Investing into ETF fund vs Endowment plan - which is a wiser choice given that I am an 18 year old investor?

First of all, congrats on wanting to start your investing journey at such a young age. Personally I wish I have started investing at your age given the powerful concept of compounding. Since you are young, you might want to understand the associated risks involve for both products (ETF & Endowment plan). In summary, one should have an investment objective in mind before starting their investment journey. Wishing you all the best! :)

ETFs

Pro: flexibility in withdrawing anytime but may have high loss or high return.

Cons: requires you to do more research and reading. May be times where you may require to do leveraging.

Saving Endownment plan

Pro: Low risk. will be easier and simpler whereby u look at the guarantee value table. (Discourage you on looking at non-guarantee value as you may not get the exact value as stated so don't put too high hopes on Non-guarantee value.)

Cons:

make sure you have the patience/commitment to pay the policy term(5/10/15/20/25 years). Ask yourself if you prefer short term or Long term payment.

Surrending the policy halfway will result in you get nothing or lower than what you have save in initially.

suggestion: For your age , if you have little or no knowledge on ETFs will suggest you to take saving endownment plan.

Since you are young, during this period you can try taking up course on finance related or do some reading to build on your knowledge and understanding. While in future, when u have extra cash , try on ETFs.

ETF for sure

Dont waste your time and money on endowment plans. They tend to yield mediocre returns in the range of 0-3%( if lucky) and lock up your money and cashflow for a long period of time.

Dont buy liao ,then regret and surrender early!

I can't say which is a better choice. You should spend some time understanding both asset classes. One gives you the returns of the market, but it can also give you the losses. The other is a guaranteed return investment with downside protection and some upside potential, regardless of market conditions.

Which would you prefer? (This, you have to answer yourself)

If you have enough budget, there's also no harm doing both. Protecting our downside is part of risk management when investing. Endowments offer a way to do just that for a portion of your portfolio, without any intervention or management needed from your end.