VISION BEHIND iFAST GLOBAL PRESTIGE
iFAST Financial Pte Ltd is Singapore's leading
wealth management platform. In Singapore, iFAST supports more than 2,000
financial adviser representatives from over 50 financial institutions
(financial companies, insurance companies, and stock broking firms)
and independent financial advisory (IFA) firms.
In a short span of less than 10 years, we have
grown very rapidly in Singapore and in the region, driven by iFAST's
mission statement: 'To Help Investors Around The World Invest Globally
And Profitably'.
In recent years, the iFAST group has expanded
regionally into Hong Kong, Malaysia and China. Over 150 financial institutions and IFA firms, with more
than 3,000 representatives, use the iFAST platforms in Singapore, Hong
Kong, Malaysia and China.
Increasingly in the region and around the world,
there is a group of sophisticated and wealthy investors who demand
more product choices and service standards. These investors seek
access to quality products from fund managers in various jurisdictions
around the world, not limited by what is available in Singapore. They
seek exposure to different kinds of access classes available globally,
be it equities, fixed income, or alternative asset classes. These
investments could be funds, stocks, bonds or structured products.
Above all, sophisticated investors demand
quality, unbiased advice from wealth advisers whose interests are
aligned with theirs: to grow the assets of the investors.
To cater to this group of investors and wealth
advisers servicing them, iFAST has decided to launch a new platform:
iFAST Global Prestige (iGP). 'Global' because this platform will cater
to investors from around the world who want to use Singapore as a
wealth management centre, and because there are products from various
jurisdictions around the world in different currency denominations.
'Prestige' because this platform caters to the
higher net worth individuals who demand quality products and advice
spanning not just funds, but also direct securities (stocks and bonds)
and structured products. This group of investors are often willing to
pay fees (typically AUA-based fees) to ensure that the wealth
advisers' interests are aligned with theirs.
iGP's key target wealth advisers are:
- Private banks, particularly those adopting a fee-based
business model through wrap accounts to ensure that their
relationship managers' interests are well aligned with clients'
interests;
- Independent Financial Advisers and/or Independent Wealth
Advisers servicing higher net worth clients; and
- Other financial institutions with premier wealth management
departments.
We believe that in addition to the private
banks, independent wealth advisers will be able to do well in
servicing the higher net worth individuals. What is needed is a good
supporting infrastructure to enable that to happen, and iGP is here to
provide that.
Independent Asset Managers in Switzerland
(IAMs), who started to grow in the 1980s, highlight the potential
capabilities of independent wealth advisers. According to a
study/survey conducted by Dr Christian Bührer in 2004, as extracted
from the Swiss Association of Asset Managers website, IAMs, who manage
the assets of wealthy private clients and advise them in matters of
finance and capital, today manage an estimated 500 billion Swiss
Francs (USD480 billion), or about 14% of the securities in bank
deposits in Switzerland. Most of the 2,600 IAM enterprises are small
in terms of number of employees per enterprise (only 3.7), but big in
terms of average earnings (468,000 Swiss Francs per employee).
Tapping into Singapore's unique strength as a
key wealth management centre in Asia, iGP will be another key driver
of growth for iFAST as the leading platform of choice in Singapore's
wealth management industry. Our strategy is simple: we provide you
with the best all-round support, so you can focus on building enduring
client relationships and providing quality service and advice.
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