Press Releases

2000 Press Releases

FOLIOfn Introduces FOLIO Investing, A Revolutionary New Way For Individuals To Invest

03/02/2000

VIENNA, Virginia — FOLIOfn, Inc. (www.foliofn.com) today announced a revolutionary new system that will change, for the better, the way people invest in the stock market. FOLIO Investing, the company’s first product, harnesses the power of the Internet so that individual investors can buy and sell entire stock portfolios with just a few mouse clicks, instead of having to pick individual stocks or mutual funds.

With FOLIO Investing, investors choose their risk, industry or other personal investing preferences, then directly invest in whole portfolios that match those preferences. FOLIO Investing helps eliminate the unnecessary risk, cost and guesswork that is inherent in investing one stock at a time. For example, to invest in the Internet industry, rather than trying to pick individual winners, an investor could invest in the sector by buying an Internet Folio. Perhaps most importantly, FOLIO Investing turns traditional investing concepts on their head. Instead of trying to buy the pieces to create a desired investment portfolio, just buy the portfolio. FOLIO Investing takes advantage of the fact that investing in a portfolio of stocks, instead of just a handful of stocks can provide investors a lower level of risk for the same expected rate of return or the potential for a higher expected rate of return for the same level of risk.

Folios, containing up to 50 stocks each, provide diversification like that currently available through mutual funds. Folios can be easily tailored to investors’ financial goals and investing preferences, and FOLIOfn’s low flat fee lets investors decide how best to manage their accounts, without encouraging or discouraging trading. Using the proprietary FOLIO Investing system, investors can create, buy and trade Folios that meet short- and long-term financial goals regardless of how much they have to invest.

Todays launch marks FOLIOfn’s first public announcement of its service. The company expects to begin full-scale commercial service in late April.

“This isn’t about getting people to trade more often, or to buy and sell stocks faster,” said FOLIOfn founder, chairman and CEO Steven M.H. Wallman. “This is about leveraging the full power of the Internet to help investors invest and trade better, smarter and more easily. We want to change the way investors think about investing.”

With more than ten thousand stocks and mutual funds to choose from, investing is more complex than it has ever been, and much more confusing than it should be. Using FOLIOfn’s proprietary system, investors easily create a portfolio comprised of individual stocks not by trying to decide which individual stocks to purchase (although they can do that too) but by determining their personal investing preferences and goals. Investors select from a list of “Ready-to-Go” Folios that reflect specific interests, market sectors or a particular investing philosophy, or they build personalized Folios one stock at a time or through various stock screeners.

“Experts agree that diversification, whether across the market or within an industry, is one of the foundations of successful and smart investing,” Wallman said. “But the simple ability just to hold a diversified portfolio has been available generally only through mutual funds, and buying a portfolio tailored to an individuals preferences has been available only to extremely wealthy investors. Until now.”

With FOLIO Investing, investors avoid the cost and complexity of buying stocks one at a time because they buy entire portfolios. But because FOLIOfn investors directly own the stocks in their Folios, they avoid the high fees and annual tax bill that can come with many mutual funds, and can even take advantage of easy tax planning ideas that can save large amounts of money. And unlike mutual fund investors, FOLIOfn investors always know exactly what’s in their portfolio, and can customize and tailor their Folios to reflect their preferences and values, while still maintaining the benefits of diversification.

FOLIOfn is committed to the idea of using the Internet to make cutting edge financial services and products that are better for investors and available to all at fair and reasonable prices.

“Most people have no idea how much they are paying their mutual fund in fees,” Wallman said, noting that average annual mutual fund expense ratio is about 1.23% of total assets. “An investor with $50,000 in mutual funds, pays an average of $615 per year or more than $50 per month in fees alone. On average, the vast majority of domestic equity mutual funds underperform the stock market.”

Selecting individual stocks can be even more expensive. Purchasing the number of stocks needed to build a diversified portfolio, and adding to those holdings on a monthly or even quarterly basis, would require a large number of transactions and cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars depending on whether you use an on-line or traditional broker. More important, it is very difficult for the average investor to build a diversified portfolio without the right tools.

FOLIO Investing allows investors to trade entire Folios buying and selling the 50 stocks each Folio can include up to twice a day, every day, all for one low flat fee. FOLIO Investing also allows for the purchase and sale of fractional shares, and for buying and selling in dollars or in shares, so investors can, on an ongoing basis, easily and affordably invest whatever amount they choose.

Wallman founded FOLIOfn after serving as a Commissioner of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. According to Wallman, that experience led him to believe there really is a better and easier way to invest. That way is the rationale behind FOLIO Investing.

“Online brokers are spending hundreds of millions of dollars publicizing systems that make stock trading faster and cheaper, but don’t really make investing any better or easier,” Wallman said. “FOLIO Investing operates at the intersection of technology and finance, providing innovative solutions made possible only by the power of the Internet. The idea behind our company is to provide innovative financial services that take investing to the next level.”

About Folio Investing

Folio Investing, a division of FOLIOfn Investments, Inc., is an online brokerage that enables investors to manage stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds as integrated investment portfolios called “Folios” that deliver better control, greater transparency, and lower cost. Investors can create their own Folios, much like creating personalized ETFs or mutual funds, or invest in over 100 Ready-to-Go Folios representing market indices, sectors, geographical regions, target dates, and more. The Folio Unlimited Plan features unlimited commission-free trading in twice-daily windows for only $29 a month or $290 a year. Ready-to-Go Folios can be managed or unmanaged, are not registered investment companies, and are offered by FOLIOfn Investments, Inc., a registered broker-dealer. FOLIOfn Investments, Inc. does not provide investment, tax, or legal advice. FOLIOfn Investments, Inc., is a member of FINRA/SIPC.