Investing as a first-timer can be daunting, with so many options available and risks that might not always pay off. Thankfully, one Brussels resident has developed a tool to help people in Belgium take charge of their finances.
While stashing your cash in a savings account and forgetting all about it may seem like the easiest and safest option, it "destroys people's wealth", according to 38-year-old French-British entrepreneur Thomas Ketchell. This is particularly true in Belgium, where over €300 billion is stored in savings accounts, but the interest rates are some of the lowest in the eurozone. Ketchell – who moved to Belgium from the UK when he was nine – therefore decided to build a business to help people hack the system.
When growing their first business in the US, Ketchell and his Brussels school friend Yoran Brondsema became increasingly interested in personal finance and their pension plans.
So, they started investing – and made many mistakes along the way. Ketchell started picking stocks and products he liked, and invested in the fitness tracker Fitbit. But within a few months, when Apple and Garmin watches came onto the scene, the stock dropped by about 40%, and he lost a significant chunk of money.
"I had fallen into the classic trap: buying a stock I liked without understanding the business and its risks. It was a tough but valuable lesson," Ketchell wrote in his new book 'ETF Investing in Belgium: A practical guide', which explains how Belgian taxation, pensions, and ETF index investing work.
Curvo co-founder, Thomas Ketchell.
After losing money on Fitbit, he decided to do his research, but noticed financial literature was either US- or UK-focused, and anything specific to Belgium was only in French or Dutch. "I realised that there was a big gap and problem to solve there," he told The Brussels Times.
With business partner Brondsema at his side, he therefore set up Curvo in 2021: an app to "solve the pension crisis for millennials and Gen Z" and help new investors.
The app's name comes from the Latin curvus to show the rising curve of investments – but it has raised a few eyebrows. "We had a lot of Eastern Europeans who wrote to us saying it sounds like kurwa [ed. a Polish swear word], so that was obviously an oversight by us, but we've seen the fun side of it now," Ketchell laughed.
The business venture stemmed from their own experiences of investing. "It was really prompted by solving our own problem, and then realising loads of people had the same problem [...] We never really set out to build a company for this," Ketchell said. Despite starting from scratch, the entrepreneurs are now certified financial advisors.
Many people in Belgium park their money in a savings account, but earn "very minimal interest" in doing so, as the accounts don't follow inflation, he said. "So, there is a need for something like Curvo where we help the consumer take action and start investing."
While he believes investing is fairly simple in practice, the financial industry, banks and insurance providers make it seem more complex than it is, and investing with banks often comes with high fees and mediocre returns.
"There are a lot of people who just want someone to do it for them, and that's the niche that we target with Curvo," the entrepreneur said.
Investing for dummies
The app breaks down the basics of investing. "It's really for beginners and people at the start of their journey, who know they have to do something with their money but aren't sure where to start," Ketchell said.
Curvo is very specific to Belgium; new members can only sign up with Itsme, the Belgian digital identity app. As a registered financial entity, the entrepreneurs must follow strict rules and regulations and collect the registration number and tax number of every user.
After signing up and filling in a short questionnaire, which determines how much of a risk-taker you are, a portfolio will be created for the user. There are five different options available, with varying degrees of risk.
The Euronext Brussels Stock Exchange in Brussels on Monday 18 March 2024. Credit: Belga / Nicolas Maeterlinck
Users can then set up an automated savings plan and start investing from €50. Curvo members save on average about €220 a month, which is taken from the user's bank account and invested automatically.
"You don't have to do any manual work; you can just see it all in the Curvo app, and then you see your investments take place, and you can obviously take out money whenever you like, and invest more if you wish."
The app is free to download, but the company charges a fee on the assets, which is 1% for investments under €50,000. "There are no extra costs; it's just that one fee and then that's taken out of your assets," he said.
Curvo goes continental
In five years, Curvo has acquired 7,500 customers and now manages €53.8 million, according to Ketchell.
Although it's Belgium-based, members with an existing portfolio can already use it across the EU if they leave the country. Over the next year, however, the pair hope to broaden their reach by enabling Europeans across the continent to sign up.
Ketchell believes money is still a topic people are not comfortable talking about in Belgium, but educating people on how to take control of their future and pension through his app is breaking the taboo and starting a conversation.
"When we explain how inflation is growing faster than the rate they're getting on their savings account, it shows clearly that their wealth is being destroyed. And that's why you should invest your money," he said.
"We've really helped people over the last five years take charge of their finances and their money and see all the benefits of putting their money to work, so that's been a big win for us. The fact that people continue to share it through word of mouth shows that the product is doing what it is supposed to do."
