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DBS to offer exchange-traded funds to retail investors

This article is more than 12 months old

Retail investors with at least $1,000 to invest will be able to tap DBS Bank's wealth management expertise to buy a portfolio of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the end of this month.

The robo-investment platform, digiPortfolio, combines investment strategies from the bank's wealth management team - which are traditionally serving only private banking customers - and computer algorithms to help automate the investment process.

This sets the Singapore bank apart from the other nine digital advisory services in the market, which provide portfolio advice with no direct human involvement.

At a media briefing yesterday, DBS Singapore head of consumer banking group Jeremy Soo said technology has allowed customers to use some of the services that were "almost impossible" for them to access before.

"Either you bring a lot of money to join a wealth management platform, (or else) all these things are not available to you."

For a start, the bank is offering retail investors with two portfolio options on its online banking platform.

The Asia Portfolio, which requires a minimum investment of $1,000, comprises Singapore Exchange-listed ETFs that provide investors with exposure to the Singapore, China and India equities markets, as well as the Singapore bond markets. This portfolio can be purchased by customers with no prior investment experience.

Others can choose the Global Portfolio with UK-listed ETFs, starting with US$1,000 (S$1,390).

Both options come with three risk levels, which translate to a collection of four to seven ETFs, representing between 200 and 13,000 holdings in a single transaction. A flat annual management fee of 0.75 per cent is charged in return for portfolio construction, monitoring and rebalancing services.

BUSINESS & FINANCE