7 Best Robo Advisors in Singapore: Definitive Guide [2024]

7 Best Robo Advisors in Singapore: Ultimate Beginners Guide

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The interest in robo advisors in Singapore has been growing quite rapidly since 2019. An increasing number of young Singaporeans are looking for practical and low-cost investment options. Therefore, causing the demand for robo advisors to rise.

If you are looking to start financial planning, you must have considered engaging a robo advisor’s investment service. However, it is essential to properly understand this new form of digital financial planning.

After all, you are going to be investing your hard-earned money. Be it with a financial advisor or a robo advisor, it is only right that you understand everything about robo advisors.

In this ultimate guide for robo advisors in Singapore, we cover every aspect related to it. We also weigh in on the pros and cons of robo advisors. This way, you can make the most informed decision for yourself.

7 Best Robo Advisors in Singapore

Best For
Our Pick
Apply Here
Best Overall Robo Advisor
Syfe
Best Robo Advisor for CPF & SRS Investments
Endowus
Cheapest Robo Advisor
Kristal.AI
Best Bank-Run Robo Advisor
UOB UTrade Robo
Best Robo Advisor with Lowest Minimum Investment
Syfe
Best Robo Advisor with Highest Returns
Endowus
Best Robo Advisor for Large Investments
StashAway

In the below table, I will go into detail about what each robo advisor in Singapore offers and that serves as a foundation of our selections – so let’s get started. 

Robo Advisor

Annual Fee

Assets Offered

Minimum Investment

Syfe

0.65%

ETFs, Equities, Bonds, REITs, Gold

N/A

Endowus

0.25% – 0.6% for cash funds; 

0.40% for CPF and SRS funds

Equities, Fixed income, Commodities, Multi-Asset, Money market 

S$1,000

StashAway

0.8%

Equity, Bonds, REITs, etc.

N/A

SquirrelSave

0.5% for assets below S$500,000

Global ETFs

N/A

Kristal.AI

None up to $10,000

Stocks, Private Equity, Bonds, Funds, Venture Capital

S$10

UOB UTrade Robo

0.88% for accounts with assets up to S$50,000

Equities, Commodities, Stocks, Unit trusts, Bonds

S$5,000

DBS digiPortfolio

0.75%

Funds, ETFs

$1,000

MoneyOwl

Free for S$10,000;

0.6% for S$10,001 – S$100,000;

0.5% for assets above S$100,000

Equity funds, Income funds

S$50 per month or S$100 one-time

Philip SMART Portfolio

– SMART Portfolio (General Investing): 0.5% Annual Fee

– SMART Portfolio US Equity: 0.8% Annual Fee

– SMART Portfolio (General Investing): Unit Trust

– SMART Portfolio US Equity: Equity Stocks

– SMART Portfolio: $300 

– SMART Portfolio US Equity: $3,000

AutoWealth

0.5% + $18 for platform

ETFs

$3,000

OCBC RoboInvest

0.88%

Equity, REITs, Funds, etc.

$100

*Note: The annual fee might vary depending on how much you invest. In this table, I showcased the amounts you would pay for the basic or beginner tier with each advisor. 

1. Best Overall Robo Advisor: Syfe

Even at a first glance, it’s very obvious why Syfe is deemed the overall best robo advisor in Singapore. Namely, Syfe uses an Automated Risk-management Investment (ARI) strategy that automatically sets you up with the perfect portfolio.

But, what puts it to the top is the long list of portfolios? 

First are the Core portfolios that encompass stocks, bonds, and commodities – and come in 4 types:

  • Core Equity100 – 100% equity portfolio that comes with high risk, but allows investments in over 1,500 stocks globally; 
  • Core Growth – diversified portfolio for investors that want growth on a longer period and higher return;
  • Core Defensive – diversified portfolio with bond, stock, and gold ETFs, that gives slower returns of 5.86% annually;
  • Core Balanced – diversified portfolio between bonds, equities, and commodities that sees to balance the return with moderate risk.

Next are Satellite portfolios, spread throughout several sectors. Here, you can choose between 2 types:

  • REIT Portfolios – you can either choose the 100% REITs that allow you to earn passive income on all REITs listed on SGX – or the REITs with Risk Management, where a special risk management algorithm allocates your resources.
  • Themed Portfolios – all these portfolios are tied to a specific area i.e. theme. You can choose between ESG and Clean Energy, Disruptive Technology, Healthcare Innovation, Global Income, and China Growth.
 

As the overall best robo advisor in Singapore, Syfe also offers Cash portfolios where you can invest in the money market and short-lived bond funds, but also earn higher returns than those at banks – 1.2% returns to be exact.

Aside from these predetermined ones, Syfe even offers you the chance to build your own portfolio. As the name suggests, you get to choose what you put in your portfolio.

This, of course, means that the risk and the return rate are all up to you.

2. Best Robo Advisor for CPF & SRS Investments: Endowus

It’s no surprise that Endowus is the best robo advisor in Singapore when it comes to CPF and SRS investments.

It only charges a flat fee of 0.4% p.a. for them!

And, they don’t charge any account openings/closures, withdrawals, or transfer fees.

In addition to this, Endowus gives access to so-called passive-active funds, so you can invest passively through funds that are actively managed.

These funds come from the well-known Dimensional Funds. 

All passive asset allocation and passive income are dealt with in the designated Endowus Core and Endowus Income portfolios.

The Endowus Satellite portfolio gives you the chance to invest in specific regions and themes. These include China’s market, healthcare, clean energy, and even the tech and global real estate industry.

If you’re looking to store your cash, you can use the Endowus Cash Smart portfolio. Have in mind, the annual fee here can be a bit higher than that of CPF or SRS investing. Namely, it varies between 0.25% – 0.6%.

You have 3 options here:

  • Secure – funds go in a 50-50 division between Fullerton SGD Cash Fund and LionGlobal SGD Enhanced Liquidity;
  • Enhanced – funds are equally distributed between UOB United SGD Fund and LionGlobal SGD Enhanced Liquidity;
  • Ultra – funds are allocated as follows:
    • 27.5% LionGlobal SGD Enhanced Liquidity Fund;
    • 25% LionGlobal Short Duration Fund;
    • 25% Fullerton Short Term Interest Rate Fund;
    • 12.5% Nikko Shenton Income Fund;
    • 10% PIMCO Low Duration Income Fund.

 

And, if you want to create your own portfolio, then you can choose Endowus Fund Smart.

There are more than 250 funds that you can choose from, devised from equity, multi-asset, and fixed income.

3. Cheapest Robo Advisor: Kristal.AI

Kristal.AI is the cheapest robo advisor in Singapore. It doesn’t charge an annual fee for assets up to S$10,000, and for those above, it takes a small fee of 0.3%.

On top of that, it only requests a minimum investment of S$10. Plus, there are no cash holding fees and no account fees of any kind. 

However, note that these are fees placed on its Private Wealth Lite account – which is for retail investors like you and I.

There is also a Private Wealth account that is only available to accredited investors and presents a hybrid robo advisor i.e. uses human advisory as well.

All fees tied to it are not disclosed unless you create an account and get chosen as a professional investor.

To become such an investor, you need to have a net worth of S$1 million or have S$200,000 annual income in the last 2 years.

In all cases, do note the $1 brokerage charges per trade for USD transactions done online.

The algorithm Kristal.AI uses helps automatically create the best portfolio for you.

And, if you’re a professional investor, you can also choose to customise and devise your own portfolio out of the 100 and more available ETFs options – plus add other options and futures. 

Kristal.AI invests in asset classes like equities, commodities, fixed income, venture capital, real estate, and even cryptocurrencies.

The best part is that Kristal.AI is completely transparent with its investments.

Some of these include Digitrackers Bitcoin SP mutual fund, NikkoAM Asean Equity Fund, and more.

4. Best Bank-Run Robo Advisor: UOB UTrade Robo

It’s no secret that the more financially backed a robo advisor is, the bigger the chances for it to sustain operations on the market. 

UOB UTrade Robo is the best robo investor in Singapore that is backed by one of Singapore’s largest banks. 

This makes it a robo advisor that is hard to ever go out of style. As a bank-run robo advisor, UTrade Robo is a safe option for all investors that don’t want to play the risk cards. 

With over 85 years of existence and more than S$30 billion in assets, the chances of this robo advisor going down are extremely low.

Although safely backed up and secure, I have to mention that UTrade Robo has some of the highest fees on the market.

These are tied to the amount you give in the first place. Namely, there is a high 0.8% annual fee if you deposit anything below S$50,000.

The fee lowers if you deposit S$50,000 – S$100,000 to 0.68%. And finally, if you go above S$100,000, you get the lowest fee – 0.5%.

Even though this robo advisor doesn’t disclose the exact ETFs it invests in, it does say that they are low cost and that they invest globally.

This includes stocks, bonds, commodities, fixed income, and unit trusts.

Besides, these are allocated in different areas worldwide – including Europe, Asia, and America.

A special advantage of UTrade Robo is that it uses the Modern Portfolio Theory.

This gives it the chance to allocate assets in areas where it would get the least amount of risk – and maximum returns.

Yet, this robo advisor also comes with a high minimum investment – S$5,000, as well as additional minimum top-ups of S$500.

Users have a chance to obtain a return of 1.5% on all low-risk portfolios or go for up to 7% return which would also include a higher risk. 

It’s good to know that despite the fact that the fees are high, UOB UTrade Robo is still the best robo advisor that has the lowest fees among other bank-run robo advisors. 

5. Best Robo Advisor with Lowest Minimum Investment: Syfe

If you are on the doorstep of the trading world, then starting with low investments is the best choice for you.

Syfe is the best robo investor in Singapore that offers the lowest minimum investment rates – zero!

However, this depends on the tier you choose. There are 4 tiers: 

  • Blue – no minimum investment;
  • Black – S$20,000 minimum investment;
  • Gold – S$100,000 minimum investment;
  • Private Wealth – S$500,000 minimum investment.

 

Each of these has its own stimuli like access to a dedicated wealth investor, 24/7 support, smaller annual fees, and so on. 

When you add this to the fact that Syfe has the biggest portfolio choices on the market, you practically know that you have it all in one place. 

Each of Syfe’s portfolios will cover some gaps in your existing investment portfolio.

For all-seasoned investors, Syfe offers the chance to create a completely new portfolio tailored to your needs. 

Syfe trades with ETF investments – bonds, stocks, and even commodities like gold, and is very transparent as to where these investments go. 

Some include Vanguard Total International Bond Index Fund ETF Shares, SPDR Gold Shares, Invesco QQQ Trust, and iShares MSCI EAFE ETF.

An interesting thing about Syfe is that on top of all of these advantages, it also gives access to wealth experts.

These are financial advisors that can help you set up an account and get the most out of this robo advisor. 

And on top of all of this, Syfe has no withdrawal fees whereas all other fees are only up to 0.65% p.a.

6. Best Robo Advisor for Highest Returns: Endowus

It’s not only in finding the best robo advisors with the lowest fees and minimum investment.

You should also look for the best returns.

Endowus is the robo advisor that has the highest return rates on the current market. 

Moreover, it refunds all trailer fees i.e. commission that the fund manager pays to Endowus. 

The Endowus Core portfolio, specifically the Flagship, offers an annual return on cash and SRS of 12.2%, and a 13% for CPFs. 

Looking at Endowus Income, this percentage is lower but considering the higher chance of risk, it is still an admirable

  • 4.0% – 10% for future income,
  • 3.5% – 9% for higher income, and
  • 3.5% – 7% for stable income. 
 

The Endowus Satellite portfolio comes with much higher returns. Considering that this portfolio has themed options, each has a different range. Namely, the China Equities option rate fluctuates to up to 11.9%. 

The Global Real Estate option has an annual return rate of 9.4% and the technology sector offers the highest rate ever given by Endowus – 21.4%.

Finally, the Endowus Cash Smart portfolio goes from 0.7% to 2.1% depending on the type you choose. 

There is a robo wars experiment currently ongoing where a simple experiment was conducted to compare the performance of 3 portfolios each coming from an esteemed robo advisor – Endowus’ 100% equities, Syfe Equity100, and StashAway SRI36%. 

This 1-year experiment started in January 2021 and the latest observation showed that Endowus portfolio was slightly better than the other two.

Moreover, it also outperformed in both world markers – MSCI World Index and MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI).

However, because of such a short research period, the results of the robo war cannot generate a comprehensive verdict.

Nevertheless, it’s still pretty promising and an interesting ongoing experiment!

7. Best Robo Advisor for Large Investments: StashAway

As the best robo advisor in Singapore for large amounts, StashAway has caught the eye of many serious investors with its low fees when investing big.

You can invest SRS or cash that go up to S$1 million or above all for a fee that varies between 0.2% – 0.8%.

The larger your investment, the lower the fee. Although StashAway doesn’t have the lowest annual fees on the market, this is compensated by the fact that there are no withdrawal, deposit, account closure, transfer, or account balance fees.

As of 2021, StashAway announced that they have more than $1 billion (S$740 million) in assets under management. 

The diversified portfolio lets you automatically invest your SRS, through the designated StashAway Simple cash management account, with a return rate of 1.2% p.a.

Here are the portfolio types, offered by StashAway:

  • General Investing Portfolio
  • Goal-based Investing Portfolio
  • Responsible Investing Portfolio
  • Income Portfolio
  • Thematic Portfolios

The trademarked algorithm – Economic Regime-based Asset Allocation®, strategically allocates your assets in various ETFs, mainly focusing on long-term investments. It also provides a special Income Portfolio service. 

In addition, it offers a straightforward and simple user interface. With one click, you get to choose your portfolio and StashAway immediately tells you what all upfront fees include. 

Another good thing about this robo advisor is that it also offered term life insurance plans, giving a full asset management service. 

It’s currently on halt now but they’re in the midst of developing a new term plan.

Last but not least, StashAway offers thematic portfolios. With these, you can invest in all fields that you believe are the future, all the while maintaining the lowest risk level possible.

These include Fintech, A.I., Blockchain, Biotech, and many more. 

Some of these include investing in ETFs from iShares, ARK Invest, and VanEck. 

Robo advisors are “digital” advisors that require minimal to no human intervention.

Instead of a financial advisor, your financial planning is purely driven by algorithms and mathematical rules.

When developing a robo advisor, many groups of people come together to design and encode these algorithms into the robo advisor.

They include investment managers, financial advisors, data scientists, and programmers.

The initial input takes place with human help.

But robo advisors mostly run on data and software without human assistance. Robo advisors help clients in the allocation, management, and optimisation of funds as well as assets.

How do robo advisors work?

As highlighted above, robo advisors work without or with very little human intervention. The precise dynamic of how robo advisors work will vary slightly from one investment platform to the other.

But in general, all robo advisors follow the same working principle.

Step 1: Questionnaire

Filling up an extensive questionnaire is the first step you’ll have to take when signing up with a robo advisor.

These questions cover everything about your current financial situation and goals. It can include topics such as your savings balance, the timeline of your investments, and your risk tolerance.

From there, they will categorise you into separate risk profiles.

Step 2: Your Deposit

The next step is to put in your investment amount and fulfil the minimum requirement set by the platform. You can choose to put as much money as you want, depending on your financial capacity.

You also get to choose between putting in your money as a lump sum investment or by recurring deposits.

Step 3: Invest

Your robo advisor will proceed to make purchases for your portfolio that is most suited for you. This typically includes a mix of Exchange Traded Funds, or ETFs investments, and other assets.

The algorithm chooses the available funds within its own platform. And it corresponds to your profile, the current condition of the market, and your investment goals.

In this step, the asset allocation will be highly based on the questionnaire you filled up. Therefore it is important to take step 1 seriously so that the robo advisor can categorise you into different risk profiles based on your risk appetite.

Step 4: Monitor and optimisation

Robo advisors continue to monitor your funds as well as the market. In addition, your robo advisor will also perform portfolio rebalancing.

This step is critical to give you maximum earnings and maintain optimal asset class weightings. Rebalancing your portfolios also minimises the risk in cases where the market shifts.

list of robo advisors in singapore

List of robo advisors in Singapore

The rise of robo advisors in Singapore for retail investors is nothing new. So there are a good number of robo advisors for you to choose from.

Therefore, we have decided to compile a comprehensive list of all the robo advisors in Singapore. We have also included their fees, minimum requirements, and of course, their speciality.

Note: All currency units are in Singapore dollars unless mentioned otherwise.

EndowUS

EndowUS was started in 2017. And they also run exclusively on the web.

  • Speciality – Investment in Funds
  • Fees – 0.4% for CPF and SRS portfolio, 0.25%-0.6% for Cash portfolio
  • Minimum requirement – $10,000

UTrade Robo

UTrade Robo also runs its services on its web platform.

  • Speciality – Investment in ETFs
  • Fees – 0.5% to 0.88%
  • Minimum requirement – $5,000

Philip SMART Portfolio

Philip SMART Portfolio runs exclusively on their web platform.

  • Speciality – Investment in ETFs as well as individual stocks
  • Fees – 0.5% + SGX clearing fees where applicable
  • Minimum requirement – $5,000

AutoWealth

AutoWealth is one of the pioneers among robo advisors in Singapore. Established in 2015, AutoWealth provides its service exclusively on its web platform.

  • Speciality – Investment in ETFs
  • Fees – 0.5% + US$18 of platform fee
  • Minimum requirement – $3,000

FSM MAPS

FSM MAPS began its robo advisor journey in 2013. They run their services on the web as well as on their mobile platform.

  • Specialty – Investment in ETFs
  • Fees – 0.35% (Conservative portfolio), 0.5% (Other portfolios)
  • Minimum requirement – $500 per month, $1,000 lump sum

DBS digiPortfolio

DBS digiPortfolio operates under the flagship of DBS Pte. Ltd. This service runs exclusively on their web platform.

  • Speciality – Investments in Funds as well as ETFs
  • Fees – 0.75%
  • Minimum requirement – $1,000, and a Multi-Currency Account

OCBC RoboInvest/OCBC Bank

OCBC RoboInvest runs on both the web as well as their mobile platform. It operates under OCBC Pte Ltd and has been running since 2004.

  • Speciality – Investment in ETFs and Individual Stocks.
  • Fees – 0.88%
  • Minimum requirement – US$100

Kristal.AI 

Kristal.AI operates in three countries, and they started its services in 2016. Kristal.AI operates on both its web and mobile platform.

  • Speciality – Investment in ETFs and Individual Stocks.
  • Fees – 0% (below US$50,000) to 0.3% (above US$50,000), excluding custody and asset operating fees
  • Minimum requirement – US$100

MoneyOwl

MoneyOwl is a joint venture of Providend Holding Pte Ltd and NTUC Enterprise Co-operative Ltd. Their services are exclusively on their web platform.

  • Speciality – Investments in Funds
  • Fees – 0.5% to 0.6%
  • Minimum requirement – $50 per month,  $100 lump sum

 UOBAM Invest

UOBAM Invest has offices in a couple of countries. Their platform of operation is also exclusive to the web.

  • Speciality – Investments in ETFs
  • Fees – 0.6% to 0.8%
  • Minimum requirement – $1

Syfe

Syfe is a robo advisor in Singapore licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. This robo advisor operates on the web as well as their mobile platform.

  • Speciality – Investments in ETFs
  • Fees – 0.4% to 0.65%
  • Minimum requirement – None

StashAway

StashAway began its services in 2016. Their services are on the web as well as their mobile platform.

  • Speciality – Investments in ETFs and Personal Funds.
  • Fees – Between 0.2% to 0.8%
  • Minimum requirement – None

SquirrelSave

SquirrelSave was started by some of the top experts in the industry. They are exclusive to their web platform.

  • Speciality – Personal Funds, insurance and healthcare.
  • Fees – 0.5% + 10% of positive returns
  • Minimum requirement – None

GrabInvest

GrabInvest is a new offering from Grab after it acquired Bento in 2020. It is essentially a wallet and runs on both the web as well as their mobile platform. GrabInvest runs in partnership with Fullerton Fund Management and UOB Asset Management.

  • Speciality – Personal asset management
  • Fees – 0.45%
  • Minimum requirement – $1

Editor’s Note: Smartly, has closed its Singapore offices as of April 2020. However, existing clients on the platform were given 50% off management fees when they shifted to StashAway. The exemption of management fees is up to $50,000.

And the offer is valid for the first six months after signing up. This generous offer, however, does not apply if you already use StashAway.

pros of robo advisor

Pros of using robo advisors

With an increasing number of robo advisors all over, you might be considering how using these automated investment advisors can help you as a retail investor.

Below we share the pros of using robo advisors in Singapore.

Low cost/fees

One of the first advantages that most people cite that robo advisors are their low cost. Most robo advisors have a service fee of about 0.2% – 1%. Investment and fund managers will charge you much higher fees just to manage your funds.

Financial advisors on the other hand, either take a commission of each policy sold or have their own advisor fees.

These advisor fees are generally lower than investment managers while being higher than robo advisors.

The main reason why robo advisors are very affordable is that it does not involve intensive human labour.

Once the algorithm is encoded in the software, the machines do all the work.

Ease of access and convenience 

A typical robo advisor is available 24/7 as long as you have access to the internet. This means that you can use robo advisors at any time of the day or night.

In addition, there is no need for physical documents with a robo advisor.

This is not the case with investment managers. For one, you need to set up appointments at specific times.

The involvement of an investment manager also means that there’s a third person in the transaction.

Minimal requirements

If you’re looking to engage an investment manager or to do it yourself, be prepared to have a large investment amount. This is because most funds have a minimum trading size before you can buy.

Financial advisors, however, allow you to have lower investment amounts than investment managers.

On the other hand, robo advisors will work with anyone who meets their minimum investment amount, which is lower than traditional investment managers. In fact, some robo advisors have zero requirements to sign up.

For young adults who are looking for efficient financial planning, this is a fantastic opportunity.

Moreover, robo advisors do not charge any fees for deposits or withdrawals.

No lock-in or lock-in fee

Another fantastic advantage of using robo advisors is freedom. At the time of writing this guide, robo advisors in Singapore do not have lock-in periods.

Not only does this mean that there are no lock-in fees for you, but you can also liquidate your funds anytime you like!

Many financial advisors do not encourage short-term investments as you are unable to see significant returns with the fees eating into your margins.

However, with robo advisors, these fees are minimised and/or removed!

It’s even better if your robo advisor does not entail any deposit and withdrawal fees!

Diversified portfolio

A diversified portfolio is one of the secrets to financial success. It is because a portfolio that is diversified with different assets minimises the risk involved.

And using robo advisors can give you this critical ingredient.

Thanks to the mathematical algorithms, it creates a mix of investments that complements your financial goals.

cons of robo advisor

Cons of using robo advisors

Robo advisors are indeed an outstanding investment alternative. However, they are not without their drawbacks. So here are the cons of using robo advisors.

Limited flexibility and control

Algorithms and mathematical rules drive robo advisors. These rules are pretty much set in stone. This means that you cannot change your investment options after you pick them.

So if you choose ETFs or a mutual fund, you cannot change your plans and choose the stock market, vice versa.

On the other hand, a financial advisor offers more flexibility. You can choose your preferred investment options at any time.

Besides, you can also give your inputs to your financial advisor, and essentially customise your portfolio in accordance with your needs, wants, short term and long term goals, and even taking into account subjective and emotional scenarios.

Conversely, algorithms can only work with black-and-white facts and data.

When you invest, you’re aiming to obtain the financial means to achieve your goals and your desired lifestyle.

Therefore, you will need to make the correct investment choice, based on your current age and how you would emotionally view risk.

An algorithm, unfortunately, will not be able to assess that.

Currency exchange vs instability

Robo advisors in Singapore invest a massive amount in ETFs that are US-based.

The caveat is that this subjects your funds to the exchange rates in the international market.

Although the exchange rates tend to fluctuate, the current situation in America is more volatile than ever.

Therefore, you may not get your money’s worth. Besides, currency conversion fees can put a further dent in your wallet.

Robo advisors may or may not be smart enough to examine market trends and market volatility unlike financial advisors and investment managers.

The ability to do this is extremely crucial to protect and/or maximise your investments.

Hidden fees and taxes

Robo advisors indeed have lower fees than human advisors. However, several hidden costs can eat away your investment.

Despite them being low cost, most of these fees are recurring.

These recurring fees can accumulate into a considerable amount over time.

Besides, you have to consider components such as fund-level fees, conversion charges, and subscription fees.

These fees, unfortunately, might not be known to you until incurred.

As mentioned, robo advisors in Singapore purchase many Exchange Traded Funds from the US. So there is a concern for US dividend taxes.

Currently, the dividend tax for all US-based ETFs stands at 30%. Therefore, the final amount that will reach your hands will be significantly lower.

Most robo advisors will not tell you about this dividend tax aspect. It is mainly because the taxable dividend is not featured in the projections in the algorithm.

Nevertheless, you cannot be exempted from paying this tax.

Misconceptions about robo advisors in Singapore

Many people think that using robo advisors is safe because the algorithm programmed will choose a “safer” investment portfolio for you.

Just because the algorithm is designed to make investing simple for you, does not mean it is designed to beat the market

Yes, the unit trusts and ETFs purchased by these robo advisors are generally considered as a safer investment alternative to investing in stocks.

This is because when you invest in ETFs and mutual funds, you will be investing in a variety of companies at once, allowing you to effectively diversify, and potentially optimise returns and minimise risks.

But what this also means is that these funds are subjected to the risks of the stock market and your investments will still be affected by market fluctuations.

You will have to accept that your investments will fluctuate even with robo advisors.

The artificial intelligence built is mostly to remove the need for human financial advisors, not for them to beat the market.

So… who are robo advisors for?

Having considered everything about robo advisors, robo advisors will be beneficial if you –

  • Want an affordable way to start investing
  • Want to start investing in the global market
  • Don’t have the time to manage your finances actively
  • Have little to no investment knowledge and are willing to let algorithms to do it for you
  • Want to invest in a simple fashion without taking into account potentially difficult, emotional, or subjective scenarios that do crop up in real life

Conclusion

As you grow older and your life becomes more complicated, you will face tougher decisions on how to properly optimise your finances.

A robo advisor may not be able to take into account these situations and the decisions you’ll have to face.

Ultimately, whether or not you choose to use robo advisors comes down to personal preference. It’s because they are a fantastic way to invest money for those who don’t have much capital, to begin with.

But robo advisors do come with limitations.

And these limitations are what makes many robo advisor investors disappointed with their investments.

Therefore, consider the changes in your financial status and goals throughout the years carefully before choosing to engage one.

Financial advisors and investment managers are not perfect by any means.

And yes, there are many of them who are out just to make money from you.

Despite this, human advisors still have more flexibility and can also give you a truly personalised portfolio. But most importantly, human advisors have accountability. And no robo advisor can beat that.

Jaslyn Ng
Jaslyn Ng
Jaslyn began her finance journey as a ghostwriter for global websites, fostering a unique perspective on the subject. Now at Dollar Bureau's helm, she approaches finance through the everyday Singaporean lens. Her leadership ensures content is both relatable and easy to understand, making complex topics accessible to all.

Disclaimer: Each article written obtained its information from reliable sources and should be purely used for informational purposes only. The information provided by Dollar Bureau and its affiliated parties is not meant to be construed as financial advice. Dollar Bureau shall not be held liable for any inaccuracies, mistakes, omissions, and losses incurred should you act upon any information listed on this website. We recommend readers to seek financial planning advice from qualified financial advisors. 

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