From R1 billion to R100 billion in a decade

EasyEquities has officially hit the milestone of R100 billion in client assets on its platform, just over a decade after it started from scratch. 

The company revealed that a decade ago, it was sitting on R1 billion in assets on EasyEquities. Now, clients regularly deposit multiple times that amount onto the platform every month. 

This is a sign of the company’s growing momentum, with its mission being to democratise investing in South Africa by reducing as many barriers to entry as possible. 

Investing in stocks, bonds, and real estate has historically been the preserve of the wealthy in South Africa, with rich individuals using stock brokers and investment banks to allocate their capital. 

This was coupled with the unit trust universe, where investors were expected to meet relatively high minimum deposits and understand complex fee structures. 

While the unit trust industry has rapidly evolved from that point, access has remained relatively limited due to the advisor-based nature of the sector. 

Without a financial advisor, it can be extremely cumbersome and complicated to simply invest in a unit trust with a large asset manager. 

EasyEquities launched into this world in 2014 as a subsidiary of Purple Group, with backing from Sanlam, as a brokerage platform. 

Its big innovation at the time, apart from its simple fee structure, was the ability for investors on the platform to buy fractional shares of companies rather than an entire share. 

For example, individuals could buy R50 worth of Naspers and receive a fraction of a share in the company rather than invest close to R1,000 to pick up a full share in the company. 

At the time, Purple Group CEO Charles Savage laid out the mission for EasyEquities, saying the platform would make investing easy, affordable, and accessible for anyone. 

This combination proved to be highly attractive for South African investors, with the company experiencing strong growth in its first few years. 

However, this was not easy, with Savage explaining that the company thought it would build the platform and people would come. 

This was not the case, as getting people to put their money on the platform required trust to be developed and getting millions of South Africans interested in investing in the stock market. 

R100 billion and beyond

EasyEquities is credited with creating widespread interest in investing on the JSE and global exchanges in South Africa through its mission to democratise investments. 

The company, in a statement celebrating the R100 billion milestone, made it clear that it is also benefiting from the same compounding its clients do. 

“What you see as R100 billion is really trust, patience, and a bit of courage, repeated over time,” the company said. 

EasyEquities explained that reaching the milestone was about thousands of individual decisions across South Africa, adding up to more money being invested in assets around the world. 

The company’s retail client base has compounded wealth at an annual rate of around 30% a year, which means it is roughly doubling every two-and-a-half years. 

“From R1 billion in 2016 to R100 billion today. It has been a decade of compounding, growth, and millions of investment decisions made one at a time,” EasyEquities said on social media.

Crucially, this growth is becoming increasingly profitable for the company and its shareholders, with it experiencing immense operational leverage. 

This means that much of the company’s revenue growth now flows almost directly to its bottom line, with costs compounding at a much slower rate or remaining flat. 

In the most recent interim results released by Purple Group, it revealed that its revenue grew by 8.8% to R258.49 million year-on-year. 

Importantly, its expenses rose by a moderate 0.5% to R161.13 million, allowing the group to report a profit of R58.26 million for the six-month period, a 34.8% increase.

Purple Group’s basic and headline earnings per share rose by 21% to 2.86 cents, while its net asset value increased by 14.9% to 52.10 cents per share.

The vast majority of Purple Group’s revenue and earnings are derived from Easy Group, which reported a stellar performance.

Easy Group recorded revenue of R256 million and a profit before tax of R90 million, marking an 18.5% and 66% increase, respectively.

Operationally, Easy Group saw its registered clients increase by 17% to reach 2.87 million, while its active clients grew by 21.9% to 1.24 million.

“The question coming into FY26 was simple. After a record FY25, could we compound off it? The six months to 28 February 2026 answers that clearly,” Purple Group CEO Charles Savage said.

“For years, we said the operating leverage was coming. You can see it now in every line of this table – revenue up 8.8%, costs up 0.5%. That gap is not an accident.”

“It is the result of a decade of building a platform designed to scale, and a client base that deepens its engagement year after year. The consolidated result is the headline. Easy Group is the story behind it.”