Investment and Savings

No. The funds making up MoneyOwl’s portfolios are the first CPFIS funds in Singapore structured to be adviser retrocession-free, hence MoneyOwl has no trailer fees to rebate. These share classes were initiated and co-created by MoneyOwl, with the fund managers. We do this to introduce the concept of simple portfolios to simplify the experience for CPF investors. The new share classes not only lowers the cost of investing, but also eliminates the wait for fee rebates and the need to reconcile the fund’s investment outcome with rebates received. Such share classes hardwires the benefit of being adviser retrocession-free into the funds’ structure, which is in line with MoneyOwl’s philosophy of providing “conflict free financial advice”. It helps to permanently lower investors’ expense, making retrocession free share classes eventually available across all platforms and not dependent on any adviser or any advisory firm’s business strategy. It is a significant step in lowering structural costs and providing simple and fit-for-purpose CPF investment solutions, to enable better investment outcomes for Singaporeans.

The fees payable are listed below:

• Annual advisory fee of 0.4% p.a.* to MoneyOwl which will be deducted from units every quarter (pro-rated by days invested).
• Agent bank fees charged on a per quarter and per transaction basis. Do refer to your agent bank for information on their charges.

Apart from this, there are no other charges. There is no sales charge for investing with MoneyOwl and no redemption charges. Furthermore, MoneyOwl will absorb the platform fee charged by iFast Financial Services, which provides custodial and platform services.

* This excludes annual fund-level fees of 0.40% – 0.42% p.a. which are factored into the price of the fund.

The TER for the underlying funds are as follows and this is earned directly by the fund manager –

The TER for MoneyOwl CPF portfolios are as follows –

These fund level expenses are not deducted from units but are integrated into the fund: their impact is incorporated into the NAV of the fund and thus reflected in fund performance.

MoneyOwl had co-created these share classes with the fund managers – and they are the first unit trusts under CPFIS to be adviser retrocession-free, which means that is has no hidden trailer commissions to advisers. Investors also do not need to manage troublesome trailer fee rebates, which are ultimately subject to an advisory firm’s business strategy. We hope to change the game on CPFIS investing by hard-wiring retrocession-free funds so investors can invest with low-cost yet high-quality funds in the most convenient way.

There are three portfolios available for CPF investing based on your risk appetite. The portfolios have different strategic asset allocation across the equity and bond fund. Our CPF portfolios are made up of two underlying funds, namely

1. Equity: LionGlobal Infinity Global Stock Index Fund Share Class C
2. Fixed Income: UOBAM United SGD Fund Share Class D

We have chosen these two funds for our CPF portfolios as they combine well to help you achieve the best probability of a successful investment experience, according to your risk, ability and willingness to take risk. We know from decades of data that “active” fund management has had a poor record in equity markets. A much more reliable way to capture equity returns is to invest passively or systematically in a globally diversified, market-based fund, and to combine this with a bond portfolio where there is a need to dampen portfolio volatility.

LionGlobal Infinity Global Stock Index Fund fits the criteria of a globally diversified indexed equity fund which offers market-based long term average returns. This unit trust “wraps” a passively managed Vanguard Global Stock Index Fund. It tracks closely to the MSCI World Index, investing in more than 1,500 large and mid-sized company stocks in developed markets.

The United SGD Fund invests substantially all its assets in global money market and short- term interest-bearing debt instruments with the objective of achieving a yield enhancement over the Singapore dollar deposits. As your CPF monies is already invested substantially in the Singapore government, MoneyOwl has chosen a low-risk, global bond fund instead, for diversification, with a long-term expected return at least similar to that of the CPF OA. The United SGD Fund has a good track record in terms of return versus risk among its peers in CPFIS and has  a long history, substantial assets and a low TER for its Share Class D.

The two funds’ CPF share classes were co-created by MoneyOwl and the fund managers.

When you sell your investments, the sales proceeds will automatically be credited into your CPF Investment Account. The monies will remain there, unless you instruct your agent bank to transfer the amount into your OA.

Your agent bank will also automatically transfer the cash balance held in your CPF Investment Account to your OA (at the end of the month*) if your Investment Account has been inactive (i.e. if there had been no investment transactions) for two consecutive months.

Profits earned under the CPFIS are not withdrawable as cash as the purpose of investing is to grow your savings for retirement. However, the profits can be used for other CPF schemes, subject to the terms and conditions. You also do not need to make good on any investment losses. However, such losses will inadvertently reduce your retirement nest egg. Your investment profits, interest earned from investments and dividends, if any, are not taxable under the CPF Investment Scheme.

Completion of the CKA is a regulatory requirement that is intended to safeguard clients and to help them understand the features and risks associated with investing in unlisted Specified Investment Products (SIPs). Our CPF portfolios are classified as an unlisted SIP as it may invest in complex instruments like derivatives, you will need to complete the CKA to invest in our portfolios. To find out more about SIPs, please refer to this link on MoneySense website.

The CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) Self-Awareness Questionnaire (SAQ) is required by CPF Board before you can start investing under CPFIS if you are a new CPFIS investor. Agent banks and product providers will require you to declare your SAQ status and/or ask to view a copy of your SAQ status for verification.

The SAQ is designed to help you assess if you have the basic financial knowledge to invest and whether CPFIS is suitable for you. The SAQ starts with learning modules on investment concepts, products and charges under CPFIS. You will then log in with your Singpass to attempt a quiz.

Step 1: Open your CPF Investment Account (CPFIA) with any of the 3 local banks online, you will be required by the bank to complete the CPFIS Self-Awareness Questionnaire. (For clients who already have a CPFIA, please proceed to step 2)

DBS   : For existing DBS/ POSB customer, you may apply your CPF Investment Account here.

OCBC : Open your CPF Investment Account here.

UOB   : Open your CPF Investment Account here.

*Please note that you can only maintain one CPF Investment Account at any point of time.

Step 2: Login to your MoneyOwl account and start investing with your CPF OA monies by simply selecting CPF OA as your source of funds when you create your investment portfolio. We will then deduct the funds from your CPF OA to fund your investment. Be sure that your CPF OA has sufficient amount for the deduction to go through. as there will be a charge of $5 by your Agent bank if there are insufficient funds in your CPF OA to process the buy order. We recommend leaving a buffer of $30 of your CPF Investible Amount for the deduction of any agent bank fees.

Step 3: Complete the investment pre-requisites:

• Complete your Customer Knowledge Assessment (CKA), and
• Fill in your CPF Investment Account details

Step 4: Follow the on-screen instructions to create your CPF Portfolio
How do I get my CPF Investment Account Number?
Method 1:

• Login to your CPF account here or through CPF Mobile App via Singpass
• Under “my cpf”> Under “My dashboards” > Select “Investment”> Scroll down to Account details> Ordinary Account
  
• CPF Mobile App: Click on top left menu > Go to your “Investment”> Scroll down then you will see CPF Investment Account Details
  

Method 2:
Login to your Internet Banking to check for your CPFIA number.
Where can I find my CPF OA investible amount?

• Login to your CPF account here or through CPF Mobile App via Singpass
• Under “my cpf”> Under “My dashboards”> Select “Investment”> Scroll down to Account details> Ordinary Account> Amount available for professionally managed products

The amount available for professionally managed products under your CPF account will be your CPF OA investible amount. However, we recommend leaving a buffer of $30 of your CPF Investible Amount for the deduction of any agent bank fees.
For example, if your CPF OA investible amount is $50,000, we recommend you to invest up to $49,970, leaving a buffer of $30 of your CPF investible amount to pay for any agent bank fees. The agent bank fees will be charge on top of your buy order amount.

CPF Mobile App: Click on the top left menu> Go to your “investment”> Professionally Managed Products

1. With MoneyOwl, you can now invest your CPF, SRS and cash all in one place, digitally.
2. As with all our services, we keep costs among the lowest in a structural and sustainable way.
   • Besides charging no sales charge, MoneyOwl has co-created first-ever adviser trailer commission-free share classes for our CPF portfolios, which structurally lowers your costs by eliminating a huge portion of investing costs.
   • There is also no hassle in dealing with fee rebates or trying to reconcile performance with rebates received, or being subject to another advisory firm’s business strategy.
   • For 2022, we have further waived the advisory fee so that you can invest at even lower cost.
3. MoneyOwl has designed simple, no-frills and robust portfolios that deliver reliability in outcomes. We simplify and rigorously curate the best solutions for the purpose in mind, using a sound and consistent investment philosophy based on financial science, and avoid multiplying options through packaging and frills that cause confusion and increase costs. A comparison of the last 10 years’ performance across other digital CPFIS portfolios show that our simple, globally diversified portfolio with a pure passive equities solution have achieved similar, if not better, performance compared to portfolios with 6-7 funds. While past performance is not indicative of future performance, it demonstrates that simplicity can be better than variety.
4. We give you holistic and honest advice on CPF and planning as a whole, on which we are true experts – not just on CPF investments, but on the whole system. This means that we will not hesitate to advise you not to invest your CPF if you are better off leaving it in your CPF OA, as we have a holistic view. We also help you make sense of your options alongside other planning solutions, such as insurance.
5. We are a bionic financial planner, meaning we provide access to a large team of salaried advisers and investment professionals, on top of the robo.
6. Finally, financial planning is for the long haul. MoneyOwl, being not just a start-up but an NTUC social enterprise, is here to stay and journey with you and all Singaporeans. Even as you are concerned about growing your CPF now, you would have to review and adjust your plans along the way, and eventually plan for a good way of withdrawal. This is where a trusted, low-cost, comprehensive and home-grown adviser like MoneyOwl can come alongside you to provide the most suitable advice.

Your CPF Special Account (SA) earns risk free interest of up to 4% p.a. currently. At MoneyOwl, we generally do not recommend our clients to invest their SA savings, as it would be difficult to beat this return without taking on higher risk investments. Such investments with higher expected return are also currently unavailable under the CPFIS-SA scheme.