There's a life saying that goes, “consistency is more powerful than perfection”. This applies not just to life, but to how we grow our long-term wealth! Market changes are part and parcel of investment, and fund or equity price movements may be hard to time. With the recent black swan events like the COVID-19 pandemic, global supply chain crisis, the conflict in Ukraine and inflation - how does one grow wealth sustainably while staying rational and disciplined?

UOBAM Robo-Invest can help you achieve stable and sustainable returns and grow your portfolio with a long-term view - via the Regular Savings Plan (RSP) option. The RSP feature leverages a well-known strategy, called Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA), which can be used to stay invested by funding similar amounts on a regular basis. By entering the market when it is both up and down, one can take advantage of ‘buying cheap’ when prices are low, achieving potentially lower average prices and higher profits in the long term.

UOBAM Robo-Invest’s Regular Savings Plan allows users to carry out regular funding by automatically transferring funds from Dash wallet to their UOBAM Robo-Invest accounts. Find out how you can use this feature to achieve DCA using RSP.

What is UOBAM Robo-Invest?

Managing your finances can be a complex process, especially when you are time-poor and don’t have extensive expertise.

Featuring hybrid portfolios tailored to your financial goals and risk appetite, UOBAM Robo-Invest offers a simple and sustainable way to grow your wealth with minimal knowledge and time invested on your end.

In a nutshell:

• Robo-advisory service managed by experts from award-winning1 asset manager, UOB Asset Management (UOBAM)
• Combination of machine algorithms and human expertise that aims to offer you reliable financial advice and portfolio recommendations
• Opt for a sustainable future with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) integrated portfolio
• Easy to start - from just S$1, enjoy low advisory fees from 0.6% p.a.^**

¹Please visit www.uobam.com.sg for details on the full list of our awards.

Start reaching your financial goals with UOBAM Robo-Invest

What makes UOBAM Robo-Invest unique is that it combines the insights and experience of UOB Asset Management’s experts with our advanced proprietary smart algorithm to build a portfolio tailored to your needs.


Figure 1. UOBAM Robo-Invest’s key investment inputs by UOBAM’s investment and product committees

UOBAM Robo-Invest is the first robo-adviser to be exclusively available on a mobile wallet - Singtel Dash.

Singtel Dash app is available on the Google Play store or Apple App Store.

What is DCA and how does UOBAM Robo-Invest’s Regular Savings Plan take advantage of this strategy?

Dollar-Cost Averaging is a widely practiced strategy that involves contributing your capital in small, fixed amounts on a regular basis. If you are a beginner to investing, time-strapped or prefer not to contribute your capital in one lump sum, DCA can be a cost-effective approach. Take steady steps towards building a robust portfolio with UOBAM Robo-Invest’s RSP top-up feature, which enables you to make small and consistent contributions, similar to the DCA strategy. For example, you can use the RSP feature to top-up your portfolio from as low as S$50 to S$100 a month over a long-term horizon (i.e. from 12 months to 3 years or more).

What makes funding your account via UOBAM Robo-Invest’s RSP feature a more seamless and less risky approach as compared to other top-up options? It focuses on long-term results and uses natural market cycles to reduce your average purchase cost per unit in the long run.

Source: DollarsandSense.sg
Figure 2. Comparison of S$833.33 regularly invested every month over 1 year using DCA vs lump-sum investment.

For illustration or information only and should not be relied upon or construed as a recommendation of specific model portfolios. Projections shown are not indicative of future or likely performance of any portfolio. Investments in any portfolio involve risks, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested.

In Figure 2, you can see a real-world example of how DCA works by comparing an S$10,000 investment over a 12-month period to a lump sum investment in terms of total units purchased and total value.


Figure 3. Comparison of Total Portfolio Value between different funding methods - DCA/lump-sum using fixed investment period and capital contributed

Important Note: This table is not intended to be and does not constitute financial advice. It is solely for the purpose of illustrating the DCA principle. All references to any asset class is for illustration or information only and should not be relied upon or construed as a recommendation of specific model portfolios. Projections shown are not indicative of future or likely performance of any portfolio. Investments in any portfolio involve risks, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested.

In Figure 3, you can see how using the DCA method over a 12-month period (i.e. from 1 January 2020 to 1 December 2020) instead of paying a single lump-sum at the end of the year (i.e. on 31 January 2020) would have led to 0.4384 more total units purchased - and S$1,677 in additional value.


Figure 4. Illustration of how DCA can reduce average purchase cost/unit

All references to any asset class is for illustration or information only and should not be relied upon or construed as a recommendation of specific model portfolios. Projections shown are not indicative of future or likely performance of any portfolio. Investments in any portfolio involve risks, including the possible loss of the principal amount invested.

In Figure 4, you can see DCA lessens the shock of market dips by buying more units when the unit price falls and less units when the unit price rises. The lowest point in the market occurred when the unit price dropped from S$3,090.23 in March to S$2,470.50 in April 2020 (see Figure 2). As a result, the number of units bought rose from 0.2697 to 0.3373 respectively. From May to December 2020, the unit price rose from S$2830.71 to S$3662.45 (see Figure 2), recovering from the March/April 2020 downturn - leading to greater overall portfolio value from the additional units purchased during the drop.

As illustrated in Figure 4, having an RSP that uses the DCA strategy can help you take advantage of purchasing a higher number of units at a cheaper price - which can lead to potentially lower average unit purchase costs! Using the RSP method paves the way for steady portfolio growth as you reduce the risk of maximum negative returns during market downturns and avoid panic selling or holding.

How can UOBAM Robo-Invest’s Regular Savings Plan help with long-term financial planning?

UOBAM Robo-Invest enables you to achieve DCA by automating fixed contributions at regular intervals to an RSP, which can give you more flexibility and liquidity in managing your portfolio.

Here are some key benefits to using UOBAM Robo-Invest’s RSP:

• Make regular contributions with small capital: invest small sums on a regular basis that match your financial needs and risk appetite.
• No need to ‘time’ the market: spend less time and energy constantly monitoring market fluctuations by automating RSP top-ups
• Intelligent, non-impulsive investing: staying the course with RSP takes the guesswork and stress out of monitoring market fluctuations.
• Reduce long-term investment costs: avoid the risk of paying peak prices for funds during highly volatile market conditions

While RSP makes it easier for you to achieve DCA with RSP, it carries some degree of risk just like any other investment. Here are four investment risk factors that you should always be aware of:

• Company risk: a company’s poor performance causes its market value to drop.
• Volatility and market risk: market downturns can cause stock prices to plummet.
• Opportunity cost: missed opportunities to pursue better performing investments.
• Liquidity risk: some investments may be difficult or take time to convert into cash.

How to set up a Regular Savings Plan using UOBAM Robo-Invest

Activating top-ups via the Regular Savings Plan feature on UOBAM Robo-Invest is quick and easy. You can download/launch the Singtel Dash on your iOS or Android device and take the 4 quick steps below to start growing your wealth using the Dollar-Cost-Averaging method.