Fundlater
Security & 2 Factor Authentication

How do I turn on two-factor authentication 2FA

InvestSMART is pleased to announce that its two-factor authentication (2FA) - or two-step verification security system is now live across all its portfolio platforms, and the Intelligent Investor site.

What is 2FA?

Two-factor authentication (2FA) - or two-step verification - is a security feature that adds an extra layer of protection to your account. Instead of using a single factor to authenticate your identity, like a password, you can use a second, one-time code sent to you via SMS or generated in an authenticator mobile application like Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator or Authy

How do I enable 2FA?

The 2FA system is opt-in. To activate it, please read the following steps.

You can click here to go directly to this feature or click on the ‘My Account’ button in the top right corner and then on the My Account Tab. You will see the third option down the list is Two-Factor Authentication.

There are two different 2FA methods to choose from:

  1. Get a code via SMS/text or

  2. Generate a code via an Authenticator Application like Google Authenticator, Microsoft Authenticator or Authy.

You can choose both methods. If you enable both, the authenticator app will be used as the primary method.

Method for turning on the SMS/Text Message.

  1. Turn on the SMS/Text Message toggle.

  2. An SMS/text is sent to your mobile device with a code

  3. Enter the code and click the “Verify & Save Setting” button.

  4. An ‘All Done’ message will appear confirming your SMS authentication is set up

Method for turning on the Authenticator Application

  1. Turn on the Authenticator Application toggle

  2. Download the Authenticator of choice and then use the generated QR code

  3. Enter the code and click the “Verify Code” button.

  4. An ‘All Done’ message will appear confirming your Authenticator App is set up

Once you have activated your two-factor authentication (2FA), you will now have an extra step at login. As usual, your first step will be entering your email and password combination. The second step will require you to enter a valid 2FA code from either the SMS you receive or generate the code via your authenticator app of choice.

Please be aware that you can:

  • Select the “Don’t ask again on this device for 30 days” option.

    • Choosing this means a 2FA code won’t be required for 30 days.

    • Your login process will be as usual on that particular device/browser.

  • With 2FA enabled, you should be able to bypass the Google reCAPTCHA process.

Need help?

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please click on the salmon-coloured help button in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.

This help button will begin a live chat with a team member during office hours. If your query is outside office hours, we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Related topics

You can view and manage your InvestSMART PMA online. 

If you are already invested, visit the My Account section of the website and select My Investments to view:

  • Investment Summary
  • Current Holdings
  • Transactions
  • Dividends & Interest
  • Deposits & Withdrawals
  • InvestSMART Fees 
  • Allocation Preferences
  • Investment Preferences

Your portfolio data is updated daily. Please note, you will always see the previous days closing values.

You can switch between Model Portfolios or alter the combination of Model Portfolios on which your portfolio is constructed at any time. Your instruction will generally be acted upon during the next rebalancing date after receiving your request online.

You can submit this request by taking the following steps:

  • Click My Account and My Investments
  • Select Modify Allocations
  • Click Adjust My Allocation
  • Provide New Allocation Breakdown by Percentage (%) and then select Next
  • Select Verification and use preferred option - Email or SMS
  • Complete Verification

If your request requires additional funds to be transferred then the details will be shown in accordance with what you need to contribute along with the BPAY details unique to your investment account.

If you require assistance, please contact our friendly team via the chat function in the bottom right corner.

We are commonly asked by new clients browsing their holdings in the Portfolio Manager why they have physical cash sitting in their investment portfolio. Surely it should be invested in more shares? 

There are four reasons why this may be occurring: 

Cash Component

As referenced in our Product Disclosure Statement, every Professionally Managed Account (PMA) will hold, at the very least, 1% of the total account value in a cash component at all times.

InvestSMART draws upon this cash component to cover management fees and brokerage costs (if required), removing the need to unnecessarily sell down investments to cover the aforementioned expenses, which would be counterproductive to the progress of your investment. 

Portfolio Manager Discretion

At any point in time, the Portfolio Manager of any Model Portfolio has the discretion to adjust the holdings and weightings held, including physical cash. While this is more likely to impact active stock-picking portfolios rather than our capped-fee investment portfolios, it's not unusual to see 5% physical cash held by some models. 

Balanced Portfolio Allocation shown

Contributions or Income 

Over time your investments will pay dividends or distributions with the proceeds deposited into your cash component, and dependent on your income setting, it will either be accumulated and paid to your nominated bank account or held for reinvestment at the next rebalance. 

Contributions are also held similarly. They will be initially deposited into the cash component until there are enough available funds to trigger a rebalance of your holdings. 

The myth of "Full Investment"

Lastly, there is a common-sense reason why there might be a little more physical cash in your account. We aren't able to necessarily deploy every cent we'd like to due to the fluctuations in the price of underlying holdings on any one day, i.e. if we want to purchase $500 of ABC to rebalance your portfolio but only have $100 available, then we will have to hold fast for the time being. 

Remember:

This is a Professionally Managed Account (PMA), meaning that we manage this for you. Any trading, readjusting, rebalancing is done automatically by InvestSMART.

If you have any further questions or want clarification on the above topics, then please feel free to email us at invest@investsmart.com.au 

We sometimes get asked, "Why does portfolio performance differ from the model performance?"

Your account is designed to track the InvestSMART model portfolios you have chosen to invest in. We operate model portfolios with specific percentages assigned to the holdings and invest in the same holdings for your account to mirror the model. When the model holdings change so to will your account holdings.

Here are some common reasons why your investment return may differ from the model portfolio you are tracking:

Income sweep: If you have the Income Sweep turned on you are having the dividends paid out to you, therefore removing that cash from your portfolio. This may make it seem like your returns are lower than they are.

Your inception date: Our published model performance figures are based on month end values. For example, model performance may be +5% from 30 November to 31 December. If you established your portfolio on the 5th November and attempted to compare performance, your return may look quite different.

Adjusting/changing investment models: If you adjust your model weights during the performance reporting period, your returns may differ to our published performance. By adjusting models during the period, it becomes more difficult to obtain a like for like comparison against model performance returns.

Adding or withdrawing funds: Adding or withdrawing funds will see InvestSMART needing to buy or sell securities/shares in your account during the month. This will see you purchase or sell securities/shares at a price that may differ from the end of month price.

Size of portfolio balance: Our models operate off percentages. The larger the size of the portfolio the easier it is to match those percentages. Some accounts holdings may vary to model security weights as the high dollar value of a security (E.g., $100-600 depending on the ETF) means we can’t buy as many as is required to get close to the model weight. These residual amounts are therefore held as cash which has the effect of dampening returns when securities are going up. Of course, where securities fall, this has the effect of improving returns relative to model.

     

Actual Weight

 

 

Price per unit

Model Weight

$1m Portfolio

$100K Portfolio

$10K Portfolio

 

 

AAA

$50.07

14.00%

14.00%

13.97%

13.52%

IAF

$109.35

22.50%

22.49%

22.42%

21.87%

IFRA

$21.77

2.75%

2.75%

2.74%

2.61%

IOZ

$30.32

21.00%

21.00%

20.98%

20.92%

VAP

$93.00

2.75%

2.74%

2.70%

1.86%

VBND

$47.43

12.00%

12.00%

12.00%

11.86%

VGS

$105.04

24.00%

23.99%

23.95%

23.11%

CASH

$1.00

1.00%

1.02%

1.24%

4.25%

   

100.00%

100.00%

100.00%

100.00%

Brokerage: The investment models do not factor in brokerage. If you add funds, withdraw funds, or change investment model’s transactions occur and so do brokerage costs.