MoneyOwl WiseSaver Review

MoneyOwl recently announced their new WiseSaver portfolio.

It provides you with an alternative to “earn higher returns with the added flexibility and liquidity to withdraw your funds whenever you need them”.

Is this cash savings plan worth your consideration? Here’s my review of what it offers.

What is WiseSaver?

MoneyOwl’s WiseSaver is a cash management portfolio. This is meant for any spare cash that you are saving up for a future purchase.

WiseSaver invests your funds into a money market fund, where you will be credited interest daily.

How Does WiseSaver Work?

WiseSaver puts your money into the Fullerton SGD Cash Fund, which invests in Singapore Dollar bank deposits of local financial institutions.

This fund can be found in Endowus Cash Smart Core and Grab AutoInvest too.

Type of funds to invest

You are able to use both cash as well as your SRS funds to invest with WiseSaver.

WiseSaver has good liquidity

WiseSaver is really liquid since there is no lock-in period.

Also, when you make a withdrawal request, your funds will be sent to your bank account within 2 business days.

Minimum amounts required for WiseSaver

Here are the minimum amounts you’ll need to invest in WiseSaver.

Type of Transaction	Minimum Amount Required
One Time Transaction	$10
Regular Savings Plan	$50 per month

Compared to other cash management portfolios, WiseSaver does have a rather low minimum amount to start investing with.

This makes it extremely accessible for almost everyone due to the low starting amount!

To transfer money to MoneyOwl, you can either choose to do a bank transfer or a PayNow transfer by scanning their QR code.

Make sure you remember to include your designated reference code in the comments field!

I’ve been investing with MoneyOwl via their Investment portfolio, and the funds transfer has been fast and convenient.

Once your money is invested into the fund, it will earn interest on a daily basis.

Withdrawing your funds

When you choose to withdraw your funds, your funds as well as the returns generated will be transferred to your bank account.

However, after clarifying with their Customer Service, the minimum amount that you can withdraw from the portfolio is $50.

If your portfolio has less than $50, you can choose to withdraw the full amount.

This makes it slightly inflexible compared to a regular savings account which has no minimum withdrawal rate.

What Are WiseSaver’s Returns Like?

WiseSaver’s returns are very heavily dependent on the fixed deposit rates of banks. As such, your returns will be based on the rates as well.

This also means that the rate of returns will fluctuate over time. When the bank deposit rates are high, WiseSaver’s returns will be high as well.

The current rate for WiseSaver has been at 0.4% since 24 November 2020.

This fluctuating interest rate is something similar to that of Endowus Cash Smart.

Essentially, WiseSaver is a very risk free product that you can put your cash in. This is really ideal for those of you who are risk averse.

By comparing against the savings deposit rates in Singapore, the returns are much better as shown in the chart below.

What Fees Does WiseSaver Charge?

No fees are being charged by MoneyOwl.

However, there is a “0.15% p.a. fee charged by the fund manager, factored into the price of each unit”. This fee is paid directly to Fullerton Fund Management.

Comparing with similar products, WiseSaver’s expense ratio is slightly lower than StashAway Simple’s ratio of 0.205% p.a. (though StashAway Simple has a much higher yield since it invests in riskier money-market funds).

Is WiseSaver The Product For Me?

Comparing to the rates of the Singapore Savings Bonds (SSBs) in June, the yield for the 1st year is only at 0.3%.

On top of that, you require a $2 transaction fee for each redemption request.

The minimum investment for SSBs is $500 as well.

In terms of both liquidity and returns, the WiseSaver is the better alternative.

If you compare the returns of WiseSaver with the fixed deposit rates offered by banks in June 2020, WiseSaver has slightly lower returns.

This lower return for WiseSaver is a tradeoff for that increased liquidity and lower minimum sum required.

For fixed deposits, most have a minimum amount ranging from $1k to $25k.

You would have to lock up your funds for a minimum period as well, with the shortest period being 6 months.

Here’s a quick comparison against fixed deposits and SSBs.

Product	WiseSaver	Fixed Deposits	SSB
Offered By	MoneyOwl	Banks	MAS
Minimum Sum	$100 for one-time investment, $50 for regular savings plan	Ranges from $1k – $25k	$500, and subsequent multiples of $500
Returns	0.79%	0.4% – 1.4%	0.3% if you withdraw after the first year
Withdrawal	Anytime, funds deposited within 2 business days Minimum withdrawal amount is $50	Only after minimum tenure, earliest is 6 months	Anytime, funds deposited within a week to a month, $2 transaction fee for each withdrawal request

From the table, the WiseSaver looks to be the best option among the 3.

Conclusion

To sum up, let’s compare the pros and cons of this product.

Pros	Cons
Low minimum amount required to start saving	Interest rate is lower compared to Standard Chartered JumpStart and SingLife Account
Fast and convenient transfer of funds to MoneyOwl	Fund level fee of 0.15% p.a. that is factored into the price of each unit
Interest rate is comparable to fixed deposits and SSBs	Returns may fluctuate in relation to market conditions
Relatively liquid	Minimum amount of $50 to withdraw from account
No lock-in period
Low risk of capital loss
Able to use SRS funds to invest

Ultimately, other savings accounts do provide better interest rates, such as the Standard Chartered Jumpstart Account, or the SingLife Account.

Compared to other products such as short-term endowment funds like NTUC Income Gro Capital Ease, or universal life plans like Etiqa Elastiq, WiseSaver has much better liquidity.

WiseSaver would be a good option if you:

1. Usually place your extra funds into fixed deposits or SSBs
2. Wish to find a place to store your ‘warchest’ while waiting for the markets to drop to a discounted price
3. Are someone who is risk averse and prefers not to invest
4. Find it hard to save and want to inculcate a good saving habit

Overall, the WiseSaver portfolio is attractive for different demographics, and it’s really worth considering due to its relatively high liquidity.