Motif Investing, the online broker, has secured $35 million to expand its wealth management platform – a move it has started by rolling out a “transparent and cost-effective flat-fee” offering.

Motif Investing, an online broker, has secured $35 million to step into the wealth management arena – a move it has kicked off by rolling out a “transparent and cost-effective flat-fee” offering.

Motif, as suggested by its name, enables individuals and investment advisors to invest in stock and bond portfolios built "around everyday ideas and broad economic trends," it said.  

The firm, led by former Microsoft executive Hardeep Walia, said its Advisor Platform streamlines how advisors build, monitor and re-balance model portfolios. It also changes how advisors communicate with clients via social technology - a big feature of the online platform.

Advisors can use the platform to build their own model portfolios or use existing Motif models. In addition, next month Motif will launch new “smart beta motifs,” exclusively for advisors, it said. Flat-fee pricing for the Advisor Platform starts at $20 per month, per client based on assets. 

At the same time, the firm has introduced “Horizon motifs,” providing self-directed retail investors with commission-free, customizable allocation models and rebalancing. 

“This is in contrast to ‘robo-advisors’ which can be accompanied by management fees ranging from 0.15 per cent-0.35 per cent of total assets per year,” it said. “While these management fees may initially sound small, they cause a significant drag on returns over the lifetime of an investor’s portfolio.”

Motif Investing is based in Silicon Valley; investors include Balderton Capital, Foundation Capital, Goldman Sachs, Ignition Partners, JP Morgan, Norwest Venture Partners and Wicklow Capital. Balderton Capital, a UK fund, will help drive Motif's international expansion.

Board members include former SEC chairman Arthur Levitt and former Wall Street executive Sallie Krawcheck.