Let the people punt.
A rough idea from a conversation last night about getting Aussies directly invested in our countries future.
We as Australians love a punt, this will always be true.
All the dollars spent punting on pokies, footy, horses and the dogs. “having a slap”, “punting on the dogs”.
Regardless of what you personally think about it, you can’t deny that we as a culture love it.
So we’re primed. We know Aussies want to take bets. What would be great to see though is a new thing to punt on. A place to channel that money, that thrill seeking into something more productive for our country.
We all see the stories of great companies being built. I’m sure many have thought “I would love to get my dollars involved”
Here’s my idea:
There is approximately $4.3 trillion sitting in superannuation in Australia. The average balance sits at $172, 834.
Let’s allow superfunds to allocate 1% each year to be the second check in Australian companies. Thats ~$43b
Let’s allow each Aussie to allocate 10% each year to be the second check in Australian companies. Thats ~$17k
In order to unlock this capability as an individual, you need to pass a standardised test, which teaches you the basics of angel investing and provides a basic framework for how to think about allocating your capital.
We create a general framework for what you can invest in and when. Let’s focus on industries we’re trying to prioritise, area’s of the economy where time, attention and capital is required in order for Australia to be a leader in the future.
I say “second check” above as maybe we want to see some level of commitment, traction and funding from a founder before allowing an individual to invest their super, as a means of weeding out gaming of the system.
You can get friends and family involved. Find a company, pool your capital and take a punt.
On the superfund level, members can vote for where their capital goes, opting to put their capital behind some of the leading angel investors out there. In the same way I can customise my portfolio today, I would love to have an option to decide whether my money goes into certain funds.
There’s a-lot of gaps in this idea for sure, though the general idea of getting each Australian more involved in building up Australia is something worth thinking about. Aligning it with what people already know how to do (which is have a punt), seems to me to be an interesting way to think about it.
The downstream impacts of the everyday Aussie taking a look at what companies are being built, who’s building them and actually getting involved with their dollars is a great exercise in building social cohesion and getting us all aligned on building up our beautiful country.
Yes one will say that superfunds already invest in venture and at the frontier, though they’re still tied up in needing a generalised guarantee of return. I’m talking about a punt, taking a bet with no certainty at all of a return in the future. Most will fail, though many will also suceed.