Life is about finding ‘The One’ – the one life partner, the one dream job, the one dream house. So why should our financial advisor be any different? Searching financial advisors and having trust in them, is always a matter of worry every time we plan an investment. Therefore, we constantly keep on looking for someone who is an expert in the field.
FundMyLife, a Singapore-based startup solves this issue by aggregating all the financial advisors under one platform.
The business model is based on subscription, where the financial advisors ( FAs) pay to be on the platform, while regular users of the site use it for free. Breaking the old school thought of commission based model, the team thought that subscription will be a more sustainable business.
Currently, the start-up is on MVP stage, and are onboarding FAs and are planning to launch in late July. The co- founders Jackie Tan Yen and Wesley Goi were classmates in undergraduate course and eventually reconnected last year in August 2015 during the UN Women Hackathon. They felt the need of this kind of product and started working on the idea.
Being aware of the type of marketplace startup face – low traction on either side Jackie said,
FundMyLife will be a one-stop location for finding good advisors, and will expand our presence in the SEA region in the future. Our next immediate expansion plan is to enter the Malaysian market, more specifically Penang and Kuala Lumpur within the next year. We have already received inquiries from agencies in Penang, which is heartening!” He also said “We are scientists by training, and we see a parallel between our experiments and fundMyLife. This allows us to approach it in a methodical and scientific manner, which essentially aligns to the iterative processes required by startups to examine themselves and succeed.
When asked, What makes you different from the other big companies that operate in Singapore’s market ?
Jackie replied,
It’s true that there are many big companies, but there is no single unifying platform for regular lay people to access FAs from these companies. Fortunately for us, we are not involved in the certification of these people and anyone who is allowed to sell would be able to come onboard with us.
There are currently 15,000 active FAs in Singapore alone, and they charge S$D59 per month for the basic plan (Early Adopter price), with additional S$D5/month discount for every person referred in their referral programmes. They are confident in reaching out to these professionals to allow them to brand and market themselves
