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Help Center - StashAway

Help Center

A Professional Client ("PC") may generally have access to a wider range of financial products and services. Some financial institutions may not offer certain products and services to persons who are non-PC.
To be eligible to be treated as a PC, you must first meet eligibility criteria (please refer to <a class="styles__ATag-sc-13s6wwe-0 iKPPDk" href="https://www.stashaway.ae/faq/how-do-i-qualify-for-pc-status" target="_self" rel="">"How do I qualify for PC Status?"</a>) and you must opt in to be treated as a PC.
If you opt in to be treated as a PC, you are regarded as having consented to and understood the following:
<ol>
<li class="RichText__StyledParagraph-sc-6vxzsr-0 gqgfpD wysiwyg-text-align-justify">I represent, warrant and undertake that I am a "Professional Client" ("PC") as defined under the DFSA Conduct of Business Module Rulebook, Section 2. I agree to provide the relevant supporting documents and all supporting information and documents I have or will provide are true, accurate, complete and authentic. This representation shall be deemed repeated upon every transaction and dealings with StashAway in relation to my account.</li>
<li class="RichText__StyledParagraph-sc-6vxzsr-0 gqgfpD wysiwyg-text-align-justify">I understand what it means to be a PC and the consequences of choosing to opt in. In particular, I acknowledge that choosing to be a PC, this may reduce certain regulatory safeguards applicable to me so long as StashAway has not received a withdrawal of consent from me. I have read and understand the general warning and regulatory safeguards applicable to me, as discussed in the PC FAQs.</li>
<li class="RichText__StyledParagraph-sc-6vxzsr-0 gqgfpD wysiwyg-text-align-justify">Having considered the consequences, I choose to opt-in and provide my consent to be treated as a PC as defined in the PC FAQs in relation to my account, transactions and dealings with StashAway.</li>
<li class="RichText__StyledParagraph-sc-6vxzsr-0 gqgfpD wysiwyg-text-align-justify">I am aware that I can withdraw my consent at any point in time and choose not to continue to be treated as a PC. I acknowledge that I have read and understood the consequences of withdrawing my consent.</li>
<li class="RichText__StyledParagraph-sc-6vxzsr-0 gqgfpD wysiwyg-text-align-justify">I confirm that although StashAway may draw my attention to investment opportunities and provide me with market information, opinions or recommendations, I understand that such advice may be given in isolation and may not always take into account the asset allocation of my portfolio. I agree and acknowledge that all decisions whether or not to invest and/or to enter into transactions will be made on my own. I will be making decisions on whether or not to invest and/or to enter into any transactions on my own behalf and/or StashAway will only facilitate the entering into such transactions upon receiving my instructions.</li>
<li class="RichText__StyledParagraph-sc-6vxzsr-0 gqgfpD wysiwyg-text-align-justify">I undertake to notify StashAway immediately of any subsequent change to my financial situation which affects my eligibility to be considered as a PC.</li>
<li class="RichText__StyledParagraph-sc-6vxzsr-0 gqgfpD wysiwyg-text-align-justify">I am aware that StashAway will not be required to provide me with any contract notes, statements of account or receipts under the DFSA Rules, on a monthly basis, when my PC status is in effect where such would otherwise be required, unless I instruct StashAway to do so. Although StashAway has no regulatory duty to provide me with the above-mentioned information, StashAway will continue to send me the statements of account until further notice and to provide me with other information upon request.</li>
</ol>

What does it mean to be a Professional Client?

Generally, non-PCs may have access to a limited range of financial products and services as compared to those available to a PC. Some of our products and services may not be available to persons who are non-PC. 
If you do not choose to opt-in as a PC StashAway may not be able to provide financial advice and planning services available to StashAway Reserve clients. There will be no change to your existing account, investments or holdings with StashAway which are available for our general retail clients (if any).

What does it mean to be a non-PC?

As an individual investor, you can only qualify as a Professional Client if you meet the following criteria:
<ul class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
<li>
Have ‘net’ assets of at least $1 million; 
</li>
</ul>
AND
<ul class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
<li>
Are currently, or have been, over the last two years, an employee in a relevant professional position of a regulated financial institution;
</li>
</ul>
Or,
<ul class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
<li>
Appear, on reasonable grounds, to have sufficient experience and understanding of relevant financial markets, products or transactions and any associated risks.
</li>
</ul>
Please note: the asset test is based on your net assets, deducting any mortgages or other charges held over the property from the value of the assets. When calculating your net assets, we must exclude the value of the primary residence, if you own it, unless you own more than one home; and, the assets can be directly held by you through legal ownership, or indirectly by beneficial ownership (for example, if you’re a beneficiary in a trust). 
Due to regulatory requirements, we would need to obtain sufficient evidence on your status as a PC.

How do I qualify for PC status?

Professional Clients

StashAway offers different investment products for investors:
 
StashAway has the <a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/general-investing" target="_self">General Investing</a> Portfolio, <a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/esg" target="_self">Responsible Investing</a> Portfolio, and <a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/thematic-portfolios" target="_self">Thematic</a> Portfolios that are guided by ERAA® (Economic Regime-based Asset Allocation).
 
<a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/blackrock" target="_self">General Investing powered by BlackRock®</a> provide investors with the broadest market exposure.
 
<a class="styles__ATag-sc-13s6wwe-0 iKPPDk" href="https://www.stashaway.ae/simple" target="_self" rel="undefined">StashAway Simple™</a> is an ultra-low risk cash management portfolio.
 
<a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/flexible-portfolios" target="_self">Flexible portfolios</a> are customisable portfolios that allow investors to pick their desired asset classes.

What are StashAway products?

What is one advice you would give someone that just joined StashAway?

Typically, it takes up to 1 to 3 business days for the funds to be fully invested and reflected in your StashAway portfolio.

When will my funds appear in my StashAway account?

Fees are paid monthly with the 1% cash allocation in your account. Each of your portfolios will be charged proportionally for the fees owed by them.
 
Additionally, the cash allocation might be used for rebalancing and/or withdrawals. For example, when you request for a withdrawal, we would first use the cash in USD for the withdrawal and if needed sell assets to fulfil the withdrawal. Subsequently, when rebalancing is triggered, we would sell assets to restore the cash USD allocation.

Why is there a 1% Cash allocation for my portfolio?

What is it?
<ul>
<li>
Want to get your funds invested for free? You're in the right place!
</li>
<li>
For every friend that you refer and who funds their account, both of you are entitled to a 6-month management fee waiver, for up to $10,000 USD of assets under management (AUM).
</li>
<li class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
If you refer 2 friends and they both invest at least $1 USD, $20,000 USD of your assets under management would be managed for free for 6 months. 3 friends, $30,000 USD; and so on.
</li>
</ul>
 
Is there a limit?
<ul>
<li>
Refer to as many people as you like! We don't have a limit for the number of people you may refer.
</li>
</ul>
 
Requirements
<ul class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
<li>
Your account must be funded (any amount).
</li>
<li>
Your referee must not have an existing account.
</li>
<li>
Your referee must sign-up via the referral link.
</li>
<li>
After your referee's registration, your referee's account needs to be funded within 30 days.
</li>
</ul>
 
How to refer a friend
<ul>
<li class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
Log in to your StashAway account.
</li>
<li class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
Click "Refer a friend" on the top of the web page or "More &gt; Refer a friend" on the mobile app.
</li>
<li class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
Copy your individual link and send it to your friend(s) via email, SMS, or your favourite social media platform.
</li>
<li class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
When your invited friend(s) register using your link and fund his/her account within 30 days, both of you have qualified for the referral programme.
</li>
<li>
Track your referee(s)' progress by looking at "Your Referral History" in the "Refer a friend" section.
</li>
</ul>
<div class="p-rich_text_section"> </div>
<div class="p-rich_text_section">Privacy Notice and Consent</div>
<ul class="p-rich_text_list p-rich_text_list__bullet" data-stringify-type="unordered-list" data-indent="0">
<li>Both referrer and referee must have an account with StashAway to enjoy the benefits of this Referral Programme.</li>
<li>This Referral programme is part of the service that StashAway provides to its customers and both referrer and referee will have agreed to the Privacy Notice, for StashAway to use their personal information as part of this service. </li>
<li>The referee has agreed that in signing up with StashAway via this program that their full name will be shared with the referrer for progress tracking purposes.</li>
</ul>

Referral Programme

General questions about how StashAway works

General Questions

Your security is incredibly important to us. As required by the regulatory bodies and authorities, we need to verify your identity, therefore, we require you to upload a copy of your Emirates ID or Passport, as well as a Proof of Residence.
If you are transferring from a non-UAE bank account, there will be an additional verification required. Our Client Experience Team will reach out to you accordingly for this.

How does StashAway verify my identity?

The funds will be reflected in your StashAway account within 1 to 2 business days. Kindly note that non-local bank transfers may take longer due to extra verification measures. Once we have received your deposit and linked it to your StashAway account, you will receive a receipt confirmation email from us.
 
Thereafter, you can expect to see your funds invested when the US market opens within 1 to 2 business days.

I've set up my transfers, now what?

<ul>
<li class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
General Investing (StashAway and powered by BlackRock®) &amp; Goal-Based Investing portfolios, Thematics portfolios, ESG portfolios, and Flexible Portfolios takes 1 to 2 Business Days
</li>
<li class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">StashAway Simple™ takes up to 2 to 4 Business Days
</li>
</ul>
The funds will usually be invested that same night (depending on the time of deposit) when the market opens and is reflected in your account the following business day, if not, the following business day.
 
If your funds reach our Emirates NBD Trust account before noon on a business day, it will be linked to your StashAway account on the same day. You will also receive an acknowledgement email from us.
 
Please note that deposits sent from outside of UAE and USD deposits may take longer due to extra verification required by regulations and a longer processing period.

How does my money get invested from the moment I make a deposit?

You can expect the withdrawal process to take approximately 2 to 4 business days from the Global Portfolio and 3 to 5 business days from the StashAway Simple™ portfolio. 
 
First, we will sell the securities on your behalf. Then, we will wire the money from our trust account to your bank account.
 
If you are withdrawing to an international bank account outside of UAE, this may take longer and your bank may charge you conversion fees. Additionally, your bank may also charge you fees for receiving overseas telegraphic transfers - this fee varies from bank to bank and will be deducted automatically by your bank from the received amount. Kindly check with your bank for any fees they may charge.

When will my withdrawn funds from StashAway appear in my bank account?

Frequently asked questions about opening an account and the app

Getting Started

An ETF, or an exchange-traded fund, is an index-tracking investment vehicle listed on a major exchange. Indices are composed of asset classes, such as stocks or bonds, in a particular segment of the market, such as technology, energy, or real estate. ETFs are funds that are traded like stocks, but have the diversified portfolio structures of a mutual fund. ETFs provide passive exposure to any asset class by mirroring the returns of an index. For example, the SPDR SPY S&amp;P 500 is an ETF that tracks the performance of the S&amp;P 500.
ETFs offer diversification, higher liquidity than individual securities, and lower fees.

What is an ETF?

The portfolio returns on our website and app are benchmarked against the MSCI All Country World Index (MSCI ACWI) for equities and the FTSE World Government Bond Index for bonds.
 
These benchmarks apply for the following portfolios:
<ul class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
<li>General Investing powered by StashAway</li>
<li>General Investing powered by BlackRock®</li>
<li>Responsible Investing</li>
</ul>
Like our General Investing and Responsible Investing portfolios, the MSCI ACWI includes exposure to equities in both developed markets (such as the US, Western Europe, Australia, and Japan) and emerging markets (such as China, Brazil, and India).

What are the benchmarks StashAway uses?

Questions about our portfolios and investment framework

Investments

Both portfolios are investing in USD-denominated and US-listed ETFs, which are globally diversified portfolios. The difference is ;<ul><li>General Investing: Invest in long-term by enduring economic changes </li></ul><ul><li>Goal-based Investing: Similar to General Investing but with a personalised investment plan to achieve a particular financial goal</li></ul>

What is General and Goal-based Investing?

Technically, it would take up to 1 to 3 business days for the funds to be fully invested and reflected in your portfolio.NOTE: If you did not include your unique reference code when you made the deposit, kindly contact us at <a target="_self" rel="" class="styles__ATag-sc-13s6wwe-0 iKPPDk" href="mailto:support@stashaway.ae">support@stashaway.ae</a>.

I just made a deposit. When will it appear in my General / Goal-based Investing portfolio?

To update the instructions for One-time or Monthly Deposit, kindly refer to the following:
<ul>
<li class="RichText__StyledParagraph-sc-6vxzsr-0 gqgfpD wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
Web App: Select  "Manage Deposits" &gt; Select either update one-time or monthly deposit plan &gt; Proceed to update the amount and currency &gt; Click “Continue" and "Confirm" complete the update.</li>
</ul>
 
<ul>
<li class="RichText__StyledParagraph-sc-6vxzsr-0 gqgfpD wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
Mobile App: Select "Transfer" on the top right &gt; Click "Put money in" &gt; Select either "One-time deposit" or "Monthly deposit" &gt; Click "Modify" and select "Edit deposit amount and currency" &gt; Proceed to update the amount &gt; Click “Continue" and "Confirm" to complete the update.</li>
</ul>
 
Kindly note that making an amendment to a one-time or monthly deposit plan before we receive your funds will replace any previous one-time or monthly deposit plan. Hence, our system will allocate the funds based on the latest one-time or monthly deposit plan when our bank receives the funds.
 
If the recurring payment is being made via standing instruction from your bank platform, kindly verify this on your banking platform as well to ensure that the scheduled deposit has been amended or cancelled accordingly.
 
If you wish to change your deposit currency, please go to “Account” &gt; “Settings” &gt; “Deposit Currencies” and choose the desired currency.

How do I make changes to my one-time and monthly deposits?

Questions about our General Investing and Goal-based portfolios

General & Goal-based Investing

Both General Investing portfolios are designed to deliver long-term outperformance of their benchmarks. Where they differ is in their asset allocation strategy.
 
General Investing powered by StashAway keeps a portfolio’s risk exposure constant while optimising for long-term returns, which means you can expect occasional deviation from how the markets are doing in order to keep your risk level constant.
 
General Investing powered by BlackRock® provides broader market exposure, which means you can expect ups and downs that follow market trends.
 
BlackRock® is a registered trademark of BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates (“BlackRock”) and is used under license. BlackRock is not affiliated with StashAway and therefore makes no representations or warranties regarding the advisability of investing in any product or service offered by StashAway. BlackRock has no obligation or liability in connection with the operation, marketing, trading or sale of such product or service nor does BlackRock have any obligation or liability to any client or customer of StashAway.
 
For StashAway General Investing portfolios that are powered by BlackRock, BlackRock provides StashAway with non-binding asset allocation guidance. StashAway manages and provides these portfolios to you, meaning BlackRock does not provide any service or product to you, nor has BlackRock considered the suitability of its asset allocations against your individual needs, objectives, and risk tolerance. As such, the asset allocations that BlackRock provides do not constitute investment advice, or an offer to sell or buy any securities.

What’s the difference between General Investing powered by StashAway and General Investing powered by BlackRock®?

Questions about General Investing powered by BlackRock®

General Investing powered by BlackRock®

Thematic Portfolios are a long-term investment product which allows you to invest in what you believe could transform the world. They are aimed to maximise exposure to promising long-term trends within your risk preference. Thematic Portfolios are grouped around different promising trends and are composed of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as well as balancing assets (non-thematic instruments). You can learn more <a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/r/introducing-thematic-portfolios" target="_self">here</a>.

What are Thematic Portfolios?

Thematic Portfolios can be a strong addition to a core investment strategy. Thematic Portfolios have a lot of long-term equity exposure, making them a great way to add diversification to your existing investment plan. 
Thematic Portfolios are at higher risk compared to our General Investing portfolios. This means that they’re certainly not a replacement for a balanced retirement plan and other savings plans, but they do have the potential to complement long-term financial plans. If you’re a starting investor we recommend you take a look at our <a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/how-we-invest" target="_self">General Investing portfolio</a>.

How do Thematic Portfolios fit into my financial plan?

Our annual management fee for Thematic Portfolios ranges between 0.2% and 0.8%, average expense ratio charged by ETF fund managers is 0.52%. However, there's no minimum investment amount and no subscription, switching, and rebalancing fees. Learn more about our pricing <a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/pricing" target="_self">here</a>.

What are the fees involved in Thematic Portfolios?

Our investment team has narrowed down hundreds of the world's best thematic ETFs by analysing three criteria. How efficiently the fund is managed by evaluating their tracking error versus the target asset class, how cost-efficient the fund is (total expense ratio), and how easy it is to redeem and invest into the fund (liquidity).

How are the thematic ETFs selected?

When you create Thematic Portfolios with StashAway, you choose the StashAway Risk Index (SRI). Based on the risk you select, we’ll maximise your exposure to the themes and add the so-called balancing assets as the remainder. Balancing assets are the non-thematic instruments included in your Thematic Portfolios to ensure your risk levels are under control.

What does ‘balancing assets’ mean?

We selected the themes while looking at the latest thematic investing trends and theme performance in the market. In addition, the demand for these themes also came from our clients - we did user research which showed a clear interest to invest in these topics.

How were these themes selected?

Our approach with Thematic Portfolios ensures maximum exposure to the selected themes while keeping your risk preferences in mind. In addition, the composition of our portfolios is designed to bring extensive diversity to your portfolios. Each Thematic Portfolio is intelligently diversified with ETFs that provide you exposure to multiple sub-themes.

Why should I invest in Thematic Portfolios with StashAway instead of doing it myself?

Conventional sector investing is investing in an industry or sector of the economy, for example, real estate or renewable energy. Thematic investing, in contrast, is investing in one topic, however, across several industries. Let’s take healthcare innovation, for example. Healthcare innovation, as a theme, has been adopted across various industries, such as biotech, genomics, medical devices, and many more. And this industry-wide spread approach, known as thematic investing, gives you a much greater diversification compared to sector investing.

What’s the difference between sector investing and thematic investing?

Responsible Investing is an ESG-optimised (Environmental, Social, and Governance) portfolio. When you invest in this portfolio, you are supporting a broad range of companies that make a positive social and environmental impact on society, and consider factors such as sustainability, diversity, inclusion, transparency, and community as part of their business operations. In other words, it is industry-agnostic. Through this portfolio, you have the option to build your core wealth with ESG aligned principles. 
 
In contrast, Environment and Cleantech focuses on the environment industry specifically. It is a thematic portfolio that invests in innovative low-carbon technologies and sustainable solutions to fight climate change, such as solar energy. The companies in this portfolio have business operations that are directly relevant to clean energy, green growth, clean water, and sustainable waste management. As with our other Thematic Portfolios, Environment and Cleantech provides an option to diversify your investments.

What is the difference between the Responsible Investing Portfolio and the Environment and Cleantech Thematic Portfolio?

We recommend investors take a longer-term mindset with Thematic Portfolios, and consider an investment period of at least 5-7 years. Thematic Portfolios are investments aimed to capitalise on long-term changes, and it takes time for full adoption of structural changes and the winners in each space emerge.

What’s the recommended investment timeline for Thematic Portfolios?

The StashAway Risk Index (SRI) for Thematic Portfolios ranges from 20% to 45%. Learn more about SRI <a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/r/which-stashaway-risk-index-should-you-choose" target="_self">here</a>.

What’s the maximum risk I can choose with Thematic Portfolios?

It's really up to you! You can invest in multiple thematic portfolios with different themes and StashAway Risk Indexes.

How many themes can I invest in?

There’s no minimum amount to start investing in Thematic Portfolios.

What’s the minimum amount required to invest in Thematic Portfolios?

We don’t share expected returns or projections because thematic investing is inherently very volatile. In other words, projections based on historical returns for Thematic Portfolios could be misleading. What’s most important is to pick the most suitable SRI for your risk preferences: There will be short-term ups and downs, and riding them out is the key to capturing the large potential returns that can come with thematic investing.

What are the expected returns on Thematic Portfolios?

The composition of Thematic Portfolios can possibly change after some time. Thematic Portfolios, as with all our investment products, are subject to re-optimisation. The basis of our investment strategy is to build portfolios with particular asset allocations that are optimal for four different economic cycles. When our investment team identifies and signals a change in the economic cycle, our technology automatically re-optimises all portfolios' asset allocations. Re-optimisation is applied to keep your risk profile constant while maximising long-term returns. You can learn more about it <a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/help-center/900003477506-what-is-reoptimisation" target="_self" rel="undefined">here</a>.

Will the composition and asset allocation of Thematic Portfolios always stay as it is right now?

No. The composition of our Thematic Portfolios are conventional ETFs, so currently this investment product is not shariah-compliant.

Are our Thematic Portfolios shariah-compliant?

Thematic Portfolios

Responsible Investing is a more socially or ethically responsible form of investing that filters for companies and funds with high ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) scores. It takes ESG factors into account and invests in companies deemed to have positive social impact relating to sustainability, diversity, representation, corporate governance, and community. It also means reducing exposure from companies whose business operations have a negative social impact such as the sale of weapons, or may profit from unsustainable environmental practices such as the use of coal or fossil fuels. 
 
Since Responsible Investing is an ESG-focused adaptation of our classic General Investing Portfolios, it is optimised for both performance and ESG. In other words, it provides an option to build your core wealth with ESG aligned principles, making it ideal for long-term financial goals such as saving for retirement.

What is Responsible Investing?

Questions about our ESG-focused General Investing portfolios

Responsible Investing (ESG)

StashAway Simple™ is an investment, so there is a level of risk, but it’s incredibly low. We designed it to be an ultra low-risk cash management portfolio that invests in a money market fund.

Is StashAway Simple™ risky?

Simply add us to your payee list in your online bank, with your unique reference code (found in your StashAway account, under Transfer &gt; Transfer Information) entered as My Initials/ Your Initials/ Description as part of the payee setup. Subsequently, set up a one-time and/or recurring deposit, following the deposit plans you have set in your portfolio(s).
 
To view the instructions for One-time or Monthly Deposit, kindly refer to the following:
Web Application: Select  "Manage Deposits" &gt; Choose "Put money in"  &gt; Modify your one-time or monthly deposit plan for StashAway Simple™ portfolio &gt; "Modify" the amounts accordingly &gt; Click “Done”
 
Mobile Application: Select "Transfer" on top right &gt; Choose "Put money in"  &gt; Modify your one-time or monthly deposit plan for StashAway Simple™ portfolio &gt; "Modify" the amounts accordingly &gt; Click “Done”

How do I deposit funds into my StashAway Simple™ portfolio?

For deposits from your personal bank account, it takes up to 2 to 4 business days.
For withdrawals to your personal bank account, it takes up to 3 to 5 business days.

How long does the StashAway Simple™ deposit and withdrawal process take?

Questions about our cash management portfolio

StashAway Simple™

With Flexible Portfolios, you get the freedom to customize portfolios the way you want. You can choose which asset classes to include and adjust their allocations according to your preferences. You’ll also be able to create a portfolio from scratch or start with one of our standard, template portfolios.

What are Flexible Portfolios?

We manage your portfolio by always maintaining your asset allocations according to the proportions you set. We’ll also notify you if there are any major changes to your Flexible Portfolio’s Risk Level. This means we won’t re-optimise your Flexible Portfolios on your behalf when market conditions change.

How does StashAway manage my Flexible Portfolio?

No. Flexible Portfolios will not be re-optimised by StashAway, so we’ll maintain your asset classes and allocations in the proportions you set them even if there are changes in economic conditions. However, the underlying individual ETFs within each asset class may be subject to being replaced by more cost-efficient or preferable funds in the market.

Will StashAway re-optimise my Flexible Portfolio?

Your Flexible Portfolios will be rebalanced by us, but will not be re-optimised when economic conditions change. 
<ul>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">
Rebalancing a portfolio involves maintaining the target allocation set by you. This is done because market movements affect the price of assets, which in turn affects their proportions within your portfolio. 
</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Re-optimisation refers to the changes we make to other portfolios managed by us, in order to keep our clients’ risk profile constant during shifts in economic conditions. When this happens, we may introduce new ETFs or change the weightage of existing ETFs in your asset allocation.</li>
</ul>
Read more about rebalancing and re-optimisation <a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/r/rebalancing-and-re-optimisation-at-stashaway" target="_self" rel="undefined">here</a>.

What is the difference between rebalancing and re-optimisation?

We choose the largest, most liquid, most tradable, and most cost-effective ETFs with the lowest tracking error to their indexes, and those with a sufficiently long track record. 
 
We choose simple ETFs, which means they have no leverage or complex payoffs, and have no ETFs to avoid credit risk of issuers. You can find our fund selection criteria <a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/r/how-stashaway-selects-etfs" target="_self" rel="undefined">here</a>.

How does StashAway choose ETFs for each asset class?

The underlying ETFs within each asset class may change. Our investment team carefully selects each individual ETF, and they may be replaced by more cost-efficient or preferable funds in the market.

Will the underlying ETFs under the asset classes always remain the same?

We keep at least 1% of your assets in cash for <a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/help-center/900004392163-what-is-rebalancing" target="_self">rebalancing</a> and your platform fees.

Why can’t I remove cash from my Flexible Portfolio?

It's really up to you! You can create as many Flexible Portfolios as you want depending on your needs and preferences.

How many Flexible Portfolios can I create?

3% is the minimum.

What is the minimum allocation per asset class within a Flexible Portfolio?

Our annual management fee for Flexible Portfolios ranges between 0.2% and 0.8%. There's no minimum investment amount and no subscription fees, switching fees, nor rebalancing fees. Learn more about our pricing <a href="https://www.stashaway.ae/pricing" target="_self">here</a>.

What are the fees involved in creating a Flexible Portfolio?

No, however, you may create a new Flexible Portfolio with your desired asset classes, and then transfer the funds from your existing portfolio(s) to the new Flexible Portfolio.

Can I convert an existing portfolio to a Flexible Portfolio?

The Risk Level is a measure of risk, expressed as a percentage, whereby in any given year, there is a 99% probability that you won’t lose more than this percentage in terms of the portfolio’s value.
 
These are the Risk Level brackets for Flexible Portfolios.
<ul class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Very Conservative: Up to 7%</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Conservative: 8-13%</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Moderate: 14-19%</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Balanced: 20-25%</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Aggressive: 26-32%</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">
Very aggressive: 33% and more 
</li>
</ul>
For example, in a worst-case scenario, there's a 99% chance a Balanced portfolio won't lose more than 25% of its value in any given year. Generally, a higher Risk Level percentage denotes a more risky portfolio, and thus should be accompanied with a longer term investment horizon.
 
We calculate the Risk Level by looking at long-term asset class return and assumptions, and we update these calculations.
 
Your portfolio's Risk Level could change for one of two reasons: In the case that the quarterly update calculates a new Risk Level, or in the case that our investment team replaces a particular ETF in favour of a similar, more cost-efficient or preferable one in the same asset class.

How is the Risk Level calculated for Flexible Portfolios?

Questions about customizing your own portfolios

Flexible Portfolios

Please note that ETFs charge, on average, an expense ratio of 0.15%-0.25%. This is charged over the course of the year in the form of adjustments to the Net Asset Value.
This is not an actual cash flow borne by you. It is offset by the ETF funds before distributing the returns back to you. This expense ratio is incurred regardless of what platform you use to purchase ETFs.

Do ETFs have fees?

Fees are calculated as a percentage of your assets in your StashAway account.It is charged monthly, prorated for the number of days you're invested with us.Learn more: <a target="_self" rel="" class="styles__ATag-sc-13s6wwe-0 iKPPDk" href="https://www.stashaway.ae/pricing">StashAway Pricing.</a>

How are the fees calculated?

We break down your annual fee into monthly payments and we do this at the start of every month.
For example, we’ll charge you January’s fees in the first week of February. We’ll also include the management fee charges in Monthly Statements, available in your account. 
Learn more: <a class="styles__ATag-sc-13s6wwe-0 iKPPDk" href="https://www.stashaway.ae/pricing" target="_self" rel="">StashAway Pricing</a>.

When does StashAway bill me for the fees?

Fees

<ol>
<li>
General &amp; Goal-based Investing portfolio 
</li>
</ol>
<ul class="wysiwyg-text-align-justify">
<li>
All dividends of US-listed securities are subject to 30% dividend withholding tax and the QII (Qualified Interest Income) rule. The latter rule applies to US-domiciled funds, especially US government bonds, of which some of the dividend withholding taxes can be claimed back. Our broker will do this on your behalf. 
</li>
<li>
These taxes are applicable as long as you own US-listed assets, regardless of whether the assets were bought through StashAway, or via your own broker.
</li>
</ul>
Additionally, these taxes are held at source and would have already been deducted from the dividend payments shown on your 'Transactions' tab.
 
Under the QII (Qualified Interest Income) rule, some of the dividend WHT from US domiciled funds (e.g. US government bonds) can be claimed back. Our broker will do this on your behalf and there is no involvement on the customer's part. We will do this once a year, and will notify you via email if you have any claimable WHT, which would be redistributed to your portfolio and automatically reinvested. For further illustration, you may like to view <a class="styles__ATag-sc-13s6wwe-0 iKPPDk" href="https://www.ishares.com/us/literature/tax-information/qualified-interest-income-qii-percentages-2020.pdf" target="_self" rel="">this year's iShares report on QII ETFs</a>. Some examples of QII <a class="styles__ATag-sc-13s6wwe-0 iKPPDk" href="https://www.stashaway.ae/r/stashaways-etf-selection" target="_self" rel="">ETFs that StashAway invests</a> in are 20+ Year Treasury Bond (TLT) and 10-20 Year Treasury Bond (TLH).
 
Our investment team has given serious consideration to the 30% WHT and have considered other exchanges that have lower or no withholding tax. However, at the end of the day, we have decided to stay with US-listed securities despite the tax implications due to its deep liquidity, reputable fund management and most importantly, the lower tracking error. If you're interested to see a comparison between US-listed securities and foreign securities, <a class="styles__ATag-sc-13s6wwe-0 iKPPDk" href="https://www.stashaway.ae/r/etf-taxes-returns-and-tracking-errors" target="_self" rel="">here</a> is an article that presents its case.

Do my dividends get taxed?

For non-US tax residents, a 30% withholding tax (subject to QII rule) is applied on all dividends earned. 
Capital gains are taxed according to tax regulations of the country of your tax residency. A statement issued by StashAway at the end of the year can be used for your tax filing. We recommend that you consult a tax advisor for tax-related questions.

How do the securities in my portfolio get taxed?

Capital gains are taxed according to tax regulations of the country of your tax residency. We recommend that you consult a tax advisor for tax-related questions.
 
All dividends of US-listed securities are subject to 30% dividend withholding tax (subject to QII rule). These taxes are applicable as long as you own US listed assets, regardless of whether the assets were bought through StashAway, or via your own broker. The WHT is held at source and the rest of the dividends are redistributed back to your portfolio(s) and reinvested automatically.

I have multiple tax residencies. How do I get taxed?

Questions relating to capital gains and dividend taxes on your portfolios

Taxes

Your personal information is securely stored in our databases, in accordance with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Data Protection Law and other applicable data protection and privacy laws. Where the business is required to share such information in the process of providing our services to you, care is given to ensure that the same duty of confidence and security is applied.
Learn more about our security: <a class="styles__ATag-sc-13s6wwe-0 iKPPDk" href="https://www.stashaway.ae/security" target="_self" rel="">StashAway Security</a>

Where is my personal information stored?

Digital certificates provide security to websites by encrypting sensitive data and verifying the identity of the websites that are secured. 
SSL problem messages and warnings are often displayed in an attempt to protect website users from potentially compromising situations. 
If you ever encounter an SSL-related warning (such as a security certificate mismatch, certificate not trusted, or secure and non-secure items) while visiting StashAway’s site, you may want to hold off on entering your login details until you can make sure you are not in a compromising online situation. 
To resolve a problem that you may be having, the first thing that you may want to check is that your computer's time and date are accurate. Because expired or not-yet-valid security certificates throw up warnings, having the date on your machine wrong could potentially cause security errors on many secure sites that you access. 
Additionally, if you have recently enabled new secure settings in a website, try disabling those settings and see if the warning messages go away. While this is not a fix, it can give you a point to work from when communicating with our Client Experience Team and help them to provide more details for our team of experts to fix the issue faster. 
If the problem persists, contact us via email at <a class="styles__ATag-sc-13s6wwe-0 iKPPDk" href="mailto:support@stashaway.ae" target="_self" rel="">support@stashaway.ae</a> and our team of experts are available to help resolve the issue.
Reference: <a class="styles__ATag-sc-13s6wwe-0 iKPPDk" href="https://www.digicert.com/ssl-problems.htm" target="_self" rel="">https://www.digicert.com/ssl-problems.htm</a>

I received an SSL Server Certificate warning, what should I do?

Security

This promotion is a partnership promotion with Smiles app where clients can redeem cashback voucher in the StashAway app. Here are the terms and conditions of the promotion:
<ul>
<li>This voucher can only be applied to existing customers</li>
<li>The same voucher code can never be applied to the same user twice</li>
<li>
A maximum of 1 code from this voucher can be applied to the same customer</li>
<li>Another deposit of any amount must be made within 90 days</li>
<li>This voucher code expires on 31 Dec 2023
</li>
<li>This voucher will never expire once activated</li>
</ul>

What are the Terms and Conditions for the Smiles Rewards promotion

With our launch promotion, you’ll get free investing until 31 July 2023 on any funds deposited into General Investing powered by BlackRock®.
 
Here are the terms and conditions for the promotion:
<ul>
<li>There is no voucher code to be applied for this promotion.</li>
<li>The management fee waiver is valid until 31 July 2023 on any new deposits made into the StashAway app and invested into General Investing powered by BlackRock.</li>
<li>New deposits do not include inter-goal transfers within the app or funds withdrawn from the app and redeposited.</li>
<li>StashAway reserves the right to make changes to the promotion.</li>
</ul>
 
BlackRock® is a registered trademark of BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates (“BlackRock”) and is used under license. BlackRock is not affiliated with StashAway and therefore makes no representations or warranties regarding the advisability of investing in any product or service offered by StashAway. BlackRock has no obligation or liability in connection with the operation, marketing, trading or sale of such product or service nor does BlackRock have any obligation or liability to any client or customer of StashAway.
 
For StashAway General Investing portfolios that are powered by BlackRock, BlackRock provides StashAway with non-binding asset allocation guidance. StashAway manages and provides these portfolios to you, meaning BlackRock does not provide any service or product to you, nor has BlackRock considered the suitability of its asset allocations against your individual needs, objectives, and risk tolerance. As such, the asset allocations that BlackRock provides do not constitute investment advice, or an offer to sell or buy any securities.

What are the terms and conditions for the General Investing powered by BlackRock® launch promotion?

Explore our ongoing promotions to save on fees as you invest with us