With effect from 1st January 2012, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) requires financial institutions to assess whether a retail customer has the relevant knowledge or experience to understand the risks and features of a Specified Investment Product (SIPs) before offering the product to them.

This assessment, known as Customer Knowledge Assessment (CKA)/Customer Account Review (CAR), helps in the assessment of your knowledge or investment experience before recommendations are made to you or before your account is approved/activated to transact in listed SIPs.

*Accredited Investors (AI) and FSM Global corporate accounts are exempted from the assessment and the assessment is per NRIC basis.

You can check if an investment product is considered an Excluded Investment Product (EIP) or Specified Investment Product (SIP) in its factsheet on our website.

If you “Pass” the self-declaration assessment for CKA and CAR, you may continue with your usual online transactions and execute the trades yourself on FSM platform. The positive outcome will be valid for one year and three years respectively from the date of your assessment.

If you “Fail” the self-declaration CKA assessment, you will not be able to execute online purchases of Unit Trusts (including Buy, Switches and Regular Savings Plan transaction, where applicable) yourself. If you still wish to purchase, investment advice must be provided to you on whether the specific product is suitable to you before you can proceed with the purchase.

If you “Fail” the self-declaration CAR assessment, you will still be able to invest into Listed SIP (e.g. ETFs/DLCs/Structured Warrants) by submitting request to activate your account for Listed SIP investment, subject to our Senior Management's final approval.

CKA/CAR is assessed based on your replies, which depend on a number of factors set out below.

To fulfill or “Pass” the CKA or CAR, you only need to satisfy just ONE of the following 3 criteria:

1. Investment Experience
To fulfill and pass CKA and CAR, you need to have at least 6 transactions in unlisted Specified Investment Products (unit trusts or investment linked products) and Listed Specified Investment Products ( e.g. ETF or DLCs or Structured Warrants) respectively in the last 3 years.

If these transactions were done through FSM Global, your CKA and/or CAR will be automatically fulfilled as a “Pass” status.

Note: Purchases/switches of Unit Trust funds or ILPs through any financial institutions including Banks, Fund Houses etc. are all considered relevant experience.

2. Working Experience
Have a minimum of 3 consecutive years of working experience^ in the past 10 years in the development, structuring, management, sale, trading, or research and analysis of investment products. (Work experience in accountancy, actuarial science, treasury or financial risk management is also considered relevant experience).
^Support functions in the above-mentioned areas that are administrative or clerical in nature will not be considered as relevant experience.

3. Education Qualification
a) Have a diploma or higher qualification in relevant courses like accountancy, actuarial science, business, capital markets, commerce, economics finance, financial engineering, financial planning, computational finance and insurance;

AND/OR

b) Have a professional finance-related qualification. Examples of this would include the Chartered Financial Analyst Exam conducted by the CFA Institute, USA and the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Qualifications.

Note: FSM+ Investors (Accredited Investors) are exempted from going through the CKA and CAR assessment. If you are an Accredited Investor, you may also wish to declare your AI status here.
 

You do not need to provide any supporting documents for verification.

You only need to satisfy just ONE of the 3 criteria set for the self-declaration assessment.

No, this is only a self-declaration tool (simple questionnaire) to assess if you meet the criteria to fulfill the requirements of the CKA/CAR required by MAS when you log in to your FSM Global account.  No actual tests or exams will be conducted by FSM Global.

Log in to FSM Global account and go to Account Settings > CKA/CAR Assessment to complete a short questionnaire on your education, investment, and work experience.
You will receive an email notification for the outcome. You may also be automatically assessed if you’ve made at least 6 relevant transactions with FSM Global or iFAST in the past 3 years.

Validity:
CKA: 1 year
CAR: 3 years

You will receive an email reminder upon expiry. To renew, go to Investment Advice > Reassess CKA/CAR before continuing to transact.

You only need to go through the assessment once upon login. The same outcome of the assessment will apply to all of your FSM Global accounts that are linked to your NRIC or Passport Number.

No, only the Main Account Holder needs to complete the CKA/CAR assessment. Since the Main Account Holder is the authorised person managing and operating the account, the Beneficiary Account holder does not need to undergo CKA/CAR.

You will receive your assessment outcome via email after your submission has been reviewed, typically immediately after completion.

In some cases, additional review may be required (e.g. if certain information cannot be verified). In such instances, the outcome will be provided once the review is completed within 1 to 2 business days.

You can also check your CKA/CAR status anytime by logging in and going to Investment Advice > CKA/CAR Status.

Accredited Investors as defined in the Securities and Futures Act (SFA) and FSM Global corporate accounts are exempted from the assessment. The definition of an Accredited Investor can be found here.

No. It includes all transactions that you have made through FSM Global and any financial institutions (including Banks, Fund Houses) in the last 3 years. If you have met these criteria, you have qualified and passed the CKA and/or CAR.

Yes. Each distributor has an obligation to conduct CKA/CAR with their customers. The results of assessments performed by another distributor are not transferable.

Valid Transactions that contributes to the count of 6 transactions (Funds (Unit Trust), ETF under SIP classification or MAPS):
- Buy
- Switch
- RSP
Note: Only transactions that are dated within 3 years are valid

Invalid Transactions (Funds (Unit Trust), Stocks/ETF or MAPS):
- Sell (refers to a sell order where the sell/redemption proceeds [Cash/ CPF-OA/ CPF-SA/ SRS] are paid to you)
- Dividend
- Transfer In/out
- Fees deduction

Based on the types of transactions as defined above question, we will run regular internal assessments on our existing FSM Global account holders based on your past transactions on our records. It will include all transactions placed under your personal and beneficiary account(s), if any, as long as the main account holder of these accounts is the same person.

For clients who fulfill the criteria set for investment experience based on FSM Global transactions, they will  automatically attain a “Pass” status and be re-assess again on the expiry date i.e. one year later from the date of the assessment.

CKA “Fail” Status Assessment
The CKA “Fail” status means that you can only purchase Excluded Investment Products (EIPs),  you will not be able to execute purchases for the unlisted Specified Investment Products (SIPs) without the help of an Investment Adviser. This purchase restriction to apply to all Buy, Switch, Regular Savings Plan (RSP) but there are no restrictions to sell orders.

Most Unit Trusts, Managed Portfolios and selected ETFs are categorised under SIPs. You can only proceed to buy unit trusts after receiving free investment advice from our Investment Advisory team on whether the specific products are suitable before you can proceed with the purchase.

Submit the portfolio advisory service to get investment advise from our licensed advisor. Just go to Investment Advice > Portfolio Advisory Service.
If you would like to make any amendment to a submitted Advisory Advice, please void it and re-place a new request at Investment Advice > Advisory Submission/ Archived Investment Advice

CAR “Fail” Status Assessment

You may continue to place online transaction orders; however, you will be required to complete a Listed Specified Investment Product (SIP) declaration form, which outlines the key risks associated with such investments.
For ETFs classified as SIPs, please ensure that you review and acknowledge the potential implications and risks. Upon completion of the declaration under CKA/CAR Status, your account will be enabled for SIP ETF investments within the next hour.

If you do not meet the requirements of the Customer Knowledge Assessment (CKA), you will not be able to independently execute online buy transactions (including Buy, Switch, and Regular Savings Plan (RSP)) for unlisted Specified Investment Products (SIPs), such as Unit Trusts and Managed Portfolios (MAPS).

To proceed with such investments, you are required to obtain investment advice from our Investment Advisory team.

You may request investment advice by submitting a Portfolio & Investment Objective Fact Find Form via: Login > Investment Advice > Portfolio Advisory Service
Step 1: Submit Fact Find Form
Please complete the Portfolio & Investment Objective Fact Find Form to provide details on your investment objectives, financial situation, and investment needs.
Kindly ensure that all information provided is accurate and complete, as this will form the basis of the suitability assessment and recommendation.

Step 2: Review Investment Advice
Once your submission has been reviewed, our Investment Advisory team will provide a suitable recommendation. You will be notified via email when the advice is available for viewing online.

Step 3: Order Creation & Acceptance
(Applicable to clients who do not meet CKA requirements)
After you have reviewed and accepted the advice, our Investment Advisory team will create the transaction orders on your behalf.
You will then be required to review and approve the orders online before they are submitted for processing.

The entire process may take approximately 7 working days.
Click here to know more about our investment advisory services.
Click here to view or submit Portfolio & Investment Objective Fact Find Form.

Yes, our Investment Advisory team provides advisory services to all clients, regardless of whether you have passed or failed the Customer Knowledge Assessment (CKA). These services cover Unit Trusts, Managed Portfolios (MAPS), and Bonds, and include portfolio review and investment recommendations.

For clients who have not met the CKA requirements, a more comprehensive advisory process is required. You will need to complete and submit the Portfolio & Investment Objective Fact Find Form to enable our Investment Advisory team to provide suitable portfolio and investment advice before any transactions can be carried out.

FSM Global Investment Advisory service is free of charge.

You may update or re-take your CKA / CAR assessment anytime or when there are new changes / update to your declaration to meet any of the 3 CKA / CAR criteria.