09.06.2026
LHV Growth Account, which recently celebrated its 25th anniversary, has just received an upgrade, which makes it an even more convenient solution for investment enthusiasts looking to grow their money. In light of this, Nelli Janson, the Head of Investor Community at LHV, shared her memories and insights into the Growth Account’s journey over the years. As the first of its kind on the investment services market, this period has been marked by growth, challenges, and notable victories. These have provided direction and boosted the development of the entire investment sector in Estonia.
The Growth Account recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. What was the Estonian investment landscape like 25 years ago and how did the Growth Account become a true pioneer?
Compared to today, the investor community was very small. Service fees were expensive, and investment was largely the domain of the wealthy. The Growth Account shook up the investment services market, making it affordable for ordinary Estonians to grow their money.
The Growth Account was the first of its kind in the Estonian investment services market, paving the way for greater investment popularity. Today, we are watching the growth of competition with great interest. It supports the development of an investment culture and encourages the growth of a community that considers its financial future and plans accordingly. It is a pleasure to see more people in Estonia making their way to their first investment, i.e. putting an idea into practice.
However, the beginning was difficult for the Growth Account because most people in Estonia were unfamiliar with investing at the start of the millennium, which caused fear. We entered the market at a time when many people were, figuratively speaking, keeping their money under their pillows, so that they could see and touch it. The number of Growth Account customers grew slowly at first.
When did you realise that the Growth Account had really taken off?
We saw the first major wave about 10 years ago, when various investment clubs and social media groups began to emerge, where financial literacy were discussed more actively. It was at that moment that the Growth Account reached a wider audience and interest in us increased exponentially. A second, perhaps even greater, surge in popularity occurred during the coronavirus crisis, when people were at home watching investment lectures. This was due to a combination of factors: people had free money in their accounts, the idea of financial freedom was spreading like wildfire, and, at the same time, the markets were fluctuating dramatically, creating excitement. It was during this period that the Growth Account really reached the masses.
The growth in popularity was certainly given a boost by the introduction of micro-investing in the summer of 2018. This feature enables you to grow your Growth Account investment portfolio conveniently and unnoticed with every card payment. The opportunity to spend and invest at the same time was unique in the Estonian market for a long time. Today, through micro-investing, LHV customers accumulate an average of 400 euros a year almost unnoticed, which is then directed to grow in the stock markets. This is a small but significant push that encourages you to start investing. Furthermore, after their initial experiences, many customers have started looking for ways to contribute more towards securing their financial future.
There are more investment platforms and opportunities today than ever before. Where does the strength of the Growth Account lie compared to other alternatives on the market?
Firstly, the Growth Account offers a very wide range of instruments, allowing customers to build a portfolio tailored exactly to their liking. Banks offering similar solutions today have a much more limited range. Secondly, we have been ahead of the curve on many occasions, with others following our lead. Micro-investing is a good example of this. As we develop our Growth Account, we constantly analyse customers’ expectations and broader global trends. We want to offer additional opportunities.
In addition to competitive pricing, we see that investors value several other aspects that characterise the LHV Growth Account. These include platform stability, local support, ease of tax reporting, and automated investing. According to estimates, LHV remains the leader in the investment market, and according to our data, almost half of all securities held by Estonian residents are kept at LHV.
The Growth Account has just undergone an upgrade. What exactly changed, and what value does it create for customers?
For instance, micro-investing can now be used across multiple Growth Accounts. You can also increase your multiplier to capitalise even more money for investing. Micro-investing now happens in real time, providing a much better and clearer overview of the Growth Account’s allocation and value. New instruments are also being added, such as AI, space, and semiconductor industry ETFs, as well as some individual stocks, the best-known of which include Micron and Novo Nordisk. This means that even with smaller sums, a Growth Account investor can participate in rapidly growing global trends and companies.
Today, the Growth Account has more than 56,000 customers with assets. That is equal to the population of Lääne-Viru County. Can we be satisfied with this result?
Our next target is at least 100,000 customers. We also believe that at least 10% of people in Estonia could benefit from using the Growth Account. Previously, LHV’s investment services were delivered through Baltic market IPOs or individual shares. Today, however, thanks to the Growth Account, people are increasingly diving into the exciting world of investing. At the same time, there is growing interest in broad-based index funds that invest in many stocks at once. This offers the opportunity to build yourself a well-diversified portfolio with small amounts and low costs.
The potential of the Growth Account has started to materialise, and we are seeing stable growth in our customer base. The people of Estonia are increasingly confident about investing.
Who is the typical Growth Account investor in 2026? What trends can be observed?
Today, our main customers are young professionals. People who have a slightly higher than average level of education and income. The Growth Account is also very popular among parents who are building a financial buffer for their children’s future. We see an increasing number of parents opening a separate savings or investment solution immediately after a child is born or in their early years, making regular small contributions. Time is the investor’s greatest ally. The sooner you start investing, the more time your money will have to work for you.
Statistics show that over 5 years, the average age of a Growth Account owner has dropped by 5 years. This is apparently largely due to the fact that the Growth Account is used to save for children, which is a very positive trend.
Who is the Growth Account intended for?
Absolutely anyone who wants to grow their money. Funnily enough, it’s a great solution for a lazy investor who doesn’t want to think too much about investing. It’s also an ideal solution for someone who appreciates automated solutions for growing their money. With a Growth Account, the investor can conveniently select the desired funds or individual stocks and set up, for example, monthly standing payments or also activate micro-investing, to allow their investment portfolio to grow unnoticed. Automated solutions and their simplicity allows the investor to focus on what is really important in life – for example, family, friends, and hobbies. At the same time, making consistent payments to the Growth Account provides important reassurance that there is a financial buffer in case of unexpected events.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the Growth Account?
It is an absolutely ingenious solution that allows you to achieve the market average return with little effort. Although as humans we always want to be better than average, when it comes to investing, you shouldn’t be discouraged by that word, since beating the market average is actually not easy at all. I like that with the Growth Account, you can automate the entire process and let time do the rest of the work.
In fact, for a long time, I also had the preconception that if you don’t have a large sum to invest, you’ll reach a meaningful result with small amounts in your next life at best. How wrong that opinion is! Once I truly grasped the magic of compound interest, a whole new world opened up for me. You need to figure out an amount that you are willing to invest monthly, so that you don’t spend every other day trying to time the market, allowing you to live your life in peace. A temporary drop in this amount should not cause anxiety. When it comes to the Growth Account, the saying ‘Buy and forget’ really fits best.
It’s always exciting to peek into other people’s wallets. What are the average monthly amounts invested in the Growth Account?
The average amount invested in the Growth Account is about 140 euros per month. I would like to point out here that last year LHV cut several investment-related fees by nearly half. The aim was to make investing more affordable for people in Estonia and motivate them to think more about their future financial security.
As a result of the lowering of fees, the Growth Account became the most favourable place for investors who buy securities for less than 200 euros per month. The Estonian investor community is primarily made up of small investors, who often contribute up to a few hundred euros per month.
Let’s get more specific. Let’s say a 20-year-old starts investing 200 euros a month. Where could their portfolio sail to in 20 years?
I would like to emphasise once again that time is an investor’s best friend. Due to the effect of compound interest, even investing small amounts consistently can produce decent results.
If a 20-year-old starts investing 200 euros a month and the average rate of return during this period is 8%, which has been the historical average for the US markets, the portfolio will grow to about 111,000 euros in 20 years. The person’s own contributions will account for 48,000 euros of that. The more time spent in the market, the more efficient the compound interest will be. For example, with these parameters, the value of the portfolio will increase to over 273,000 euros in 30 years.
In other words, a decent financial buffer can be built up even with relatively small but consistent contributions.
Exactly. We also often see that investing and the associated experience of success creates excitement. People often start looking for additional ways to increase their savings rate and thereby direct more funds into growth. The people of Estonia demonstrate an exceptionally high level of initiative when it comes to directing more money into investments through various additional projects.
Read more about the LHV Growth Account
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