Best Robo Advisors in Singapore—Syfe vs DBS vs StashAway
If you’re considering a robo advisor, you might be considered a “lazy investor”. Don’t worry; that’s nothing to be ashamed of. After all, with the number of hours Singaporeans spend at work, not everyone has the time to actively invest in the market.
Lazy investing (or passive investing) is a great way to grow your wealth without unnecessary stress and effort. And robo advisors are designed to help you do just that—with the use of some advanced algorithms.
Here’s a guide on how robo advisors work.
Guide to Best Robo Advisors in Singapore
1. What are robo advisors? Why choose them?
Robo advisors are digital investment apps. They do have some variations, but generally, you sign up on an online platform, input your goals and risk appetite, and, using some fancy algorithms, the robo advisor will recommend an investment portfolio for you.
As the word “robo” suggests, there is no direct human involvement in the advice rendered. Yet, every robo advisor is subtly different because it uses different algorithms based on the company’s knowledge of markets and investing.
Typically, robo advisors help automate your international investments in a low-risk way by helping you invest in ETFs (exchange-traded funds). These are funds that invest in a variety of assets, which might include stocks, bonds, gold and more. Most of the ETFs that robo advisors deal with are US or worldwide.
Once you’re happy with a recommended portfolio, you can start investing. Robo advisors usually have a very comprehensive dashboard for you to monitor your investments, as that’s mostly all you’ll be doing.
In short, robo advisors are investment instruments that help you invest passively in the long term, not to make short-term gains by buying and selling frequently.
2. What are the robo advisors in Singapore and how much are their fees?
Robo advisors started rising in popularity in 2016. The “OG” robos were Stashaway and AutoWealth, but lots of banks and startups jumped on the bandwagon in the past couple of years. For your convenience, here are the main local options for Singapore investors:
Robo advisor | Annual fee* | Minimum investment |
Syfe (Blue tier) | 0.65% | None |
0.2% – 0.8% | None | |
AutoWealth Flexi Cash: 0.1% | S$1,000 (AutoWealth Flexi Cash) | |
0.25% – 0.85% | S$100 (for SaveUp portfolio) or S$1,000/US$1,000 (for Income, Asia and Global portfolios) | |
0.88% | US$100 | |
SqSave (formerly known as SquirrelSave) | 0.5% | S$1 |
Philip SMART Portfolio | 0.5% | S$300 |
Endowus | 0.15% – 0.6% | S$1,000 |
Kristal.AI | 0 – 0.3% | Based on investment |
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Some notes on robo advisor fees:
Many robos charge tiered fees, i.e. the more you invest, the cheaper the management fee. In this article, which is aimed at beginner investors, we’re going to compare the lowest tier (usually up to S$20,000 invested).
Robo advisor fees are supposedly “all in”, but there might be additional costs depending on what products the robo invests in. For example, if it invests in ETFs, there might be a minor (0.1% or less) ETF fee hidden in there.
*What happened to SaxoWealthCare?
Saxo announced in Nov 2024 that they’re closing SaxoWealthCare along with their SaxoSelect and Regular Savings Plan.
Got money in your SaxoWealthCare account and wondering what to do now? You first need to close the account before you can withdraw the money.
To close your SaxoWealthCare account: Go to Portfolio, find your SaxoWealthCare account, select the 3 dots ‘…’, then select Close plan.
All positions will be sold within 3 business days. Saxo will then alert you when you can withdraw your funds.
To withdraw money from your SaxoWealthCare account: Select “Add or Withdraw Cash” under the SaxoWealthCare account OR go to My Profile > Withdraw funds.
View Saxo’s help article on how to close your SaxoWealthCare account.
If you also have a SaxoSelect investment, read Saxo’s help article on how to exit and withdraw your SaxoSelect investment.
3. Which are the best robo advisors for beginners?
Each robo advisor uses a different investing strategy, so the portfolios generated (and, therefore, your returns) will differ. There are also differences in the experience of using each platform—some are buggy, while others are beautifully designed.
However, we can compare robo advisors in terms of their fees and minimum deposits. The following ones are beginner-friendly as they have low fees and practically no minimum:
Same day withdrawals
Syfe Managed Portfolios
More Details
Key Features
Cash+ is a cash management portfolio with projected returns of up to 4% p.a. with terms of your choice.
Fastest withdrawal requests in the market with SAME DAY withdrawals!
3 portfolio options: Cash+ Flexi (SGD), Cash+ Flexi (USD), Cash+ Guaranteed
No minimum investment, no lock-in period, withdraw anytime.
Licensed by MAS under Capital Market Services for retail fund management.
Syfe charges a low 0.65% per annum for investments up to S$50,000. The fee goes down as you invest more. There’s also no minimum investment amount required.
SquirrelSave
More Details
Key Features
SquirrelSave AI designs & manages your portfolio without human bias using latest market data.
SquirrelSave AI manages and rebalances your investment portfolio automatically to target higher predicted returns matched to your chosen risk level.
SquirrelSave AI looks after you, even if you invest $1.
If your starting capital is small, you can opt for the friendly-looking SqSave. It requires a minimum investment of just S$1, so you can get started with whatever spare cash you have. It’s a great beginner option as you can withdraw your funds anytime, and it has a low fee of 0.5% per annum.
Stashaway
More Details
Key Features
All-in-One Platform for Cash and SRS Invest seamlessly across all our cash and investment portfolios using your Cash or SRS savings, offering flexibility to grow your wealth at your pace. (except Private markets investment)
Fully Transparent, No Hidden Fees StashAway discloses every underlying fund and provides an all-inclusive, transparent fee structure—no hidden charges or sales fees. 100% trailer fee rebates back to you. You keep more of your returns with our low-cost investment model.
Efficient Cash Management with Simple Portfolios With our Simple portfolios, enjoy projected returns of up to 3.8% p.a., without lock-in periods, minimum balances, or withdrawal restrictions, giving you more freedom to manage your liquidity.
Managed Portfolios Aligned to Your Goals Benefit from risk-managed, globally-diversified portfolios designed for long-term growth. Choose from options including General Investing, Thematic Investing, and Income Investing to match your unique financial objectives.
Regulated and Secure Investment Platform Licensed by the MAS, StashAway ensures your assets are held securely in segregated custodian accounts. Our platform is designed to protect and grow your wealth with the highest levels of safety and compliance.
Stashaway is the big fish in this space. They are reputable, have a great app interface, and are constantly innovating. You’ll often receive breakdowns of their performance and other news via emails. The annual fee is from 0.2% – 0.8% annually, depending on the investment option you choose.
OCBC RoboInvest
More Details
Key Features
38 income, thematic and risk-based portfolios across 7 different markets to match every objective and risk appetite.
Smart portfolio rebalancing as the market changes.
Manage your accounts from anywhere with flexible top-ups and withdrawals.
If you’re already an OCBC customer, it’s super convenient to get on board OCBC RoboInvest. All you have to do is log in to your OCBC Digital app, tap on Invest, and click on RoboInvest. But there is a price to pay (literally) for the convenience: their management fees are among the highest I’ve seen, at 0.88% per annum.
4. Which robo advisors are more pricey?
While most robo advisers are meant to be entry-level platforms for people who want the simplest possible way to invest their money, some robo advisors are higher-end and more pricey.
AutoWealth
More Details
Key Features
AutoWealth is a regional robo-advisor, based in Singapore, that automates investing, allowing you to skip costly middlemen & get good returns at a low fee.
AutoWealth takes an index tracking investment approach. This approach has been found to consistently outperformed 80-90% of actively managed unit trusts around the world over a 5, 10, 15 year period, generating substantially higher returns for investors.
With our innovations, our fees are only 0.5% of your assets & US$18 (platform fees) per annum, 1/4 that of traditional financial services.
A dedicated wealth manager assigned to you. Skip the general email or hotline. Advice is always one personal WhatsApp away.
Your assets are held in an individually segregated custody account that legally belongs to you. This is in sharp contrast with the co-mingled custodian account setup used by many financial institutions.
AutoWealth is not for true beginners due to its high minimum investment amount. Their main product, AutoWealth Starter Portfolio, requires a S$3,000 deposit. On the other hand, it assigns each user a dedicated wealth manager who can offer support via WhatsApp.
Kristal.AI
More Details
Key Features
Invest in a well-diversified multi-asset portfolio. Choose from an array of thematic baskets, global bond portfolios, Investment Guru trackers, Alternative Investments, or customised solutions based on your risk profile and market views.
Advisors will review your portfolio and use a rule-based investment approach supported by AI-based algorithms to determine ideal asset allocation & create tailor-made portfolios.
Investors can build their own multi-asset strategy (called Kristal) with the help of our analysts, and the quant algorithms and advisory tools on offer.
It helps you invest with AI technology, backed with human experience, to provide consistent returns at your level of comfort.
Determining the fees you’ll pay for Kristal.AI is a little difficult, as they’re not explicitly listed. You’ll need to first define your investment portfolio before you can view your “Investment Advisory and Management Services Fees”. Judging from its website, I find this robo advisor quite complicated. There are too many portfolio options. I wouldn’t recommend it to beginners due to the complexity and unclear fee structure.
Online Promo
Invest with CPF & SRS Funds
Endowus
More Details
Key Features
Invest your CPF, SRS, and cash savings better, all on the Endowus platform, at the lowest cost possible.
No hidden fees, no sales charges and 100% trailer fee rebates.
Endowus has one all in, transparent access fee, which includes advice, investment, rebalancing, transfers, and brokerage, at a fraction of the industry average.
Endowus work with asset managers to access their lowest fees possible and rebate 100% of any sales commissions and trailer fees.
Through partnerships with UOB and UOB Kay Hian, you can set up your Endowus account and CPF investment account completely online in under 10 minutes.
Many people have heard about EndowUs thanks to its flagship portfolio, which allows you to invest with your CPF savings. But before you jump into that, learn all about investing your CPF funds in our article here. To get started with EndowUs, you’ll need to fund your account with S$1,000 at a minimum.
DBS digiPortfolio
More Details
Key Features
DBS digiPortfolio is a hassle-free, ready-made investment portfolio that offers the perfect match of human expertise and robo-technology.
Besides carefully selecting exchange traded funds (ETFs) to create quality portfolios, the team monitors the market regularly and initiating rebalancing whenever necessary.
Just like OCBC RoboInvest, DBS digiPortfolio is really easy to get started with if you’re already in the DBS ecosystem. But again, you’ll have to pay for the price of convenience. To invest in an international or Asian portfolio of diverse ETFs, you’ll be paying 0.75% p.a. in management fees.
Phillip SMART Portfolio
More Details
Key Features
Low starting investment amount & management fee
No upfront fee, no brokerage & no platform fee.
Managed by professional portfolio managers.
Fast and simple online account opening.
Online access to your portfolio holdings.
Philip SMART is a robo advisor from a brokerage. If you’re planning to build a portfolio of US equities (which is important for diversification), it’s going to cost 0.8% p.a. in management fees. That’s on the high side.
5. Are robo advisors regulated in Singapore?
In a nutshell, yes, robo advisors are regulated, but they get special leeway from the MAS.
MAS requires robo advisors to be licensed under the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) and/or the Financial Advisers Act (FAA). Which one(s) apply depend on the robo advisor’s “scope of activities and business model”, but the point is that you should find it in either one or the other.
At the same time, MAS doesn’t want to be impede digital innovation, so in Oct 2018, they also loosened the licensing criteria:
Robo advisors can be licensed under the SFA even if they lack the usual corporate track record requirements, provided they have board/senior management members with relevant experience in fund management and technology, offer portfolios that comprise only non-complex collective investment schemes; and submit to an independent audit after the first year.
They can also be licensed under the FAA while being exempt from having to collect full data on a client’s financial status. However, they’re required to put in some form of data-gathering measure to prevent recommending the wrong types of investments.
Robo advisors also get special leeway to pass their clients’ orders to brokerages without having to obtain an additional capital markets services license under the SFA.
These relatively relaxed rules mean it’s fairly easy for robo advisors to operate regardless of their performance history, so be careful when choosing one.
6. What are the pros of using robo advisors?
Technology and investing have always gone hand in hand. Afterall, who wouldn’t want advanced algorithms and AI on your side when making investment decisions? Here are some advantages of robo advisors:
Easy and convenient
Ease of use is one big reason people prefer using robo advisors. You don’t actually need to research what to invest in, deal with the intricacies of the stock market, submit heaps of paperwork, or even execute the investments yourself. You can simply sign up online, create a profile and let the app do the rest.
Low barrier to entry
Not that much money in your piggy bank? That’s OK—many robo advisors let you invest if you only have a small amount of money. This is good for those who want to try investing and not worry about losing a fortune on the stock market.
Can be cost-effective
Robo advisors charge a percentage of the total you invest, so it doesn’t matter how big or small or frequent your transactions are. If you’re just starting to invest in small amounts to build up a habit of investing, this fee structure can be very forgiving. You also don’t get charged for depositing or withdrawing, so you won’t lose money to fees unnecessarily.
Customisable to some degree
Thanks to robo advisors’ algorithms, they can offer advice that is customised (to a limited degree) according to your needs. It can take into account details such as risk appetite, income/cash-out needs, financial goals and more, to offer advice fine-tuned to your needs. Of course, don’t forget that the efficacy of the advice given depends on the sophistication of the algorithm.
Diversified portfolio
Maintaining a diversified portfolio is essential to reducing risk, as you won’t go broke if one or two of your assets crash and burn. Robo advisors operate like funds by offering a mix of assets, except that instead of human analysts managing the assets, it’s an algorithm doing the work.
Low commitment
Unlike other investment funds or savings products with lock-in periods, you can choose to liquidate your robo advisor investments at any time with no penalties. There’s nothing stopping you from taking out your funds at any point and switching to another robo advisor if you find a more suitable one later on.
Rebalancing your portfolio is done automatically
Wait, what is rebalancing? Here’s a simple way to understand it:
Imagine your investment portfolio is like a garden. You have different types of plants (stocks, bonds, etc.) growing at different rates. Some plants may grow taller and overshadow others, while some may wither away.
Rebalancing your portfolio is like tending to this garden. It involves periodically checking the allocation of your investments and making adjustments to ensure they’re still in line with your original plan.
So, if certain investments have grown significantly and now represent a larger portion of your portfolio than you intended (overshadowing the others), you might sell some of those and reinvest the proceeds into other areas that have underperformed. This helps you maintain balance and manage risk according to your investment goals.
Rebalancing is an important part of long-term investing and keeping your portfolio properly diversified. With Robo advisors, it’s done automatically for you.
7. What are the cons of using robo advisors?
Of course, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns when it comes to robo advisors. As you get more confident about investing, you’ll start noticing their limitations, such as the following:
Inability to deviate from the algorithms
With robo advisors, investment choices are only customisable up to a certain point and cannot deviate from the algorithm’s parameters. So, if you want full control over every single investment decision, robo advisors are probably not the best for you.
More expensive than DIY
While robo advisors generally charge lower fees than investment managers, you might still end up paying quite a bit in fees if you invest significant sums. That’s because they charge a percentage of your total investment. On the other hand, if you DIY your own investment portfolio, you only get charged per transaction. That might work out cheaper for buy-and-hold investors.
Some people stick with robo advisors for years simply because you can’t beat their ease of use and intuitive platforms. But if you’re interested in DIY investing, here are some articles you might find useful:
Which Investing Strategy Is Suitable for You? Find Out With These 5 Simple Questions
Which Investment Brokerage in Singapore is Best? Here’s How to Decide
Top 10 ETFs in Singapore — The Total Beginner’s Guide to Investing in ETFs
8. What sorts of investors are robo advisors suitable for?
As you can see, there are some disadvantages mixed in with the advantages. So what kind of person are robo advisors ideal for? Well, you might want to consider using one of the following apply to you:
You don’t know how to invest globally
One reason robo advisors have become so popular is that they offer an “investment for dummies” experience for those who have no idea how to get started. They’re easy to use and require no knowledge of how global stock markets work. You just transfer your money, let the robo advisor invest using their algorithm and hope your wealth grows.
You are lazy and want a completely passive system
No matter how much or how little you know about investing, if you’re so lazy that you wouldn’t lift a finger to invest if someone didn’t do it for you, robo advisors can manage your investments with almost zero effort. Rebalancing can also be done automatically. Just know that you’re paying a price for the convenience.
You’re looking for a lower cost alternative to your investment manager
If you’re already using an existing investment manager and haven’t been too pleased with their performance or think their fees are too high, you might want to consider switching to a robo advisor.
If you know any lazy investors looking to grow their savings, share this article with them!
Best Robo Advisors in Singapore—Syfe vs DBS vs StashAway was first published on the MoneySmart blog.
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