A roboadviser at your service

Official launch: (from left) chairman of GAX MD Sdn Bhd Tan Sri Mohd Munir Abdul Majid, Tan, Hirose and the founder and chairman of Silverlake Group Goh Peng Ooi at the launching of GAX MD’s MYTHEO.

KUALA LUMPUR: There is a new roboadviser in town - MYTHEO - a digital investment management service by Silverlake Digital INX Sdn Bhd and Japanese firm Money Design Co Ltd.

Teaming up though joint venture company GAX MD Sdn Bhd, the service offers Malaysian investors a personalised digital investment management service through web and mobile platforms.

It uses a proprietary algorithm developed by Money Design with Kyoto University which generates optimised portfolios of each investor based on their profile, individual income and risk appetite.

Using AI Assist, the algorithm analyses market sentiments from global news and market data towards sound investment risk control and solutions, of which MYTHEO will automatically rebalance and optimise the users’ investment portfolio.

“It only needs some basic risk profile information to create a recommended customised portfolio, tailored especially for the investors which is then automised to a proprietary algorithm that enables anyone in Malaysia to start investing globally.

“These are all made possible through our technology innovation and financial engineering supported by our AI capabilities, big data analysis, biometrics and voice activation commands,” said GAX MD chief executive officer Ronnie Tan during the launch of MYTHEO.

It only requires a starting commitment of RM500.

In terms of customer protection, the money and assets are held by Malaysian Trustees Bhd as the custodian.

Tan added that they have been exploring the opportunity of the MYTHEO model back in 2017 when the Securities Commission issed a framework on digital investment management. They then found Japan’s Money Design to come on board as a strategic partner.

Money Design pioneered the first robo-advisory in Japan called THEO, under the regulation of the Japan Financial Services Agency.

Its co-founder and vice-chairman Tomoyoshi Hirose said THEO currently benefits over 60,000 Japanese investors, managing more than US$300mil in total assets.

Meanwhile, Tan said Silverlake is walking the robo-advisory path because it is a very natural progression in the fintech world.

“Malaysia is an attractive market with a relative young and tech-savvy population and those aged between 22 and 40 make up around 29% of the population.

“There are close to about eight million millennials and a lot of them really lack financial inclusiveness.

“If you are able to convert 10% of this 8 million and convince them to put a minimal amount of RM1,000, that’s a huge market to tap on,” Tan said, adding that Malaysia will be a good starting platform to build the business before GAX MD expands beyond Malaysia.