OCBC Bank has become the first bank in Southeast Asia to pilot a robo-advisory service, and the entry threshold for investment is low.

Time poor investors will be able to invest in diversified portfolios of stocks and ETFs, using automated, algorithm based portfolio management advice, the bank said in a press release.

The new platform offers guided investment with regular rebalancing of investments portfolios, without having to interact with a relationship manager.

Portfolios of stocks and ETFs

With the launch of the robo-advisory pilot, select participants will be able to access the online platform and invest into two categories of investment portfolios, starting from as low as $3,000 Singapore dollars.

The first category consists of five portfolios made up of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and equities listed on the Dow Jones and Nasdaq.

Customers complete a questionnaire using the robo-advisory platform. This determines their risk profile and investment goals, enabling one of the five portfolios to be suggested to them.

Thereafter, the platform will automatically monitor the chosen portfolio: Should economic and market conditions change and the performance of the portfolio diverge from the investment goals, investors will be alerted via SMS or email with proposals to rebalance their portfolio.

Democratisation of Wealth Management 

The second category is designed to appeal to more savvy investors and offers them the opportunity to invest in a thematic basket of stocks listed on the Dow Jones and Nasdaq. The basket consists of stocks of technology companies – or fast-moving-consumer-goods companies, or leading Dow Jones companies.

The pilot robo-advisory service is provided in partnership with WeInvest, a Singapore-based fintech firm. The pilot will first involve Accredited Investors but will later be opened up to non-accredited investors.

«This is another step towards the democratisation of wealth management – making wealth management simpler and more accessible for investors,» said Aditya Gupta Head of E-Business for Singapore at OCBC Bank.