The creators of Livewire, Tom McKay and James Marlay, said Livewire was developed to address the fragmented nature of online investment news and the credibility issue associated with chat rooms and stock forums.
“Livewire is the first media platform that has been specifically built for an Australian investor audience,” said Mr McKay at the Livewire launch attended by InvestorDaily.
Mr McKay said scanning through reports, emails and the web for new financial content was a time-consuming process and that many in the market had given up, relying on generic news feeds instead.
According to Mr McKay and Mr Marlay, the Livewire platform will deliver information contributed by financial professionals, companies and the media more quickly to investors by using brief, digestible bits of information called wires. Each wire will be 150 words or less, making it easier for members to absorb the whole story at a glance, with an option to click through to the full article if desired.
“There is a plethora of financial news, views and data in the market. Livewire allows you to distil the relevant information quickly and efficiently to make accurate, time-sensitive decisions,” said Geoff Wilson, chairman at Wilson Asset management.
Steve Johnson, chief investment officer of Intelligent Investor Funds, held a similar view, saying “the Livewire platform promises a new home for serious investors looking for relevant and informed insights”.
“Less clutter, less noise and more of the information we need to understand the investing world,” he added.
Mr McKay said all contributors are financial professionals or established media outlets using their real names, "rather than faceless gurus".
“Users are accredited through their company email or LinkedIn profile. Members of the site can trust that what they read is thoughtful content from real professionals,” said Mr McKay.
“Livewire contributors can talk to an engaged, relevant audience of investment industry professionals, sophisticated and private investors, and the burgeoning SMSF trustee market.”
The platform will also include a mobile site, daily emails featuring the best articles and frequent live panel discussions.
Mr McKay said the platform is also customisable, meaning users can set it up to only follow the commentators, the stocks and the things relevant to them.
“We curate the content to ensure that the best contributors have the highest possible visibility across the site, newsletter and all our social channels,” said Mr McKay.
The platform is socially integrated, meaning everything on the site can be shared through other social media channels such as Twitter.
Livewire has already partnered with more than 20 significant financial companies that will provide content for the platform, including Bell Potter, CommSec, Magellan and BT Investment Management.
