Singapore-headquartered Stashaway’s assets under management (AUM) has breached the $1bn mark, making it the first digital wealth manager in Asia to announce that it manages more than a billion dollars, according to a statement from the firm.
The majority of the inflows went into the firm’s global growth-oriented investment portfolios, which were among the best-performing portfolios managed by the online wealth manager, Amanda Ong, country manager for Singapore at Stashaway, told FSA.
Since its launch in 2017, Stashaway’s portfolios generated annualised returns ranging from 16.5% (for its highest risk portfolio) to 4.3% (for its lowest-risk portfolio) as of the end of December, according to the statement. In 2020 alone, the portfolio returns ranged from 21.9% to 3.4% for the same portfolios.
“Reaching this $1bn milestone in less than four years is only one of the many signs we see that Asia truly wants a better way to create wealth,” Ong said in the statement. “We see high conversion rates, large consistent deposits and engagement with our educational content. We’re still only scratching the surface for what’s possible when it comes to transforming wealth creation.”
The robo-advisory segment continues to be underpenetrated in the region. In Asia, 46% of financial wealth is still held in bank deposits, compared to 14% in North America, according to Michele Ferrario, co-founder and CEO of Stashaway.
“That’s why we’ve always focused not only on sophisticated investment principles and a great customer experience, but also financial education to help more people understand how to better manage and grow their wealth. The relationship with our clients and the public has been a key to our fast growth,” he said in the statement.
Stashaway operates in three markets: Singapore, Malaysia and MENA. It first launched in Singapore in July 2017 and expanded in Malaysia and in Dubai in November 2018 and November last year, respectively.
Stashaway has a total paid-up capital of $36.6m, according to the statement. Besides its market entries in Malaysia and the MENA region, these funds have gone towards launching an income portfolio and a cash management portfolio. Since raising its Series C in July last year, the firm also launched “Stashaway Workplace”, a corporate financial benefits solution.
Stashaway has attracted financial backers globally. They include Eight Roads Ventures, the global investment firm backed by Fidelity and early investor in Alibaba; Square Peg, one of Australia’s largest venture capital fund; Asia Capital & Advisors, the private equity firm led by Francis Rozario and Aaron Rozario; and Burda Principal Investments, the growth capital arm of German media and tech company Hubert Burda Media, the statement added.
Singapore’s robo-advisory landscape is becoming more competitive as more firms are launching digital wealth management services in the Lion City. They include Syfe, Kristal AI and Grab Financial. Grab Financial recently announced that monthly users for its “AutoInvest” platform doubled in December last year, while Kristal AI, which also operates in Hong Kong and India, said it now manages at least $200m in assets, with around 26,000 users.
Meanwhile, telecommunications firm Singtel and UOB Asset Management have signed a memorandum of understanding last month to offer dynamic and personalised robo-advisory investment solutions to individual investors in Singapore.
