Client Stories: Nat Bryant, General Counsel at Sharesies
Investing is something only super-rich people do, right? It can seem very intimidating and confusing just to get started.
Enter Sharesies! An innovative fintech platform, making investing more accessible to everyone.
In this instalment of our Client Stories series, we catch up with the innovative Legal Legend Nat Bryant, General Counsel at Sharesies, who is innovating legal services in her small but mighty legal team.
Sharesies is a fast-growing FinTech business and proud B Corp aiming to create financial empowerment for everyone. That’s an epic mission – but by giving those with $5 or $5 million the same money opportunities, Sharesies is making it happen. Today, the business has over 180 staff, more than 480,000 customers, and around $2 billion in funds under management.
Sharesies’ brand is contemporary, fun and completely unexpected in financial services. It opens access and creates confidence for people who would never have thought of themselves as investors. Behind the scenes, the staff culture and business operations are equally ground-breaking. Sharesies is the first financial services organisation in New Zealand to achieve B Corp status. It is fast-growing and constantly evolving, with new product offerings recently launched including ASX and fractional investing.
Portrait of Nat Bryant from Sharesies
Nat Bryant is General Counsel at Sharesies in New Zealand. She is on a mission to bring a level of innovation to the legal team that matches Sharesies’ broader passion for changing the way things have always been done. Nat’s talents were recognised when she won In-House Lawyer of the Year at the New Zealand Law Awards in November 2021. Originally the sole lawyer for the business, today Nat leads a growing team that includes Verity from Checklist Legal as a trusted consultant.
Verity has been instrumental in getting a number of legal tech initiatives off the ground for Sharesies. At Sharesies, contracts and NDAs with partner businesses tick all the compliance boxes but convey a relaxed, approachable, and friendly vibe. This has been made possible by using fresh ideas that are grounded in strong design thinking and enabled by tech innovation.
Verity has worked with the team to create an automated template NDA that brings Sharesies’ playful brand personality to life while hitting practical metrics around readability, time to read and word count. Her skills in contract redrafting, legal design and design thinking are evident in an NDA that is accessible, straightforward, balanced, and automated.
The Sharesies legal team considers Verity a valuable asset and regularly taps into her expertise for legal contract design advice and more. Verity has been involved in document automation for consent to use personal information and has facilitated legal quarterly review meetings.
Next on the horizon for Sharesies is a huge transformational project that will engage customers in an innovative way with their terms and conditions. Given Sharesies’ track record thus far, we can expect an injection of fun and a truly user-centric experience!
You can find out more about Natalie Bryant and Sharesies via the links below.
And if you think your team of in-house lawyers are ready for a little plain language and contract re-design magic, let’s have a chat!
