Assets under administration (AUA) were up across all core markets that iFast operates in, with its headquarters Singapore showing the biggest growth.
The AUA as at 31 December 2020 reached a record high of S$14.45bn ($10.87bn), representing a year-on-year (yoy) increase of 44.5% from S$10bn as at 31 December 2019 and a quarter-on-quarter (qoq) increase of 14.8% from S$12.59bn as at 30 September 2020, according to a statement from the firm.
The AUA of the Singapore operation grew 52.8% yoy, hitting S$10bn at the end of last year.
In terms of products breakdown, unit trusts remain the core of iFast’s wealth management business, with AUA in the sector increasing 31.8% yoy and accounting for 75.4% of the group’s assets.
An investment platform such as iFast enables investors to place a wide selection of investment products from different providers into one consolidated portfolio.
The objective is to construct and manage portfolios in one location. Paper-based transaction errors should be eliminated with electronic straight-through transactions, and with a single form, payment and statement, a platform should simplify the investment process with online administration, transactions, and operational infrastructure to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
iFast makes recurring net revenue through trailer fees, platform fees, and wrap fees. The recurring net revenue is calculated based on a percentage of average AUA of investment products distributed on the firm’s platforms.
For the third quarter of 2020, iFast’s net profit hit a high of S$6.2 million, surging 151% yoy, according to a previous announcement.
The full-year results have not yet been released, but the firm’s fourth quarter strategic ambitions were checked by its failure to gain a digital bank licence in Singapore.
Incorporated in 2000 in Singapore and listed on the SGX-Mainboard in December 2014, iFast is also present in Hong Kong, Malaysia, China and India.
It offers access to 11,000 investment products including 7,700 funds from 270 fund houses, as well as around 1,300 bonds, stocks and ETFs listed in Singapore, Hong Kong and the US. Subsequently, it expanded its model to offer online discretionary portfolio management services and transaction services.
The main business divisions of the group include the business-to-consumer (B2C), business-to-business (B2B) and the fintech solutions/business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) divisions.
The B2C platform — FSMOne.com/Fundsupermart.com — caters to investors who prefer to do their own investments online, and the recently created FSMOne multi-products transactional platform is available in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
The B2B platforms has around 450 financial advisor companies, financial institutions, banks and internet companies with about 9,800 wealth advisers. The fintech solutions/B2B2C model, iFast Fintech Solutions, was launched in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia in recent years.
In September 2020, iFast’s wholly foreign-owned subsidiary in Shanghai – a joint venture with Raffles Family Office — received a private fund management licence in China, which allows it to attract qualified mainland investors to tap into its discretionary portfolios, including a planned fund of funds product.
iFast’s AUA breakdown by markets and products
