Fancy a place to park your cash that earns you 3% or more interest with no miniumum lock in period? Read this article as we dive in to the various moeny market funds in Singapore that you can consider.
What is Money Market Funds?
Money market funds are investment vehicles that provide individuals and institutional investors with a relatively low-risk option to invest their funds in short-term debt securities.
These funds are designed to offer stability, liquidity, and modest returns, making them an attractive choice for investors seeking a conservative investment option.
With most money market funds now offering 3% or higher returns, many people are getting excited to know which is best place to park their access cash to enjoy higher returns at low risk.
Let’s take a closer look at the various funds in Singapore for you to make a better informed decision!
Roboadvisors Funds
Syfe Cash+
Syfe Cash+ is offering 3.7% per annum with their underlying funds in LionGlobal SGD Money Market Fund (30%) and LionGlobal SGD Enhanced Liquidity Fund SGD (70%).
StashAway
StashAway offers two different options:
StashAway Simple – 3.4% p.a. guaranteed
StashAway simple is able to offer guaranteed returns because their underlying fund is actually a fixed deposit with Citibank. One thing to note is that there is a minimum lock in period of 6 months, which may not be too feasible for those you require liquidity.
StashAway Simple Plus – projected rate of 4.6-5% p.a.
StashAway Simple Plus in contrast is a combination of money market funds:
- 20% – LionGlobal Enhanced Liquidity Fund
- 35% Nikko AM Shenton Short Term Bond Fund
- 45% LionGlobal Short Duration Bond Fund
It offers a better projected rate than Simple, although returns are not guaranteed.
EndowUs Cash Smart
Have 3 cash managed portfolios: Secure, Enhanced and Ultra.
We can see that the Ultra offers the highest projected yield 4.6% to 4.9% per annum.
An important factor that we should not overlook when comparing the funds is the composition of the underlying funds. Whilst the Ultra offers the higest project rate, there are also big differences that will affect the overall risk.
Secure is comprised of money market funds and although it has a lower projected return than that of the Ultra, the max loss is almost neglible at 0.05%.
In stark comparison, the Ultra has no money market solution and is mostly comprised of bond funds which are more sensitive to interest rate changes. Hence a higher risk of loss of capital in the event of market changes.
Relationship Between Interest Rates & Funds
- Money Market Funds – the nature of money market funds is that they mature in a few weeks so the rise in interest rates does not really affect the rates as you should not experience losses if you hold to maturity
- Bond funds – bonds have a much longer maturity period. As such the prices tend to drop to reflect the change in interest rates.
In a volatile interest rate environment with a high chance of rates going up, money market funds are the ones that are not as senstitive to interest rates.
Should You Put Your Money Into These Funds Now?
Apart from money market and bond funds, high interest bank accounts are one of the most popular places for people to put their money because of the guaranteed interest and low risk.
Out of all the high interest bank accounts, UOB One offers the highest interest rates (you can earn up to 5% interest if you put in $100,000 and meet the requirements). What’s more, the interest is actually guaranteed by the bank which gives it the lowest risk compared to money market funds.
Especially for self-employed persons and freelancers that may not be able to fulfill the salary credited criteria, UOB One has one of the easiest requirements to meet compared to other banks.
Any amount above the $100,000 in your UOB One account will not earn anymore preferential interest rate. Hence, if you have savings of more than $100,000 you can choose to allocated the leftover to other options like T-bills, SSB or money market funds and bonds to maximize return on your cash.