Robo-advisors emerge as better, cheaper alternatives to snazzy banking lounges, vintage champagne and hefty fees.

6 ways for Robo-advisors to gain people’s trust and convince them to invest

2015 was the year of fintech. We spoke about it extensively, VC money poured in from everywhere, and banks around the globe collectively jumped on the bandwagon.

If you are among those wondering why that is, let me offer an explanation. In one of my previous articles here, I mentioned how the world’s most valuable startups create trusted intermediaries for people to interact and transact. Fintech startups, for the most part, do precisely that. This is what makes them interesting (and potentially dangerous) for banks, which are effectively trusted intermediaries between individuals, businesses and financial markets.

If the main job of a bank is to serve as a trusted intermediary, and fintech startups are reinventing how that works across a wide range of financial services, then fintech companies are possibly the better banks.

Smartly.sg Announces Robo-Advisor Targeted at South-East Asian Millennials

Holding the promise of making investing easy, affordable and accessible to the greatest possible number of people, robo-advisors have already caused a stir in the UK and the US and are now winning market share in Asia.

Infinity Partners, a high-end financial advisory outfit based in Singapore, claimed in September last year it was about to launch the first robo-advisor available in the country. The group could well be outstripped by Smartly, another robo-advisor expected to launch in Singapore in July this year.

Smartly, which aims to simplify and educate users about investing, is building what the company claims to be, a next-generation robo-advisory platform targeted at the Southeast Asian millennial market.

We warmly welcome you to the Smartly community.

Most of us document our lives through events that mark certain achievements we’ve attained. These events left deeper impressions on our minds as it represents fulfilling milestones that we have set out to accomplish. Many identify these milestones as life goals, some of these are conservative while others are ambitious, some are humble while others are noble. Nonetheless, one common respect that we all share is that everybody has their individual life goals to reach.

We’ve been seeking for the answer as to what we desire to achieve. We spend our waking hours going through the daily grind of pursuing knowledge, money, relationships, fame or power. However, all this are essentially a matter of two of our greatest yearning, to realize freedom and happiness. We all want to be away from the rat-race that we are caught within, to be outstanding at school, to have our performance validated at work, to constantly keep up with our image that is placed under the scrutiny of family, loved ones, friends and foes. Even if we disregard the judgement of others, its difficult to ignore the expectations for ourselves we have stowed under our own discerning eyes.

Growing up, I’ve also unavoidably noticed the socio-economic disparity between households. Majority of the middle class find it difficult to breakthrough their current lifestyle for better living standards. Living in a developed society, with the bar set higher on our expectations, any difficulty in achieving our goals may lead to some resentment. A resentment of how the society is structured, resentment of our surroundings and, above all, resentment on ourselves.