If you want to gain exposure to the real estate sector but have limited capital and don’t want to spend hours trying to pick individual real estate investment trusts (REIT), REIT funds might be a great option.

Robo-advisor Syfe also offers a REIT+ portfolio, which acts like a fund investing into a diversified basket of Singapore REITs.

Since I’m looking out for REIT funds to replace my individual REIT holdings, I decided to review Syfe REIT+ portfolio. Here’s the outline:

  • Overview
  • About the Index
  • Performance
  • Dividend
  • Fees
  • My Thoughts

Overview of Syfe REIT+

The REIT+ portfolio offered by robo-advisor Syfe aim to provide investors with easy access to a diversified portfolio of Singapore REITs in one investment through their Syfe Wealth platform. Syfe REIT+ is listed as a Satellite portfolio, which is intended to supplement Core portfolios.

Syfe REIT+ comes in two options: 100% REIT and REIT with Risk Management,

  • 100% REIT tracks the iEdge S-REIT Leaders Index with all its constituents, weights and corporate actions.
  • REIT with Risk Mgmt also tracks the same index but also dedicates a portion to Singapore Government Bonds (Nikko AM’s ABF Singapore Bond Index Fund). The allocation is determined by Syfe’s proprietary risk management algorithm. Currently, the allocation is 65% REIT and 35% Bonds.

You can read more about the Syfe REIT+ strategy here.

About the Index

The iEdge S-REIT Leaders Index is made up of the top 28 REITs listed on Singapore’s SGX. The biggest holdings are CICT, Ascendas REIT and the Mapletree group REITs MLT, MIT and MCT. The latest 12 month dividend yield is 3.74%.

You can find more info on the index and the factsheet here.

Source: SGX

Performance

Period100% REITREIT with Risk MgmtIndex Total Return
Last 1 yr3.26%0.31%2.81%
Last 3 yrs5.53%4.74%5.01%
Last 5 yrs9.19%8.40%8.87%
Last 8 yrs8.95%––
Last 10 yrs9.92%7.90%–
Last 12 yrs–7.75%–

According to the performance data listed on Syfe’s website and the index factsheet from SGX, Syfe’s 100% REIT portfolio actually outperformed the index slightly which is impressive. The period measured was as of 31st March 2022.

Dividend

In 2021, the 100% REIT had a dividend yield of 4.8%, whereas the REIT with Risk Mgmt had a slightly lower dividend yield of 4.09%. This is pretty decent considering CICT has a dividend yield of ~4.5%.

Dividends are automatically reinvested. However, Syfe Black, Gold and Platinum tier customers (AUM >SGD20K with Syfe) can opt for dividends to be received in quarterly payouts to their designated bank accounts.

Fees

Syfe has a simple fee structure, charging just one all-in fee according to how much funds or AUM you have with them. Fees start at 0.65% per annum and progressively reduces to 0.4% if you have more than S$100K of funds with them.

There’s also an additional tier for AUM >S$500K called Private Wealth (which I assume is Platinum). Syfe will even have a dedicated Wealth Expert for you at this tier.

There’s even a neat calculator on their website which helps you calculate the annual fees depending on AUM. At the entry-level blue tier, S$10K in UAM will attract fees of S$5.42 annually @ 0.65% p.a. which doesn’t seem expensive.

My Thoughts

Syfe REIT+ ticks my boxes for performance and dividend yield, which are my 2 main considerations. Fees are also seem reasonable but might become expensive relative to DIY as portfolio AUM grows.

The advantage of DIY is that there are no ongoing fees for CDP and most custodian brokers (except maybe a handful like Saxo), only transaction fees. Syfe however charges an ongoing fee based on AUM, which is the usual practice for funds.

DIY and holding individual REITs however comes with several issues like corporate actions (rights issues especially) that can be time-consuming to follow, in addition to keeping updated with financial results and business updates.

A possible alternative to Syfe REIT+ is the CSOP iEdge S-REIT Leaders Index ETF (SGX ticker: SRT/SRU) which tracks the same index. However, the ETF is relatively new (only listed on 18 November 2021) and doesn’t provide much useful information on their website here.

Syfe Wealth platform also offers a myriad of other Core, Thematic, and Cash portfolios which allows you to customise and build a holistic portfolio. Syfe also lists other advantages:

So far I like what I’ve seen. I’m seriously considering putting in a starter amount into REIT+, maybe around $1,000 and see how it goes. If I like the platform and portfolio after a few months, I might consider selling my DIY picks and moving more over to REIT+.

Currently, I only hold 2 individual REITs – Frasers Logistics & Commercial Trust (SGX ticker: BUOU) and Ascott Residence Trust (SGX ticker: HMN). Both have done pretty well for me, but I think most of the upside might be priced in for the near term.

Syfe also allows recurring deposits and scheduling of regular transfers from Cash+ to other Syfe Wealth portfolios, which is in line with my intention of automating my investing process.

After some limited usage, I also found the Syfe app to be pretty intuitive and easy to use.

Next, I also intend to review Syfe’s other portfolios to see whether any might be suitable alternatives for my current portfolio holdings.

Hope this short review has been useful.

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