With retirement adequacy shaping up to be the greatest generational challenge of our time, how can wealth managers level the financial playing field for more individuals? Penned by Gregory Van, CEO of Endowus for the World Economic Forum, this commentary discusses the impact of inflation and poor industry practices on retirement adequacy. Individuals are disadvantaged by a lack of transparency, hidden commissions, and limited access to the best investment solutions. Wealthtech is crucial to improving wealth management outcomes for all, by democratising professional wealth services at scale, and delivering institutional advice to retail investors across all wealth bands.

Singapore-headquartered Endowus was named a 2023 Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum. Endowus is the sole Singapore-based digital wealth firm to be recognised for its fee-only business model that seeks to promote greater financial inclusion for all. As a WEF Tech Pioneer, Endowus will be invited to attend WEF events throughout the year and engage with other global organisations to address key industry and societal issues.

Endowus Head of Hong Kong, Steffanie Yuen, was live on Bloomberg Markets Asia to discuss Endowus’ regional expansion, opportunities in wealth management, as well as its plans to target Hong Kong investors. Steff discussed how the growing mass affluent segment is often neglected by private banks, and wealthtech has the potential to automate and serve them at scale. Despite key behavioural differences between HK and SG investors found in the Endowus Wealth Insights Report 2023, both regions should prioritise diversification. Eligible investors looking to venture beyond the traditional 60/40 portfolio can explore Endowus Alternatives with lower minimums.

So Sin Ting, Endowus chief client officer, shares tips for women looking to increase their income in an inflationary environment. The Endowus Wealth Insights Report 2023 found women tend to be more risk averse, which can ironically lead to an erosion of their savings presumably stored away for the future. Women should look to grow their wealth meaningfully by putting their money in investment vehicles as early as possible, through a dollar-cost-averaging approach. This allows for investing in smaller, manageable amounts while reaping the benefits of compound interest that comes from time in the markets.

Amid the hype around generative technology, Hugh Chung, Chief Investment Advisory Officer at Endowus, advised investors to exercise caution when it comes to AI investing. Instead, the best place to start is to invest in an expertly-curated portfolio with globally diversified funds that has AI as one of its main themes, without an overly concentrated weightage in just that one sector. Ideally, investors who want to access the AI theme can look for portfolios that place focused, strategic allocations on core technology sectors, as well as non-traditional tech sectors.

Samuel Rhee, Chairman and CIO of Endowus highlights that the fear of investment loss has deterred most CPF members from investing, however OA interest rate has also consistently lagged behind inflation rates. The failure to invest one’s CPF savings can erode one’s retirement nest egg. While many have taken to investing in T-bills, it is not a suitable long-term solution. To overcome fear and build wealth meaningfully over the long term, CPF members should invest on a regular basis into a core, diversified portfolio with an evidence-based approach, and without taking unnecessary concentration risk.

Hugh Chung, Chief Investment Advisory Officer at Endowus, went on BT’s Money Hack podcast to discuss retirement adequacy concerns in Singapore and how people can better position themselves financially in an inflationary environment. According to Endowus Wealth Insights Report 2023 , two-thirds of respondents were tackling inflation by saving more and putting money in bank accounts. However, as bank interest rates fall below inflation rates, people should stay invested in a diversified portfolio, such as the global equities and 60/40 portfolio which offer relatively consistent returns in the longer term while beating inflation.

The Business Times explains why Endowus is the platform of choice for CPFIS, solving the limitations of LRIS. As the first digital adviser for the CPFIS, Endowus has blazed a trail in Singapore by returning all retrocession fees to clients. This fee-only model has allowed the firm to successfully onboard Amundi low-cost index funds, which lowers the cost of investing and significantly improves investors’ returns over time. Samuel Rhee, Chairman and CIO of Endowus, highlights that the firm’s commitment to making institutional share class funds available on the CPFIS has allowed the business to scale, with a clear path to profitability.

In view of the increased interest rates for Central Provident Fund (CPF) Special and Medisave accounts, should one move funds to their Special Account (SA) to benefit from the higher rates? Jamie Lee, Endowus head of financial planning and editorial, advised that while the increase in SA rates to 4.01% is attractive, the transfer process is irreversible. CPF members should carefully consider the limitations of transferring their monies from their Ordinary Accounts as these funds can also be used for other purposes such as mortgage servicing and paying for education loans.

Samuel Rhee, Chairman and CIO at Endowus, and Sunny Leung, Head of ETF, Indexing & Smart Beta at Amundi went live to share more about Amundi’s new low-cost index funds, exclusively available on CPFIS through Endowus. With TERs starting from 0.05%, these are the lowest-cost index funds available in Singapore; more cost-efficient than even ETFs. Passively-managed index funds also save CPFIS members the hassle of tracking market performance, so they can live their lives to the fullest while allowing them to accumulate greater wealth over the long term.

This Mother’s Day, So Sin Ting, Endowus Chief Client Officer, shares how working children can gift their mothers financial wellness. They can make voluntary top-ups to their mother’s CPF accounts or encourage their mothers to invest their CPF funds to enjoy higher returns in line with their risk appetite. Stay-at-home mothers can also consider an income-focused investment portfolio to generate a stable source of funds to maintain purchasing power and achieve long-term wealth goals.

As inflationary pressures persist, Singaporeans are reassessing their investing goals, according to Endowus’ Wealth Insights 2023 report. Inflation remains the biggest financial concern for the majority of Singaporeans (86%). As a result, one in three respondents, particularly the millennials, are looking to invest more to build their retirement nest egg. However, new and inexperienced investors tend to invest only when they ‘feel the time is right’, which puts investors at greater risk. Endowus CEO, Gregory Van, emphasises the need for a passive, evidence-based investment approach.