Ravi Chandran
Razer Fintech and Franklin Templeton collaborate to drive innovation in digital wealth management solutions for the youth and millennials segment
Franklin Resources Inc., (“Franklin Templeton”) one of the world’s largest independent asset managers, through its Singapore subsidiary, Templeton Asset Management Ltd., and Razer Fintech Holdings Pte Ltd., (“Razer Fintech”) the financial arm of Razer Inc, announced on September 14 that they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding to foster a strategic collaboration in digital wealth management innovation, targeting youth and millennials.
Through the collaboration, Razer Fintech and Franklin Templeton plan to jointly design and create a next generation digital wealth management platform, tailored specifically to the needs of Razer Fintech’s youth and millennial customers at various stages of their financial journey.
They can look forward to digital wealth offerings in multi-asset solutions across theme-based and goals-based portfolios, regular savings plans, money market funds and other products and investment vehicles.
Razer Fintech and Franklin Templeton will leverage each other’s strengths and capabilities to develop solutions that address the needs of this growing demographic in the world’s population. This collaboration will initially focus on key markets for both organizations in Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam with plans to scale up as Razer Fintech expands its fintech operations in other countries across the globe. The parties will focus on five areas:
- Co-designing the Next Generation Digital Wealth Journey
- Development of Customized Multi-Asset Solutions for Youth & Millennials
- Improving Financial Literacy for Youth & Millennials
- Partnership and Co-investment Opportunities in Fintech Start-ups
- Digital Marketing and Customer Engagement Collaborations
This collaboration aims to cater to the investment needs of next generation of investors who are looking to start their asset accumulation journey from an early age to maximize returns and benefits from the full power of compounding, as they plan for different milestones in their lives.
Dora Seow, Country Head for Singapore at Franklin Templeton, said, “We are proud to enter this strategic collaboration with Razer Fintech in Southeast Asia, the heart of the youth, technology and growth. The reach of Razer Fintech’s iconic brand amongst the youth and millennials aligns with Franklin Templeton’s desire to target the new generation of investors, with next-generation investment solutions. We are equally excited in being able to leverage our growing investment and digital expertise in Singapore, to work closely with Razer Fintech in creating a meaningful investment journey for the young investors.”
“We are incredibly excited to partner with a world class financial institution, Franklin Templeton, on this exciting journey as we expand our fintech offerings and global network and revolutionize the digital wealth management industry through innovative technology,” said Lee Li Meng, Chief Executive Officer at Razer Fintech. “We look forward to leveraging Franklin Templeton’s deep expertise in investment solutions, global network and unparalleled track record as one of the world’s most forward-looking and innovative financial institutions.”
In January 2020, Razer Fintech applied for a Digital Full Bank License, to be issued by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. This application aligns with Razer Fintech’s vision to extend its fintech offerings into digital banking services by building the world’s first global youth bank, Razer Youth Bank, while exploring further jurisdictions in parallel to build its regional and global network progressively.
In July 2020, Franklin Templeton completed its acquisition of Legg Mason, Inc. The combined footprint significantly deepens Franklin Templeton’s presence in key geographies and creates an expansive investment platform that is well balanced between institutional and retail client assets under management. Singapore is currently Franklin Templeton’s global center for emerging markets investment management and the company’s regional business hub for Asia.
ABOUT RAZER FINTECH
Backed by the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers synonymous with the youth and millennials, Razer Fintech is the financial technology arm of Razer Inc (1337: Hong Kong). Established in April 2018, Razer Fintech has grown to become one of the largest O2O (offline to online) digital payment networks in emerging markets and has processed over billions of dollars in total payment value. Razer Fintech operates two verticals, Razer Merchant Services (“RMS”) and Razer Pay.
Razer Merchant Services is a leading B2B (business-to-business)olution encompassing:
- RMS Online: Card processing gateway supporting global scheme cards and over 110 payment methods, powering online payments for global blue-chip merchants in SEA.
- RMS Offline: SEA’s largest offline payment network of over 1 million physical acceptance points across SEA. RMS Offline also extends point-of-sale services (such as bill payments and telco reloads), cash-over-counter services (including Razer Pay top-ups and fulfilment of e-commerce purchases), distribution of third party point-of-sale activation (POSA) cards, and merchant acquiring services for Razer Pay and other third-party e-wallets.
Razer Pay is a B2C (business-to-consumer) solution comprising an all-encompassing e-wallet focused on offering a plethora of compelling use cases targeted at the youths, millennials, and underbanked.
ABOUT FRANKLIN TEMPLETON
Franklin Resources, Inc. is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 165 countries. Franklin Templeton’s mission is to help clients achieve better outcomes through investment management expertise, wealth management and technology solutions. Through its specialist investment managers, the company brings extensive capabilities in equity, fixed income, alternatives and custom multi-asset solutions. With offices in over 30 countries and 1,300 investment professionals, the California-based company has more than 70 years of investment experience and approximately US$1.4 trillion in assets under management as of July 31, 2020.
