Hi Kenny,
Having 25k saved up for investment as a student is impressive. Let's assume you're a college student in your early to mid-20s.
The first question I'd ask myself is: what is the objective for my money? As a 20-something year old student with hopefully not much more financial liability other than student loans (and assuming you have that cash already set aside), most people would aim for general wealth accumulation (as compared to wealth preservation, which tends to be more conservative) with their remaining savings. This gives you a longer investment horizon, during which you're likely able to tolerate higher volatility to capture better market returns.
Syfe
Equity100 is a good portfolio as it offers you exposure to the US markets. On the flip side, because it is so heavily tilted to US markets, you might (1) miss out on returns from other markets over the next few years and (2) find your portfolio severely affected in a prolonged US market depression. You can consider globally diversified equities portfolios (e.g., Syfe Global ARI).
Stashaway
Even at 36% (highest risk level), the Stashaway portfolio wasn't 100% equities. I think commodities and bonds were included. So if you're looking to capture equity market returns, Stashaway might not be your go-to option. But then again, if 22% is the risk level you're comfortable with, you might not want a 100% equities portfolio either.
Singlife
I don't use Singlife so I can't really comment on this, but do think about the purpose of your Singlife funds. If it's emergency funds, I think accessiblity, rather than returns, should be your key concern. Conversely, if it's for investment, there are better tools out there.
Stocks
If you have the know-how, by all means, analyse a business, find your conviction and buy the stock of that business. This will be the hardest work, but probably also the most fulfilling when you find that your analysis was right and you have results to show in 30 years' time.
Time and Experience
Also let's qualify that a lot of what you do will depend on your overall knowledge and experience as an investor. I'm sure you have plenty of hobbies/interests and you may not want to spend all your time studying stocks. If I could spend 3h studying stocks a week - how much would I profit from that? As compared to if I used the 3h to spend time with loved ones, pursue hobbies, and allowed an advisor/robo to do it for me? Time is also money. I don't pick stocks personally because I'm so noob at it right now, I would probably earn more in an hour at my miserable day job than an hour of picking stocks. But this may or may not be the case for you - so you need to assess yourself honestly and come to a conclusion on that too.
Consolidation
Finally, consolidation. I think "keeping it simple" is an under-rated principle in investment. Some platforms charge lower fees for larger sums invested with them (I think Syfe). Rather than spread your investments out and stress over how different ones are performing, try consolidating them in one place and letting it compound efficiently. It's helpful to know the underlying holdings of your various advisors. If Stashaway helps you buy apples, Syfe helps you buy apples, in the end, all you have are apples. So it's really not about finding more robo-advisors, but about sticking with one or two tried and tested ones, and ensuring that they help you diversify adequately to achieve reasonable returns for the long-term.
At the end of the day, it boils down to your investment goals (which is tied with your investment horizon and acceptance of volatility) and your personality (determines your baseline volatility acceptance). I hope this provided useful perspective. Good luck!
Hi Kenny,
Having 25k saved up for investment as a student is impressive. Let's assume you're a college student in your early to mid-20s.
The first question I'd ask myself is: what is the objective for my money? As a 20-something year old student with hopefully not much more financial liability other than student loans (and assuming you have that cash already set aside), most people would aim for general wealth accumulation (as compared to wealth preservation, which tends to be more conservative) with their remaining savings. This gives you a longer investment horizon, during which you're likely able to tolerate higher volatility to capture better market returns.
Syfe
Equity100 is a good portfolio as it offers you exposure to the US markets. On the flip side, because it is so heavily tilted to US markets, you might (1) miss out on returns from other markets over the next few years and (2) find your portfolio severely affected in a prolonged US market depression. You can consider globally diversified equities portfolios (e.g., Syfe Global ARI).
Stashaway
Even at 36% (highest risk level), the Stashaway portfolio wasn't 100% equities. I think commodities and bonds were included. So if you're looking to capture equity market returns, Stashaway might not be your go-to option. But then again, if 22% is the risk level you're comfortable with, you might not want a 100% equities portfolio either.
Singlife
I don't use Singlife so I can't really comment on this, but do think about the purpose of your Singlife funds. If it's emergency funds, I think accessiblity, rather than returns, should be your key concern. Conversely, if it's for investment, there are better tools out there.
Stocks
If you have the know-how, by all means, analyse a business, find your conviction and buy the stock of that business. This will be the hardest work, but probably also the most fulfilling when you find that your analysis was right and you have results to show in 30 years' time.
Time and Experience
Also let's qualify that a lot of what you do will depend on your overall knowledge and experience as an investor. I'm sure you have plenty of hobbies/interests and you may not want to spend all your time studying stocks. If I could spend 3h studying stocks a week - how much would I profit from that? As compared to if I used the 3h to spend time with loved ones, pursue hobbies, and allowed an advisor/robo to do it for me? Time is also money. I don't pick stocks personally because I'm so noob at it right now, I would probably earn more in an hour at my miserable day job than an hour of picking stocks. But this may or may not be the case for you - so you need to assess yourself honestly and come to a conclusion on that too.
Consolidation
Finally, consolidation. I think "keeping it simple" is an under-rated principle in investment. Some platforms charge lower fees for larger sums invested with them (I think Syfe). Rather than spread your investments out and stress over how different ones are performing, try consolidating them in one place and letting it compound efficiently. It's helpful to know the underlying holdings of your various advisors. If Stashaway helps you buy apples, Syfe helps you buy apples, in the end, all you have are apples. So it's really not about finding more robo-advisors, but about sticking with one or two tried and tested ones, and ensuring that they help you diversify adequately to achieve reasonable returns for the long-term.
At the end of the day, it boils down to your investment goals (which is tied with your investment horizon and acceptance of volatility) and your personality (determines your baseline volatility acceptance). I hope this provided useful perspective. Good luck!