StashAway review: MAS licence, ETF Explorer fees and portfolios

Overview

StashAway is a digital investment platform that builds portfolios from ETFs. On its Singapore site it offers managed portfolios (General Investing, Singapore Investing, Responsible Investing, thematic and income portfolios), cash management portfolios (StashAway Simple and Simple Plus) and ETF Explorer, where you choose ETFs yourself. It does not offer single stocks on the pages we read. The group says it has clients in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and the UAE; each of those markets has its own site and prices, and this review covers only StashAway Singapore. All facts come from StashAway’s own pages and documents, checked on 28 October 2026.

Who runs it

StashAway is a brand of Asia Wealth Platform Pte. Ltd. (company 201624878Z), which is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (CMS100604) and holds a Capital Markets Services licence for retail fund management. Its notice says: “In Singapore, StashAway offers its services through Asia Wealth Platform Pte. Ltd.” Non-Singaporeans and permanent residents can open an account, but StashAway does not serve citizens and residents of certain countries; US tax residents have not been accepted since January 2022. We could not open the MAS register to confirm the licence (it showed a bot check).

ETF Explorer costs

ETF Explorer charges US$1 (excluding GST) each time you invest in or withdraw from an ETF, with no monthly management fee. For ETFs listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), a 0.09% operation fee is added. StashAway says it sometimes picks US-listed ETFs; for example, its S&P 500 portfolio uses the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (IVV). You can hold fractional units, and dividends are reinvested free of charge. New and regular investors can get free buy orders under promotions, which are not counted here.

If you deposit Singapore dollars into a portfolio held in US dollars, StashAway applies a currency conversion spread of 0.32% on ETF Explorer and 0.22% on managed portfolios.

Managed portfolio fees

Managed portfolios are charged an annual fee on the amount invested (excluding GST), in tiers: 0.8% on the first S$25,000, then 0.7%, 0.6%, 0.5%, 0.4% and 0.3% on higher bands, and 0.2% on any amount above S$1 million. A Flexible Portfolio with a single ETF costs 0.3%. StashAway Simple costs 0.15% a year and Simple Plus 0.2%. The ETFs’ own costs (the expense ratio) come on top: about 0.2% a year according to StashAway, and about 0.4% for the Income portfolio.

Minimum, deposits and withdrawals

There is no minimum for deposits in Singapore dollars (StashAway suggests at least S$10) and no minimum for ETF investing. You can deposit by PayNow, internet banking or eGIRO, in SGD or USD, only from a bank account in your own name; your bank may charge for USD transfers. StashAway charges no withdrawal fee.

How your money is held

Cash deposits are kept in a trust account at DBS Bank, and investable cash and securities in a custodian account with Saxo Capital Markets Pte Ltd (Lion Global for Simple). This keeps client assets apart from StashAway’s own money, but it is not an investor compensation scheme, and none is named on the pages we read.

For investors who want Shariah-compliant investing, StashAway offers a Shariah Global Portfolio of Shariah-compliant ETFs, including sukuk and gold.

What we could not confirm

• The licence in the MAS register (bot check) and any regulator action (the MAS site was unavailable).
• A founding year: the site only says StashAway’s mission dates from 2017.
• A full list of countries whose residents cannot open an account.

We have not tested StashAway with our own account yet; this review will be updated when we do.