Powered by innovative tech, Futu gives its users an investing super-app

In Singapore, the financial services industry is generally considered mature. To crack the investor market, several traditional, legacy financial institutions and online brokerages are accelerating their digitalisation efforts and experimenting with fresh ways to attract investors.

A new entrant into the industry, Futu Singapore (Futu SG) – a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nasdaq-listed, Tencent-backed Futu Holdings (Futu) – has set its sights on revolutionising the local investing landscape for retail investors with its digital-first moomoo platform as well as its focus on financial literacy and responsible investing.

Futu SG has been receiving warm reception in Singapore, at a time where people, especially millennials and Generation Z – also known as digital natives – are seeking a solution to help them navigate the world of investing and a broker that charges competitive fees. In under three months since moomoo was officially launched in Singapore, it racked up over 220,000 users, including 100,000 paying clients.

Globally, Futu announced last month in its financial results update that its total number of paying clients has surpassed 1 million. The second quarter of the year also saw its momentum in revenue growth remaining strong, with a 129.3 per cent increase in total revenue year-on-year to US$203.1 million (S$275.7 million), representing six consecutive quarters of triple-digit growth. Net income also posted a triple-digit year-on-year increase.

LEVERAGING IN-HOUSE FINTECH EXCELLENCE TO CREATE MARKET DISRUPTION

Futu’s performance is driven by its heavy investment in research and development (R&D), with seven out of every 10 employees in R&D.

Since the inception of the company, Futu has been placing technology at the core of its product improvements to provide users of its investing platforms the best experience. The R&D team focuses on in-app features that help investors to make more savvy decisions, connect with like-minded peers and stay up to date on the financial world.

Mr Gavin Chia, managing director of Futu SG and a local financial services industry veteran, said: “The pursuit in tech excellence has allowed the group to build a solid foundation that’s rooted in a strong culture of fintech excellence. Due to this commitment, the company can quickly launch and upgrade products, expand the system capabilities, and replicate the business in new markets.”

The features on moomoo are developed with the needs of investors in mind, such as a portfolio leaderboard that shows daily and monthly updates on paper trading of top investors; earnings calendars for various markets like the United States and Hong Kong markets; as well as insights into best-performing exchange-traded funds (ETFs) globally and real estate investment trusts (REITs) and daily leveraged certificates (DLCs) in Singapore.

 Tools and resources found on moomoo include:

• Heat Lists: Trade Heat (most traded), Search Heat (most searched) and News Heat (most news coverage) of stocks in United States, Hong Kong and mainland China markets

• Heat Map: Best-performing industries in various markets

• Star Institutions: Insights into institutional investing strategies

• AI Monitor: Market movements and unusual trading activities

The company’s dedication to providing high-tech, high-touch service sets it apart from competitors. Said Mr Leaf Li, founder of Futu and chairman of its technology committee: “We have always been upgrading our products. In our 9th year of business now, we are still rolling out thousands of new product features and continuously making improvements to the application.

“Many product upgrade ideas originated from our users. Every day, product managers and I get tagged by users in their in-app social community on product suggestions. We treasure all user feedback and strive to respond to every single piece in a timely manner. We firmly believe that a good product must meet the evolving needs of its users.”

Mr Li added that Futu’s front-, middle- and back-end systems are self-developed as much as possible so that any problems can be solved more quickly. “Also, as finance is an industry that emphasises security, Futu’s self-developed risk control security system ensures the safety of our users’ data and funds,” he explained.

AN INTERACTIVE, SOCIAL COMMUNITY IN THE INVESTING SPACE

Mr Li believes that investing – usually thought of as a solo pursuit – can be enriched through community, enabling investors to share their insights and learnings. Hence, the creation of moomoo’s in-app community function, moo community, which also provides a way for users to engage directly with Futu.

“Even the best investment tools may be replicated through time, but the content and culture of a community stands and persists,” said Mr Li. “The many years of hard work we poured into cultivating the in-app social community have translated into the unique community culture we have today. The caring and supportive atmosphere as well as the sense of inclusiveness and curiosity imbued in our community promote user engagement and increase user stickiness.”

GLOBAL BRAND, WITH DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF LOCAL MARKETS

Going forward, Futu plans to enrich its product offerings and improve tools and features to facilitate users’ investment decision-making, in keeping with the company’s motto of “making investment easier”.

Besides capitalising on its growth prospects in Singapore, it also plans to expand moomoo’s footprint into more countries such as the broader Southeast Asian market, leveraging Singapore as its entry point to do so for the latter. Futu also has presence in the United States outside of Asia.

Said Mr Li: “Our main goal for Futu is that our services continue to be fast, accurate, safe and easy to use. This is a vision that we will realise through technology.”

Ms Gan Hui Tse, a moomoo user in Singapore for six months now, said the platform allows her to do self-directed trading easily. Previously, she invested passively via funds that are managed by banks and insurance companies.

“I didn’t think I had the time to do active investing until I came across moomoo,” she said. “I am really enjoying my investment journey with moomoo. It allows me to learn from many like-minded investors through the big moomoo community, which has been very supportive and inclusive, as well as from the educational resources available.

“I plan to expand my investment portfolio with moomoo. I trust Futu SG fully and I know it will continue to care for the well-being of the investors and protect our interests.”

Sign up for moomoo powered by Futu SG to join a thriving community of users and learn more about investing from Futu SG’s educational and tech resources.

As part of Futu’s 9th anniversary activities, it is running an in-app game called Let's Moo-ve! till Nov 11. By completing obstacle courses in the game, the top 5,000 players with the most points stand to win cash coupons. Singapore users can also participate in the game in-app on moomoo.