Wahed Invest the 1st Islamic Roboadvisor in Malaysia - open for registration - Referral Invite Code : cheong1
Wahed Invest is an Islamic shariah compliant Robo advisor based on US that has been launched in Malaysia. This will be the 3rd Roboadvisor after Stashaway and MyTheo. From the news given, Malaysia is the 1st country outside US which Wahed Invest has launched and Wahed Invest plans to make Malaysia as the springboard hub to deliver their services to other countries in Asia Pacific. After Malaysia, Wahed Invest is going to Indonesia. This is not surprising given that Malaysia is one of the muslim countries that is very open toward fintech products.
Being an Islamic robo advisor most likely means that it will invest only in Islamic ETFs/funds or financial instruments that is shariah compliant (eg sukuk bonds, gold). The roboadvisor supposedly do not (is not allowed to) invest in companies like hotels, beer brewery, cigarette companies, conventional banks and military equipment. (Note : They are not suppose to invest in conventional non islamic banks because of the interest part which banks charges)
The company (Wahed Invest) was also recently licensed to operate in Malaysia by Security Commissions Malaysia (http://www.bernama.com/en/news.php?id=1783902)
Signing up was quite straightforward process, just download the mobile app and register. There seems to be a disconnect between the mobile app and the browser version, the mobile app allows Malaysians to register an account but the browser version still lists the Robo advisory services not available in Malaysia.
As usual, the signing up process involves e-Kyc (know your customer) where your identification card picture is required to be uploaded. The e-Kyc is a very long process and you will need the following documents :
- ID card/passport
- proof of address doc (MYKad, driving license, utilities bill, etc)
- my referral code 'cheong1' to get free RM10
- 1-2 working days for verification and funds transfer to complete
Wahed Invest is not limited to muslim investors, non muslim investors also can sign up. It is just that this app will invests in Shariah compliance investment instruments. The investment options that the app can invests is lesser than other investment products out there. However, limited options doesn't necessarily means having lower performance, the other way of looking at it is it can be more focused. One investment talk I went last year regarding shariah compliant products was that these products tend to perform well in down market cycles due to their defensive portfolio (I went to EPF's briefing on their shariah compliant portfolio).
The management fees charge are quite similar to what Stashaway is charging but lower than MyTheo Robo Advisor. The fees are less than 1%.
Payments can be done via FPX
Update 20191107 : Finally got my funds in. This Roboadvisor seems to have local flavor as it invests in Malaysia equities. For Stashaway and MyTheo roboadvisors, their ETF selections are all US listed ETFs.
The recommended portfolio generated by Wahed invest based on was "Moderately Aggressive" based on the risk profile questionnaires during sign up.
The app splits the invested money into US stocks, Malaysia stocks, Sukuk (Islamic Bonds), Gold and Cash.
Update 20191108 : The fund made a slight gain of RM3 :) . It's way too early to tell if it's a good Robo advisor but there is definitely a slight psychological boost with this tiny gains.
Update 20191111 - Updates on portfolio, slight dip and more realistic returns for such a short period of monitoring. The dashboard page interface is quite straightforward that it shows an immediate view of the gains and earnings.
Update 20191111
Update 20191125
Thanks to president Donald Trump, US stocks reaching new highs, so money in roboadvisor also rise a bit.
Update 20191216
Seeing some signs of stock market recovery, I just added in a small amount into Wahed Invest. There's now a slight 2.25% increase in my Wahed invest portfolio.
Update 20191218
Update 20191222
I've added in RM200 into total portfolio. Decided to double down as got some spare cash on hand from company bonus. Total amount in my portfolio now is above RM1,000.
Update 20191229
Some meaningful gains here in line with year end funds window dressing activity.
Update 20200109
I was expecting some losses after news of Iran retaliating against US for killing one of their top generals but instead the portfolio still continuing it positive growth.
Update 20200115
Every month Wahed Invest will email a summary of account statement in PDF for easier reference and tracking.
My friend who used my referral code's performance looks ok (average) only as he signed up to the app just the day US and Iran relations went sour. So sometimes, timing of entering sometimes is also important.
Update 20200120
From the apps, I'm still continue riding the gains.
Update 20200122
Ok I got to admit, seeing the portfolio grow is very addictive.
Update 20200125
Portfolio returns finally breached the 6% mark.
I'm not sure what returns others are getting but I'm on the Moderately Aggressive plan.
I did some study on what was powering these gains and found that the gains were coming from US equities (Dow Jones US Titans 50). The Malaysia funds were doing very bad, given that KLCI was the worst performing market in Asia Pacific. The Wahed invest portfolio should have more upside if the KLCI recovers. Also, I have topped up RM100 into the portfolio today.
Compared to the other robo advisors like MyTheo and Stashaway, Wahed Invest seems to be invests in less ETFs which I think could be an edge for now because ETFs are essentially already a diversified fund, making its returns more focused. If a robo advisor invests in multiple ETFs, the overall returns needs to depend on the overall returns of all the ETFs. ETFs are exchange traded funds, they are like mutual funds/unit trusts but can be freely traded on the stock exchange and consists of a basket of stocks.
To be frank, Wahed Invest doesn't really look too sophisticated as it only focuses on 4 investments only namely
- Dow Jones US Titans 50
- MSCI Malaysia Islamic Dividend
- RHB Islamic Bond
- Gold ETF
In theory, individuals can buy the funds themselves but I feel a robo advisor assists to rebalance (buy and sell depending on changing risks) and makes it like an automated savings plans. Nowadays people are just way to busy to deal with investing complexities.
MYETF Dow Jones US Titans 50 fund can be individually bought over Bursa Malaysia with stock quote 0827EA. Behind the fund it consists of 50 large cap companies on Dow Jones. The ETF has been rising since October and therefore that explains the increase in my Wahed Invest portfolio value.
I also noticed Wahed Invest app now added in recurring deposit feature for users to automatically and regularly (weekly and monthly) deposit in money into the portfolio. This feature is good for making force and regular savings into the portfolio automatically from bank account. The simplicity it has also could be an edge as it keeps the investment portfolio not too over diversified given that ETFs are already consists of a basket of stocks.
Wahed Invest app is also now listed as the top 3 software at Apple Appstore Malaysia.
Update 20200130
Topped up another RM500 seeing that there is a downturn in equities worldwide and Malaysia KLCI sinking to new lows due to the Corona virus scare. I expect the portfolio's Malaysia equities to weaken further but I also see it as an opportunity for a reversal when this whole fiasco is over.
Right now we're at uncertain territory with the global virus scare. I do expect portfolio to go down a bit but it should not be too drastic as the app is investing in baskets of investments like ETF which is essentially a collection of stocks pooled together.
Update 2020215
My friend's portfolio updated on 20200115 which had a negative return has turn positive already. From negative RM-1.73 , he has a gain of RM 177.59.
Update 2020217
It has been brought to my attention that there are some screenshots messages going on about someone using Wahed Invest name saying that the company was giving out dividends in extreme excess of 30%, 50% and 100%. I am 100% sure this is a pyramid scheme (aka scam) using the good name of Wahed Invest to entice people to sign up. The best investment managers in the world cannot achieve these figures at all. Warren Buffet, Ray Dalio and Paul Tudor Jones who are the world's best investors/traders also do not get such super extraordinary gains. The whole scheme smells and reeks of a pyramid scheme. As such do please be aware of such fake and preposterous claims.
The 'real' Wahed Invest is not going to give such spectacular gains as the investment instruments it invests in are (ETF, Sukuk, Gold) has never been able to do so. The 'real' Wahed Invest also do not have Silver, Gold and Diamond packages, there is no such thing as high returns with guaranteed returns in investing.
Investments are never 1 straight line up one. Below is a screenshot of my friend's portfolio, he used my referral code cheong1 to sign up, got the bonus and monitored his app daily.
cheong1
The 1st few days his portfolio went down slightly and he was quite flustered and ask me about it and I told him what I always tell people about robo advisors that these investing apps are automated systems and no need to keep monitoring it, just go about life and do what they do best (eg programming, lecturing, consulting). After a few days and over time his portfolio slowly went back to a tiny gain again.
Update 2020306
World equities including Malaysia facing severe selldown due to corona virus issue covid-19. I've decided to top up more going against flow of people running out of equities. I believe it's a matter of time thing whole thing recovers, maybe it will take months but I think it can recover within a year.
Update 2020406
During these crazy few weeks with the Corona virus lockdown in Malaysia, my Wahed Invest portfolio got hit badly . I have since topped up further to capitalize on this down market. I don't have a crystal ball on what's going to happen in the next few months. The reason my losses looks small at the moment at -3.9% is because I have topped up more cash into the portfolio. I felt that the drastic drop in the KLCI index and DowJones index is a good opportunity to do bottom fishing. I think KLCI and DowJones index will fall further but I do not think the downside is much.
I do apologize to whoever who used my referral code (cheong1) to sign up to Wahed Invest and are making losses now as the Covid-19 situation is an unknown global health scare event that nobody actually saw it coming. However, I believe that as this is a health scare related event and not a financial collapse, recovery is highly possible in the medium term (6 months to 1 year).
Update 2020416
It's finally a Friday today and I'm glad because I'm still working in office despite the corona virus situation. My portfolio has recovered a bit already in line with the slight recovery of KLSE index. I've also topped up some money into the portfolio as I hope the market has reached it's bottom already.
Update 2020418
Surprisingly the portfolio has turn positive earlier than expected. Averaging down could be working for now. What I'm doing is just averaging down my losses, investing more during bad times and hopefully this strategy will pay out.
Update 2020420
Oil price just turned negative for the 1st time in history. The portfolio will most likely go down a bit as one of the components in the portfolio is tied to the KLCI index.
On the other hand, BIMB Invest also launched their robo advisor called BEST which invests in shariah and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) unit trusts issued by their own company. I wrote an introductory article here on my blog.
Update 2020425
In line with S&P rebound, the portfolio also has seen some rebound and recovery. The Wahed portfolio contains myETF-US50 aka MYEFT Dow Jones US Titans50 which has been rising lately. Not to mention, USD to MYR has increase quite a bit so there will be some currency gains. My portfolio is 42% in myETF-US50 so the recent gains are expected.
Update 20200508
Today I got screenshots from 3 of my friend's Wahed Invest portfolio.
Friend A - Started with RM 100, topped up his portfolio big time at the bottom during the covid-19 crisis lockdown in Malaysia. His portfolio has seen quite big returns.
Friend B - Started with RM 5000, topped up his portfolio big time at the bottom during the covid-19 crisis lockdown in Malaysia. His portfolio has seen quite big returns.
Friend C - Started with RM 1000, left his portfolio on auto run mode. Portfolio dipped a lot during the bad time (covid-19) and then did a quick U-shaped recovery.
Overall what we learnt here is to stay invested and focus on long term goals. One major reason for the rise is the component investment for MyETF DowJones US Titans 50 has been on the rise and this fund invests a lot into US technology stocks.
The components that MyETF DowJones US Titans 50 consists of are :
Notice that the top stocks the fund invests in are tech companies which are already rising like Microsoft, Apple and Facebook. While it has Exxon Mobil which is expected to be badly hit by low oil prices inside, this stock only consists of 3%.
Update 20200520
Portfolio upswing is losing steam already and has been gradually dropping back to normal levels.
Update 20200710
Wahed Invest got in the news to closing a USD 25 million investment round let by Saudi Aramco Entrepreneurship Vendures. Wahed Invest will be using the fresh capital to go into other markets like Indonesia, Nigeria and India.
Update 20200717
In between the few days I did some top up as I was expecting KLCI Bursa Malaysia and US markets to go up further but alas it didn't.
Update 20200624
I asked my friend about his portfolio in Wahed Invest and here's his investment so far. He did a lump sum investment initially before Malaysia's MCO (Movement Control Order). No averaging down or dollar cost average in place, the good news is the portfolio still in green.
Update 20200717
Continued topping up more cash as the market (US and Malaysia) seems to be having a rebound after lifting Covid19 measures. At the end of the day, the best way to maximize return other than doing DCA(dollar cost averaging) is to top up in lump sum when markets are bad, recovery and stop when market optimism returns and continue doing the standard DCA (Dollar Cost Averaging) by topping up small amounts at regular intervals (daily, weekly, monthly).
Update 20200809
As the world seems to be battling 2nd wave of Covid19 (Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, Australia), gold prices and bitcoin prices are rising at record levels. This signals uneasiness in the world economy. While stock markets worldwide also seem to defy this factor and increase day by day, I have switched my portfolio risk from moderate aggressive to just moderate. I do not think the rally in stock market will keep continuing in an upwards trajectory.
I'm also quite satisfied with the returns on my portfolio for now.
Update 20201015
Just got a screenshot from my 2 friends, despite the covid19 situation, their portfolio still has a positive return. Lesson learnt is to stay invested at all times and have patience. The May - June was really bad for world stocks but has since recovered a bit. As the saying goes "sikit sikit lama lama jadi bukit"
Update 20201020
Since changing my risk profile from "moderately aggressive" to "moderate", I did some review on the composition of my portfolio and found majority of this portfolio is in Sukuk (Islamic Bonds) 56%, which is considered low risk and safer than equities. There's quite a big exposure 21% at US Stocks which could be a concern and potentially having forex risk where fluctuations in USD/MYR pair will affect my returns. For now I'm very satisfied with the portfolio's performance and I am looking to take lower risks on this investment. US election are coming up and I think Trump will win but until then is best to stay conservative.
Ok...Trump didn't win the election but somehow the stock markets in US and Malaysia still powered ahead. My portfolio is quite healthy because of these developments. I will be pausing my investments for a while as the world markets in US and Malaysia seems to be in an upward trajectory due to the possibility of the release of Covid19 vaccines from Moderna and Astra Zaneca.
I just noticed the referral rewards for Wahed Invest has been lowered to RM2.50. Whatever it is just keep calm and stay invested.
I wrote an article on my personal opinion on robo advisors 👉 here. It gives a high level overview of how I'm investing using robo advisors and how it fits into my investment profile.
Updates 20201219
As they say, sikit sikit, lama lama jadi bukit.
Updates 20201227
It's almost the end of 2020 already and here's my Wahed Invest portfolio at moderate settings.
My year end review of my portfolio is here : https://propfessor.blogspot.com/2020/12/my-wahed-invest-malaysia-2020-portfolio.html
Updates 20210721
I just started a new US only portfolio with Wahed Invest, it's a new portfolio type that invests only in US equities.
I wrote a piece about Wahed Invest's US only portfolio here :
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can use my referral/invite code : cheong1 when signing up to Wahed Invest. You and I will get RM2.50 (previously was RM10) for each activation after you have topped up a minimum RM100, from there you can do your invites to friends also and make some spare cash. A referral is basically how startup companies get the masses like me who like the service to promote their products to friends. This saves the company a lot of advertisement fees while growing fast by having customers who use and like the products to promote the company.
Do note that I have to declare I'm also registered with the other 2 roboadvisors like Stashaway and MyTheo. I no longer check my Stashaway account as it's generating slow but steady returns and I'm diversifying my savings to other robo advisors. I'm still new to MyTheo and only put in a small sum into it.
Wahed Invest's management fees compared with Stashaway, MyTheo and normal unit trust funds
👉Wahed Invest :
0.8% p.a. fees for RM100 – RM499K
0.4% p.a. fees for RM500K and above
Stashway :
0.8% p.a fees for RM 50K
0.7% p.a fees for RM 50K to RM 100K
MyTheo :
1.% p.a fees for RM 30K
0.9% p.a fees for RM 30k to RM 100K
Raiz Invest *note - behind is buying PNB unit trusts
0.0.25% p.a above RM 6K
Akru (2020 Made in Malaysia robo advisor)
0.7% fess for RM100K
FSMOne Managed Portfolio :
1% p.a fees
1.25% sales fees
Mutual Funds/Unit Trusts :
Typically 1.8% p.a fee for equity funds
on top of 3-6% sales fees
On paper, Wahed Invest's management fees could be less than Stashaways. However, I think Stashaway has a slight advantage if you invest above 50K and your management fees reduces to 0.7%. Wahed invest's 0.4% management fees is a bit out of grasp for ordinary Malaysians as the total amount invested needs to be 500K which is a very very big amount for most people.
🔗 Links
📱Wahed Invest Contact Helpdesk Support Call
+60 16 299 1615
In my opinion, robo advisors are not get rich quick systems. They can compliment your existing investment vehicles (unit trusts, ASB, REITS) and are designed for 'invest and forget' kind of investment style. You should not monitor the portfolio daily as it is designed to be automated, to buy and sell ETFs and balance it based on your investment appetite. I also like to think robo advisors as a virtual coin containers (sometimes dubbed as a piggy bank) where all your spare change are put inside it and it accumulates over time where in this case you transfer all your space change (cash) online to robo advisors. This way of moving spare change is called micro-savings and micro-investing was previously not possible using unit trusts due to minimum initial investment (eg min RM1000) and subsequent investment (eg min RM100).
I did a super quick video showing the interface inside the Wahed Invest app.
You can use my referral/invite code : cheong1 when signing up. You and I will get RM10 for each activation after you have topped up a minimum RM100, from there you can do your invites to friends also.
Disclaimer : I just signed up only and put in less than 1k into the account. I will be writing a series of blog on this new financial service as time progresses. There will also be changes in the referral bonus and terms and conditions for Wahed Invest which I may not have time to update timely or accurately which I humbly apologize as I have a full time job. From time to time I will review this article for accuracy.
