Question 1

What is Endowus CashUp?

Accepted Answer

Endowus CashUp are two cash management model portfolios the Endowus Investment Office has designed using money market and ultra-short duration bond funds to meet the different cash management and short-term liquidity needs of investors.

Endowus CashUp portfolios have a low investment minimum of US$100 (HK$800), no lock-up periods, no subscription or withdrawal fees, and no maximum caps. Investment yields are accrued daily and investors can subscribe and redeem their portfolios at any time.

Choosing between the two portfolios: CashUp Simple and CashUp Plus depends on expected investment timeline and risk appetite of investors — whether you would like to take very minimal risk in return for small gains, or whether you are willing to take slightly higher risk for better returns.

Question 2

What are money market and short duration bond funds?

Accepted Answer

Money market and short duration bond funds are investment funds that hold high quality and low volatility fixed income instruments. There are no lock-ups for these funds.

Money Market Fund (very low risk):
A money market fund invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of institutional bank fixed deposits, as well as high quality investment-grade and very short duration government and corporate debt instruments. They are diversified across varying issuers and tenures maintaining a weighted average duration of around 12 months or less. Money market funds are considered to be very low risk in nature.

Short Duration Bond Fund (low risk):
A short duration bond fund invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of institutional bank fixed deposits, as well as high quality and investment-grade short duration government and corporate debt instruments. They are diversified across varying issuers and tenures maintaining a weighted average duration of around 24 months or less. Short duration bond funds are higher risk than money market funds but still considered to be low risk in nature.

Question 3

How do I choose between Endowus CashUp - Simple and CashUp - Plus model portfolios?

Accepted Answer

CashUp model portfolios, which consist of money market and/or short-duration fixed income funds (unit trusts), are designed to deliver relatively stable returns compared to other fixed income portfolios of longer durations & maturities. Nevertheless, there are risks in investing in these portfolios and they are not capital-guaranteed.

The return potential of each CashUp model portfolio is positively correlated to the risk profile of the underlying investments. For example, CashUp - Plus takes more duration and credit risk in exchange for higher return potential, followed by CashUp - Simple. Simply put, bond duration is a measurement of interest rate risk.
Bond prices and interest rates move in opposite directions. If interest rates rise, bond prices will likely fall, and vice versa.
Longer term bonds are more sensitive to interest rate changes than bonds with shorter maturity dates.
To further understand how bonds work, please kindly refer to https://endowus.com/en-hk/insights/why-invest-bonds

The higher risk taken by Plus in a normal environment does and has provided more upside to the portfolios than Simple, but at the same time, it subjects these products to higher volatility to achieve that higher return. It is therefore important for clients to choose the portfolio based on their goals (i.e what they intend to use the funds for), expected returns, drawdowns that they are willing to withstand in the worst case scenario and their preferred holding time horizon.

Let's take an example - money that would be required for an important medical expense or housing down payment in the very near future is more suited for an investment in CashUp - Simple, as compared to CashUp - Plus. This is because the primary objective is more likely to be capital preservation, rather than chasing after higher return/yield.

What are the risk considerations for investing in CashUp model portfolios?
Understanding the historical maximum loss of the respective portfolio can be a good way to assess whether the portfolio is suitable for your risk appetite.

Historical maximum loss(“drawdown”) is the fall from the peak (the highest point) to trough (the lowest point) in investment value, based on historical performance.
Investors may use the historical maximum drawdown as an indication of the maximum loss they may have experienced by investing in the specific portfolio over a period of time. Do note that this maximum loss may or may not be "realised" or "booked", depending on whether or not the investor cuts his/her losses and sells at the bottom.
Please also note that the drawdown figure is based on historical performance, which may not be indicative of future performance. There is always the risk that the latest/existing maximum drawdown will be overtaken by a new maximum drawdown in the future. Investors should therefore view the historical maximum drawdown as a reference point and not a guarantee of future maximum loss.

In calculating the probability of the portfolios achieving their intended goals, we closely monitor their performances over the different time periods. We also look at the maximum drawdown in the past, such as in March 2020, and the long and gradual pullback between 3Q 2021 to 2Q 2022. However, past performance can only be a reference for future returns and not a guarantee of future returns.

You should select a CashUp model portfolio based on your unique financial circumstances, as discussed above. If you need help in selecting a suitable portfolio for your needs, please contact our SFC-licensed advisors via email, Whatsapp, or an advisory call here.

Question 4

What are the risks of investing a CashUp model portfolio?

Accepted Answer

CashUp portfolios are diversified investment portfolios of cash, money market, and short duration fixed income funds. As an investment product, CashUp model portfolio is not capital-guaranteed and it may experience periods of negative returns. The return potential of each CashUp model portfolio is positively correlated to the risk profile of the underlying investments. Read more here for the differences between each CashUp model portfolios.

Difference between CashUp model portfolio and a bank deposit
When you make a deposit at a member bank of the Hong Kong Deposit Protection Scheme (DPS), it is insured for up to HK$500,000 in the event that the bank fails. As CashUp is an investment product and not a bank deposit, it is not insured by the DPS.

Safeguarding your financial interests
CashUp model portfolios invests in funds, mainly money market funds and short-duration bond funds. The funds have their assets ring-fenced by fund trustees and custodians and are used for the sole objective of growing your investments.

With fund trustees custodians in place, your assets are kept separate from Endowus, as well as fund managers such as HSBC, Amundi, and Ping An.

Fund managers are also bounded by fund objectives as stated in the fund documentation and have strict guidelines for what the fund can and cannot invest in.

Grow your cash with higher yields.

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Low, fair fees

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Grow your cash with higher yields.

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More on this topic

Introducing Endowus CashUp portfolios

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Monthly cash management solutions update

Want toknow more?

Want to
know more?