Robo advisor MYTHEO sees steady increase in investor base

• 20+% monthly compounding growth of clients with increased interest in Covid-19 era
• Unique proposition includes customer centricity and as low as US$24 starting capital

Since the mid-March introduction of the movement control order (MCO) to combat the spread of Covid-19, the economic slowdown in Malaysia has many seeking pockets of financial opportunity. In a period of uncertainties and market volatility, MYTHEO, the digital investment management service tool by GAX MD licensed by Securities Commission Malaysia, gives users a chance to invest conveniently.

“During this Covid-19 period, more individuals are gaining interest in learning about MYTHEO and have been reaching out for more information. MYTHEO’s steady sign up rates have resulted in a 20+% monthly compounding growth of clients,” shares Ronnie Tan (pic, below), the chief executive officer and managing director of GAX MD, a joint venture between Malaysia’s Silverlake Digital INX and Japan’s Money Design.

In a period of uncertainties and market volatility, MYTHEO’s proprietary algorithm gives investors confidence by making investment decisions, taking multiple factors into account, such as risk return, market correlation, market fundamentals, diversification of asset classes, market sentiments and other relevant data.

Leveraging on each investor’s preference, such as risk appetite and investment horizon, the tool constructs a personalised investment portfolio for the user. The investment portfolios consist of a universe of 59 ETFs (Exchange-Traded Funds) as they are the most cost-effective way to build highly diversified portfolios across asset classes and geographies.

 “MYTHEO eliminates the nitty-gritty tasks of investing by handling the A to Z’s of investing all within the comfort and convenience of an app, via automatically creating, managing and rebalancing each investor’s portfolio. Most investment tasks and decisions are handled by a well-tested and proven AI-assist algorithm and supported by a team of experienced and professional portfolio managers,” shared Tan.

MYTHEO’s AI Assist works to constantly monitor the market sentiment index, which is created by analysing a huge amount of information such as global news, expert comments, and general social network sites. The AI tool constantly searches for signs of a major decline, such as a financial shock.

“It is programmed to make portfolio optimization conditions more conservative if the risk is high and hence try to ease the rate of decline. Of course, it is impossible to predict the financial shock completely or to make the rate of decline zero, but if any rate of decline can be mitigated, it will lead to an improvement in long-term performance,” says Tan.

MYTHEO is not the only roboadvisory platform in the market but it’s the first Malaysian-grown player. Other platforms include Singapore-based Stashaway and Wahed Invest. But its unique selling proposition includes a customer-centric investment strategy across three functional portfolios: growth, income, and inflation hedge. “This approach ensures that each investor’s needs are prioritized, and at the same time asset diversification is not forsaken.”

Additionally, MYTHEO requires a minimal starting capital of only US$24 (RM100) with low annual management fees. There are no other hidden or surprise charges. “Investors are also given the flexibility to customize their own investment portfolios by manually adjusting factors or weightages. Investors can create up to 6 different portfolios within MYTHEO through the multiple-portfolio feature.”

Tan declined to share its number of users since its launch but said it has “quickly grown to a sizeable number in less than a year.” Collectively, THEO in Japan and MYTHEO serve over 100,000 investors with more than US$480 million (RM1.99 billion) in assets under their management through this platform, and growing.