Endowus vs StashAway vs Syfe

Endowus, StashAway, and Syfe are the three largest robo-advisors in Singapore by AUM. All three give you a diversified ETF portfolio you can fund monthly, but they take very different approaches to investing, fees, and which money you can deploy.

What you're comparing

How they compare

Endowus vs StashAway vs Syfe
EndowusStashAwaySyfe
Annual advisory fee0.25% – 0.60% (tiered)0.20% – 0.80% (tiered)0.35% – 0.65% (tiered)
Underlying ETF / fund TER~0.20% – 0.40%~0.10% – 0.25%~0.10% – 0.30%
Effective total cost~0.45% – 1.00%~0.30% – 1.05%~0.45% – 0.95%
Min investmentS$1,000S$1S$0 (S$1 minimum on most products)
Investment styleDimensional academic factor tilts + cap-weightedRisk-targeted (ERAA), responds to macro signalsPure market-cap index (REIT+, Core, Equity100)
CPF (OA) investing supportYes — the only robo approved for CPF OANoNo
SRS supportYesYesYes
CPF / SRS feeFlat 0.40% p.a. on CPF and SRS0.20% – 0.80% (SRS only)0.35% – 0.65% (SRS only)
Cash management product (projected yield)Cash Smart Secure / Enhanced (~1.1% – 2.3% p.a.)StashAway Simple (~2.7% p.a. projected)Cash+ Flexi (~1.7% – 3.8% p.a. projected)
Notable productsFund Smart (DIY fund picking), Cash SmartStashAway Simple (cash mgmt)REIT+, Income+, Cash+

Our take

If you want to invest CPF Ordinary Account savings, the choice is made for you — Endowus is the only one of the three approved for CPF OA, at a flat 0.40% p.a. For SRS, all three work; pick Endowus for institutional funds, StashAway for macro-responsive allocation, or Syfe for pure-passive plus fractional stock trading. For cash investing, decide between macro-responsive (StashAway) and pure passive (Syfe / Endowus). And remember the cash-management products (Cash Smart, StashAway Simple, Cash+) are a separate, lower-fee use case from the investment portfolios. For pure cost minimisation you can still beat all three by buying broad-market ETFs (CSPX, VWRA) directly via Interactive Brokers — at the cost of doing the work yourself.

Frequently asked questions

Can I move my portfolio between robos?

Yes, but it requires selling at one platform and buying at another, which crystallises capital gains/losses and costs you market movements during the transition window. There's no in-kind transfer between Singapore robos.

Are robo-advisor funds covered by SDIC?

No. Robo portfolios are invested in securities (ETFs, unit trusts) held in custody. SDIC covers bank deposits up to S$100,000 — robo investments are subject to market risk, not deposit insurance. However, robo platforms typically segregate client assets from operational funds, so the platform itself failing wouldn't put your investments at risk.

How are dividends handled?

All three robos automatically reinvest dividends back into the portfolio (no DRIP fees). This compounds returns more efficiently than manual reinvestment. Syfe's REIT+ and Income+ portfolios can instead pay distributions out as cash if you want income.

Which robo can I use to invest my CPF money?

Only Endowus is approved to invest CPF Ordinary Account savings, at a flat 0.40% p.a. fee. StashAway and Syfe accept cash and SRS but not CPF. So if deploying CPF OA is your goal, Endowus is effectively the only option among the three — bear in mind CPFIS rules (the under-utilised first S$20,000 of OA must stay in CPF) still apply.

Are the cash-management products the same as the investment portfolios?

No. StashAway Simple, Endowus Cash Smart and Syfe Cash+ are low-fee cash-management products that hold money-market and short-duration bond funds for parking spare cash, with projected yields broadly in the ~1% – 3.8% p.a. range as of 2026. They are not capital-guaranteed and the projected rate moves with interest rates. The robo investment portfolios are higher-risk, higher-fee equity/bond mixes for long-term growth — treat them as separate decisions.

Is StashAway's ERAA actively managed?

Effectively, yes. ERAA (Economic Regime-based Asset Allocation) rebalances the portfolio in response to macro signals, so StashAway is not a buy-and-hold passive product. That overlay underperformed plain index funds during the 2022 drawdown, which frustrated some investors. Syfe (cap-weighted) and Endowus (factor-tilted but rules-based) make fewer tactical shifts — choose the philosophy you can actually hold through a downturn.

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