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SINGAPORE: Financial advisory firms have sprung up to jostle with the big banks in serving the wealth market, including the mass affluent.
Apart from independent financial advisory firms, there are also financial players that have expanded into wealth management like digital investment platform Syfe or financial services firm Singlife with its Professional Investment Advisory Services.
One reason for the growth in such firms is the rising wealth in Singapore and Asia. Another factor is the complexity in managing wealth where more asset classes and more geographies are involved. There could also be legacy issues where wealth is passed down to the next generation.
Syfe says the mass-affluent segment – with investable assets of US$100,000 and above – is one that is underserved. Its founder and chief executive officer Dhruv Arora said this group “usually ends up with the majority of their money sitting in savings accounts earning a negative real rate of return because they are unable to access quality financial products and tailored financial counsel based on their portfolio”.
The mass affluent usually are able to access only a limited number of products. These are usually from the financial institution of which they are a client, Arora noted. So Syfe’s aim is to “offer the most comprehensive suite of products for our customers to build their wealth regardless of market conditions”.
At independent wealth management firm WRISE, chairman Derrick Tan said the firm serves the high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth market by offering clients more than a standard house view of investments. He added that WRISE also tries to assess the impact of current economic trends on its clients’ asset allocation.
Tan said WRISE can tap an extensive network, which includes more than 130 global private banks, investment banks, fund managers, brokers and other financial institutions.
Key to the success of these firms will be the human touch, with a 2023 report commissioned by Singlife’s investment platform, GROW with Singlife, and professional services firm EY showing that 66% of clients considered their primary financial adviser as the most trusted source of advice.
About 72% of investors across segments and age groups also preferred the “human touch”. Perhaps related to this, some 62% of investors said they were likely to follow their advisers if they were to jump to another firm. This illustrates the importance of advisers and their relationship with their clients, said GROW with Singlife. — The Straits Times/ANN
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