Discovery. Trading. Growth.
There are a few parts necessary in becoming a successful market participant, Parthimos told Benzinga. “Wolfpack is designed and targeted to the investor that wants to build a portfolio over time and receive picks that go along with their personalized investment criteria.”
Essentially, Wolfpack is a trading platform for a global audience. Being built on the back of Apex Clearing, its broker-dealer, the firm is able to offer zero commissions and fractional share trades in the U.S., the host of the most liquid markets in the world.
“In Australia, we don’t have fractional trading at all,” Kapes noted that $500 minimum trade values in Australia are keeping many newcomers out of the market. “We cannot have zero-cost trading, either. We only have one exchange – it’s a monopoly, and they charge accordingly.”
In light of recent market volatility, Benzinga asked the Wolfpack team about other trading app problems they are looking to solve. Mainly, having the ability to sell-short assets and hedge portfolio’s against market volatility, a feature nonexistent on competitors' platforms.
“Our app gives you the ability to buy and sell,” Kapes said on helping investors, who may only trade a few times a year, better position their portfolios for long-term growth.
“During the course of the day, if you get a push notification signal based on your own investment criteria, you will be able to buy and sell stocks and ETFs. Users will even be able to match their criteria and observe what the Wolfpack community’s most popular picks are.”
Going Forward: The Wolfpack team said that nearly 50 million Millennials and Gen Z made trades over the past 12 months.
“That number will continue to grow, and we think our offering is going to be unique enough to pick up some market share, as well,” Parthimos said.
Essentially, Wolfpack is free. For a small subscription fee, however, users can unlock unlimited AI trading stock picks and discussion board access, the ability to automate deposits, and more.
Kapes noted: “We’re in the infancy stage. We’ve got the iOS out and the Android version will be released in a couple of weeks. Then, we’re looking to integrate crypto trading as well.”
