Human financial advice has been added to Syfe’s algorithm-driven investment platform.
A team of advisers will be headed by Ritesh Ganeriwal, a former relationship manager and investment advisor at Goldman Sachs’ wealth management operation in Singapore.
Chief executive and founder Dhruv Arora, formerly a director at UBS Asset Management in Hong Kong, told our sister publication Fund Selector Asia that although his firm launched about three months ago and is still in a hiring mode, the advisory team is in place.
A tiered system was also introduced, where clients are segmented into three levels that link lower management fees to higher investment amounts.
Details
Clients with “no minimum investment” get free (human) advice for one month.
Those putting in $20,000 (£15,500, €18,000) are given free adviser access and a financial planning service and clients with a minimum investment of $100,000 get a dedicated financial adviser.
“Customers and budding investors can discuss managing or building a portfolio, while Syfe’s team can also provide financial advice support on any topic, not just the Syfe platform alone,” the statement said.
The move targets the client base of independent financial advisers and some external asset managers, which generally charge clients higher fees than robo-advisers.
Syfe will “challenge exclusive, sophisticated and expensive wealth management solutions, making investing accessible to everyone”, it said.
“We are not exclusively for retail investors,” Arora added. “Clients who have their money managed by private banks may put a portion [of their investible wealth] into Syfe.”
The robo-adviser uses ETFs and its priority is risk-adjusted returns. Software monitors and adjusts portfolios with the aim of limiting huge drawdowns.
Seed capital
UK venture capital firm Unbound is the lead investor in the $3.8m Syfe received as seed capital, which includes personal investments from David Rogers, managing director at SSGA and Paul Redbourn, managing director and head of equities at UBS Japan.
Arora said that the working professionals are not consultants, but they act as mentors, providing perspectives from large financial institutions.
Singapore is home to several robo-adviser competitors, including Stashaway, which recently introduced an income-focused portfolio and Kristal AI, which said it has tripled assets under management to $80m from January to October.
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