NTUC-backed financial advisory MoneyOwl to close down by year end

SINGAPORE - Financial advisory firm MoneyOwl is closing shop following a review with its shareholder NTUC Enterprise Cooperative. 

It was set up in 2018 to offer financial planning at a low cost, with salaried financial advisers who were not driven by commissions. It offered four main services – insurance, a digital will-writing service, an investment module with asset portfolios of low-cost funds, and a comprehensive financial planning service that integrates Central Provident Fund savings planning.

However, the business failed to fully take off. In a statement on Thursday evening, MoneyOwl said: “The review concluded that the business would not be commercially viable, and a decision was made to redeploy resources to other areas where NTUC Enterprise can deliver greater social impact.”

Clients will not be affected as an agreement has been reached with iFast Financial to take over MoneyOwl’s investment and insurance business. iFast has already been providing system support and custodial services. Users will enjoy the same level of fees as well as access to iFast’s team of more than 60 advisers for both investments and insurance. 

Investment clients may transact on MoneyOwl’s portal until Oct 24, and can do so on iFast’s portal from Oct 25. iFast will contact MoneyOwl customers from September.

Clients may continue to access MoneyOwl’s Comprehensive Financial Planning service and will-writing service online until Dec 15, after which all MoneyOwl online services and account logins will be disabled.

All commercial activities will cease by Dec 31.

Ms Chuin Ting Weber, MoneyOwl’s founding chief executive and chief investment officer, said the business had aimed to meet a gap in the mass market for comprehensive financial advice and simple, unbiased fit-for-purpose financial planning solutions.

“Since then, we have continually invested resources in expanding our outreach, including leveraging our union network, to ensure that we can support as many people as possible in their financial planning journey. However, we realised that there was not enough of a market in the gap,” she said. 

MoneyOwl found that few wished to pay planning fees or purchase investment or insurance products. While it had a database of close to 90,000 contacts, fewer than 10,000 clients had undertaken any revenue-generating service. 

Solutions had also been designed with low fees in mind and hence, taken together with the high costs associated with client acquisition, technology development and a fully salaried workforce, it was challenging to achieve commercial viability, it said. 

Its 40-plus employees were informed of the decision on Thursday morning. It is understood that save for some client advisers and related operational personnel who are being offered a position at iFast, the rest will be let go.

MoneyOwl has engaged with the Banking and Financial Services Union, and compensation packages in line with market norms are being offered. Employment facilitation and assistance via the Employment and Employability Institute will be offered, it added.

The mood among staff was a bittersweet one. Associate lead Anton Tan said in an e-mail: “When customers ask about our sources of revenue, our response is different from what they might expect. Our motivation is not driven by profit or becoming the largest advisory firm.

“At MoneyOwl, we started with the aim of tackling complex financial planning issues head-on. We wanted to solve problems that can set individuals back for years due to a single mistake. To all the current and former staff who have contributed to MoneyOwl, your hard work has not been in vain.”

Industry sources noted that MoneyOwl operates in a competitive segment where there are several players offering similar services.

NTUC Enterprise’s group CEO Seah Kian Peng said: “We are glad to see how MoneyOwl has enabled better financial planning outcomes for many Singapore families, and thank MoneyOwl’s customers for their continued support over the years. We would also like to thank our MoneyOwl staff for their hard work and continued dedication in facilitating this transition.”