Modern portfolio theory makes it clear that investments with the potential for high returns come with high risks (Angry investors file police reports against fintech firm SixCapital; Dec 4).

SixCapital's investment proposition promised returns of up to 18 per cent per year, which is incredible considering that investment research, such as that by California-based Index Fund Advisers, has shown that no asset class has managed to generate even a long-term average return of such proportions. Caveat emptor, indeed.

Investment education for Singaporean investors is clearly still a work in progress, and much more so where fintech - the investment bandwagon of the moment - is concerned.

A good start would be to remove any romanticised lens with which Singaporean investors view fintech as an asset class, along with the euphoria associated with fintech, to better help Singaporean investors to make sound, rational investment decisions.

As Singapore grows from strength to strength as an international financial hub, it behoves the authorities to do more to ensure that Singaporean investors' investment-savviness also grows in tandem, if only to protect Singaporean retirees' savings from being lost in the modern day gold rush that is fintech.

Woon Wee Min