At Syfe, the security of our clients' money and assets is of utmost importance. Syfe is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and we hold a Capital Markets Services (CMS) licence for retail fund management, dealing in capital markets products, and providing custodial services. As a regulated financial institution, we are subject to stringent regulations including the need to protect, safeguard and ringfence clients’ money and assets. Under no circumstance will we treat your money or assets as our own.

Client money

When you fund your account at Syfe, you can be assured of the following:

1. Your money is held in segregated client accounts at established and regulated financial institutions such as DBS Singapore and HSBC Singapore. 
2. Your money is segregated and not co-mingled with Syfe’s own money and hence Syfe does not and cannot use clients’ money for its own use.
3. Clients’ money is protected from Syfe’s creditors in the unlikely event that Syfe goes into liquidation.  

Client assets

When the money you fund at Syfe is invested, whether through Brokerage and/or Syfe Portfolios, you can be assured of the following:

1. Your assets (such as holdings of shares and ETFs) are held in separate custodian accounts at established and regulated financial institutions such as Saxo Capital Markets and Lion Global. As your assets are held in a custodian account, you won't have direct access to vote or attend a company's general meeting. For discretionary portfolios (all portfolios except Income+), Syfe investment team will make decisions regarding any corporate actions based on whether they will benefit the respective portfolios.
2. Your assets are segregated and not commingled with Syfe’s own assets and hence Syfe does not and cannot use clients’ assets for its own use.
3. Clients’ assets are protected from Syfe’s creditors in the unlikely event that Syfe goes into liquidation. 

In the unlikely event of a closure, Syfe will work with its partner custodians, which hold clients’ money and assets, to ensure the orderly transfer of money and assets to other licensed financial institutions or the return of all money and assets to clients.

In addition, the following applies to clients’ assets in Brokerage:

Assets in the US Market

Alpaca Securities LLC, a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), serves as the sub-custodian for your US-listed securities account.

In the event that a SIPC member fails and is placed in liquidation under the Securities Investor Protection Act, SIPC protects the securities customers of its members up to $500,000 (including $250,000 for claims for cash). SIPC does not protect against any decline in the value of your securities. For details, please see www.sipc.org.

Assets in the SG Market

Our broker is a Central Depository (CDP)-approved depository agent and maintains assets in sub-accounts on behalf of each of our clients in accordance with SGX rules. You may refer to this article for more information on how your assets are held. Please note that SIPC protection does not apply to SG-listed securities.

In summary, whether you invest in Syfe Portfolios or Brokerage, your funds and assets are held separately from Syfe’s. This means that your money and assets are protected and cannot be used for payment for Syfe’s debts even in the very unlikely event that Syfe stops operating.

You are free to withdraw their money any time they wish. Syfe does not impose any exit penalties or lock-in periods and clients can  access their money any time.