iFast Singapore to take over MoneyOwl’s investment and insurance business

WEALTH management platform iFast Corporation on Thursday (Aug 31) said its Singapore subsidiary – iFast Financial – will be taking over MoneyOwl’s investment and insurance business.

MoneyOwl – NTUC Enterprise’s financial advisory subsidiary – on Thursday said it was winding down its financial advisory business, and that all commercial activities will cease by Dec 31, 2023.

This came after a review concluded that the business would not be commercially viable, and a decision was made to redeploy resources to other areas where NTUC Enterprise can deliver greater social impact, MoneyOwl said.

As part of the winding down process, MoneyOwl will transfer its investment and insurance business to iFast Financial, with the latter already the current custodian of MoneyOwl clients’ investment accounts.

Following the transfer, all MoneyOwl clients can access their portfolios digitally via the iFast Global Markets platform at the same level of fees, with access to more than 60 advisers on the platform.

They may continue to transact on MoneyOwl’s portal until Oct 24, and on iFast’s portal starting from Oct 25.

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Clients may also continue to access MoneyOwl’s Comprehensive Financial Planning service and will-writing service online until Dec 15, after which all MoneyOwl online services and account logins will be disabled.

MoneyOwl will also cease to accept new insurance applications after Sep 8.

MoneyOwl was set up to address a gap in the mass market for comprehensive financial advice, but “there was not enough of a market in the gap”, said founding chief executive and chief investment officer Chuin Ting Weber in a statement on Thursday.

Weber noted that while many recognised the importance of financial planning, most did not take further action and far fewer were inclined to pay planning fees or purchase investment or insurance products.

Its products’ low fees, coupled with high costs associated with client acquisition, technology development, and a fully-salaried workforce made it challenging to achieve commercial viability, she added.

“At the end of the day, we are part of a social enterprise group, and it remains vital that we continue to steward resources wisely to better serve the broader interest of the Singapore community,” Weber said.

With the transfer, iFast Financial will also be receiving two of MoneyOwl’s propriety technology assets, including the insurance robo-comparator and the insurance needs-analysis tool.

Shares of iFast closed 1.3 per cent, or S$0.07, higher at S$5.68 on Thursday.