Cash now, cash later: Choosing the right cash-management solution

Cash management solutions have done their job this year, with the lowest-risk funds broadly holding steady with minimal drawdowns, and short-duration bond funds experiencing small drawdowns of under 1%.

The key to cash management is not simply finding the solution with the highest yield but matching your money to when you may need it. We divide our recommendations into three buckets:

1. Cash you may need anytime: Prioritise liquidity.
2. Cash you may need within the coming months: Prioritise capital stability.
3. Cash you are unlikely to need for some time: Consider modest additional risk for higher potential returns.

How we screen these funds

For the first two buckets, capital preservation is paramount. We generally screen for funds with historical maximum drawdowns of under 0.25% before comparing them on return consistency, risk-return track record, and other portfolio characteristics.

For cash-plus funds in the third bucket, some mark-to-market volatility is expected. We generally prefer funds whose maximum drawdowns over the longer term (even beyond 5 years) have remained under 5% alongside relatively low downside volatility. We then consider their longer-term returns and risk profile before selecting our preferred funds.

1. Need the money anytime? Liquidity comes first.

Money needed at short notice should not be invested purely to maximise returns. This includes dry powder awaiting deployment into investments. For this first bucket, we prioritise the fastest access to cash before comparing return profiles.

AutoSweep remains the most straightforward solution for investors prioritising immediate liquidity. SGD, USD, and CNH AutoSweep balances can be deployed directly into investments, with no lock-in period or minimum balance. Indicative yields currently stand at around 1.111%, 3.166%, and 1.050%, respectively (as of 01 September 2026).

iFAST SGD Enhanced Liquidity Fund (ELF) and iFAST USD Enhanced Liquidity Fund offer slightly higher yields than AutoSweep, with redemption proceeds available within a day. Both funds have maintained very short portfolio durations (< 0.5 years) since inception, with average credit qualities of AA- or better and negligible historical drawdowns.

(Note: AutoSweep invests in the respective iFAST Enhanced Liquidity Funds, but maintains 10% in cash, resulting in a somewhat lower indicative yield than investing directly in the funds.)

Fullerton USD Cash Fund offers similarly fast access, with redemption proceeds also within a day. It combines a short portfolio duration with a track record of relatively stable returns and minimal historical drawdowns. Its last drawdown occurred during the 2022 Fed rate hike cycle; however, today’s higher starting yields provide a much larger carry cushion, which should help to offset modest mark-to-market losses more quickly.

Table 1: Conservative funds with proceeds available within a day

Fund Features - Annualised (%)	iFAST SGD Enhanced Liquidity Fund*	iFAST USD Enhanced Liquidity Fund	Fullerton USD Cash Fund
Hist. 1y Returns	1.37%	3.67%	3.89%
Hist. 3y Returns	-	4.43%	4.64%
Hist. 5y Returns	-	-	3.70%
Hist. 5y Downside Volatility	0.01%	- (no drawdowns)	0.06%
Hist. 5y Max Drawdown	-0.01%	- (no drawdowns)	-0.06%**
Time to Recover from 5y Drawdown (calendar days)	1	- (no drawdowns)	383**
Estimated Credit Quality	AA-	AA	-
Latest Reported Duration or Maturity (years)	0.39	0.25	0.19
Source: Bloomberg, iFAST compilations, iFAST estimates. Data as of 31 Aug 2026, or based on latest available information. *iFAST SGD ELF was incepted less than 3 years ago, hence we do not show its 3y or 5y returns, but other calculations are since inception. **Drawdown figures begin at the previous local peak which happened slightly beyond the 5y mark.

2. Need the money soon, but not immediately? Prioritise stability.

Some money need not be accessible immediately, including money earmarked for planned spending or a portion of emergency reserves. If investors can wait a few days for redemption proceeds, the opportunity set becomes much wider. Here, we prioritise capital preservation and NAV stability, focusing on funds whose historical drawdowns have generally remained below 0.25%.

The higher-liquidity funds discussed above remain suitable, but investors can consider the additional SGD recommendations in Table 2. All three funds would be good picks and offer slightly different (marginal) trade-offs between returns, NAV stability, and overall track record.

• LionGlobal SGD ELF offers the strongest return profile of the 3 funds over a 5-year time horizon. Its 5-year historical drawdown is technically larger than its peers, but remains minimal in absolute terms (-0.07%).
• LionGlobal SGD Money Market Fund has displayed stronger historical NAV stability, with a maximum drawdown of just -0.01%. Its higher average credit rating also makes it the more conservative alternative for investors who prioritise capital preservation over incremental yield.
• Fullerton SGD Cash Fund has the longest track record of the 3 funds and has maintained a small 5-year maximum drawdown of -0.01%. However, its recent 1-year returns have modestly trailed the 2 LionGlobal funds above, possibly due to a change in its portfolio strategy in recent years to include safer Singapore government securities.

We also provide our USD recommendations in Table 3. These have all maintained highly stable NAV profiles, but differ marginally in returns, track record, and portfolio characteristics.

• Amundi Funds Cash USD combines a long track record with a relatively high average credit quality of A+. Its 5-year historical drawdown is slightly larger than some peers, but remains modest in absolute terms.
• BNP Paribas USD Money Market Fund has not recorded a drawdown since March 2012, giving it an impressive track record of NAV stability among our selection. Its performance also compares well against peers on multiple time horizons.
• CSOP USD Money Market Fund has similarly avoided drawdowns since inception, though we note its track record is shorter than BNP’s and Amundi’s.
• LionGlobal USD ELF delivered the strongest 1-year return among these 4 funds, while keeping its 5-year maximum drawdown to just -0.04%. However, its shorter track record and smaller fund size of around $59m provide less evidence across different market cycles.

Table 2: Stable recommendations with minimal historical drawdowns – SGD

Fund Features - Annualised (%)	LionGlobal SGD Enhanced Liquidity Fund	LionGlobal SGD Money Market Fund	Fullerton SGD Cash Fund
Hist. 1y Returns	1.34%	1.51%	1.43%
Hist. 3y Returns	2.63%	2.65%	2.68%
Hist. 5y Returns	2.45%	2.24%	2.36%
Hist. 5y Downside Volatility	0.09%	0.03%	0.02%
Hist. 5y Max Drawdown	-0.07%	-0.01%	-0.01%
Time to Recover from 5y Drawdown (calendar days)	27	12	2
Estimated Credit Quality	AA-	AA	-
Latest Reported Duration or Maturity (years)	0.49	0.36	0.20
Source: Bloomberg, iFAST compilations, iFAST estimates. Data as of 31 Aug 2026, or based on latest available information.

Table 3: Stable recommendations with minimal historical drawdowns - USD

Fund Features - Annualised (%)	Amundi Funds Cash USD	BNP Paribas USD Money Market Fund	CSOP USD Money Market Fund	LionGlobal USD Enhanced Liquidity Fund
Hist. 1y Returns	3.69%	3.70%	3.80%	4.05%
Hist. 3y Returns	4.50%	4.47%	4.53%	4.64%
Hist. 5y Returns	3.70%	3.70%	-	3.51%
Hist. 5y Downside Volatility	0.03%	- (no drawdowns)	- (no drawdowns)	0.02%
Hist. 5y Max Drawdown	-0.13%*	- (no drawdowns)	- (no drawdowns)	-0.04%
Time to Recover from 5y Drawdown (calendar days)	197*	- (no drawdowns)	- (no drawdowns)	78
Estimated Credit Quality	A+	-	-	A+
Latest Reported Duration or Maturity (years)	0.04	0.01	0.32	0.31
Source: Bloomberg, iFAST compilations, iFAST estimates. Data as of 31 Aug 2026, or based on latest available information. *Drawdown figures begin at the previous local peak which happened slightly beyond the 5y mark.

3a. Won’t need the money for some time? Consider cash-plus solutions.

The trade-off changes for genuinely surplus cash: if investors are confident that they will not need the money for some time, accepting modest mark-to-market volatility can potentially deliver higher returns. While these funds generally strive to preserve capital, they tend to take somewhat greater interest-rate and credit-spread risk. As such, their NAVs can potentially decline when yields rise or spreads widen, even if underlying fundamentals remain sound.

After screening the broader universe, our 3 primary recommendations remain unchanged (Table 4). All three are available in both SGD and USD terms. Amova remains our preferred conventional short-duration strategy, United provides a comparable alternative, while HGIF’s floating-rate approach offers lower interest-rate sensitivity.

• Amova Short Term Bond Fund is one of the more consistent short-duration bond funds managed from an SGD perspective. The fund combines a 3.65% annualised 3-year return with a manageable 5-year maximum drawdown of just -3.17% during the 2022 Fed rate hike cycle.
• United SGD Fund offers a broadly comparable alternative. Its 5-year drawdown (4.51%) is higher than Amova’s, but it proved comparatively more resilient than Amova during the recent March 2026 bond selloff.
• HGIF Ultra Short Duration Bond Fund is a defensive floating-rate alternative for investors seeking lower sensitivity to interest rate changes. Its small 5-year maximum drawdown of -0.72% highlights its historically lower NAV volatility even in a rate-hike environment, though this has also come with somewhat lower returns.

Related article: Amova Short Term Bond Fund: A step up from cash, without reaching too far

Table 4: Cash-plus solutions – higher risk but also potentially higher returns

Fund Features - Annualised (%)	Amova Short Term Bond	United SGD Fund Cl A	HGIF - Ultra Short Duration Bond
Hist. 1y Returns	1.33% (SGD) 4.02% (USD)	1.01% (SGD) 3.50% (USD)	1.12% (SGD) 3.93% (USD)
Hist. 3y Returns	3.65% (SGD) 5.85% (USD)	3.30% (SGD) 5.39% (USD)	2.78% (SGD) 5.06% (USD)
Hist. 5y Returns	2.33% (SGD) 3.72% (USD)	1.90% (SGD) 3.22% (USD)	2.38% (SGD) 4.07% (USD)
Hist. 5y Downside Volatility	0.38%	0.47%	0.38%
Hist. 5y Max Drawdown	-3.17%	-4.51%	-0.72%
Estimated Credit Quality	A-	BBB+	A
Latest Reported Duration or Maturity (years)	1.81	1.82	0.41
Source: Bloomberg, iFAST compilations, iFAST estimates. Data as of 31 Aug 2026, or based on latest available information. Volatility and drawdown metrics are for base currency class for each fund.

3b. Other cash-plus funds on our watchlist

Several other funds also screen well on our quantitative metrics but are not yet among our primary recommendations. In some cases, this reflects a shorter available track record; in others, the trade-off between returns, drawdowns and portfolio risk is less compelling than our preferred funds. We nevertheless continue to monitor these strategies as potential alternatives for future updates.

• LionGlobal Short Duration Bond has delivered attractive 1-year and 3-year returns, but its 5-year historical drawdown of -7.53% looks meaningfully higher than the rest of our cash-plus universe. Its portfolio duration of 2.60 years is also relatively high for this universe.
• Allianz Global Floating Rate Notes Plus has a strong average credit quality and low duration. While its downside metrics look decent, we note that recent returns have also lagged our core recommendations.
• Amundi Funds US Short Term Bond has demonstrated strong downside risk management so far, but we would prefer to see its performance across a longer market cycle before making it a core recommendation, especially for its SGD-hedged share class.
• Schroder Short Duration Bond has delivered respectable returns with limited drawdowns, but its slightly lower average credit quality (BBB+) and longer duration profile (2.20 years) are somewhat more aggressive than our previous recommendations. It also only has distribution share classes available (no accumulation).

Table 5: Other funds we’re monitoring first

Fund Features - Annualised (%)	LionGlobal Short Duration Bond	Allianz Global Floating Rate Notes Plus	Amundi Funds US Short Term Bond	Schroder Short Duration Bond
Hist. 1y Returns	1.54% (SGD) 4.04% (USD)	0.85% (SGD) 3.53% (USD)	1.15% (SGD) 3.95% (USD)	0.84% (SGD) 3.71% (USD)
Hist. 3y Returns	4.06% (SGD) 6.05% (USD)	3.11% (SGD) 5.39% (USD)	- (SGD) 5.06% (USD)	3.34% (SGD) 5.71% (USD)
Hist. 5y Returns	1.93% (SGD) 3.16% (USD)	2.47% (SGD) 4.11% (USD)	- (SGD) 3.91% (USD)	- (SGD) - (USD)
Hist. 5y Downside Volatility	0.59%	0.45%	0.38%	0.73%
Hist. 5y Max Drawdown	-7.53%	-2.93%	-1.15%	-1.36%
Estimated Credit Quality	BBB+	AA-	A+	BBB+
Latest Reported Duration or Maturity (years)	2.57	0.47	0.45	2.20
Source: Bloomberg, iFAST compilations, iFAST estimates. Data as of 31 Aug 2026, or based on latest available information. *Drawdown figures begin at the previous local peak which happened slightly beyond the 5y mark.

Match your cash to when you need it

Cash remains an important part of your portfolio, providing liquidity and dry powder for future opportunities. However, money that may not be needed for some time may offer greater return potential if investors are willing to accept modest additional risk.

Investors should therefore aim not simply to maximise their yields, but to take only as much risk as their investment horizon allows. For cash required at any time, we prioritise access; for shorter-term reserves, we prioritise capital stability; for genuinely surplus cash, a measured step-up into cash-plus solutions can improve potential returns.

Declaration: For specific disclosure, at the time of publication of this report, IFPL (via its connected and associated entities) and the analyst who produced this report hold NIL positions in the abovementioned securities. This research report was prepared with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) tools. iFAST Financial Pte Ltd does not rely exclusively on AI for content generation; the content of this report – including all investment theses, ratings, price targets and conclusions – has been independently reviewed and verified by the research analyst(s) to ensure accuracy and professional integrity.