Forex, Remittances, SGD INR

SGD INR 55 Achieved, Target 57

108 Comments

SGD INR finally crossed 55 after appreciating 5% from the exchange rate in Nov 2019 – 52.60. Theoretically speaking you would have gained slightly more by transferring to India but after accounting for the transaction costs it might not have been much.

It stayed below the 55 mark as I had written more than 2 years back SGD INR flirts with 52 could it hit 55. That time i did not think it will cross 55 but now I am updating my SGD INR target to 57, yes you read it right, Fifty Seven!!

By when?

I expect this to be achieved by the end of the year and then the rate should slowly decline back to 54.5 leading upto the Indian Budget in Feb 2021

The rationale being that USD INR will touch 76.5 and USD SGD will move to 1.34 mark in the short run.

Why will INR weaken?

Inflation and rising COVID cases will make it hard for INR to appreciate, the fund flows on account of mega deals that Reliance Industries has been doing should come to an end and at some point the Foreign Institutional investors will book profits and withdraw their gains from the stock markets. RBI will smoothen then currency movements but given the inflation has very little room to tweak the interest rates.

Why would SGD strengthen?

Singapore is one of the last few countries that offer a positive interest rates on government securities and is politically stable unlike US or parts of Europe. This gives SGD bonds safe haven status and money comes in. The same thing happened in 2009-2012 when SGD rose to as high as 1.22 against the USD.

Does this only benefit SGD INR?

Next 6 weeks should provide opportunity across currencies – EUR INR could see 90, GBP INR 99 and USD INR – 76.5. So those looking to transfer can watch out for these levels.

Instead of waiting for absolute levels, I would plan for any transfers based on what is your end goal. If you are getting a high interest rate in NRE FD’s or other investments now then even current rate of 55.4 is a good rate. Each of us have different goals, tax status and risk tolerances. Therefore plan based on your needs and not get stuck at specific levels.

There are other options if you do not want to transfer the money to India and yet want to gain with the short term increase in rates, watch out for the next post.

108 thoughts on “SGD INR 55 Achieved, Target 57”

    1. Yeah finally. INR has done amazingly well to hold up until now, when 50 was reached in 2013 means SGD has been a laggard compared to INR. SGD is not going to do well in this new world order of reduced globalisation. Better to hold currencies like INR. Oil prices have peaked and likely to crash going forward. So my policy of not holding any SGD cash and instead investing in ETFs or INR debt funds continues.

      Cheers!

      Like

    2. MAS will be forced to strengthen SGD if inflation continues. In 2008 financial crisis SGD went up to 1.22 against the dollar, this time around if it goes even 1.32 SGD INR will hit 60

      Like

    3. No, not in 2008 crisis. During the 2008 crash SGD also fell. SGD hit 1.2 levels only in 2011. MAS doesnt target any exchange rate, it only guides it in a channel and SGD is still susceptible to market forces. So if market wants to sell SGD, then MAS cannot prevent it, MAS can only guide it in a channel. So even now USDSGD will hit 1.45, it is just fundamentals.

      Like

    4. Yes it was 2011 when the inflation expectations had started to rise. MAS guides exchange rate by centering the band the way it did this morning. Instead of increasing rates MAS uses exchange rate and they will have no choice but to strengthen SGD to tame inflation. If USD SGD goes to 1.45 USD INR will be 83-85 keeping SGD INR around current levels.

      Like

    5. Just to add, SGD tracks a basket of currencies. USD is rising, but rest of the basket is falling. So net net SGD will continue to fall mildly against USD.

      Like

    7. Forex reserves down another 7.5 billion as RBI defends rupee. I think rupee will not cross 82 to USD and retrace back to 78 as inflation in US settles translating into 58-59 to SGD in short term and 56 becoming the new base

      Liked by 1 person

  2. 56.5 today…57 looks possible. One option could be to lock rates on wise and if rates go further up then cancel the transaction and book a new one

    Like

    Reply

  3. Sgd INR is hovering around 56.80 it might cross 57 tonight or tomorrow. I had not wished that India had to go through a crisis like this to happen but political and human carelessness has brought this day. Hopefully this bad time for the country passes away soon

    Like

    Reply
  4. Pingback: SGD INR: Rollercoaster First few months of 2021 | Aditya Ladia

    2. Wow, that’s another sharp move. Looks like RBI trying to flush the traders who believed RBI will mop up unlimited amounts of USD.

      If it touches 56, then can consider moving money to India and go for Bharat Bond.

      Like

  6. Saw an article where a Standard Chartered Analyst is predicting USD INR at 76.5 by end of the year which is what I had written here. I was expecting a hands off RBI but with RBI smoothening the moves the fall will be gradual

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. There is a possibility that this move could be due to end of financial year adjustments and dollar mop up by RBI starts again next week.

      Like

    1. We get around 1 pisa interest per 1$ (= Rs 55) per day in India if we manage around 7% returns.

      Technically who ever transferred sgd to INR at 55 in last 1 year, their INR value is now around Rs : Rs. 58+.

      Seems INR heading towards 53.5 to 54.5 range for long time.

      Like

    2. Since June last year I have transferred 385k to India at average rate of 54.5. That is something I had saved up here and tried to invest since last 5-6 years. My plan was to really manage about 50% of my money here. But the crash of Mar 2020, severely dented my confidence and I gave up on managing money here. I decided to just move everything and lock in to NRE FDs as my networth is already 6cr, there is no need for me take excessive risks in stock markets. I just need to beat inflation and have capital protection, which I think NRE FDs will do okay job, due to their tax treatment. I still follow stock markets daily, but I feel sad, with the way it went for me.

      Like

    3. That crash was long coming, covid or no covid the market did not have reasons to go up. It had a fall. Covid helped clean the slate. I think Singapore is a good place to invest globally specially with no capital gains tax. Even the funds I was invested in fell around 50% but I always like to have ample liquid cash for rainy day some of which I invested at that time and waited for markets to come back. Most of my investments are for super long term and Vietnam still is my favorite purely on valuation and young population. I call it india of 2003.
      Btw, did you ever open an SRS account?

      Liked by 1 person

    4. Yes, I opened SRS account with DBS and put $1 in it. But I dont think it is worth for foreigners unless we are in the 15% or above tax bracket. I am in the 11.5% tax bracket. So I save 11.5% now but will have to pay 7.5% at the time of withdrawal amount, not worth it. If you are a PR or SC and you will be tax resident in SG at 60, then it is worth it.

      Like

    5. It’s true that SRS becomes attractive as the tax bracket goes up. It’s good to open one as soon as possible though specially for a non PR or citizen as it allows to lock in the 10year time period (atleast one can avoid the withdrawal penalty)

      Like

    6. Do you guys have a pension plan in India? One of my colleagues asked about 2 plans from LIC and on doing the math it seemed worse off than NRE FD. Wondering how many people fall for 1 crore at retirement tag line and should I write a analysis post.

      Like

    7. Any thoughts on SGD — > INR rate for next 1 month as I have plan to move INR to SGD. Can it go down to 53? Thanks

      Like

    8. logically it would not make sense for it to fall that much, I would think 53.50 should be absolute bottom. My bigger concern is sudden sell off in rupee as cases in India rise and with year end approaching traders lock in profits

      Like

    10. Read a report that said SGD could fall to 1.38 in April against the USD due to low inflation expectations, if that happens then 53 becomes possible but it’s near impossible to catch tops and bottoms so 53.5 might still make sense

      Like

    11. Hi Nitin

      My plan is move INR (NRO) to SGD when rate is around 53.50/75 and hold sgd for some time and move it to NRE when rate move to 54+.

      I buy sgd from friends directly as amount is small.

      Like

    12. Your friends should be careful about tax implication on receiving credit in bank account, it can get added to their income

      Like

    13. Hi Aditya

      SGD —- > INR seems moving towards 53/53.50 for short term.

      Any thoughts on the rate moment for next 3 months ?

      Thank you.

      Like

    14. Hi Reddy

      In 3 months time SGD INR should be back at 54.50 – 55. Singapore economy is opening up and in India infections going up so its a matter of time sgd inr reacts

      BTW, I have put up a tool to calculate break even interest rate check that out

      Thanks

      Like

  9. Something is wrong with SGD, today it is not appreciating, while most currencies have gone up against USD. Is there something cooking for the SGD?

    Like

    Reply

    1. Sgd is not as volatile as other currencies so unless US yields move sgd will maintain a tight 1.315-1.335 range

      Like

  10. SGDINR spike just for 1 day, but didnt last. 😦 I am getting only 55.05 on SingX with $262 fees for transferring 75K. I have locked in this rate, hope the rate gets better by tomorrow.

    Like

    Reply

    4. Wow, how did you manage to get that rate? Was it from singx? I also was watching from yesterday but I got only 55.05 😦

      Like

    5. Hi Nitin

      I compare Singx, Instarem, TransferWise and SCB.

      Seems transferwise giving better rate than others and have 3 days lock-in period. I just hold sgd, wait for rate.. not in hurry to transfer…. and lock in.

      Like

    6. Nice. I was also thinking of locking in the rate on Friday, but for some reason I thought the price will shoot more the way it shotup. But surprised at the reversal so much so soon. Now 54.74. Anyways I am done with all my transfers. Now need to start fresh accumulating SGD like a new comer, lol.

      Like

    7. You should have used transferwise and locked the rate for 3 calendar days. That would have helped

      Like

    8. Yes, I am kicking myself for missing that, because I was the one who posted this trick on this forum few days back. I just thought I should stepback and wait for a bigger move. Big mistake.

      Like

  11. Hi Sir

    Please post some useful info on below topics when you get time

    1. Best 3in1 trading account for NRI”s in india(lower trading fees and charges)

    Trading fees and TDS/tax matters on capital gains for stocks, mutual funds, bonds, etf ..etc

    2. Best 3in1 trading accounts in singapore (lower fees). Tiger vs Philip capital vs Saxo .. etc

    Short summary of opening trading accounts for NRIs in singapore and how to trade in stocks, etf”s .. etc

    Sorry for asking too much info. Reviewed some blogs but too confusing when we compared with 3in1 trading accounts in India.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi MS,

      Sure, will try and take out some time. I’m the meanwhile would be great if you shared the blog with friends and family. Its motivating when larger number of people are reading and asking questions.

      Happy weekend 🙂

      Like

  12. I have sold off my last remaining STI etf yesterday and have generated another 80k SGD of cash that I am planning to transfer to India. No more SGD with me in Singapore after this. I think this time I will choose the 7% bharat bond 2031 mutual fund instead of putting it in Indusind 6.5% NRE FD. Even though the 6.5% is tax free, I think the 7% locking for 10years is more valuable. Any thoughts Aditya?

    For the NRE FDs, even though I can lock in for 10years too, but if I go back to India, I will need to start paying taxes at 33% on them, or break them and then not sure for the new bond yields will be at that time. So that is the risk I want to avoid.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Nitin,

      I think that next two months are going to be volatile. US yields have gone up yet again and India has a large amount to borrow next year. I think the yields on bharat bond can go up to 7.5%.

      There is a chance of spike in Covid cases in India which will give a buying opportunity in Indian equity markets. There are still undervalued sectors that one can invest through ETF’s or Mutual funds. PSUs still have a lot of value in them

      I personally would not go all debt etf or FD in India as that exposes us to concentration risk plus I look at any investment from a exchange rate adjusted net return. Fd’s have returned around 4% over past 3/4 years unless you managed to move money at spikes in exchange rates.
      I believe 54.5-55 is the new base rate for sgd inr with bias towards 56.5-57 over this year so maybe sitting in cash for a while instead of being invested in fd or equity might be a good bet. Let the market correct and then enter again.

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Hi Nitin

      You are spot on and SGD-INR rate jumped today. Please share your views on buying stocks, ETF”s in singapore for next 5-10 years time period.

      CPF also seems good option if use wisely like SRS, special account transfers and top-up.

      Like

  13. Hi Aditya

    I am SG PR and stay in sg as long as job is there.

    What would you suggest for a low risk taker to manage for next 10 years.

    M60 – INR – NRE account
    M5 – INR – NRO account

    Can NRI buy Low risk india Govt bonds which gets above 7% returns for next 10 years ? Don’t want other corporate bonds due to high default risk.

    Thank you for your time and advise.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi MSR,

      What is M60 and M5 NRE / NRO account that you mention?

      To get exposure to Indian Govt Bonds you can purchase the Bharat Bond ETF or wait till the RBI operationalises the retail gilt purchases.

      NRI can’t buy the RBI savings bonds which is probably the closest you will get to the govt of India bonds.

      I personally like the HSBC India Fixed Income AM30 fund as it invests in Govt of india bonds and is listed in Singapore dollar.

      Thanks

      Like

    2. M60 – 60 Million INR. 😀

      Real estate – I find it hard to manage if we don’t have local people.

      Stocks : High Risk and 10% TDS for NRI”s and tax filing issues.

      NRE FD – Around 6% return- easy to manage.

      Bonds/ETF – have to explore

      Any other options ???

      I am looking around 7% return for next 10 years without much risk.

      Like

    3. I agree, that real estate is tricky to manage without someone locally looking after and as much as equity sounds risky it allows to get exposure to certain sectors.

      I would recommend filing tax returns because some day you plan to return to India and having a tax history will be helpful.

      You also need to think about the exchange adjusted return. In past 13 years, sgd inr has moved from 26.5 to 54.75 as of today. That itself is a gain of 100%. So even if you kept the money in Singapore and earned 3-4% annually you would have been better off than just leaving money in FD. Not to forget NRE FD only became attractive in 2012/2013 as before that their rate was fixed at 3-4%.

      I would recommend having global exposure and not place all investments in one basket. A good portfolio advisor can help you diversify.

      But if you are averse to any sort of riak then nre fd is a good option. Just don’t go to a cooperative bank or a small bank and put your money there. You have seen how people have lost money even in bank Fds in the past 2/3 years

      Like

    4. Thanks for the long reply Aditya. I moved around 300k with good rate recently (avg around 54.50-55). Hard to find trust now a days and fund managers also try to advise products which common man can not understand. Best example was Yes bank Bonds sold to retail customers as FD”s and written off to 0 last year.

      Moving from 6 to 7/8% returns seems like climbing Himalayas with all the limited knowledge I have.

      My target is getting 7-8% return without much risk and less time to manage funds.

      Keep educating us with useful info sir.

      Like

    5. Yes. I agree, portfolio managers will sell stuff which gives them good commission. I would suggest wait for a fee weeks and if Indian market corrects buy the Nifty ETF or if you have money in Singapore use a fund that invests in India. A lot of foreign money is moving to India and if likes of Jim Rogers are looking at India then the trajectory could be of a long term bull run. There will be ups and downs so diversification if the key. If bharat bond etf hits 7.5% yield then moving some money there would be a good idea. I am not saying NRE FD are not good, but I like to diversify… There is nothing that is risk free these days, all we can do is try and minimise the risk 🙂

      Like

    6. Wow 6cr is a lot to manage in NRE accounts. Hats off to you. I struggle managing half that amount between multiple banks and between wife and me. Did you lock in the FD long term when rates were high? I wish I did that 😦

      Right now my plan is to slowly move into Bharat bonds and balanced India mutual funds hopefully markets falls a bit. I am also like you not sure when I need to quit SG, atleast you are PR. I am on EP since 12 years now and already 40 years, so don’t see myself being able to stay here too long. I don’t want to be in a situation when I am stuck in NRE FDs and will have to pay high taxes on getting back to India.

      Like

    8. Thanks. But I think the tax free bonds yields are already trade lower accounting for 33% tax arbitratage. Markets are always efficient, if there is arbitratrage, it will be taken.

      Like

    9. On second thoughts getting into a bond directly now might not be a good option as you don’t get indexing benefits for capital gains on bonds, however on etf you get so from that perspective ETF makes more sense. In very long run LTCG should go away but one never knows

      Like

    10. Hi Nithin

      My profile is exactly same as yours except PR.
      I have 8 NRE accounts (under my name and wife name – separate accounts).

      It’s really lot of time consuming and additional effort to manage and move funds around.

      Avg rates range around 5.5 to 6.5% for 2 years FD.

      Like

  14. Aditya, I just noticed, Transferwise allows you to lock in rates for 69hours while SingX allows you to lock in only until 5pm that day. I think this is a great feature of Transferwise, which not many people know, maybe you should create an article. 69 hours is a lot, nearly 3 days. Basically you can set a rate and keep it, as long as rates dont go up. If they go up within 3 days, you create a new transaction again and close the old one. So you get the best rate within 3 days and this helps people like me who often catch the worst rate, only to see the rate going up the next day. Lol

    Like

    Reply

  15. I went ahead and did the transfer via singx for 100k @ 54.75 +$250. SingX has a very nice feature, you can lock in an exchange rate and then wait until the rate increases. If it increases, you can cancel the previous one and create a new transaction. You have 24hrs to transfer the money. This really helps, to get the best exchange rate during the day.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Transferwise also has the same feature. I think the rates between the two platforms are very similar. I just prefer the interface of transferwise – UI/UX nerd in me often kicks in

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I often compare the rates before transferring. Transferwise fee doesnt scale down with the amount. The fee is a flat % and it doesnt matter if you transfer $1k or $1million. But SingX fees is 0.35% for 100k.

      I am not sure, if we go directly to banks and request them for a good rate for wire transfer for amounts like 100k, will we get them?

      Like

    3. Back in the day Indian Bank and Indian Overseas Bank used to offer “card rates” for larger amounts but I think it’s just too much paper work for them for one off transfers and they might not be able to beat the singx or transferwise by much. Remember the govt banks are still not that efficient and low cost transfer means better technology adoption and lesser human salaries to pay

      Liked by 1 person

    5. Edit: There is some problem when I put the “less than” symbol in the comment it gets deleted. Let me try again.

      SingX fees is 0.35 percent when amount is less than 100k and it is 0.25 percent when amount is 100k or more.

      Like

  16. Hi Aditya, Nitin

    I do follow this blog now a days even if nothing to transfer to India. Most of us sent SGD to India with 54.50-55.25 rate in last 6 months and most put in NRE Savings/FD”s.

    Stock market is running up like a dark horse now a days and every one buying a lot. I just manage my INR with NRE saving accounts and FD”s only and aim for 6% return. No big tensions and no big headaches.

    2022 may be good year for fixed income products to get 7%+ rerun and lock in for long term.

    Like

    Reply

    2. Hi Reddy,

      I don’t think the fixed deposit rates will go up. The govt has a huge borrowing program and having high interest rate is not in their favor. India has the highest rates when compared to top 10 economies and cost of capital has to be low for industries to be export competitive. I agree the stock markets have run up a lot but there are still undervalued stocks in the Indian markets. So having a balance of equity and debt would be a good strategy to improve retruns

      Like

    3. Hi Aditya, you are right, fixed deposit rates may not go up, however, bond yields will surely go up. RBI is anchoring the 10yr bond at 6% but the rest of the markets is going crazy. Bharat bond 2031 yield to maturity is now 7%. So, already if you lock in you can get 7% for 10yrs. But I think this will go higher to 7.5-8% as the economy opens up and inflation flares. Also US 10yr is at 1.35% right now, when US 10yr goes to 2% due to massive stimulus, surely Indian yields cannot stay at this level. Would like to know your thoughts

      Like

    4. Hi Nitin

      I think 7.5% on Bharat Bond may be the peak. At 8% infrastructure spend becomes untenable unless the govt decides to weaken rupee. Which can be export positive but does nothing for improving productivity. The yield differential between India and US cannot stay at 6% or more. It will go down as India’s GDP improves and economy expands. I think in the long run it will come down to 4%. Ofcourse if there is a war, political turmoil or some other extraordinary event the equations will change.

      Liked by 1 person

    5. Hi Nitin

      I was looking at the holding of Bharat Bond etf and around 95% of the bonds have a coupon rate of 6.5% or lesser which makes me think there is more pain for this etf. Yields could spike to 8% because a PSU is as good as govt but not govt. The companies are all listed and if I were to take a leaf from China play book in a few years time once npa problem is reduced the govt can let psus default on loans if things really go bad. So I think the direct gilt ownership that the budget proposed might be good to look at. Etf is liquid so one can sell but I will not be surprised if NAV falls by another 1-2%

      Like

    6. Thanks Aditya, yes, I agree with you, for now, I am staying in 1yr NRE FD with Indusind bank @6.5%. In Jul I will have some 50L of ICICI FD maturing, that is when I need to next think about where to invest. Lets see where yields will be at that time. For now, I think it is better to stay away from long term bonds.

      Like

  17. I am increasing seeing, INR now moves in lockstep with USD and in any risk off scenario, it is the SGD that falls more than the INR. The old correlations have broken down. This is a new FX regime after RBI has amassed so much of FX reserves and has been preventing INR depreciation. INR is now more of a safe haven than SGD and also INR offers better carry.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Looks like whoever had to send money to India has already sent and there is no real interest in sending money to india anymore. Thats why very quiet here. Even in my circle these days, nobody talks about SGDINR sending money etc.

      Like

    3. Yes, few years back I was the only person in my team who knew about investing. Now more than 5 people are doing active trading. Before that they used to just send to India and open NRE FDs. Now people are doing stocks, ETFs, robo, bitcoin. Everyone is fullon into investments since the lockdown. 🙂

      Like

    4. Question is when do they work? 😉 but on a serious note, NRE FD is no longer that attractive the big banks have rates around 5% and for that extra 1% taking risk of a smaller bank and locking up money may not be worth it

      Liked by 1 person

  18. Hi Aditya,

    I sold my UK ETF and have now about 80k SGD, that I dont know what to do with. The markets are expensive and I dont want to allocate at this time. I like Indian bond yields and IndusInd NRE savings account gives close to 6%. But the rupee is not falling enough for me to go ahead and press the remittance submit button.

    Any ideas?

    Thanks!

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Nitin,

      My fund of choice is HGIF India Fixed Income AM30 for indian bond exposure and keeping money in sgd. I am surprised you sold UK Etf, it looks good for long term. Another option is you can keep cash and invest when markets correct. Though I feel that with liquidity sloshing around markets may have more steam left.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I have decided to go ahead and transfer 100k SGD to India. 100k because, Singx fees goes down to $250 if the amount 100k. With that most of my money will be in India. I feel very jittery managing money in Singapore. I move to ETFs, then markets fall, I regret, when they bounce I fomo. Lol. In India, FDs give 6% I can just relax.

      SingX is giving 54.75 + $250 fee add on. I know not the best rate. But I am not sure if rates will get better. Singapore is not doing better than India, it is trade dependent, while India has internal consumption, FDI flows.

      Like

  19. Oil prices have been going up and maybe that’s why RBI is ok to let the Rupee rise against the USD a little bit. Let’s see what the minutes say tomorrow… It will be interesting if RBI just does a symbolic 10 basis points cutto send a signal in the markets that it does not want the yields to harden. It could be short and effective message let’s see the Governor surprises the markets again. If that happens bond prices will jump and Rupee might weaken again

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yes. I am amazed with the stability of the rupee inspite of the heavy govt borrowing programme in the budget. The yields are up, but not so much. Overall I am pretty pleased with Indian macros. I think Indian equities have rallied a lot and should be range bound here. I am hoping for a crash, so that I could move some of my NRE FDs into Nifty ETF 🙂 Otherwise, I am not planning to move money to India, this year or make any India investment changes. I moved lots of money to India in the last few months. So I will be very happy with stable INR and nice yields from the NRE FDs.

      I bought a lot of UK ETF couple of weeks back, so I am kind of fully invested now 🙂

      Like

    2. With all the cheap money sloshing around equities might just go on a crazy run like in 2009-2014 it will depend on earnings. For India tax revenue and border situation will be key. I think there will be a mini war with China this summer (I will be happy to be wrong) and that can mean a change in order of things for better or for worse who knows

      Liked by 1 person

    3. UK etf is an interesting choice though have not looked at it seriously with the brexit drama going on for 5 years. What made you choose that?

      Like

    4. Hi Aditya,

      UK FTSE 100 stocks are all global conglomerates like Unilever, BP, Astrazeneca, etc. They have 75% of revenue from outside UK. They have been unloved for the last few years due to Brexit drama. So there is a valuation gap. So hopefully there will be rerating now that Brexit is done and dusted. Also FTSE100 is more value and reflation oriented and not growth oriented. If we have global reflation on the back of vaccinations and surge in spending, the FTSE100 should do well. That is my hope. Could be totally wrong 🙂

      Like

  20. Some ideas for people who want to manage money in Singapore while waiting for INR to depreciate:
    This is how I am managing it.
    1)Dash Easyearn – Max 20k earns 2%. Now they have reduced it to 1.8%
    2)Singlife – Max 10k earns 2%. Above that upto 100k earns 1%
    3)Gigantiq – Max 10k earns 2%. I think now they have reduced it to 1.8%
    4)Syfe Cash+ roboadvisor – 1.75% estimated returns. There is no max limit also returns are not guaranteed, they invest in short term bond unit trusts and rebate the trailer fee, so it is better than investing in the unit trust directly ourselves. I have put 12k in this
    5)Endowus Cashsmart – 1.6% again very similar to Syfe cash+ they are running a promo if you deposit 10k, you get one off $100 bonus. So 1% return over and above the estimated returns. But you need to be among the 1st 2000 signups. I have put 10k here.

    So this is how I am currently managing 62k. Any new savings, or if I sell my STI etf, I will just put in the Syfe Cash+ or Endowus cashsmart Robos.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Tomorrow morning might be a good time to get into bharat bond etf. I expect RBI to issue statement to alleviate bond market anxiety

      Liked by 1 person

    1. It might languish like this for a few more days. Last week of Jan is when it should move again. If you are targeting 55.50 then now or 3 weeks later would make no difference, your earnings at 6% in a month will cover the 25-30p difference

      Liked by 1 person

  22. I have another 50k to send to India. But I will wait for SGDINR to go to 56. Meanwhile I am trying to maximise yield on that by deploying in SingLife, EasyEarn, Gigantic and Syfe Cash+. Not easy to manage liquid cash in Singapore and earn yield on it. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  23. Hi Aditya,

    The rupee does look like it will fall further. I have some 50k that I took as SGD margin loan against my ETF at cheap 1.5% interest, I am planning to go ahead and remit to India and book NRE FD for 6.5% with Indusind bank. Any thoughts?

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hi Nitin,

      Your breakeven point will be 5% rupee depreciation from the current levels ignoring any transfer costs. So assuming rupee does go to 57 over the next one year your gain maybe around 2% post the cost funds and currency depreciation. There are better avenues to earn that much by keeping money in Singapore. Any Emerging Market ETF / MF will yield more. I am suggesting a etf as this would be a leveraged transaction but if it is in line with your overall portfolio risk goal then it’s a reasonable bet

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Thanks Aditya, my plan was to invest in some Roboadvisors like Syfe and Stashaway. Infact I had opened accounts with both of them. But looking at the way markets have shot up and US interest rates are also creeping up, so it looks like most markets are now fully valued and that is why I stepped away from investing into markets anymore. I still have STI ETF which I am planning to hold until STI crosses 3000-3200.

      Like

    3. I agree that markets are fully valued and ideally should correct. The current euphoria is beyond explanation. An approach could be to wait and watch for a month, at the most you loose a month’s interest which could be made up by currency movement. I am thinking the rupee will weaken nearing budget which is on 1st Feb

      Liked by 1 person

    4. I yesterday had taken out a margin loan of 50k from interactive brokers against my STI ETF, but today watching the ETF go to 3, I decided to sell it. So, now it no more a loan, I got out of it.

      Like

    6. I went ahead and transferred 50k via singx. They have a promo going on. Enter promo code FIFTYOFF and they charge you half the fee. I got net after fees 55.21 rate. I am going to put it in IndusInd 1yr FD at 6.5%

      Like

    1. Even if it’s not 57, I think 56.5 is very possible. I don’t expect the rate to stick for long though. I think the new support would be 54 and any movements towards 57 are great opportunities to invest in Indian markets

      Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment