ONLINE financial services platform iFast Corporation has made a positive debut in early trading on the Singapore Exchange today.

In the first 20 minutes of trade, iFast had risen four cents or 4 per cent to 99 cents from its initial public offering (IPO) price of 95 cents.

The company, perhaps best known for its online trading platform Fundsupermart.com, had received strong interest from both retail and institutional investors during its IPO.

SPH AsiaOne, a unit of media group Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), held a 19.9 per cent stake in iFast as of Nov 10.

iFast said it plans to use part of the net proceeds from its IPO to expand the business in China.

The company said in its prospectus: "We feel that there is a substantial market opportunity for the investment platform business in China, given the size of the market...

"China will be one of the biggest markets in the world for wealth management products.