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There have been a lot of talks about ESG investing recently. Financial institutions have been marketing their ESG investments aggressively to attract investors’ money and there are a lot of [...]

“siao on” (a Singaporean term for being overly serious or on the ball) is how my closer friends would describe me when it comes to national service (NS). I started serving my NS in the army at [...]

On 24th October 2020, I wrote in this column about Providend’s courtship with Vanguard funds. It was a 16-year courtship which started in 2004, speaking with 4 country heads to get them to bring [...]

Jane “Nightbirde” Marczewski, a singing contestant on this season of America’s Got Talent (AGT) took the internet by storm last week when she sang an original song called “It’s [...]

In March 2020, the markets tumbled and the S&P500 fell about 30% from its peak. While many investors panicked, we were busily engaging and assuring clients. The key message that we sent was [...]

The most recent changes to the Integrated Plan (IP) or sometimes known as the Integrated Shield Plan (ISP) caused a hot debate between the insurers and the doctors over the past 3 weeks. So, what [...]

In recent months, cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin has been a hot topic. When Elon Musk announced that they bought US$1.5 billion Bitcoins and that Tesla will accept Bitcoins, its price [...]

In conventional retirement planning, advisers often assume that their clients’ annual expenses (adjusted for inflation) remain flat throughout their retirement years. Therefore, many retirement [...]

In my previous article dated 28 November 2020, I wrote about universal life policies (ULPs) being touted as good instruments that allow the affluent to free up more cash for their retirement [...]

As we enter into the last day of an unprecedented year, I thought it would be good for me to take this time of the year to reflect on the past 12 months and share some of my key takeaways with [...]

Since 2003, we have been advocating the use of term insurance instead of whole life policies. The thinking is pretty straightforward: the primary purpose of insurance is to replace income loss [...]

My courtship with Vanguard funds started 16 years ago in 2004. Providend was licensed to give advice only about a year back and while we had an investment philosophy & process in place, there [...]

The anticipation building up to elections often brings with it questions about how financial markets will respond. But the outcome of an election is only one of many inputs to the market. When [...]

Like any industry, investing has its own language. And one term people often use is “investment portfolio,” which refers to all of your invested assets. Building an investment [...]

  Do you know which type of insurance is of the highest priority for you? The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in Singaporeans becoming more aware of protecting themselves and their loved ones [...]

Many years ago, I wrote an article in this same column that was based on the documentary movie “Food Inc”. Director Robert Kenner lifted the veil on the food industry, exposing often [...]

Are you aware that a will may not supersede the nomination you made in a life insurance policy? Typically, when a person passes away with a will, the person’s estate will be distributed to the [...]

Decades of research by organizational scientists, sociologists and economists have shown that when individuals from different walks of life come together and share unique viewpoints, positive [...]

The last month has been a crazy time for those of us who are invested in the equities market. The US market went up 10% in one day and then came down 12% on another. On the day when it came down [...]

There is a lot of uncertainty right now, with everything in flux. The natural reaction for most is to sell first which is why we are getting the reaction we see in the market today. It is [...]

In the previous episode, Christopher Tan, CEO of Providend, shared more on the distribution rules of intestate estates and the importance of having a proper will done.   But before you make a [...]

In 2008, the year of the Great Financial Crisis, I wrote an article in July that year, that was published on The Business Times and it went like this: It was Monday (yes, just 2 days ago) and I [...]

Do you know that there are two ways to die in Singapore? One is to die testate –with a will and another is to die intestate – without a will. When you die without a will, your assets will be [...]

A year ago, at about this time, market watchers were generally pessimistic about 2019. After all, just a month ago on Christmas Eve of 2018, markets (represented by MSCI World Index) fell by [...]

Retirement today is more than just a matter of accumulating enough money. Increasing life expectancy has made retirement an extended stage of life. If you’ve started looking into planning for [...]

It has been eleven years since the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008. This event has changed the economy of the world, the mindset of investors and the investment philosophy of Providend [...]

Pre-order a copy of “Money Wisdom – Simple Truths For Financial Wellness” at https://www.providend.com/money-wisdom-order/ today! Written by Christopher Tan, CEO of Providend, this [...]

Many skeptics, especially people who have never invested before, regard investing as another form of gambling. Even though there’s a thin line between the two, they are two vastly different [...]

Many years ago, a foreigner made a joke about our army in front of me. He said our army is like boy scouts, only good for marching during National Day Parade because unlike other armies, we have [...]

Following the National Day Rally announcements on the option (not a requirement!) to retire later and the increase in CPF contribution rates for older workers, Christopher Tan, CEO of Providend, [...]