The financial landscape has transformed dramatically over the last 10 years, following the global economic crisis and rise of tech in business.

But despite the progress, many of the same questions still remain for consumers…

How do you get the best return for your hard earned cash? Which advisors and organisations should you trust? How can you invest your wealth without seeing gains being eaten away by high fees?

JustCo member and StashAway co-founder & CEO Michele Ferrario was asking these exact questions when he realized that the options available for everyday hard-working professionals are either too exclusive or not that attractive, and that many people are paying a high price for bad advice.

So in true entrepreneurial style, he decided to leave his position as CEO of Zalora to create a solution that would not only solve his own problem but also that of many people in similar situations. And most importantly, he would develop a solution that is designed with the customer in mind, something that Michele feels is missing in Singapore’s financial industry.

WEALTH MANAGEMENT WITH A CUSTOMER-FIRST FOCUS

StashAway’s proposal is very simple: Empower you to manage your wealth in a simple, cost-effective, and intelligent way, and to always provide transparency, low fees, and accessible, expert advice.

The technology behind , StashAway’s service is an automated investment engine that builds global, customized portfolios across asset-classes that maximize returns for the customer’s goals using highly diversified, low-cost ETFs.

“I like to build stuff – the team, the product, the culture” says Michele who has 12 years experience in the financial industry and in consumer internet including CEO of Zalora Group, and co-founder of Rocket Internet in Italy and Pakistan.

Michele has built plenty of stuff before, and is very excited about creating the StashAway business and platform from scratch.

GROWING A SUCCESSFUL TEAM WITH JUSTCO

Since joining JustCo in October 2016, the StashAway team has grown from four to eleven employees in just 3 months, and has plans to expand the team to 20+ members as they build up to launch their online wealth management platform.

Being able to upsize is vital for Michele, and JustCo’s flexibility and scale have enabled Michele and his team to do that quickly and efficiently. But growth is not without its challenges…

“Our biggest success so far has been to attract the right people. Moving people from the seemingly-safe world of finance to a start up is not easy. Bringing candidates to the JustCo space helps convince top talent to join, as the space and atmosphere makes for a very attractive environment.”

The JustCo co working space also serves as a perfect place to meet partners and vendors as it has that “feel at home” characteristic. Michele even has a strategic partner who pops in regularly to JustCo @ 120 Robinson Road with his wife to grab a cup of One Shot barista coffee, making for some handy catch ups.

THE LAUNCH

With their pending product launch, Michele views JustCo as an active partner helping them to promote their product, and introducing them to the community through community newsletters and even 1:1 meetups.

With nothing like StashAway service currently in Singapore, there will certainly be a lot of interest from businesses and consumers alike.

You can be the first to find out by joining the StashAway waiting list here.