Chocolate Finance Singapore: Earn up to 2% p.a. without any Lock-In

Chocolate Finance is a managed account that operates under the brand of ChocFin Pte Ltd, a local private company. As a cash management account, you will earn a non-guaranteed return for your savings. Despite that, ChocFin assures that for your first S$20k, you will earn the full return of 2% per annum under its Top-Up Programme. This can be done without any hoops to jump. In this post, let’s learn about Chocolate Finance and how to make your spare cash work for you.

🎁 Support my blog by using my referral link to download the chocolate mobile application and open your account today.

Disclosure: This post on Chocolate Finance contains a referral link. Hence, I may get some money for coffee when you use my referral link to sign up with the related service. But nope, there is no additional cost to you. In fact you will get to skip the waitlist and open an account immediately. In any case, I will only recommend products or services that meets my needs and expectations.

One Minute Summary:

Chocolate Finance is a managed account, i.e. an investment fund management account that is managed by a portfolio manager.
As a result, you will earn a non-guaranteed return on the money that you put with Chocolate Finance.
Despite that, the Top-Up Programme ensures that you will earn the full return of 2% per annum for your first S$20k, and 1.8% per annum for your next S$30k.
Since there are no lock-ins, you may deposit and withdraw your money at any time via FAST.
Summing up, you will be able to see your returns daily in the Chocolate app.

Part 1: What is Chocolate Finance

ChocFin Pte Ltd operates the managed account, Chocolate Finance. In detail, ChocFin Pte Ltd is a local private company and is a Capital Market Services (CMS101452) licence holder that is licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Part 2: Where is your money invested into

As an investment account, Chocolate Finance generates returns by investing your money into a portfolio of short-duration fixed-income funds and money market funds. These investment funds are carefully selected to optimise risk-adjusted returns. In detail, this is based on factors such as duration, yield to maturity, credit quality, and currency. At this point, these are the investment funds and the percentage of money allocated to each fund:

Dimensional Global Short-Term Investment Grade Fixed Income fund – 15%
UOBAM United SGD Fund – 35%;
Fullerton Short Term Interest Rate Fund – 5%;
Lion Global Short Duration Bond Fund – 35%;
Nikko AM Shenton Short Term Bond Fund – 10%.

Part 3: Returns

There are three parts to the return that you may earn from your Chocolate Finance account.

Part 3.1: First $50,000

Currently, Chocolate Finance offers a promotional incentive, the Top-Up Programme. During the programme’s qualifying period, ChocFin assures you that you will earn a return of

2% per annum for the first $20,000; and
1.8% per annum for the next $30,000 (i.e. for the amount between $20,000 and $50,000).

In other words, if for some reason, the portfolio underperforms, ChocFin will top up the difference so that you can enjoy the full return. For this purpose, the qualifying period refers to either until

Part 3.2: Any amount after the first $50,000

For any amount after the first $50,000, you will earn a target return of 1.8% per annum. Given that this is a target return, the actual return may be higher or lower than 1.8% per annum. (Read Part 5 on the Limitation and Risk.)

In both cases, the returns are compounded and you will be able to see the returns daily in the Chocolate app.

Part 3.3: Withdrawal of Funds

You will be able to deposit or withdraw any amount that you have in your account at any time. For the most part, there is neither any fees nor any lock-in period that you need to adhere to. With this in mind, here is how to deposit money into your Chocolate Finance account:

From Chocolate app’s homepage, tap on “Add money”.
At this point, there are two options – PayNow QR or Bank transfer.
Select your preferred option and follow the on-screen instructions to proceed.

Meanwhile, here is how to withdraw money from your Chocolate Finance account:

From Chocolate app’s homepage, tap on “Withdraw”.
Secondly, tap on “Add a bank account” and enter your bank details.
Thereafter, tap “Add bank”.
Next, enter the amount that you wish to withdraw.
Finally, swipe the bottom slider to the right to proceed with the withdrawal.

When you make a withdrawal, it may take up to 3 business days for the funds to arrive in your bank account. After all, your money is invested in a portfolio of fixed-income funds to optimise returns. As a result, this is the time required to sell your investments and transfer your money back to you.

There are situations when it may take up to 7 business days for the funds to arrive in your bank account. These situations may occur if you have recently added money or performed multiple transactions in your account. This is because these transactions may not have been fully processed by the cut-off timing (at 1pm daily).

In both cases, you can view the progress of your withdrawal via the Chocolate Finance app. Additionally, you will also receive timely notifications via email.

11 March 2025:

Chocolate Finance has paused the instant withdrawal and all withdrawals will follow the usual industry practice of 3-6 business days.

Part 4: Cost

You do not have to pay any fees to open or use the Chocolate Finance account. Additionally, the target return is net of any underlying fund expenses. Consequently, there isn’t any gimmick that you should be aware of.

Part 5: Limitation and Risk

Before you open a Chocolate Finance account, here are some limitations and risks that you should be aware of.

Part 5.1: Not Capital Guaranteed

It is important to realise that the money that you put into your Chocolate Finance account is not safe from capital losses. After all, this is a managed account. Consequently, your capital will be exposed to investment risks. Although this may be true, under the Chocolate Top-Up Programme (read Part 3.1), you will be able to withdraw your capital at anytime. To point out, this is even if your portfolio’s value is less than your capital.

To illustrate, let’s assume that you put $20k into your Chocolate Finance Account. Next, some time later, your account’s Net Asset Value falls down to $10k. At this point, you decide to withdraw $15k. In this situation, ChocFin will issue a “top-up” of $5k to your account so that you can withdraw the $15k out. For one thing, this is despite that your account’s Net Asset Value is $10k only.

Nevertheless, you must still remember that your capital is not safe from losses. In fact, in certain situations, e.g. a market disruption, ChocFin may not be able to honour its Top-Up Programme. Similarly, under those circumstances, it may not be able to accept a redemption request as well. Therefore, this is an investment risk that you need to undertake in order to earn its target return.

Part 5.2: Fund Rebalancing

Unlike investing on your own, the team of financial experts at ChocFin will decide the asset allocation in its investment portfolio. Such an asset allocation may differ from your risk appetite. Despite that, ChocFin is committed to optimise the risk-adjusted returns based on the current market condition to deliver sustainable returns. Since its launch in the year 2023, Chocolate Finance has adjusted its investment portfolio thrice.

At launch (August 2023):

Dimensional Global Short-Term Investment Grade Fixed Income fund – 40%;
UOBAM United SGD Fund – 35%;
Fullerton Short Term Interest Rate Fund – 25%.

From 22 July 2024:

Dimensional Global Short-Term Investment Grade Fixed Income fund – 15%
UOBAM United SGD Fund – 35%;
Fullerton Short Term Interest Rate Fund – 40%;
Lion Global Short Duration Bond Fund – 10%.

From 17 March 2025:

Dimensional Global Short-Term Investment Grade Fixed Income fund – 15%
UOBAM United SGD Fund – 35%;
Fullerton Short Term Interest Rate Fund – 5%;
Lion Global Short Duration Bond Fund – 35%;
Nikko AM Shenton Short Term Bond Fund – 10%.

Generally, most people won’t be overly concerned with the asset allocation. After all, what’s more important is the return that you get from your Chocolate Finance account.

Part 5.3: Non-Guaranteed Return

As an investment, the return that you may earn from your Chocolate Finance account is non-guaranteed. For the most part, this is regardless of whether it is the first $50k or any amount after. By and large, it is only during this qualifying period when ChocFin assures you that you will earn a return of up to 2% per annum for the first $50k that you put with them.

Next, for balances above $50k, ChocFin uses a target return of 1.8% per annum. To clarify, the actual return may fluctuate due to market volatility. Additionally, it also depends on the yield to maturities of the underlying assets. With this in mind, there is a possibility that the actual return may fall below 1.8% per annum. Nonetheless, it is assuring to note that ChocFin is incentivised to achieve the 1.8% p.a. target return for you. This is because ChocFin makes money only when you make money.

Finally, as usual, the portfolio’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of its future performance. Therefore, you should still exercise your own due diligence and conduct a risk assessment before you decide to put any money with ChocFin.

Part 5.4: Changes in the Non-Guaranteed Return

Since its launch in the year 2023, Chocolate Finance has adjusted its non-guaranteed rate of return six times.

At launch (August 2023): 4.5% per annum for the first $20k, a target of 3.5% per annum on any amount above $20k.
From 1 May 2024: 4.2% per annum for the first $20k, a target of 3.5% per annum on any amount above $20k.
From 1 November 2024: 3.6% per annum for the first $20k, 3.2% per annum for an amount between $20k and $50k, a target of 3.2% per annum on any amount above $50k.
From 1 February 2025: 3.3% per annum for the first $20k, 3% per annum for an amount between $20k and $50k, a target of 3% per annum on any amount above $50k.
From 1 June 2025: 3% per annum for the first $20k, 2.7% per annum for an amount between $20k and $50k, a target of 2.7% per annum on any amount above $50k.
From 1 September 2025: 2.5% per annum for the first $20k, 2.2% per annum for an amount between $20k and $50k, a target of 2.2% per annum on any amount above $50k.
From 1 December 2025: 2% per annum for the first $20k, 1.8% per annum for an amount between $20k and $50k, a target of 1.8% per annum on any amount above $50k.

If you wish to be notified whenever ChocFin makes an adjustment to Chocolate Finance’s return, then enter your name and email address below to join my free newsletter.

Part 5.5: Qualifying Period

To sum up, ChocFin reserves the right to make changes to the Qualifying Period at any time, without giving any prior notice. Since its launch fin the year 2023, Chocolate Finance has revised its Qualifying Period twice.

At launch (August 2023): Till 31 December 2024, or until the assets under management for the Chocolate Managed Account reach $500 million, whichever earlier.
Effective 1 November 2024: Till 31 March 2025 or until the assets under management for the Chocolate Managed Account reach $1 billion, whichever earlier.
Effective 24 March 2025: Till 30 June 2025 or until the assets under management for the Chocolate Managed Account reach $1 billion, whichever earlier.
Current: Till 31 December 2025 or until the assets under management for the Chocolate Managed Account reach $1.5 billion, whichever earlier.

Part 5.6: Custodian

When you invest with Chocolate Finance, your money is segregated and held separately by custodians. Consequently, your money is safe in the event that something happens to ChocFin. If it matters to you, the current custodian is Allfunds Singapore Branch.

Part 5.7: Minimum Balance

For one thing, there is neither a minimum nor a maximum amount that you can put with Chocolate Finance. For example, you can put $1 into your Chocolate Finance account. However, for any balance that is less than $104, the app may not be able to reflect the return immediately. This is because that return is less than $0.01.

Part 5.8: Deposit Insurance Scheme

In truth, ChocFin operates as an asset manager. Since it is not a bank, it does not require any insurance from Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation Limited (SDIC). Since your deposit is not covered by the Deposit Insurance (DI) Scheme, there is no SDIC protection.

Part 6: Eligibility

By and large, Singapore residents who are at least 18 years old may open a Chocolate Finance account. This is so long as you have a valid NRIC or FIN.

Part 7: How to Start

Download the Chocolate Finance app from the App Store or Google Play.
Sign up and verify your identity using SingPass MyInfo.
Add money to your account using a bank FAST transfer or PayNow QR.

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PZL Blog | Singapore

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