We interview Wong Sui Jau, General Manager at Fundsupermart, on the new WISE@fundsupermart.com portal launched recently, and how investors may make use of this new initiative to enhance their savings.

Questions:

Can you tell us a bit more about WISE?
- WISE was designed to change investors' mindset with regards to saving and investing
- Traditionally, investors do not associate saving and investing as similar as there is a sales charged levied on investments and there is a period of time before an investment breaks even
- With the launch of WISE, more than 50 fixed income funds available through WISE are offered at 0% sales charge
- This makes investing in these fixed income funds similar to savings as investors break even on day one, and they can start earning yield immediately

How can investors make use of this new WISE initiative?
- The WISE portal (wise.fundsupermart.com) has a lot of information on fixed income investing, such as risks involved and the different bond categories
- Also available are individual fund reviews produced by the Fundsupermart Research Team, which discusses the strategies adopted by the fund managers and other unique features of each fund
- Purpose is to help investors understand bond funds better and help their investments

What is the process for gaining access to these WISE fixed income funds at 0% sales charge?
- Investors just require a Fundsupermart account
- So long as the fund they are interested to invest in is part of the WISE initiative, all investors will automatically enjoy the 0% sales charge

Do you have any of these WISE fixed income funds in your personal account?
- Currently invested in 2 WISE fixed income funds, Nikko AM ShortTerm Bond (S$) and Fidelity Asian HY AMDIST SGD Hedged
- Used to be invested in Aberdeen Asian Local Ccy SD Bond or "Shorty" but switched this allocation into equity funds last year due to attractive valuations in the equity market
- Will look to increasing fixed income exposure after equity markets pick up as portfolio is very much overweight in equities
- Has advised wife to allocate a larger proportion of her portfolio into bond funds due to their lower volatility and her lower risk appetite