Despite the volatility of the public markets, the interest in investing remained robust. The company expanded its team by 45%, increasing its workforce to over 50 members, launched eight new products, and extended its operations into two additional countries.

The year 2023 became notable for cash investments. With the GBP interest rate hitting a 15-year peak in September 2023, following 14 consecutive rate increases, UK customers sought better interest returns. Lightyear observed its average UK customer portfolio consisted of 26% uninvested cash throughout 2023, up from 18% in 2022. The platform offers interest on all uninvested cash, mirroring live interest rates while deducting a flat 0.75% fee.

The introduction of BlackRock Money Market Funds (MMFs) on Lightyear in August 2023, yielding a 5.42% return for GBP (gross), heightened the proportion of cash or cash-equivalent investments in an average Lightyear portfolio (across 22 countries) to 57%. This change reflects a growing preference for making idle cash work more effectively than traditional bank accounts. (Yield as of 3/1/24, subject to daily fluctuations and fees).

Diversification and risk mitigation characterized 2023 for Lightyear investors. Over half of the UK customers (54%) held mixed portfolios, combining interest-earning cash with stocks and/or funds. The average UK Lightyear portfolio return in 2023 was 29%, surpassing the S&P 500 by 5%.

Continued interest in technology stocks was evident in 2023, with Tesla, Apple, and Amazon ranking as the top three most popular stocks on Lightyear across the UK and Europe. The UK's most favoured fund was VUSA (Vanguard S&P 500), followed by IUSA (iShares Core S&P 500) and IUKD (iShares UK Dividend).

While technology remained a top choice, 2023 saw a broadening of investments into other sectors, with increased allocations in consumer cyclical and services sectors, as well as healthcare, which formed part of the portfolio for over 20% of Lightyear customers holding stocks.

New product launches in 2023 included a web platform, exchange-traded commodities, stop orders, money market funds, and business investment accounts. Lightyear also expanded its offering with German stocks and ETFs, the IBEX 35, and UK stocks on the London Stock Exchange. Following its 2022 expansion into 19 Eurozone countries, the company extended its reach into Croatia and Hungary in 2023.

Nicole Quinn, Partner at Lightspeed, commented: "2023 was a challenging year for companies to navigate, and despite this, Lightyear had a record year. From rolling out powerful new products and features every couple of weeks, to growing a stellar team of over 50 investment and fintech experts, to consistently driving ~20% month-on-month growth in its AUM, the company's performance and ability to execute has continued to impress."

Martin Sokk, Co-founder and CEO at Lightyear, added: "2023 was an amazing year in many ways for Lightyear. As a lean and experienced team, we were able to react incredibly quickly to market events, bringing new products to customers that help them today - like passing on interest on uninvested cash balances, and our BlackRock Money Market Funds. Our goal last year was to get the platform to as many Europeans as quickly as possible. Our goal this year is to dive deeper on a country specific basis to make sure Lightyear is the go-to place to build future wealth and invest.”

As one of the fastest-moving brokerages in Europe, Lightyear has ambitious plans for 2024. The firm aims to continue investing in technology to provide customers with a competitive edge in investing, and plans to introduce new product lines such as tax-advantaged accounts, expand its instrument range to include more stocks and funds from various European exchanges, and localise the app into additional languages.