Hoping to appeal to a wider range of investors, the company has launched a new robo-advisor app in Hong Kong with a low investment threshold.

Chinese financial services firm Yunfeng Financial Group has created a robo-advisor mobile application that aims to help a wide range of investors allocate assets more easily. 

The app – called Youyu – targets anyone in Hong Kong with a bank account with at least $800 to invest. Global institutions have been turning to the growing sector of financial technology, but unlike most private banks that target high net-worth individuals, Yunfeng is hoping to make its services more accessible to lower-income Chinese and Hong Kong investors.

The company said its mobile app is different than those already on the market because most of the existing robo-advisor apps only provide basic functions, such as risk assessment and portfolio advice. Youyu provides investment advice based on risk assessment. The app also allows investors to allocate money based on personal decisions and to track returns and compare which is superior.

Yunfeng has created a database composed of approximately 10,000 funds and Youyu uses a scoring mechanism that rates the funds against five indicators, namely short-term and long-term performance; abilities of the fund manager; capital flows; and third party ratings. The app currently has formal agreements with 13 top-tier global mutual money-market funds which manage 343 funds that can be traded on the app.

The Fin Tech industry appears to be gaining popularity across the globe, particularly in Asia. According to a survey by Accenture Plc released in January, in Hong Kong, more than 75 per cent of customers are willing to receive automated advice for financial services products spanning bank-account opening, which was close to the average in other markets such as the US, UK and Singapore.

According to a separate report from Accenture, last year, Asia-Pacific financial-technology investments hit $11.2 billion, surpassing North America for the first time. North America attracted $9.2 billion, while Europe only attracted $2.4 billion.