Your guide to the best cash management accounts in Singapore

The latest entrant to the cash management solution space is Syfe’s Cash+ account. Offering a high potential return of 3%, it’s an attractive option for those looking to maximise their savings.

If you’re comparing Syfe Cash+ and StashAway Simple, you’ll find that they have similar underlying funds. The key difference is the 35% Syfe Cash+ allocates towards the LionGlobal Short Bond Fund that gives Syfe Cash+ greater bond exposure.

Syfe is a robo-advisor that offers unique portfolios such as:

Syfe Global ARI: A one-size-can-fit-all portfolio
Syfe REIT+: A portfolio that invests in REITs, similar to a REIT ETF
Syfe Equity100: Investing in purely equities
Syfe Core: Access multiple asset classes and global diversification to maximise long-term, risk-adjusted returns. Choose between Core Growth, Core Balanced or Core Defensive depending on your investment objectives.

To put your money in Syfe Cash+, you don’t need to invest in any other Syfe portfolio. However, if you are signing up via a referral, do keep in mind that the referral incentives are only for Syfe’s investment portfolios, not Syfe Cash+ (as Cash+ doesn't incur any management fees).

Check out our full review of Syfe here.

Endowus is the first robo-advisor that allows you to invest not just cash and Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) funds, but also your CPF money. This means that those looking to earn more than the 2.5% p.a. you’re getting in your CPF Ordinary Account now have the option of investing this money in the likes of funds that track the S&P 500 index and more.

There are three different Cash Smart accounts for you to choose from:

Secure: 3.3% to 3.6% p.a. projected returns after fees
Enhanced: 4.0% to 4.3% p.a. projected returns after fees
Ultra: 4.5% to 4.8% p.a. projected returns after fees

Endowus Cash Smart (Secure) is the safest option of the three, though you have the flexibility to, well, enhance your returns with Endowus Cash Smart (Enhanced). Finally, Endowus Cash Smart (Ultra) is self-explanatory for the most part, boasting the highest projected returns out of all three accounts.

All Endowus Cash Smart options come with a small access fee of 0.05% p.a.

Besides Endowus Cash Smart, you can also invest your cash with:

Endowus Secure portfolios for General Wealth Accumulation: Main portfolio offering that invests in best-in-class, low-cost funds
Endowus Fund Smart: Customise your own investment portfolio based on the funds that they have available. You can also focus on sustainable investing by investing in the ready made Endowus ESG portfolios.

For Endowus, you won’t need to invest with their investment portfolios before you can use Endowus Cash Smart. Furthermore, the S$10,000 min. initial investment of old has now been lowered to S$1,000 till further notice.

Check out our full review of Endowus here.

The ‘OG’ of cash management accounts, StashAway Simple is not new to the market. Earning a projected 2.8% p.a., StashAway Simple does not impose a minimum deposit amount and there is no management fee charged.

There is also StashAway Simple™ Plus, which offers a higher projected rate of 4.6%-5.0% p.a. from allocation to short-duration bonds and underlying funds.

Both StashAway Simple and StashAway Simple™ Plus are offered to all users, even if you’re not yet investing with StashAway.

StashAway chooses a variety of best-in-class ETFs for their portfolios. Besides StashAway Simple, there are three different types of portfolios offered by StashAway. Their portfolios consist of:

General Investing: A portfolio tailored based on the risk exposure you are willing to take on
Goal-based Investing: Invest based on your financial goals, such as retirement and home ownership
Income Portfolio: Singapore-focused portfolio that aims to earn reliable income. Also the only portfolio with a minimum investment amount of S$10,000

New investors embarking on your investment journey can also tap on the free resources StashAway provides.

Check out our full review of StashAway here.

Almost like a ‘wallet’ for investors using the FSMOne platform to make trades, FSMOne AutoSweep serves as a storage space for idle money, sweeping your excess cash such as sales proceeds, bond maturities, dividends, coupons into the account. The latest net yield is 2.505% as of 31 January 2023.

The Auto-Sweep account is a discretionary portfolio managed by FSM that is diversified across cash, money market funds and short duration bond funds. This helps to preserve your capital and even allows your funds to earn higher returns while staying liquid.

Besides the Auto-Sweep account, FSM is an investment platform that provides investors with access to:

Global unit trusts and mutual funds
Local and global bonds
Stocks on the Singapore, Hong Kong and US market
Managed portfolio services
Insurance products

The funds in your Auto-Sweep account can be used to pay for the purchase of funds, stocks, bonds and ETFs without lag time.

MoneyOwl stands out in its own ways, though perhaps not quite as much in the cash management space. What MoneyOwl WiseSaver offers a quick and low minimum deposit amount from as low as S$10. The current rate is 4.01% p.a., based on a 5-day moving average as of 27 January 2022.

MoneyOwl has a social mission to help Singapore families make the best financial decisions possible. For a start, MoneyOwl lowers the bar for those new to investing.

While there are no advisory fees or platform fees, they do charge you a fund manager fee of 0.15%. Unlike the other four listed in this article, MoneyOwl also offers more than just savings and investment, providing five different services:

Investments (five different portfolios to choose from)
Insurance
Will writing
Financial planning
WiseIncome (for retirement income, to supplement a retiree’s CPF LIFE payouts)

Check out our full review of MoneyOwl here.

Cash management accounts are exemplary for growing your savings. It also makes an easy, less daunting entry into the world of investing, particularly with robo-advisors.

A simple question to ask yourself: Do you really need this cash to be liquid? If you find yourself not relying on that cash in your cash management account (or even forgetting the account exists), perhaps you’re missing out on the opportunity to invest these funds instead.

While their investment services could come with higher risk compared to their cash management accounts, remember that you have the option to select a portfolio that is tailored for your risk appetite and financial goals.

This article was originally published in SingSaver.

SingSaver is a personal finance comparison platform that allows users to easily compare credit cards, personal loans, and insurance for free, while helping empower people to lead healthier financial lives through increased financial literacy.