Great Eastern Prestige Portfolio is an investment-focused investment-linked plan (ILP) that lets you invest your cash and from your Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) funds.
Unlike other ILPs offered by Great Eastern, the Great Prestige Portfolio stands out by letting you invest in non-GreatLink funds.
In this post, we reviewed Great Eastern’s Great Prestige Portfolio to help you decide if it’s the best policy to meet your goals.
Keep reading.
Criteria
- Minimum single premium of $20,000
- Minimum regular premium of $250/month
- Minimum recurrent single premium of $250/month
General Features
Premiums Payment Options
You have 3 premium payment options available:
- Regular Premium – Cash
- Recurrent Single Premium – SRS
- Single Premium – Cash & SRS
| Premium frequency | Minimum premium amount for regular and recurrent single premium |
| Yearly | S$3,000 |
| Half-yearly | S$1,500 |
| Quarterly | S$750 |
| Monthly | S$250 |
Protection
Death Benefit
In the event of your unfortunate demise, your beneficiaries can expect to receive the death benefit.
The death benefit is calculated as your total investment value in all the funds you’ve selected.
Accidental Death Benefit
Depending on the type of premium that you are paying, your beneficiaries will receive the Accidental Death Benefit if death occurs due to an accident before reaching the age of 80 next birthday:
| Regular Premium | Recurrent-single Premium | Single Premium | |
| Basic Sum Assured | S$10,000 |
100% of all amounts withdrawn (if any).
top-ups (if any); less
single premium paid; plus
The minimum basic sum assured is currently S$1,000 |
100% of all amounts withdrawn (if any).
top-ups (if any); less
single premium paid; plus
The minimum basic sum assured is currently S$1,000 |
| Accidental Death Benefit | Basic sum assured and the total investment value |
whichever is higher. |
value, or;
whichever is higher. |
If death due to an accident occurs on or after the 80th birthday next year, the policy pays the total investment value.
Key Features
Investment Top-ups
You can increase your policy’s investment value through top-ups but must meet certain conditions.
For instance, each top-up must be at least S$500, and a minimum of $200 must be allocated to each fund.
So if you have 3 funds, that’s a minimum of $600.
In addition, Great Eastern will determine the maximum amount for each top-up payment and is subject to financial underwriting.
Varying Of Premiums
If you’re paying regular or recurrent single premiums, you can adjust your premium amount within the minimum and maximum limits allowed.
The minimum and maximum amounts are unspecified.
Changing Premium Apportionment Rates
Suppose your preferences for risk and returns evolve; you can adjust the allocation of your regular or recurrent single premiums into the available funds without incurring any fees.
Once this is approved, the new premium apportionment will apply to all future payments.
Fund Switching
You can request a unit switch for any or all units in one fund, which can be switched to other available funds within the policy.
The minimum value of units for each fund switch must be at least $1,000, and the original fund must maintain a minimum value of $1,000 after the switch has been made.
I think this is pretty weird – what if I don’t want to be invested in that original fund anymore?
My $1,000 is stuck there.
Partial Withdrawals
You will be happy to know that you can make partial withdrawals with the Great Prestige Portfolio.
The minimum partial withdrawal is $1,000, and there must be a minimum of $1,000 left in your account.
For recurrent single premium and single premium plans, the basic sum assured will be reduced after each withdrawal subject to the minimum basic sum assured.
If you used funds from your Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) account to purchase this plan, any amount you partially withdraw will be returned to your SRS account.
Policy Surrender
If you wish to surrender your policy, you can do so at any time and receive its total investment value subject to certain terms and conditions.
If you used funds from your Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) account to purchase this plan, the amount you receive will be returned to your SRS account.
Great Prestige Portfolio Top 10 Performing Sub-Funds
The Great Prestige Portfolio invests in unit trusts.
| Name | 5y ann. |
| Fidelity Global Technology A Acc USD | 16.72 |
| Janus Henderson Horizon Global Technology Leaders A2 Acc SGD | 10.54 |
| BlackRock GF World Healthscience A2 Hedged SGD | 9.57 |
| BlackRock GF World Mining A2 Hedged SGD | 9.02 |
| Schroder ISF Global Climate Change Equity A Acc NAV SGD | 8.66 |
| LionGlobal Taiwan Acc SGD | 8.04 |
| AB Sustainable Global Thematic Fund A SGD | 7.91 |
| Franklin U.S. Opportunities A Acc SGD | 7.76 |
| JPM US Value A Acc NAV SGD | 7.67 |
| Schroder ISF Global Equity Alpha A Acc NAV USD | 7.6 |
Accurate as of Apr 2023.
Great Prestige Portfolio Fees And Charges
Premium Charge
A premium charge of up to 3% will be deducted from each payment of the premium and top-up you make.
Interestingly, you can request to change the percentage of the premium charge after the policy start date up to a maximum of 5%.
However, I’m not sure what minimum premium charges you’ll have to pay or how easy it is to reduce this charge.
If you have purchased the Great Prestige Portfolio using your Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) funds, then the terms and conditions of SRS will apply.
All payments made according to the policy will be subject to the SRS’s terms and conditions.
Wrap Fee
The monthly wrap fee will be deducted from your total investment value in proportion to the value of each fund at the time of deduction.
The wrap fee is a percentage of your total investment value, up to 1.5% per year.
The first fee payment is due one month after the policy’s start date and every month after that.
However, you can request to change the wrap fee percentage to a maximum of 2% per year.
Switching Fee
Currently, the plan has no switching fee if you wish to switch funds.
However, they may impose a switching fee by giving a month’s notice.
Policy Fee
A monthly policy fee of 0.2% per annum is deducted from your total investment value.
The first policy fee is due on the policy start date.
Summary of the Great Prestige Portfolio
| Cash and Cash Withdrawal Benefits | |
| Cash Value | Yes |
| Cash Value Benefits | Yes |
| Health and Insurance Coverage | |
| Death | Yes |
| Total Permanent Disability | No |
| Terminal Illness | No |
| Critical Illness | No |
| Early Critical Illness | No |
| Health and Insurance Coverage Multiplier | |
| Death | No |
| Total Permanent Disability | No |
| Terminal Illness | No |
| Critical Illness | No |
| Early Critical Illness | No |
| Optional Add-on Riders | No |
| Additional Features and Benefits | Yes |
My Review of the Great Prestige Portfolio
The Great Prestige Portfolio is a great choice if you’re looking for a single premium ILP from Great Eastern to invest your CPF or SRS funds.
Single premium starts at $20,000; if you’re looking for smaller recurring premiums, it starts at $250/month.
Unlike Great Easterns’ GREAT Wealth Advantage (GWA), the Great Prestige Portfolio invests directly into unit trusts instead of their own insurer sub-fund – giving you better returns.
This also has lower fees than the GWA – 1.7% p.a – compared to Great Wealth Advantage’s 2.5% + fund charges.
You have to make sure you’re investing a lump sum, or else the 3% premium charges on the Great Prestige Portfolio will quickly eat up your premiums.
Oh, another good thing is that this policy doesn’t have any minimum investment period – so you won’t incur any surrender charges!
If you’re looking for ILPs that let you invest your CPF/SRS funds with lower minimum investments, check out the PRULink InvestGrowth, NTUC WealthLink, or AIA Invest Easy.
The AIA Invest Easy is great for those making recurring single premium investments via your SRS/CPF.
However, if you’re looking to make regular investments into an ILP, perhaps consider the FWD Invest First Plus, Singlife Savvy Invest, or the Manulife InvestReady III.
These policies have lower fees. The only trade-off is that there are minimum investment periods – the lowest being Manulife InvestReady III at 3 years only.
However, before you make a decision, it’s always best to explore your choices or look for a second opinion by talking to a financial advisor.
We partner with unbiased MAS-licensed financial advisors to help you with this.
Click here to talk to a financial advisor.
