Inflation .. Rising interest rate .. Yadah yadah yadah ..

No better time than now to make our cash pile work harder for us, right?

Be it emergency cash that is sitting in a bank account, or dry powder that we’re waiting to deploy into the equities market when we finally decide to get our hands dirty.

When it comes to holding my liquid funds, I currently utilize the following platforms :

• Singlife Account (2.0%)
• Singtel Dash PET (1.5%)
• Singapore Savings Bonds (2.6% to 3.0%)

Apart from these three, I’m also using MoneyOwl’s WiseSaver – so what is it?

Basically, MoneyOwl WiseSaver is a fund which invests in Singapore Dollar bank deposits.

With it, I can potentially earn higher returns with the flexibility to withdraw my funds whenever I need them.

1. What is MoneyOwl WiseSaver’s current yield?

You can head over to MoneyOwl’s WiseSaver page to check what is the current rate. The screenshot below is old, so the 5-day Moving Average as of 14 October 2022 is currently 3.14% p.a.

Do take note that this is the 5-day moving average. When you transfer funds into WiseSaver, you are not locking in any rate.

The gross yield CAN and WILL change with time, because these fluctuations are a result of the underlying market and economic conditions.

2. What about robo-advisors’ cash-management solutions?

When we look at cash mangement funds by robo-advisors, they usually consist of a combination of fixed deposits, high-quality government and corporate debt instruments, and short-term bond funds.

Remember 2021? Last year hasn’t been kind to cash management solutions with events relating to Huarong Finance as well as the Evergrande contagion, just to name a few.

They are considered slightly higher risk instruments due to the exposure to interest rate risk and credit default risk.

While they would rarely have a period of negative performance, it isn’t impossible.

The key question to ask is this – what is your fundamental goal of cash investments? If it is capital preservation at all costs, you would put the most importance on it being risk-free.

To me, Singapore Savings Bonds, fixed deposits and MoneyOwl’s WiseSaver would probably fit the bill for having the lowest risk, along with Singtel Dash PET and Singlife of course.

Most of us are familiar with SSBs and fixed deposits already, but where does the yield for MoneyOwl’s WiseSaver come from?

3. Understanding where the yield comes from

The underlying instrument of the MoneyOwl WiseSaver is the Fullerton SGD Cash Fund.

That’s right – only a single money market fund is used. No bonds here.

The Fullerton SGD Cash Fund is managed by Fullerton Fund Management.

From MoneyOwl’s website, I understand that since 2009, the Fullerton SGD Cash Fund holds its assets primarily in Singapore Dollar Deposits (varying terms of maturity not more than 366 working days) with eligible local financial institutions, and short-term Singapore Government Treasury Bills.

Fullerton then rolls over monies received from matured FDs and reinvests them in the latest FD contracts to keep up with the most competitive yield available in the current rising interest rate environment.

This also means that when interest rate drops, so will the yield for MoneyOwl’s WiseSaver.

As you can see from the factsheet above, the fund size is a whopping SGD$1.5 billion as of 31st July 2022.

Like me, you may tend to be wary of investing into funds that are really small in size, but I would definitely have no concerns with this one.

4. Is it safe? Who owns Fullerton Fund Management?

In terms of safety, you might be curious about the owners of Fullerton Fund Management. Found the following information on MoneyOwl and Fullerton’s website.

Fullerton Fund Management is an Asia-based investment specialist, with capabilities that span equities, fixed income, multi-asset, treasury management and alternatives, including private equity.

The firm was incorporated in Singapore in 2003 and is a subsidiary of Temasek, and NTUC Income became its minority shareholder in 2018.

OK, I guess that settles it for me.

Let’s quickly recap the main points for MoneyOwl’s WiseSaver by referring to the below image –

Is MoneyOwl’s WiseSaver the best option right now?

Well, it has pretty good rates (for now!) and very low risk.

On the liquidity side of things, the official website listed 1-2 business days before a withdrawal is completed which is good enough for me.

Not quite the the instantaneous withdrawal that Singlife and Singtel Dash PET offers, but still – it is very ideal.

Skin in the game ☑️ pic.twitter.com/AgfgOwbRoy

— Kevin | Turtle Investor (@turtle_investor) October 17, 2022

For me, I’m happy to spread my funds between the different platforms (and stablecoins) so that I’ll always have some liquid funds if I every need them.

$20-$60 Grab voucher for you when you use my referral link

Just like other personal finance platforms, MoneyOwl has a referral program that grants you some benefits when you start using them.

At no additional cost to you, my personalized referral link would give your MoneyOwl portfolio a head-start when you decide to start an investment portfolio with them – and this includes WiseSaver too! Referral terms and conditions here for full disclosure.