Do You Have S$300,000 to S$500,000 in cash? What Kind of Wealth Management Provider Should You Choose?

Every individual would like to invest in a manner that is safe and which provides a reasonable rate of return. Managing your wealth effectively becomes especially important if you have a large sum at hand. If you chase high returns without giving enough thought to the safety of your capital, you could be in danger of incurring losses.

Many Singaporeans lost money when they invested in high-yield bonds issued by Swiber Holdings, a company that provides support services to the offshore oil and gas industry. At the time the investments were made, the firm was considered to be in the low-risk category.

Swiber shocked bondholders when it announced that it would be unable to repay in accordance with the contracted terms. Many individuals had invested large sums in the company. Swiber bonds had been available only to accredited investors or those who purchased bonds of a value of at least S$250,000.

When you have a large sum of money to invest, the temptation to go it alone is high. You think it is possible to carry out some basic research and then deploy your funds across a range of investments that meet your risk/return needs.

Although this approach could work for some individuals, it is not suitable for everyone.

If you are to invest a sum of, say, S$300,000 to S$500,000 of your money, you would have to devote a great deal of time to understand the options before you. Additionally, it is not simply a matter of making the investments and then forgetting about them. It is necessary to keep track of the developments in the market and carry out a rebalancing of your portfolio if it is required.

You would need to develop a certain degree of financial expertise. It would also be necessary to devote time to monitoring your investments. In many instances, you would need to give time to matters concerning your investments when the need arises. If you plan to allocate time over the weekend or when you are free, you may miss an investment opportunity, or even worse, expose your portfolio to losses.

Fortunately, you can use the services of wealth management experts to guide you and help you to get the most out of your investment amount.

These are some of the options that you could consider:

 

DBS Treasures

Source: Shutterstock

If you have S$350,000 or more in deposits or investments with DBS Bank, you can become a member of DBS Treasures, a program that gives you direct access to the bank’s investment advisers and consultants.

The bank helps you to develop a portfolio that is structured to meet your requirements. It has teamed up with Morningstar, a global leader in investment research and management, to help you devise a portfolio that falls into one of these categories:

• Defensive portfolio – amounts are deployed in low-risk investments.

• Conservative portfolio – provides some scope for capital appreciation

• Balanced portfolio – as its name implies, this option provides scope for capital appreciation, but carries a greater degree of risk

• Growth portfolio – high-risk, could lead to losses

• Aggressive portfolio – this option is intended only for those investors who are willing to risk significant declines in the value of their investments.

 

Wealth solutions from OCBC

One of the three leading banks in Singapore, OCBC offers “premier banking” services to those customers who place deposits or investments of S$200,000 or more with them.

You can use the bank’s advice to invest in unit trusts that offer the opportunity to provide returns that are significantly higher than those available on bank term deposits. Of course, unit trust investments carry a certain degree of risk and your investment would be subject to market volatility.

Currently, OCBC is promoting the Lion-Bank of Singapore Asian Income Fund. This fund has been launched jointly by Lion Global Investors and Bank of Singapore. (Bank of Singapore is the private banking arm of OCBC and was launched in 2010 when OCBC purchased ING Asia Private Bank.)

The Lion-Bank of Singapore Asian Income Fund was launched in February 2016 and has provided a return of 10.24% in the last year.

OCBC also offers its clients several other investment options. These include:

• Dual currency returns

• Cash trading accounts

• Equity-linked convertible investments

UOB Wealth Banking

Investors who use UOB’s wealth management services will be provided with a dedicated relationship manager. This officer from the bank is knowledgeable about the various investment options that are available to you and the risks that they carry. You can discuss your investment needs with your relationship manager and devise a plan that meets your specific requirements.

The relationship manager is backed by a team of “product specialists” and any queries that you have about an investment opportunity that is on offer from the bank will be explained to you by these individuals.

Are there any eligibility criteria that you must satisfy to get this facility? UOB offers its wealth banking services to those customers who have assets under management with the bank of a minimum amount of S$100,000.

The bank can offer you products that meet your long-term needs as well as your short-term or liquid asset requirements. UOB has established several “wealth banking centres” at different locations. You can visit these to have your queries answered by the bank’s representatives.

 

Finding the best wealth adviser

Sound investment advice can provide you with great benefits. Poor advice, on the other hand, can lead to investments where you may not get your money back. While the banks listed above can help you to deploy your money safely, Singaporeans have many other options that are open to them.

You can use this useful tool from Find A Wealth Manager to identify a firm that best meets your needs.

Regardless of the type of investment adviser that you select, it is important that you understand the risks that you are being exposed to. It is a good idea to ask a lot of questions before you take an investment decision.

If you are not satisfied with the answers that you get or if something is not clear, it is probably better to delay your investment. After all, it is your hard-earned money at stake and you would not want to lose it just because you did not understand the risks involved.

(By Ravinder Kapur)

Related Articles
- Getting Inter-Generational Wealth Transfers right
- Top Trends in Private Wealth Management
- Why Singapore is the fastest growing private wealth management hub