Chocolate Finance is one of those "neobanks" and disruptive financial platforms that have made waves recently.

Nikko Asset Management is taking an equity stake in Singapore-based “neobank” Chocolate Pte, which runs fintech group “Chocolate Finance.”

The investment. which will support Chocolate Finance’s expansion into Japan and other markets, will enable knowledge-sharing between the two companies in the retail investor space, Nikko AM said in a statement yesterday.

Chocolate Finance, established in 2022, is a licensed fund management company headquartered in Singapore. With S$866 million ($678 million) in assets under management, it provides cash savings solutions by offering stable, target returns benchmarked above fixed deposit returns, but with no lock-ins. It does this by investing the cash into short-term investment-grade fixed-income funds managed by third-party managers, including one fund managed by Nikko Asset Management Asia Limited, based in Singapore.

Nikko AM’s backing is significant – the Japanese firm had $233.9 billion of assets under management as of 31 March this year. Nikko AM is preparing to rename itself to Amova Asset Management, effective 1 September 2025.

“With Nikko AM’s support and expertise, we are confident of scaling as we expand our offering to new geographies and continue to push the boundaries in the financial space,” Walter de Oude (pictured below), founder and CEO of Chocolate Pte Ltd, said.

Walter de Oude

As reported earlier this week, another relatively young, disruptive financial firm, Moomoo Singapore, trumpeted that it now has 1.5 million clients in the Asian city-state.

Chocolate Finance has been through a few growing pains. In March, regulators examined a sharp rise in withdrawals from the platform to ensure that they were handled in an orderly fashion.