Mari Invest’s Lion-MariBank SavePlus Fund Size Grew From SGD $10.2m To $78.1m – Beragampengetahuan

It has been a little over two weeks since MariBank launched Mari Invest when this article was first written in October 2023.

Mari Invest is an innovative product because it includes features such as being able to withdraw our cash at any time instantly, plus no minimum investment amount and zero transaction fees.

According to Maribank, this is the first such product (investment account with instant cash-out feature) that is offered by a bank in Singapore

I was curious to find out if it has been successful in attracting significant interest, especially when it is able to offer higher returns than its MariBank Savings Account (2.88% until 31 December 2023).

Investment Objective and Approach

The prospectus states that “the Sub-Fund seeks to provide enhanced yield over Singapore Dollar deposits and safety of capital while keeping overall portfolio risk low and maintaining a high level of liquidity. The Sub-Fund will invest in an actively managed and broadly diversified portfolio of debt instruments, short-term money market instruments, and other collective investment schemes”.

Lion-MariBank SavePlus’ approach is to invest in a “high-quality portfolio of debt instruments diversified across varying issuers and tenures while maintaining a
weighted average portfolio credit rating of BBB- or higher and a weighted average duration of 24 months or less.”

In particular, Lion-MariBank SavePlus may invest 30% or more into each of:

1. LionGlobal Short Duration Bond Fund
2. LionGlobal SGD Enhanced Liquidity Fund
3. LionGlobal USD Enhanced Liquidity Fund
4. LionGlobal SGD Money Market Fund

Obviously, LionGlobal is the manager of the funds as well.

According to LionGlobal, the portfolio’s base currency is SGD, and foreign currency-denominated securities will be fully hedged back to SGD except for a 5% frictional currency limit.

Based on the factsheet, if you are investing in Lion-MariBank SavePlus, you are essentially holding MAS bills as well as Money Market Funds and Short Duration Bond Funds.

I was curious as to what the MAS Bills are, and this is the answer that ChatGPT gave me when I asked.

Singapore Government Treasury Bill (T-Bill) issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

It is a zero-coupon bond, which means that it does not pay any interest during its term.

Instead, investors buy the T-Bill at a discount to its face value and receive the full face value when the T-Bill matures.

MAS Bills are one of the safest investments available, as the full faith and credit of the Singapore government backs them.

Lion-MariBank SavePlus Fund Size Increased Significantly

In total, Lion Global Investors had about US$50.8 billion of assets under management as of the end of June 2023.

However, if we were to take a closer look at Lion-MariBank SavePlus, the fund comprises only a small fraction of that amount.

According to the official website, the Lion-MariBank SavePlus fund size has grown to –

• August 2023: SGD $10.2 million (Launch)
• October 2023: SGD $43.8 million
• November 2023: SGD $78.1 million

When I wrote the earlier blog post, I used the information from the factsheet, which listed the fund size as SGD $10.2 million as of August 2023 with an NAV price of $1.004.

Considering that the product only officially launched on 22 September 2023, it is probably safe to infer that much of the inflows could have come from Maribank’s customers who were not satisfied with the upsized 2.88% interest rate in the Mari Savings Account.

Safe to say, getting returns of more than 3% is definitely more appealing.

In search of higher yields, customers of MariBank likely have moved some of their funds over into Mari Invest.

The fund NAV has increased to S$1.014 as of 13 December 2023 vs. the Mari Invest launch date NAV of S$ 1.0057 on 22 September 2023.

Lion-MariBank SavePlus Yield Has Been Volatile

Mari Invest SavePlus is been yielding around the range of 3.1% to 4.2% (shown on the MariBank app) from what I can recall.

Projected returns are volatile and can fluctuate wildly.

Recall that the fund’s benchmark is the MAS Govt Bill Yield 3 Month (MASB3M Index).

What About Alternative Investment Products With Good Liquidity?

If you are wondering about the various categories of funds used for cash management accounts,  the main categories of funds from lowest to higher risk used are:

In comparison to other options with similarly good liquidity traits, a cash fund product like the Fullerton SGD Cash Fund is an alternative to the Lion-MariBank SavePlus.

• Cash Fund (lowest risk)
• Money Market Fund
• Short Duration Bond Fund

The most important thing to note is that when it comes to a cash fund, it invests primarily in fixed deposits, and they are considered the lowest risk of any investment fund with the potential loss risk of 0.01% or less in the case of a maximum drawdown.

In a nutshell, cash funds invest in only fixed deposits and have the lowest risk.

For money market funds and short-duration bond funds, the risk level rises in tandem with their short-term debt instruments’ duration.

The Killer Feature: Instant Withdrawal

To the best of my knowledge, there is no other investment product like Lion-MariBank SavePlus that offers an instant cash-out feature.

I can see the attractiveness of such a feature because emergency funds can now be used to access higher yields in a relatively safe manner and yet offer instant withdrawals at the same time.

You can withdraw up to S$10,000 per calendar day and receive the proceeds instantly. I have tested this, and it worked seamlessly.

For sell orders above S$10,000, you will receive the proceeds by the end of the next business day.

In my previous test with the Fullerton SGD Cash Fund (offered by MoneyOwl), it performed quite well with very quick withdrawals.

My MoneyOwl WiseSaver (Fullerton SGD Cash Fund) withdrawal was processed in 1 business day, and I received my money in my bank account promptly.

I understand that it isn’t exactly worthy of comparison to Mari Invest, especially if we happen to process the withdrawal on a weekend, but it is definitely useful to bear this in mind.

Recap: Mari Invest’s Lion-MariBank SavePlus

Although participants in the space (such as Grab and MoneyOwl) that offered low-cost investment services have winded down their services in recent days, Mari Invest appears to be heading in the opposite direction and has managed to grow its fund size significantly in a short period of time.

Perhaps the search for higher yield combined with the frictionless approach that allows MariBank customers to move their funds from the Savings Account into Mari Invest is working well.

I do hope that Maribank will continue what it is doing and continue to launch more innovative products to disrupt the digital banking space.

Perhaps make it easier for customers to spend their money with a debit card like what GXS Bank has launched.

MariBank Referral Code – TURTLE10

MariBank reached out to share that they have launched a brand new referral program that is valid until 31 December 2023.

When you sign up for a Mari Savings Account (check out my review), you can apply the MariBank referral code TURTLE10 to get a $10 Shopee voucher with no minimum spend required.

Here’s what you need to take note so that the $10 Shopee voucher can be credited:

• Link your MariBank account to your Shopee account.
• Input the correct code TURTLE10 to qualify for the reward.
• The voucher will be credited within three working days of successful application.

I don’t get anything when you use this promo code, so the benefit is all yours!

Better Returns For My Cash Savings

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Kevin started beragampengetahuan when his net worth languished at negative $25,755. His desire to turn things around led him to build passive income from investments and side hustles that pay for his daily expenses and vacations. You can learn more about Kevin here.