Consistency by Design: Mastering the Market with Auto-Invest

Key Takeaways

• Consistency is key: Success in the market is driven by "time in the market" rather than trying to time the "perfect" entry.

• The power of DCA: Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) helps smooth out market volatility by investing fixed amounts regularly.

• Introducing auto-invest: Our new app feature automates your DCA strategy, removing emotional friction and manual effort.

Many investors find that the hardest part of building wealth isn't selecting an asset, but sticking to a plan. Whether it’s the hesitation to buy during a period of high growth or the nervousness that comes with a sudden dip, emotional friction often leads to "sitting on the sidelines" while the market moves forward.

In our October 2025 deep-dive, we explored how Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) serves as a powerful strategy for long-term investors to remain consistent, disciplined, and to avoid emotionally-driven investing decisions – a strategy that is underpinned by the key investing principle that time in the market beats timing the market. By investing a fixed amount at regular intervals, you shift your focus away from short-term price fluctuations and towards the long-term growth of your portfolio.

To make this strategy even more accessible, we’ve launched Auto-Invest on the new Selfwealth mobile app. This feature is designed to take the manual effort and the second-guessing out of your investment routine – a simple "set and forget" approach that directly supports disciplined investing and lets the power of compounding do the work.

How Auto-Invest Can Solve Your Investing Blockers

Auto-Invest isn't just about convenience; it’s about providing a structural solution to the most common hurdles investors face:

• The "timing" paralysis: Instead of waiting for a "perfect" entry point that may never arrive, Auto-Invest ensures you are always active in the market.

• The decision fatigue: By automating your trades, you remove the need to "decide" to invest every payday. This consistency helps smooth out your average purchase price over time, buying more units when prices are lower and fewer when they are higher.

• The manual admin: Auto-Invest is a dedicated "set and forget" approach that supports consistent investing, allowing for extended time in the market and compounding to drive growth. Your investment strategy happens in the background while you focus on your day-to-day life – and we’ve made it easy to manage your auto-investing so that you can maintain consistency while adapting to your changing financial circumstances.

By setting your asset, frequency, and amount, you turn a high-conviction strategy into an automatic habit. The app handles the execution, allowing you to stay disciplined regardless of the headlines.

Actionable Ideas: Popular ETFs for Long-Term Consistency

When setting up an Auto-Invest schedule, many investors look to broad-market or quality-focused ETFs. These provide diversified exposure across hundreds of companies in a single trade, making them ideal for a recurring DCA approach.

• Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX:VGS): A staple for global diversification, giving you exposure to ~1,500 of the world’s largest companies across developed markets (excluding Australia).

• iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX:IVV): A low-cost way to capture the performance of the 500 largest US-listed companies, including global leaders like Microsoft, Apple, and Nvidia.

• VanEck MSCI International Quality ETF (ASX:QUAL): This ETF focuses on global businesses with strong fundamentals, high return on equity, and stable earnings — often used by those seeking a "quality" filter for their recurring trades.

• Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (VAS): This provides a local foundation, tracking the 300 largest companies on the ASX while providing exposure to domestic growth and franked dividends.

How to Get Started

We’ve integrated Auto-Invest directly into the new app and made it as simple as possible:

1. Find your asset: Select a stock or ETF from your portfolio that you want to invest in regularly. While the popular options are listed above, the app also provides inspiration with easily surfaced insights and highlights of what is popular with our Selfwealth community.

2. Select 'Auto-Invest': Look for the Auto-Invest option within the order screen.

3. Choose your cadence: Align your trades with your pay cycle and select the frequency that works for you — weekly, fortnightly, or monthly.

4. Set the amount: Enter the dollar amount that fits your budget.

Once confirmed, the app will place Market Orders on your behalf at your chosen interval. You have full control to review, pause, or adjust your schedule at any time from your Portfolio or Orders tab.

The Bottom Line

The most successful investors aren't the ones who time the market perfectly; they’re the ones who remain consistent over years and decades. With Auto-Invest, we’ve removed the friction, giving you a simple tool to support your broader wealth-building strategy and long-term financial goals.

Ready to automate? Update your Selfwealth app today to the latest version and head to the Auto-Invest section to get started.