Foo Jit Hwee, CFP^®, CFA^®, CA, FRM^®

Jit Hwee’s journey with Providend began in 2003 after coming across a Business Times (BT) article titled “Commission vs Fees.” Instantly captivated by its novel fee-only model, Jit Hwee deeply resonated with Providend’s values and philosophies, championed by our CEO, Christopher Tan.

Over the past 20 years, a cut-out of that BT article has moved homes multiple times with Jit Hwee. In 2023, it was finally put to good use—strategically ‘guilt-trapping’ Christopher into hiring Jit Hwee by mentioning a 20-year history of following Providend. The interview was effectively over in 8 minutes and 88 seconds.

Jit Hwee is an avid learner with a deep passion for investment, financial literacy, and current affairs. As one of the founding members of the Investment Interactive Club at NTU—the first of its kind in a Singapore tertiary institution, established in 1999—Jit Hwee has been immersed in the financial world from an early age. He vividly recalls visiting the library daily to track stock quotations on TV Teletext, eagerly watching the data refresh page by page every few seconds in alphabetical order.

His dedication to financial literacy was born out of personal experience. At the age of 18, his entire family—including his father (a taxi driver), his mother (a homemaker), and his three brothers—were sold six identical endowment policies by an insurance agent couple. Alarmingly, there was no discussion about the importance of Hospital and Surgical (H&S) Insurance. By the time he gained the necessary financial knowledge in his late twenties, his parents and youngest brother faced premium loadings and major exclusions due to pre-existing medical conditions.

Determined to take control of his financial future and empower others, Jit Hwee self-funded his education to become a Certified Financial Planner in 2012, with the long-term goal of joining Providend. Financial literacy has significantly empowered his life, and he firmly believes that sound financial planning and wealth management can benefit the vast majority of people in Singapore.

Jit Hwee’s career began in auditing, spending five years as an external auditor at a Big Four audit firm before joining a Sovereign Wealth Fund as an internal auditor, a role he held for 18 years. It has been an eventful journey—working continuously for days with only a couple of hours to go home to bathe and change, climbing over a 2.5m-high fence to reach a taxi, being denied entry to a country and fingerprinted in a customs ‘interrogation’ room (though he has since been granted entry multiple times), and travelling overseas at short notice for due diligence reviews and investigations—he has done it all.

Outside of work, Jit Hwee finds refuge from his three primary school-going energiser bunnies by exercising, reading, and supporting the best football club in the world—Glory Glory Man United!