Feature Drop for US Shares & ETFs

At Kernel, we’re always listening to our community and working hard to make investing smarter, simpler, and more rewarding for New Zealanders. Since launching our US Shares & ETFs product, the feedback has been fantastic – and it’s helped shape the next wave of features and improvements we’re excited to share with you.

Whether you’re already investing with Kernel or just exploring your options, here’s a deep dive into what’s new, what’s coming soon, and how our new pricing structure and Shares and ETFs pricing calculator can help you get the most out of your investing journey.

Understanding how an asset has performed over time is crucial for making informed decisions. That’s why we’ve expanded our price history feature – you can now view up to 8 years of historical pricing data for most US shares and ETFs on the Kernel platform. This gives you a much richer perspective on trends, volatility, and long-term performance, helping you invest with greater confidence.

We know that seeing prices in your home currency makes things simpler, but sometimes you want to compare directly in USD – especially when looking at US-listed assets. Now, you can easily toggle between NZD and USD pricing in the asset drawer. This small but mighty feature makes it easier to compare, plan, and understand your investments at a glance.

Investing is about more than just numbers – it’s about reaching your goals. We’ve now integrated US Shares & ETFs with our popular Goals feature on the overview page, so you can track your US-listed assets alongside your other investments, all in one place. Set your targets, monitor your progress, and stay focused on what matters most to you.

Limit orders let you set the maximum price you're willing to pay when buying, or the minimum price you're willing to accept when selling. Your order will only go through if the market reaches that price or better, meaning lower for buys, or higher for sells.

For those on our Plus and Premium plans, we’ve unlocked two powerful tools:

• Auto-Invest: Set up recurring investments into any listed US asset. Whether you’re dollar-cost averaging or just want to keep your investing consistent, Auto-Invest takes the hassle out of building your portfolio.
• Watchlist: Keep an eye on the assets that interest you most. With a simple click, you can save shares and ETFs to your Watchlist, making it easy to monitor opportunities and act when the time is right. And this is just the beginning – we’re planning to evolve the Watchlist into a more personalised, insight-driven space.

One of the biggest questions we hear is, “How does Kernel’s pricing compare to other platforms?” We’ve built a Shares & ETFs calculator to make this easy.

Simply enter how you typically invest a deposit into the US stock market, and the calculator will show you the potential costs under each Kernel plan, as well as a selection of other well-known New Zealand platforms.

It’s a transparent, apples-to-apples way to see which plan offers you the best value for your investing style.

Note: The calculator uses baseline pricing and doesn’t factor in discounts on annual plans or our current 50% off promotion. Be sure to check the disclaimer for full details.

We’re not stopping here. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s in the works:

• Enhanced Portfolio Performance: Soon, you’ll be able to see a clear, detailed view of your total Shares & ETFs portfolio performance over time – including gains, losses, and value changes.
• Extended Hours Trading: Access US pre-market and after-hours sessions.
• More Personalisation and Smarter Tools: We’re working on deeper insights, more customisation, and smarter tracking features to help you get the most out of your investments.

To support continued innovation and give you more flexibility, we’ve introduced three new plans: Core, Plus, and Premium.

• Core is our default plan, perfect for those who mainly use Kernel’s index funds but want the option to invest in US Shares & ETFs. Trades are 1.5% – a simple, pay-as-you-go model for occasional investors.
• Plus is $5 a month and includes everything in Core, with a reduced FX rate on US Shares & ETFs (just 0.6% per trade). Plus, you get access to advanced features like Auto-Invest and Watchlist, with more tools on the way. There are no other brokerage charges, making Plus ideal for regular contributors.
• Premium drops the FX even further to 0.4%. It includes every feature from Core and Plus, and is designed for investors who are contributing larger amounts consistently. While there aren’t Premium-specific features just yet, we have exciting additions in the pipeline.

We introduced this new structure to make pricing clearer and to support the rollout of even more powerful tools and products across the platform. Over time, you’ll see more features layered into each tier, creating real, lasting value for every type of investor.

And right now, you can get 50% off all plans until 1 September. After that, standard pricing applies – so now’s a great time to upgrade and lock in the discount.

Ready to see how Kernel stacks up?

Check out our Shares & ETFs calculator and see which plan is right for you.

Or, if you’d rather watch than read, I’ve put together a video demo that walks through all the new features, the calculator, and our new pricing structure.

We’re excited about what’s new and what’s coming next. As always, your feedback is invaluable – so if you have questions, suggestions, or just want to share your experience, we’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for being part of Kernel’s journey. Happy investing!