Singapore robo-advisory startup Smartly winds down operations

Singapore-based robo-advisor Smartly said it is winding down the operations of its platform as competition in the space heats up.

“Competition in the digital investment advisory space is intense, and maintaining a high service standard on the platform has been challenging,” the company said in an announcement on its website.

Photo credit: Unsplash

Smartly, founded in 2015, charged a 1% annual management fee for accounts under S$10,000, 0.7% for accounts over S$10,000, and 0.5% for accounts over S$100,000. The average rate for the industry is 2.5% per year for any account size, with additional fees.

The startup said it initially considered making core platform improvements, but Vietnamese investment management firm VinaCapital Group, which acquired Smartly in 2019, ultimately guided the decision to shut down.

The startup was up against the likes of StashAway, AutoWealth, Kristal, and GrabInvest.

StashAway last year raised US$12 million in a series B round led by Eight Roads Ventures, while Kristal secured US$6 million in a series A round earlier this year to expand to the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets.

Last month, ride-hailing giant Grab entered the space by acquiring robo-advisory startup Bento Invest (now GrabInvest) to offer retail wealth management and investment solutions to users, drivers, and merchants across the region.

Traditional banks have also joined the competition. In 2018, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) launched a bank-based robo-advisory service called OCBC RoboInvest. Last year, DBS bank also rolled out digiPortfolio, a hybrid human-robo investment platform.

According to Statista, assets under management in the robo-advisor segment reached US$1.4 billion in 2020, and it’s expected to reach around US$2.6 billion by 2023. The number of people using robo-advisors is projected to reach 147 million in the same period.

Hong Kong and Singapore are key robo-advisory markets in Asia Pacific, according to Deloitte.