Grab acquires Bento Invest, moves into retail wealth management
Grab has made its move into the retail wealth management space with its acquisition of Bento Invest, a Singapore-based robo-advisory start-up, for an undisclosed sum.
This will allow Grab to offer retail wealth management and investment solutions to its ecosystem of users, drivers and merchants via its app.
Following the acquisition, Bento will be rebranded as GrabInvest, with products expected to be launched on the Grab app in the first half of the year in Singapore.
They will eventually be rolled out to other markets in South-east Asia.
GrabInvest aims to offer cash management and portfolio-based financial solutions and will operate under a retail wealth management capital markets services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore. It intends to adopt a low-cost model with full disclosures on fees, using a platform that users are familiar with.
FIFTH
GrabInvest will be the fifth vertical under Grab's financial services arm, Grab Financial Group, and will be led by Bento founder and chief executive Chandrima Das.
The other verticals under Grab Financial Group are payments (GrabPay), rewards (GrabRewards), lending (GrabFinance) and insurance (GrabInsure).
Mr Reuben Lai, senior managing director of Grab Financial Group, noted there is a lack of access to affordable wealth management products and retirement planning solutions for people.
"The launch of GrabInvest brings us a step closer to democratising access to affordable financial solutions that will help them achieve the financial stability they need well into their retirement years," he said. - THE STRAITS TIMES
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