SoFi will offer its users the ability to invest in IPOs for companies going public, the digital lender announced on Friday. Typically, these opportunities are reserved for institutional investors.
SoFi expects to offer a couple of IPO securities in the months ahead that will be available for its “SoFi Invest members through the SoFi app.”
More specifically, the product offering can be utilized by anyone who has the “SoFi Active Invest” account and at least $3,000 in total account value across all of SoFi Invest. SoFi Invest enables users to have access to investment tools such as automated investing, commission-free stock trading, fractional-share trading among other features.
SoFi CEO Anthony Noto said in a statement that SoFi’s mission aims to help people obtain financial independence.
“If you’re going to achieve your financial goals, having access to a broad range of diversified investment opportunities is imperative, and gaining access to primary offerings is another way to diversify your portfolio that has previously been restricted to a select few,” Noto stated. “IPO Investing reflects our continued effort to make investing more accessible, by pioneering fractional shares, offering commission-free trading, creating unique SoFi-branded ETFs, and now, IPO investing.”
The company said in the news release that it recognizes that investing in IPOs is risky and will clearly disclose the risk and benefits with this type of investing.
The news comes on the heels of trading app Robinhood saying it’s considering allowing users to buy directly into IPOs, which includes its own nearing public debut.
Fintech SoFi announced in January that it plans to go public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by billionaire VC investor Chamath Palihapitiya. The deal would value San Francisco-based SoFi at $8.65 billion.
SoFi also recently announced it was acquiring Golden Pacific Bancorp, a three-branch community bank with $150 million in assets, for $22.3 million. The company expects the deal to close by the end of the year, which won’t have an impact on its plans to go public via SPAC, the company said.