Webinar: Choosing the right robo advisor in Singapore - Comparing Endowus with the rest

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0:29 Introduction to betterspider.com

2:22 Brief revision on the history of robo-advisors in Singapore

7:15 Comparison of offering around Endowus and other Robos

8:47 betterspider.com's experience with Endowus

13:06 Various investment strategies across different robos

15:42 betterspider.com's insight on different investment approaches

18:12 Endowus' investment strategy

21:18 Rundown of betterspider.com's investment portfolio

23:40 Why a holistic approach is the best strategy for your goals

26:57 Core-Satellite Investing Strategy to building a portfolio

30:14 The importance of understanding how market prices work

32:22 QnA: As a new investor, any advice on how to be more exposed and well read on managing my own portfolio?

betterspider.com's experience with Endowus (8:47)

Derrick: I think what really interested me the most about Endowus was the CPF offering made available by Endowus. I thought this was a very important aspect of what the company had to offer, especially for an average Singaporean where a lot of our wealth is stored in a CPF account. This is something that many other robo-advisors are unable to help you with. I liked how the company will holistically manage your entire investment portfolio across cash, SRS and CPF; a value proposition that I found to be very powerful.

I started using the platform right after the trade war started and shortly after, Covid-19 happened so the market had a major crash. Nonetheless, I held on. I think psychologically it is very challenging to watch your portfolio crash, especially when you have invested a huge amount. For example, you can lose five figures in a matter of weeks, which becomes psychologically difficult to try and not touch it but I think it is a great opportunity to review your risk tolerance. Personally, I had left mine untouched and I eventually watched the market and my portfolio recover.

Why a holistic approach is the best strategy for your goals (23:40)

Greg: What I find as the most important approach is to invest holistically. Cash drag ?leaving your money in cash ?is to me one of the biggest risks to your wealth. For example, even if you had invested in Tesla last year and sold it at its peak, it is highly unlikely that you had invested in the stock with a lot of your money. I have friends that say "oh my god, I made 300% on my Tesla" and then I ask them "how much did you invest?" and the amount is only two thousand dollars, I wonder if that amount has really moved the needle in terms of their lifestyle and wealth. Usually, the answer is no.

If you continue with this active strategy, it will eventually come back and bite you because the ability to consistently pick winners and time the entry and the exit perfectly is very difficult. So, I think having a holistic strategy is important. A lot of us are probably in our 20 to 30s, maybe some in the 40s, and most of us will live to a hundred. The average life expectancy now in Singapore is 86/87 if you manage to make it to 65.

There is a great statistic that shows that if you take US large cap companies from 1926 until now, you're at a 10,000x return. That is 10,000 times more your initial investment and it is only at a 10.2 percent annualized return. So you really want to harness the power of compounding to make multiples on your wealth. Now, if you take a bit more systematic risk, something we do with our portfolios, and you had invested in small cap US since 1926, you would have 30,000 times your initial investment. That is the beauty of having a holistic strategy, you can significantly improve your wealth.

QnA: As a new investor, any advice on how to be more exposed and well read on managing my own portfolio? (32:22)

Derrick: I don't think it is very easy for people to actually start picking up all this knowledge immediately but everyone has to start off somewhere. You have to understand macroeconomics, such as how the industry is doing and how the macro environment is looking. Then you have to understand how you want to manage your own investment portfolio(ie. Are you stock picking? Are you looking at broad market funds? etc.) For most beginner investors, this is too much to handle especially if you have a day job, which is why I really recommend looking out for low-cost robo-advisor to park your wealth. This will help you get in the game, get used to volatility and learn how you can actually grow your wealth over an extended period of time. Once you are more comfortable, I would suggest reading books and financial blogs, and watching videos.