SINGAPORE – Financial sector executive So Sin Ting has learnt one big thing over her 15 years in the wealth management game – keep it simple.

Ms So, 36, keeps her investing experience uncomplicated and automated by choosing portfolios that are already designed and monitored, allowing her more time for something far more valuable: her family.

“I also set up monthly recurring investments which also help me deploy my investments in a disciplined manner and grow my portfolio over time,” she adds.

“The old adage never rings truer here – it is ultimately time in the market, and not ‘timing’ the market, that is important to building wealth.

“This approach saves me a lot of time and effort, and allows me to focus on my family priorities and enjoy my child’s growing years.”

Ms So is the chief client officer at Endowus, a fund investment platform and fiduciary adviser that serves around 200,000 individuals, family offices, charities, endowments and institutions.

It is also the first digital adviser in the region to span private wealth and public pensions, so it covers Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions here.

Ms So was part of the founding team of Endowus in 2017, a fact she is proud of when she looks at how far the company has come as the largest independent wealth management platform in Asia.

“We had a clear vision to make holistic advice and institutional quality investments accessible to everyone at a low, fair, and transparent cost,” she says.

“I was incredibly excited about our mission because I really wanted to make a tangible impact, and fundamentally change the traditional wealth management business model so that we could bring better financial outcomes to everyone.”

This mission also stemmed from Ms So’s personal experience. “I always found it challenging to manage my personal wealth in a holistic manner.

“It was difficult to access institutional quality investment products as an individual investor, and I saw the difference between how banks would advise their clients to invest, versus how I would personally invest for my life goals.”

She adds that this was one of the inherent problems of the traditional wealth management industry in Asia – that the client’s best interests did not always align with the advice offered, which could also be layered with hidden fees.

“We are leading the industry by introducing greater transparency so investors can keep more of their returns and compound their wealth. That said, in many ways, we are still at the beginning of our journey and have much more that we want to do.”

Ms So believes aligning her investment decisions with her life goals also remains vital, especially with her two-year-old daughter in mind. “Becoming a mother has also definitely given me a new perspective in balancing work and family,” she says.

“Not only do I want to give my child the best in life, but I hope to be present and to be emotionally and physically available to her all through her formative and growing years.

“This also means that my money needs to work much harder for me in the background, and my investment mindset needs to encapsulate much longer-term goals.”

Ms So’s husband also runs a fund management company. The family includes three children from his previous marriage.

Q: What is in your personal portfolio?

A: My investment choices and asset allocations are based on my life goals, which help me understand how much I need to invest, the amount of cash flow I need, and the level of risk I can take. The bulk of my assets are with Endowus, via equity in the company and invested on the Endowus platform.

I invest my CPF Ordinary Account and Supplementary Retirement Scheme account. I also invest cash across three main “buckets” – a short-term liquidity bucket concentrated on cash management funds, a mid-term bucket with fixed income funds, and a longer-term bucket that comprises an equity-heavy Flagship Portfolio.

My long-term bucket with the Flagship Portfolio holds the majority of my funds, and has an asset allocation of 80 per cent equities and 20 per cent in fixed income.

On top of these three buckets, I have a small satellite portfolio invested in China funds, which unfortunately has been challenging over the last few years.

When you go through major life events, it is also an opportunity to revisit your investment plan. I have definitely changed my investing strategy since starting Endowus and having a daughter. As a mum and entrepreneur, time is my most precious commodity. It is always such a challenge carving out and dedicating time to different parts of my life.

As for further investment plans, I am thinking of allocating some money to multi-strategy hedge funds and private market funds for additional diversification and lowered volatility, for instance.

However, given that a significant part of my investments is already invested into my company and my husband is also heavily exposed to illiquid investments, I also want to be careful about adding more semi-liquid investments to my portfolios.

My financial plan goes beyond my personal investments and ensures that my family’s well-being and future are covered. We have insurance policies in place for the family, but I personally prefer to separate investments from insurance so we do not own any investment-linked insurance products.

Q: What was your biggest investing mistake? Which was your best investment?

A: Like many of us, I have made my fair share of investing mistakes. At the beginning of my investment journey, I invested in some “fad” stocks that friends recommended, which lost most of their investment value. I am not sure why we thought that we could outsmart the market!

In the last few years, some of the private venture companies that my husband and I invested in have been written down to hardly anything. Thankfully, we had put in smaller amounts of money. The big learning for me is that it is important to right-size your tactical investments. It is also important to always understand what you are invested in.

My best investment is equity in my own company. Many of us have poured in our life savings to grow Endowus, as we are in it for the long game and believe we are building the wealth management experience of the future.

Ms So Sin Ting and her two-year-old daughter, Alexandra Lauren Moey. Becoming a mother has given her a new perspective in balancing work and family. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY

Q: Describe your lifestyle.

A: I own a four-bedroom apartment near Orchard with my husband. I also drive a second-hand grey Mini Cooper Clubman.

Retirement planning is extremely important to me, and is another crucial bit of education that we impart to our clients, especially women. Women statistically outlive men, and that makes saving up for retirement even more important and challenging.

That being said, I think the concept of retirement will look very different for our generation versus our parents’ generations. To me, saving enough for retirement is about having the freedom to choose when I stop working for a pay cheque, and having the freedom to pursue work that I am passionate about while being able to spend quality time with loved ones.

A lot of my values around money are shaped by my family. My father was and still is extremely frugal – you can count on two hands the number of shirts he owns. He is a strong believer in spending within his means and taught me the importance of saving for a rainy day.

However, education has always been extremely important to him. The one thing I was always allowed to spend money on growing up was books. My siblings and I have amassed a large collection of books in my parents’ home, and we hope to pass down our collection to our children one day.

Her top three investing tips:

Arm yourself with knowledge: Gaining financial literacy will really give you the confidence to take control of your financial well-being.

Invest with intention: Adopt goal-based, long-term investing strategies.

Set up automated investments: It helps keep us disciplined and takes the emotion out of investing.

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