The new offering, called SaxoWealthCare, is open for investors able to put in at least S$3,000 ($2,189). Saxo will take care of the maintenance and balancing. Management fees range from 0.45 per cent to 0.75 per cent, dependent on the sum invested. 

"Possibly the most important innovation in the personal finance industry in the last 30 years, since the launch of ETFs, making it a fifth-generation digital wealth manager that builds on modern portfolio theory to deliver an investment plan that is unique and personalised to each individual,” Adam Reynolds, Asia-Pacific chief executive, Saxo Markets, said.

The offering lets clients decide what their life goals are; their portfolios are built to fit these objectives, based on their investment perspective, risk appetite and the impact they want to make through their investments. 

Such a new service comes at a time of continued initiatives by firms to harness digital technology to enable “mass customisation” of financial services – marrying the ability to fine-tune offerings for clients while harnessing economies of scale. In 2021, Lu International (Hong Kong), a subsidiary of New York-listed Lufax Holding, introduced a robo-advisory platform, offering tailor-made asset allocation solutions through its professional AI investment consultant “Lucy.” Another example of such a digital offering, in Singapore, is Stashaway. DBS has a robo-investing platform – digiPortfolio.

Saxo said the most “common pain points” for investors in terms of what they are offered by these providers generally relate to conflicts of interest, high fees, and ultimately the fact that products and services which investors receive are not built with the investors’ interests in mind.

“Through the smart investment engine that powers this, SaxoWealthCare can understand what investors’ goals are, take away the stress of managing their money, allowing them to live their lives,” Reynolds said. “We believe this offering of personal wealth management delivered digitally at a fraction of the cost of traditional wealth management offerings will resonate with savvy Singaporean investors as they look to confidently fund their goals with customised portfolios through a quality partner.” 

Saxo added that typically robo advisors don’t offer active, daily monitoring and management of clients’ portfolios focused on their goals.

“With SaxoWealthCare, investors create a unique portfolio – these unique portfolios are monitored, reviewed daily, rebalanced daily if necessary, on a per investor level and at least monthly or quarterly, based on the trade signals coming from the external portfolio managers,” Manish Prasad, APAC head of asset management, Saxo Markets, said.