9 Best Investment Apps In Singapore (2024)

Congratulations! You finally decided to research the best investment apps available in Singapore and that’s great. Before we dive in though, let's explore a scenario some of us might find rather familiar.

You’re craving some good ol’ McDonald’s so you slip on your sandals and hurry down to the outlet a stone’s throw away from your house. You are salivating as the golden arches come into sight and the smell of the fries makes your tummy growl louder.

You enter and quickly dash to the kiosk to order the classic - an ala carte Mcchicken burger. You’re thinking to yourself, “this is probably the best $2 I’m going to spend”

As you tap on the McChicken icon, horror overwhelms you as you internally scream “A MCCHICKEN IS S$2.50 NOW??. This inflation thingy is getting out of hand” you think to yourself as you proceed to buy it anyway.

Inflation has indeed grabbed the headlines recently, with Singapore reporting core inflation rising to 4.4%, the highest since the 2008 financial crisis. This stresses the need to grow your savings, to prevent their value from eroding to inflation.

The many apps to invest in nowadays may be overwhelming but it’s not as scary as it sounds. Let’s break it down.

There are 2 different ways you can invest: investment trading apps and robo advisors.

Investment trading apps allow you to buy/sell different asset classes (stocks, options, ETFs, etc.), of your choice.

Robo advisors are apps that let technology do the investing for you. Algorithms use your preferences (e.g. risk appetite), to automatically create and manage a portfolio for you.

If you want to choose which specific assets you want to invest in, then investment trading apps are for you. If you rather have some guidance in your investments, Robo Advisors may be ideal. It’s as simple as that!

So you have decided on the investment apps to use, and have dived in, making your first stock purchases You’ll soon realise it’s not easy to track your stock portfolios. Fret not, we have also included 3 platforms you can use, to do just that!

By the way:

When was the last time you've done a proper Investment plan or reviewed your investments?

In Singapore, having a proper investment plan could spell the difference between a rich quality of life for you & your loved ones and a not-so-good quality of life...

And people are starting to realize this.

Investment Trading apps

Gone are the days of floor trading, and markets being exclusive to the wealthy.

Nowadays anyone can trade thanks to the influx of investment trading apps that boast great user-friendly features.

We have compiled 3 of the cheapest investment apps available in Singapore, which are suitable for both beginners and experienced traders.

Tiger Brokers

Tiger Brokers is a company headquartered in China, offering their investment trading app service: Tiger Trade in Singapore from February 2020.

The ridiculously low commissions make Tiger Trade a very attractive option for beginners who want to start small.

You can invest as little as $30 and not worry about commissions biting too much into your profits.

This investment trading app is also very user-friendly, making the trading learning curve not so steep after all.

With features like a vibrant online community and personalised watchlists, a beginner can learn investing skills fairly quickly.

The analysis and insight tools together with the live pricing feature are great for seasoned investors. They make it easier to make quick and informed decisions which is critical, especially for day traders.

Interactive Brokers (IBKR)

See Also

10 Best Robo-Advisors in Singapore: A Comparison Guide 2024

Interactive Brokers is an American brokerage company providing its investment trading app service in Singapore since 2019. It is one of the most established companies providing this service, compared to newcomers like Tiger and Moomoo.

IBKR’s most distinct feature is fractional shares, which allow one to buy a fraction of a share. You can thus call yourself a shareholder of huge companies like Tesla, without needing to fork out hundreds of dollars.

You have also probably heard that putting all your eggs in one basket is a huge no-go when it comes to investing. Thus, being able to diversify your investments is very critical, and IBKR is the perfect investment trading app to do just that.

IBKR boasts a multitude of options in asset classes and global markets, thus making diversification of your portfolio truly a walk in the park.

Should you choose IBKR as your preferred investment trading app, remember that only the IBKR Pro version is available to everyday investors in Singapore.

Moomoo

Moomoo is a subsidiary of Futu Holdings which is based in China.

It was only introduced in Singapore in March 2021, thus being one of the newest players in Singapore’s investment app market.

Despite being a new player, Moomoo entered the market with a bang, offering one of the lowest commissions and eye-watering sign-up bonuses.

Moomoo is perfect for new investors looking for an easy way to kickstart their trading journey.

For a start, the 'Moo Courses' on the investment app are a great way for you to learn about investing strategies and the basic fundamentals of the market.

Once you are confident enough to start investing, features like free Level 2 market data and recommended strategies will facilitate the start of your journey as an investor.

Robo Advisors

With the unprecedented growth in fintech, we consumers now have new innovative apps to invest our money in. The most popular of those solutions, especially among young investors, is Robo Advisors.

Robo Advisors are excellent for investors who prefer a hands-off approach to their investments.

In their fundamental form, these apps do the investing for you using algorithms based on your risk preferences.

Here are the 2 most important things to consider when choosing a Robo Advisor:

1. Fees

Well this is probably a no-brainer but the advice here is to not take everything at face value.

You wouldn’t want unnecessary fees dwindling your profits, so do look out carefully for any additional fees charged by the investment app.

2. Your preferences

Robo advisors like Endowus manage your CPF, while Syfe allows you to invest in Real Estate through REITs.

Hence if you know your risk appetite and how much you want to diversify your portfolio, the decision-making process will be a lot easier.

However, it's not uncommon to be unsure of your risk appetite, and Techiya has the perfect solution — a risk calculator to better know your risk profile

Syfe

Syfe is a robo advisory investment app in Singapore popular for its exclusive REIT+ portfolio option. REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) are companies that own or finance real estate properties.

The REIT+ portfolio option invests your capital in Singapore’s top 20 largest REITs and boasts great dividend yields with a 4.8% yield in 2021.

The returns are also equally encouraging, averaging 6.7% over the past 5 years.

Therefore, should you choose Syfe, REITs are a great way to diversify your portfolio.

Syfe has also recently launched a brokerage platform of their own — Syfe Trade.

Now you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone, by trading your favourite US stocks, and ETFs, and also opt for a portfolio to manage your money, both with Syfe.

Despite no minimum commissions, when trading a small volume of shares, Syfe Trade’s fees (post promotional months) are not cheap.

The flat fee they charge per trade is generally higher than the minimum commissions required by investment trading apps mentioned above.

However, when trading large volumes (∼300 shares) Syfe Trade’s flat fee per trade becomes cheaper than traditional trading apps.

If Syfe’s offerings interest you, here’s a full review and detailed comparisons to other investment options.

Endowus

Endowus is the only robo advisory app that allows you to invest your CPF Ordinary Account and SRS (Supplementary Retirement Scheme) funds. Your CPF is normally guaranteed growth of 2.5% by the Singapore Government.

Endowus however, allows you to accelerate that with a projected 3% – 12% return on your investment.

Do note that these numbers are merely projected based on historical performance till December 2021 — good past returns don't guarantee the same in the future. Hence, don’t be blinded by the projected returns should you decide to invest your CPF with Endowus.

Stashaway

Stashaway has had a presence in our city-state since 2016 thus being one of the earliest companies to introduce robo advisory services here.

Stashaway employs a unique investment strategy known as ERAA® (Economic Regime-based Asset Allocation).

In layman's terms, they optimise your portfolio according to your risk preference. This minimises losses, especially when the future of the economy is bleak.

However, if you are unsure about how to use the app to invest or how to decipher the markets, Stashaway has a solution for that too.

Its learning portal — “Stashaway Academy” has great content to easily get you up to speed with all you need to know about investing.

Another key feature of Stashaway is that all your funds are kept in a custodian account at Saxo Capital under your name. This way, your money is safe with you, in the event that the company goes bankrupt.

Investment Portfolio Tracking Apps

Once you get the hang of it and start making investments across different investment apps it could get draining to track your portfolios on each app.

Lucky for us, there’s a one-stop solution for that too — investment portfolio tracking apps.

All you have to do is submit your stock purchase activity to a watchlist every time you buy/sell stocks on any investment app.

The app would then aggregate data like your gain and losses for the day, the opening price, previous closing price, etc.

With such apps, it's especially convenient for those always on the go, to quickly check their portfolio’s performance, without checking each investment app.

Bloomberg

Bloomberg is well known to be the leading source of financial data points and business news. Therefore one can’t expect less from their portfolio tracking service and they certainly don’t disappoint.

The sleek app is a perfect companion to your investment trading apps, with the ability to submit and track your trades easily.

You can also set personalised alerts so you know when there are significant movements in markets that matter to you.

Investing.com

Investing.com is perfect for those who require the most updated data points, as the app is best known for providing real-time data.

The app also features a unique personalised economic calendar interface which allows one to keep abreast with happenings related to positions they hold on their investment apps.

Stocks Cafe

Stocks Cafe carries similar features to other platforms mentioned above.

However, besides providing basic data like your profits or losses on your investments from different apps, Stocks Cafe stands out by providing dividend data as well.

The platform also carries a unique feature whereby you can track your SSB (Singapore Savings Bond) investments as well.

SSB is a safe way to grow your savings in the long term as it is guaranteed by the Singapore government.

With higher interest rates than standard savings plans offered by banks, you can expect significant interest earnings from your savings.

Conclusion

The options available to invest your hard-earned money are aplenty. However, it can get overwhelming despite the countless number of times you have scoured the web for the best investment apps.

Sometimes it's really a “it’s not the app, it’s me” situation as you could be unsure yourself on how to set the right preferences/risk levels given your financial situation. That’s when you need the help of a financial advisor.

You’re not alone when you consider a financial advisor as around 61% of Singaporeans reportedly consult one, so there’s no need for hesitation.

Contrary to their reputation for pushy sales tactics, financial advisers help new investors cut through the noise.

They can arrange your investments and build a financial plan that helps ensure you will meet your financial goals in a sustainable manner.

With regards to investment planning, they do the following: