Erika Jonsson Six Park by Erika Jonsson

Damian Worsdell started learning about the importance of saving at a young age.

“Mum was a banker and even when I was really young she was teaching me to save and avoid debt, and I’m so thankful for that influence,” Damian said. “Most of my friends have credit cards and some level of debt, and I’ve managed to avoid that and put money away for the future instead.”

Six Park client stories

Now the 22-year-old Perth-based university student, who has taken time off his commerce studies to work for Qantas, is combining his childhood lessons with a modern investment approach to shape his own financial future.

Having banked half of his pay since the age of 17, he wanted to learn how to help his savings grow faster.

His mum advocated a bricks and mortar investment, but Damian had different ideas.

“My parents had investment property, and I think a lot of older people feel real estate is a safer investment than stocks, but for me the investment market seemed easier to get into with less outgoings and no tenants to worry about.”

His interest in technology led him to research automated investment and ETFs through online communities such as Whirlpool and Reddit, and he tried a couple of different investment platforms before settling on Six Park.

“The customer service was above and beyond anything I’ve ever experienced, and I work in the customer service industry,” Damian said. “It wasn’t what I was expecting at all when I invested in a robo platform. I’m happy to pay a small fee to have access to that level of expertise as well as peace of mind.”

His mum’s proud of his financial independence, and as Damian adds to his initial investment, he’s also busy planning how to enjoy the fruits of his labour.

“A year ago I was saving for a home loan, but I’ve caught the travel bug and I’m looking forward to seeing more of the world over the next few years,” Damian said.

As of 21 June 2017, Damian’s Six Park portfolio has generated investment returns of approximately 3.9% (after all fees) since initially investing mid-February 2017. During this time, his S&P/ASX 200 ETF has dropped almost 1%, but his portfolio return has been lifted by strong gains from his Infrastructure ETF (up 11.7%), International Shares ETF (up 7.3%) and Emerging Markets ETF (up 5.3%).  His International Property and Bond ETFs have been solid, gaining 4.0% and 2.4% respectively.

At Six Park, we believe that a diversified portfolio provides optimal risk-adjusted long-term returns, as holding defensive asset classes (such as cash yield and bonds) can help buffer losses if share markets move down, which is an inevitable part of market cycles over time. Past performance is not an indicator of future returns.

Published June 23, 2017