The rapid economic growth in Asia has brought in newfound wealth for the people as masses continue to scale the ladder of social and financial success. Closer to home, a recent study on emerging affluent by Standard Chartered showed that, of late, over 55% of Malaysians have experienced upwards social mobility where they have seen their personal income and wealth grow over the years.

Unsurprisingly, the growth in wealth has coincided with a need for banking solutions that can help Malaysians manage their finances effectively. Over 70% of the respondents agreed that managing their finances effectively is key to achieving upwards social mobility. Despite this, half of them rely on basic savings account to meet their investment needs.

Relying too heavily on basic savings accounts is a missed opportunity for higher returns. While developing an investment strategy through a diverse investment portfolio could help the emerging affluent to achieve their financial goals faster, over 42% of the respondents said they lack the financial knowledge to do this on their own. What explains this gap? Perhaps, access to quality investment advisory.

Investment advisory is often looked upon as an exclusive “club” that only a select few can get into. Often, people think that it is an expensive affair that only the wealthiest can afford. This is due to the large initial capital outlay required to set up an investment account.

The commercial reality of running a wealth outfit makes it a high-end business, typically focused on where the money is. While there is a propensity to save and invest among the emerging affluent, the market is underserved.

That is precisely where Standard Chartered SmartGoals comes in.

It is an intelligently designed digital platform that makes investing effortlessly easy. SmartGoals makes use of Technology to make Standard Chartered’s market insights and trusted advisory capabilities accessible to clients for as low as RM400 in initial investment (subsequent monthly investments as low as RM200). The first-of-its-kind platform is available through both the SC Mobile smartphone application and Standard Chartered online banking website.

Instead of trading investment products, the idea behind SmartGoals is to get people to think about their financial goals and then help them craft a path towards achieving them. As the platform is intelligent enough to understand the client’s risk tolerance and risk and return preferences, it can offer a diversified portfolio of mutual funds tailored to those preferences.

The journey begins with getting a deeper understanding of client’s investment objective and their attitude towards investment risk via the interactive Investment Profiling questionnaire. SmartGoals uses that understanding to craft model portfolios that suit the client’s investment style.

Next, the platform asks clients what they are saving for. Clients can choose from a few pre-set goals such as saving for a home, children’s education or even a custom goal. The built-in calculator then asks clients about their target goal amount, the savings tenure and the initial investment based on which, the calculator determines the monthly contributions required to achieve the goal.

Following these inputs, SmartGoals then offers diversified portfolios of unit trusts tailored to the client’s risk and return preferences. Client’s can choose to invest in recommended portfolios or they can edit and customize their own, based on choice of unit trusts available within their recommended model allocation.

The whole process is intuitively easy and seamless. SmartGoals also offers clients the ability to track their goals once they’ve set them up. This enables clients to see how well they’re doing against their objectives.

SmartGoals is not robo-advisory. Robo-advisory is automated, algorithm-driven financial planning. Whether rendering the complexity of financial markets solely in numbers and algorithms is the best approach is questionable. Standard Chartered believes that markets inherently are human in nature and humans can understand humans better (even more so with the help of a few machines). The advisory unit is empowered with cutting edge research and data analytics tools to curate investment ideas and recommend portfolio allocations. These portfolio allocations then form the basis of our investment advisory module inside SmartGoals.

The convenience offered by the platform helps clients with the discipline in their savings behaviour, making it easy for them to commit to a plan and follow through with it. The visualization of the savings journey and the ability to track and monitor goals further helps with this discipline. There is no lock-up period, meaning clients have the flexibility to withdraw anytime.

Click / Tap image to enlarge

What’s more, SmartGoals leverages on Standard Chartered’s interactive Investment Profiling mechanism to allow for a more personalized experience. Each goal can be customized to suit client’s needs and investment style (ie: duration, initial investment, monthly commitment, risk appetite).

With over 100 years of banking experience, over USD 50 bn in assets under management and advisory expertise spanning multiple geographies in Asia, Africa & Europe, Standard Chartered’s recommendations are trusted by clients the world over. SmartGoals makes that trusted advisory accessible to clients, recommending portfolios suited to their needs.

Watch this space as we share more insights and tips on how to turbocharge your financial future.