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<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"ETFs, or exchange-traded funds are funds that are traded like stocks, but have the diversified portfolio structures of a mutual fund. ETFs provide passive exposure to any asset class by mirroring the returns of an index. For example, the SPDR SPY P&amp;P500 is an ETF that tracks the performance of the S&amp;P500"}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":573,"3":{"1":0},"5":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"6":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"7":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"8":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"12":0}'>An ETF, or an exchange-traded funds, is an index-tracking investment vehicle listed on a major exchange. Indices are composed of asset classes, such as stocks or bonds, in a particular segment of the market, such as technology, energy, or real estate. ETFs are funds that are traded like stocks, but have the diversified portfolio structures of a mutual fund. ETFs provide passive exposure to any asset class by mirroring the returns of an index. For example, the SPDR SPY S&amp;P500 is an ETF that tracks the performance of the S&amp;P500.
 
ETFs offer diversification, higher liquidity than individual securities, and lower fees.
 
<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"ETFs, or exchange-traded funds are funds that are traded like stocks, but have the diversified portfolio structures of a mutual fund. ETFs provide passive exposure to any asset class by mirroring the returns of an index. For example, the SPDR SPY P&amp;P500 is an ETF that tracks the performance of the S&amp;P500"}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":573,"3":{"1":0},"5":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"6":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"7":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"8":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"12":0}'>Learn more: <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/r/what-is-an-etf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">What is an ETF?</a>

What is an ETF?

Based on your risk preferences, selected goal, and current economic regime, our algorithm carefully picks the ETFs most suitable for your goal. This allows us to provide the most optimal diversification personalised to you.
 
As such, it is not possible for an investor to handpick the ETFs or the allocation for most of our investment products.
 
However, we do offer Flexible Portfolios, in which you can pick the asset classes you want, decide your exact allocations, and change them at any time. Find out more about Flexible Portfolios <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/help-center/6430844027673-what-are-flexible-portfolios" target="_self" rel="undefined">here</a>.

Can I choose which ETFs or securities I invest in?

StashAway invests in US-domiciled ETFs to get access to the most cost-efficient and liquid products. For the same reason, we now also invest in UK-domiciled ETFs. We endeavour to maximise your investment returns while minimising your costs, so we’ll continue to optimise your portfolios by sourcing suitable ETFs into our investment options. See our <a href="https://www.stashaway.com/r/how-stashaway-selects-etfs">ETF selection criteria</a>.
 
<iframe src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/njK6SirvlpQ" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

Why does StashAway invest in ETFs?

Our investment strategies can be categorised into two different types of portfolios:
 
1. StashAway’s portfolios that are guided by ERAA® (Economic Regime-based Asset Allocation) include the General Investing Portfolio, Income Portfolio, Thematic Portfolios, Responsible Investing Portfolio, Flexible Portfolios, StashAway Simple and StashAway Simple Plus.
To find out more about ERAA®, click <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/r/stashaways-asset-allocation-framework" target="_self">here</a>.
 
2. General Investing Portfolio by BlackRock that provides investors with the broadest market exposure.
To find out more about General Investing Portfolio powered by BlackRock, click <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/help-center/9547854203161-general-investing-powered-by-blackrock" target="_self">here</a>.

What is your investment strategy?

Please note that ETFs charge, on average, an expense ratio of 0.15%-0.25%. This is charged over the course of the year in the form of adjustments to the Net Asset Value.
 
This is not an actual cash flow borne by you. It is offset by the ETF funds before distributing the returns back to you. This expense ratio is incurred regardless of what platform you use to purchase ETFs.

Do ETFs have fees?

<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"We invest in the most liquid and most cost-effective ETFs in the world, and those are listed in the US markets and denominated in USD. "}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":573,"3":{"1":0},"5":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"6":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"7":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"8":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"12":0}'>We invest in the most liquid and most cost-effective ETFs in the world, and those are listed in the US markets and denominated in USD.

Why do you have USD-denominated ETFs?

StashAway’s Economic Regime-based Asset Allocation (“ERAA”) framework builds and manages portfolios by targeting different level of risk and attempting to maximize net investment returns at each risk-point.
The framework is dynamic and strategic in nature, and it is built on 4 pillars: (i) Regime-based asset allocation, (ii) Risk Control, (iii) Valuation Gaps, and (iv) Managing Asset-specific Risk.
 
The First Pillar (Regime-based Asset Allocation) is at the core of ERAA’s portfolio construction logic, and uses economic data to adjust the target strategic asset allocation at each risk level. The main assumption behind this pillar is that the economy ultimately drives medium term markets’ returns.
 
The Second Pillar (Risk Control) is the risk management layer of the framework, tasked with identifying cases in which economic data either are unclear or are not driving market behaviour. If the momentum (rate of change) of growth and/or inflation isn’t solid enough to provide predictive guidance, ERAA® adjusts our clients’ portfolios to an All-Weather strategy until the direction of economic data is clear again. The All-Weather strategy is designed to simultaneously protect capital and perform well in uncertain economic conditions.
 
The Third Pillar (Valuation Gaps) takes into account each asset class’ valuation to underweight overvalued assets and discover opportunities to overweight undervalued assets. Valuation Adjustments are based on economic regressions, and therefore are anchored around ERAA’s main assumption that the economy ultimately drives medium term markets’ returns.
 
The Fourth Pillar (Managing Asset-specific Risk) sets asset allocation limits based on the historical relative performance of each asset compared to the portfolio's same-risk benchmarks. Taking into account an asset's historical performance, ERAA® adjusts its maximum allocation. This ensures that any idiosyncratic drawdowns in a specific asset don't have an outsized impact on portfolio performance.
 
If you want to know more about ERAA read our <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/r/stashaways-asset-allocation-framework" target="_self">white paper on StashAway’s investment framework</a>.
 
StashAway’s Economic Regime-based Asset Allocation (“ERAA”) is a systematic, algorithm-based investment framework focused on strategic asset allocation. Some investors may think that it is purely systematic and does not include any element of human judgment is a limitation to this investment approach. However, the StashAway’s Investment Committee meets once a month to review the system’s recommendations and has an oversight function on the investment framework.
 
StashAway does not use leverage and does not take short positions, limiting the amount of investment opportunities available. This limitation is an active choice of StashAway, as we prefer a more straightforward investment style that targets medium-to-long term wealth accumulation while keeping risks under control.
 
As with any model, StashAway’s ERAA is data-dependent. It assumes that the data of average returns and risks of asset classes observed in past economic regimes would repeat itself. In reality, no models can guarantee that history will repeat itself.

What are the assumptions of ERAA, StashAway’s investment framework?

A single return figure (Time-Weighted Returns vs Money-Weighted Returns) does not tell the whole story of how well a portfolio performs.
Returns are one thing but the level of risk exposure your portfolio has in achieving those returns is an entirely different matter. 
Remember to consider how much risk your portfolio manager exposes your money to in the name of getting your returns.

How should you compare your StashAway returns to the returns of your other investments?

Our investment team has top analysts with a combined of more than 4 decades of experience and is led by two industry leaders:
 
Our Co-Chief Investment Officer, Freddy Lim, has more than a decade of experience in cross-asset investing and portfolio management.
Freddy gained years of investment expertise as the Managing Director and Global Head of Derivatives Strategy at Nomura. He developed his strong background in cross-asset portfolio management at Millennium Capital Management and CitiGroup, after working at Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, and Lehman Brothers. He holds a Bachelor in Econometrics and Quantitative Economics from Monash University.
 
Our Co-Chief Investment Officer, Stephanie Leung, started her career in finance and investing in 2006 at Goldman Sachs. Since then, she's managed multi-asset investment portfolios for institutional clients, including hedge funds and family offices, such as The Caravel Group, Harmony Advisors, and Calabas Capital.
Before her career in finance, Stephanie worked at McKinsey &amp; Co., advising companies in the Asia Pacific region. She holds a Masters in Computer Science majoring in Artificial Intelligence from Stanford University and a Bachelor of Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.

How much experience does your investment team have?

Yes., for investment products that are invested in US-domiciled and UK-domiciled ETFs, all currencies are converted into USD to be invested as USD.
 
SGD to USD conversion is done at the spot rate and the only cost associated is the currency conversion fee, which is charged by our vendor, at 0.07% on top of the spot rate. This preferential rate, which StashAway has negotiated with the bank, compares favourably against the significantly higher currency conversion fees charged by commercial/retail banks (which can easily be in excess of 1% depending on transaction size).

Are all currencies invested in USD?

Technically, the ETFs are owned by Saxo, our broker. Asia Wealth Platform Pte Ltd (our legal entity) is a beneficiary of Saxo. Similarly, you are a beneficiary on our ledger. So in short, you are the owner of the ETFs in your portfolio(s).

Who is the legal owner of the ETFs in my portfolio?

Your portfolios will only have the best ETFs. The curated ETFs are the largest, most liquid, most tradable, and most cost-effective ETFs with the lowest tracking error to the index and a sufficiently long track record. 
 
You can read more about our ETF selection criteria <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/r/how-stashaway-selects-etfs" target="_self">here</a> and the list of funds that we use <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/r/stashaways-etf-selection" target="_self">here</a>.

How did StashAway choose the funds that are in my portfolio?

The portfolio returns on our website and app are benchmarked against the MSCI All Country World Index (MSCI ACWI) for equities and the FTSE World Government Bond Index for bonds.
 
These benchmarks apply for the following portfolios:
<ul class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
<li>General Investing powered by StashAway</li>
<li>General Investing powered by BlackRock®</li>
<li>Responsible Investing</li>
</ul>
Like our General Investing and Responsible Investing portfolios, the MSCI ACWI includes exposure to equities in both developed markets (such as the US, Western Europe, Australia, and Japan) and emerging markets (such as China, Brazil, and India).

What are the benchmarks StashAway uses?

<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"When investing as an individual, there are minimum trade sizes and high transaction costs imposed on the account, and this makes investing as an individual cost-prohibitive. With StashAway, you will benefit from the constant monitoring, rebalancing, and reoptimisation that we provide. Moreover, StashAway is able to offer fractional shares to make your portfolio more precisely allocated than if you were to do it on your own. "}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":573,"3":{"1":0},"5":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"6":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"7":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"8":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"12":0}'>When investing as an individual, there are minimum trade sizes and high transaction costs imposed on the account, and this makes investing as an individual cost-prohibitive. With StashAway, you will benefit from the constant monitoring, rebalancing, and re-optimisation that we provide. Moreover, StashAway is able to offer fractional shares to make your portfolio more precisely allocated that is nearly impossible if you were to do it on your own.
 
<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"When investing as an individual, there are minimum trade sizes and high transaction costs imposed on the account, and this makes investing as an individual cost-prohibitive. With StashAway, you will benefit from the constant monitoring, rebalancing, and reoptimisation that we provide. Moreover, StashAway is able to offer fractional shares to make your portfolio more precisely allocated than if you were to do it on your own. "}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":573,"3":{"1":0},"5":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"6":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"7":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"8":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"12":0}'><iframe src="//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/2PYpfsx60tQ" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
 
<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"When investing as an individual, there are minimum trade sizes and high transaction costs imposed on the account, and this makes investing as an individual cost-prohibitive. With StashAway, you will benefit from the constant monitoring, rebalancing, and reoptimisation that we provide. Moreover, StashAway is able to offer fractional shares to make your portfolio more precisely allocated than if you were to do it on your own. "}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":573,"3":{"1":0},"5":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"6":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"7":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"8":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"12":0}'>Learn more: <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/r/who-should-manage-your-investments" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Who Should Manage Your Investments?</a>

Why shouldn't I just invest in the ETFs you have chosen on my own?

<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"We are constanting looking to add more ETFs into our list of investment options. Click here to see our ETF selection criteria."}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":769,"3":[null,0],"11":4,"12":0}'>We are constantly looking to add more ETFs into our list of investment options. Click <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/r/how-stashaway-selects-etfs">here</a> to see our ETF selection criteria.

Will you be adding more ETFs to the list?

StashAway always ensures that the best interests of our customers are considered in the generation and execution of orders.
For example, in the execution of customers’ orders, StashAway will consider multiple factors with the aim of achieving the best possible execution of all customers’ orders, including but not limited to:
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Unit Price</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Execution-related costs</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Speed of execution</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Probability of full order fulfilment</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Order size</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Nature of the access to the applicable brokers and execution venues</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Any other relevant characteristics of the investment product</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Potential conflicts of interest</li>
</ul>
What constitutes an Acceptable Tolerance Threshold (ATT)?
In relation to settlement involving several customers’ portfolios, a shortfall/excess discrepancy will, in respect of a portfolio, fall within the ATT where it meets both criteria below:
(a) The absolute value of the shortfall/excess discrepancy is not more than USD 0.01 (or its equivalent in SGD); and
(b) The absolute value of the shortfall/excess discrepancy, when taken as a percentage of the value of the relevant portfolio's contribution in the bulk settlement under which the shortfall/excess discrepancy arose, is not more than 0.0001%.
More details on the ATT can be found in the Account Opening agreement <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/api/document/awp-account-opening-document.pdf" target="_self" rel="undefined">here</a>. Further details also can be found in our Global Order Execution Policy <a href="https://assets.ctfassets.net/hrpsj0f8hvgc/4a9Xplyv25RcxyTc3X92sZ/fe7970b734d54d064f37e1f7baff01f5/AWP-order-execution-policy.pdf" target="_self" rel="undefined">here</a>.

How does StashAway execute my orders?

Trades are executed every business day.

How often does your investment team make trades?

We don’t qualify our portfolios based on expected returns. Instead, we qualify them based on how much risk to which you’ll be exposed. 
Every StashAway portfolio is defined by the StashAway Risk Index, which indicates the potential loss of a given portfolio. 
<ul>
<li class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">Core Portfolios have a StashAway Risk Index between 6.5% and 22% </li>
<li class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">Higher-risk Portfolios have a StashAway Risk Index between 26% and 36%</li>
</ul>

What’s the difference between Core Portfolios and Higher-risk Portfolios?

This is the measurement we use to determine how much risk our system should expose you to, which then determines your portfolio’s asset allocation. We gave it our own name not to be fancy, but because it’s a specific application of a fairly common risk metric called Value-at-Risk (VaR).
 
To calculate the potential loss of a portfolio in a year, we use Value-at-Risk (VaR). At StashAway, we use 99%-VaR, meaning a portfolio has a 99% probability of not losing more than a given percentage of assets in a year.
 
Here’s an example: a StashAway portfolio with $100,000 SGD and a StashAway Risk Index of 10% has a 99% probability of not losing more than 10%, or $10,000 SGD in a year. In other words, there is a 99% probability that your portfolio’s value won’t decrease below $90,000 SGD if you select a 10% StashAway Risk Index.
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What is the StashAway Risk Index?

Our Investment team periodically assesses fair value of the ETFs we invest in. When one is overpriced, it is excluded from all portfolios. When this ETF is fairly valued again, it will be re-introduced into the appropriate portfolios.

Why doesn't a particular ETF get picked for my portfolio, regardless of risk level?

You can do so with our Flexible portfolios.
 However, for the rest of our portfolio, you can only adjust the composition of your portfolio by adjusting the risk level available. You will not be able to change the ETFs inside the portfolio because our algorithms select them and design the portfolio allocation based on each risk level.

Can I change the portfolio composition or the asset allocation within my portfolio?

For SGD deposits, there is no minimum deposit amount required.
However, for USD deposits, there is a minimum deposit amount of $10,000 USD per deposit.
You have full discretion on how much and when you want to invest, including no minimum balance to maintain the account. You may also skip a month or two, resume, and withdraw whenever you wish. All without incurring charges or penalties.
*Note : For Income portfolio, there is a minimum balance required of SGD10,000.

Is there a minimum deposit or fixed amount I need to invest?

<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"No; there is no limit as to how much you can deposit in your account. Banks may have daily transfer limits, but StashAway does not impose any limits. "}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":573,"3":{"1":0},"5":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"6":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"7":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"8":{"1":[{"1":2,"2":0,"5":{"1":2,"2":0}},{"1":0,"2":0,"3":3},{"1":1,"2":0,"4":1}]},"12":0}'>No; there is no limit for how much you can deposit into your account. Banks may have daily transfer limits, but StashAway does not impose any limits.

Is there a limit for how much I can deposit into my StashAway account?

For General Investing, Goal-based Investment and Thematic Portfolios, any dividend you may earn will be automatically reinvested.
 
As for the Income portfolio, you have the option to either reinvest the dividend payout or have the payouts sent to your bank account. If the value of your Income Portfolio falls below $10,000 SGD, we will re-invest your income until the portfolio value is at least $10,000 SGD again, then we will automatically start withdrawing your income to your specified bank account. Do note that we can only send the payouts to your SRS account if you funded that portfolio with the same SRS account.
 
You may find all dividend payments are reflected in your "Transactions" tab.

Where do dividends go?

To see your total assets and returns:
Step 1: Log in to your StashAway account.
Step 2: Select your portfolio.
Step 3: Click on the “Assets” tab
 
To see your transaction history:
Step 1: Click the “Three horizontal lines” on the top left part of the screen
Step 2: Go to the “Transactions” tab
Step 2: Click on the drop-down arrow labeled “All-Account transactions”
Step 3: Select your portfolio and you may view all transactions (buy order, sell order, and/or dividend received) made for the respective portfolios.
 
Your Monthly Statement is found under the "Statements" tab.

Where can I see all my investment activities?

Time-weighted Return is the most commonly-used return calculation in the financial industry, and is an easy metric to compare returns between different portfolios. 
By tracking the portfolio’s performance from your first deposit, a portfolio’s TWR removes the distortions that various cash inflows and outflows create. In essence, TWR measures the portfolio manager’s ability to generate returns, not the effects of an individual’s deposit and withdrawal behaviours.

What is Time-weighted Return?

Money-weighted Return assigns a weight to each of your deposits and withdrawals. So, a deposit of $1,000 SGD has a lesser effect on your portfolio’s return figure than a deposit of $100,000 SGD. 
This approach helps to gauge the effectiveness of the individual’s timing of deposits and withdrawals. As a result, MWR may also overweight or underweight the returns you see as a result of factors unrelated to the performance of the portfolio manager and their investment strategy. It will potentially inflate your returns when you deposit while markets are going up and understate your performance when you deposit while markets are going down. It will also give your lump sum deposit performance a larger weighting when calculating the money weighted return.
So, unless your portfolio manager determines when to deposit or withdraw funds from your portfolio, MWR doesn’t effectively measure your portfolio manager’s performance. You should only use MWR to compare two different portfolios if you have the exact same deposit and withdrawal behaviors for both portfolios.
MWR’s merit lies in that it clarifies the impact of the individual investor’s investment decisions (e.g., when you deposit and withdraw).

What is Money-weighted Return?

The risk-adjusted return of an investment is the risk involved or required to generate that level of return.
If two investments have the same level of return, then the lowest risk investment will have better risk-adjusted returns.

What is risk-adjusted return?

It is entirely possible to have a positive TWR but a negative total return.
 
Your TWR is positive because your portfolio’s return has increased in value since your first deposit. You can see that in the graph of the “Performance” tab in your app.
 
However, in this case, you could still have negative dollar returns if you deposited the majority of your funds in this portfolio when the market was higher than it is now.
 
Here’s a quick example of when this might be the case:
Let’s say you deposited $100 SGD in January in your StashAway account, and then the market goes up 10% by September. You’d have $110 SGD in your account. Then, you get a $1,000 SGD bonus and decide to invest it all at once, but the market goes down 5% over the next three months. In this scenario, your portfolio value would be $1054.50 SGD by December for a total of $1100 SGD invested. So you’d have lost $45.50 SGD. 
<img src="https://stashaway.zendesk.com/hc/article_attachments/900001286846/mceclip0.png" alt="mceclip0.png">
But this was not because the portfolio has performed poorly thus far- it went up 10% between January and September and then it went down just 5% between September and December. However, most of your money was invested right before markets went down.
 
Your time-weighted return is positive because the performance of the first deposit of your investment has performed well between January and December, but your simple dollar return is still negative because of when you decided to make your deposits.

Why do I have a positive time-weighted return, but negative dollar return?

Your TWR is negative because your portfolio’s return has decreased in value since your first deposit.
 
Here’s an example of when this might be the case:
Let’s say you deposited $100 SGD to start your StashAway account in January and the market goes down 10% by September. You’ve lost $10 SGD (out of $100 SGD invested) in your portfolio and you’re down to $90 SGD. You then have an unexpected windfall (lucky you!) and decide to make a $1,000 SGD deposit in September. By December, the market goes up 5% after the second tranche of investment. 
 
<img src="https://stashaway.zendesk.com/hc/article_attachments/900006198563/SGD_Slide4.jpeg" alt="SGD_Slide4.jpeg" width="593" height="334">
What are my returns like now? Well, you would have positive dollar gains because you just gained about $44.50 SGD on a total of $1,100 SGD invested.
 
But this wasn’t because the portfolio has performed exceptionally thus far: it went down 10% then up just 5%. However, most of your money was invested right before markets went up.
 
The time-weighted return is negative because the first deposit of the investment performed poorly between January and December, but your simple dollar return is still positive because of when you made your deposits.

Why do I have a negative time-weighted return, but positive dollar return?

Re-optimisation refers to changes in your portfolio’s target asset allocation. When this happens, new ETFs may be introduced, and/or the weightage of existing ETFs will be changed in your asset allocation.
 
To learn more about our investment methodology, visit <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/stashaways-asset-allocation-framework" target="_self">ERAA</a>.
 
Were you looking for rebalancing instead? Click here for <a href="https://www.stashaway.sg/faq/115003746807-what-is-rebalancing">Rebalancing</a>.

What is re-optimisation?

Rebalancing a portfolio involves adjusting the composition of a portfolio by buying and/or selling specific assets to re-align a portfolio to its target composition in the case that market changes influence your portfolio's asset allocation.

What is rebalancing?

To find out about your returns, you can log into your StashAway account. Select "Investments", click on "Performance" tab. The "Performance" tab will show you the breakdown of your returns in USD and SGD.

How much have I earned from the funds I have invested so far?

<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Absolutely! Simply select the portfolio you wish to adjust, click on the show more button at the top right corner, followed by \"Edit Goal Target\". Make changes to the porfolio as you wish and finally, click on \"Confirm Goal Target\" to update the portfolio."}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":4929,"3":[null,0],"9":0,"11":4,"12":0,"15":"Arial"}'>Absolutely!
 
<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Absolutely! Simply select the portfolio you wish to adjust, click on the show more button at the top right corner, followed by \"Edit Goal Target\". Make changes to the porfolio as you wish and finally, click on \"Confirm Goal Target\" to update the portfolio."}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":4929,"3":[null,0],"9":0,"11":4,"12":0,"15":"Arial"}'>For Web App users:
<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Absolutely! Simply select the portfolio you wish to adjust, click on the show more button at the top right corner, followed by \"Edit Goal Target\". Make changes to the porfolio as you wish and finally, click on \"Confirm Goal Target\" to update the portfolio."}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":4929,"3":[null,0],"9":0,"11":4,"12":0,"15":"Arial"}'>Simply log in to your Account &gt; "Investments" &gt; "More option" tab &gt; click on "Edit portfolio".
<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Absolutely! Simply select the portfolio you wish to adjust, click on the show more button at the top right corner, followed by \"Edit Goal Target\". Make changes to the porfolio as you wish and finally, click on \"Confirm Goal Target\" to update the portfolio."}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":4929,"3":[null,0],"9":0,"11":4,"12":0,"15":"Arial"}'>Make changes to the portfolio as you wish by moving the slider and finally, click on "Confirm" to update the portfolio.
 
<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Absolutely! Simply select the portfolio you wish to adjust, click on the show more button at the top right corner, followed by \"Edit Goal Target\". Make changes to the porfolio as you wish and finally, click on \"Confirm Goal Target\" to update the portfolio."}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":4929,"3":[null,0],"9":0,"11":4,"12":0,"15":"Arial"}'>For Mobile App users:  Simply log in to your Account, select a portfolio that you would like to make amendments to &gt; <span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Absolutely! Simply select the portfolio you wish to adjust, click on the show more button at the top right corner, followed by \"Edit Goal Target\". Make changes to the porfolio as you wish and finally, click on \"Confirm Goal Target\" to update the portfolio."}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":4929,"3":[null,0],"9":0,"11":4,"12":0,"15":"Arial"}'>click the "3 vertical dots" on your top right corner of the screen &gt; select "Adjust risk".
<span data-sheets-value='{"1":2,"2":"Absolutely! Simply select the portfolio you wish to adjust, click on the show more button at the top right corner, followed by \"Edit Goal Target\". Make changes to the porfolio as you wish and finally, click on \"Confirm Goal Target\" to update the portfolio."}' data-sheets-userformat='{"2":4929,"3":[null,0],"9":0,"11":4,"12":0,"15":"Arial"}'>Make changes to the portfolio as you wish by moving the slider and finally, click on "Confirm" to update the portfolio.

Can I change my investment plan later?

Dollar-Cost Averaging is investing a fixed dollar amount on a regular schedule, regardless of market conditions, you will purchase more shares when prices are low and fewer shares when prices are high.
 
 This ensures that you will invest at a reasonable price and exchange rate, and avoid investing at market tops, helping you to manage the risk of your investments.

What is dollar-cost averaging?

Yes; with a goal-based approach, we analyse your personal financial situation. From there, we recommend a specific goal target, a specialised portfolio, and savings plan to reach your goal.

Do you give investment advice?

Questions about our portfolios and investment framework