Finnomena, a Thailand digital wealth management platform, hopes the business partnership with Franklin Templeton will extend its role in the country’s private banking sector, according to a joint statement by the firms on Monday.
The collaboration will give Finnomena access to Franklin Templeton’s technology to offer customised portfolios in its bid to target the mass retail and affluent investor segments.
In the first quarter of 2021, minimum client outlays will be THB 10m ($333,000), and in the second half of this year, the minimum requirement will be reduced to THB 500,000.
“Previously, only investors with at least THB 50m worth of investment were eligible to experience solutions from global asset management companies,” said Finnomena CEO, Jessada Sookdhis, in a statement.
“Through this partnership, we have significantly lowered the minimum investment sum, and will offer both financial products and investment knowledge to all our clients in Thailand,” he said.
The portfolios will be engineered by Franklin Templeton’s investment solutions group, and clients will also be able to receive investment ideas and research from the Franklin Templeton Academy, an education programme.
“Investors will be able to perform portfolio analysis and view insights on their customised portfolios, which was previously accessible only to high-net-worth individuals in Thailand,” said a Finnomena spokesman.
Besides operating a digital investment platform, Finnomena provides analysis tools and runs a Supermart service. Founded in 2016, it claims to have more than 3.4 million platform visits per month and over 300,000 subscribers as it aims to reach $1bn in assets under advisement.
In January last year, the firm said that it had captured $10m in funding via a Series B round co-led by Openspace Ventures and Gobi Partners.
Franklin Templeton is a global investment management organisation with subsidiaries operating in over 165 countries. The California-based company has around $1.5trn in assets under management as of December 31, 2020, according to its website.
“It has been our shared belief that education and best-in-class financial solutions should be made simple and accessible to the public. In doing so, we look to create a positive impact to the investor community in Thailand,” said Dora Seow, country head of Singapore, who oversees Franklin Templeton Southeast Asia’s (ex Malaysia) business.
Most digital wealth platform initiatives in Thailand have focused exclusively on the high-net-worth segment of the individual investor market.
In a report last year, SCB Julius Baer predicted that their wealth will exceed $400bn by the end of 2020 and will increase at a five-year CAGR of 9.9%. A category of around of 30,000 rich Thai clients should encourage robo-advisory initiatives, concluded the firm, a joint venture between Siam Commercial Bank and the Zurich-based firm.
Most recently, Hong Kong-based Quantifeed teamed up with Kiatnakin Phatra Securities to provide the technology for Phatra Mandate Service, a discretionary portfolio management service for wealthy Thai individuals.
