At a Glance

Establish your investment objectives

Primarily to draw the outline of an efficient portfolio.

Set your investment time horizon

To navigate you towards the right type and nature of investments.

Identify your risk tolerance

Align your risk ability and capacity with your investment goals and time horizon to build a portfolio best suited for yourself.

What’s Right for Me

Selecting the right fund to invest in can be challenging for an individual investor. Therefore, establishing your investment goal, the amount of risk you are willing to take, and the time frame to remain invested will help shortlist funds to invest in.

Funds can differ in range of assets, geography, industry and more. While there is a wide spectrum of funds available in the market, they can be viewed to serve two broad investment goals: investing for income (income funds) and investing for growth (growth funds).

• Income funds generate returns in the form of dividends and interest payments from its underlying assets. As such, they are likely to invest in more mature companies that make considerable profit but do not need much reinvestment capital and therefore can afford to pay higher dividends. Investing in these more mature companies, being more established, also brings about lesser risk. Some income funds offer investors the option to reinvest their earned income to enlarge their investment capital. Income funds are generally identified by "income" in their fund names, and they tend to have a flexible holding period depending on investment goals.
• Growth funds generate returns from capital appreciation of its underlying assets. As such, they are likely to invest in newer companies with potential for considerable growth in the future. However, it is more risky to invest in newer companies as they may fail to take off and/or not be able to achieve growth plans. Growth funds are generally identified by "high yield" and/or "select opportunities" and/or "alpha", etc. in their fund names. They tend to have a longer holding period to allow room for capital appreciation and are not recommended for those who invest later in life and/or nearing/during retirement.

When investing in funds, you should think about possible exposure across asset types, geography and industry. By diversifying across countries, you can reduce geographical risks resulting from political strife, civil unrest and foreign tensions, as well as gain from upside in other unaffected or lesser affected markets. Similarly, diversifying across industries can lower risk in unfavourable market conditions affecting a particular sector’s performance, and its impact may be cushioned by the other lesser affected or better performing industries. Different combinations of equity, fixed income and alternative exposure can give rise to different levels of portfolio risk to cater to various investor profiles.

Ways to Invest

• Lump-sum contribution
  • One-time contribution with ad-hoc funds (e.g. an inheritance or bonus)
  • Additional contributions as and when funds are available
• Regular Savings Plan (RSP)
  • Fuss-free monthly contribution via interbank GIRO or monthly deductions from your DBS savings or current account
  • With Dollar Cost Averaging, you can potentially enjoy a lower average cost over time compared with lump-sum contribution
• Combination of lump-sum contribution and RSP
  • Make a lump-sum contribution and continue investing with regular monthly contributions

Funding Options

• Cash
• CPF Ordinary Account or Special Account savings
• SRS holdings

How to Invest

Use the Fund Search tool to view and select your preferred funds.

How to Apply

Related

Know Your Investment Risk Profile

Research and expert insights

OFI user guide