fbpx

Type to search

Hong Kong Fintech Regulator Grants Licences to Singapore’s Syfe

The company – backed by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, DST Global and Unbound – has been granted a licence by the Securities and Futures Commission


fintech
Dhruv Arora, founder and chief executive of Syfe, said 55% of assets under management are invested by customers between the ages of 31 and 50. Photo: Syfe.

 

Syfe, a Singapore-based fintech startup and digital investment platform, has received approval to expand into Hong Kong.

The company – backed by Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, DST Partners and Unbound – has been granted a licence by the Securities and Futures Commission to deal and advise in securities and asset management.

This marks the fintech startup’s first geographical expansion beyond Singapore, where it launched in 2019. Syfe said it had raised $52.4 million to date.

“We see tremendous potential in the Hong Kong market given the current nascent stage of growth for digital wealth management platforms coupled with a high savings rate and rising cost of living,” founder and chief executive Dhruv Arora said.

He said Syfe creates its portfolios – which include equities, bonds and gold – based on a passive, long-term investment strategy that minimises costs.

The fintech startup also offers thematic portfolios include disruptive technology, healthcare innovation, China growth, global income and ESG & clean energy.

Dhruv said over the past few decades, passive investing has gained massive popularity through the proliferation of index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

“As technology advances, the next evolution of passive investing has now been made possible,” he said.

An investor directly owns the underlying individual stocks in their portfolio, and gains the same broad market exposure at the low cost that an ETF or index fund can offer, Dhruv added.

“The key benefits of direct indexing include greater transparency for investors, who will be able to know exactly what they own, cost savings of up to 90% of fund fees, and reduction in the overlap of stocks.”

 

  • George Russell. This report has been amended to clarify that DST Partners invested in Syfe.

 

 

READ MORE:

BlackRock Seen Planning First China ETF Product This Year

Hong Kong’s Stock Exchange Launches First Carbon ETF

Custom ESG Indexing Can Challenge Popularity Of ETFs

 

 

George Russell

George Russell is a freelance writer and editor based in Hong Kong who has lived in Asia since 1996. His work has been published in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, New York Post, Variety, Forbes and the South China Morning Post.

logo

AF China Bond