Endowus Hong Kong Review: Fees, Custody, Account Opening and What the HK$300 Advisory Fee Credit Is Really Worth

Endowus Hong Kong (智安投) is operated by Endowus HK Limited; the group is headquartered in Singapore. The company is a corporation licensed by the SFC (CE No. BQR225) for Type 1 (dealing in securities), Type 4 (advising on securities) and Type 9 (asset management) regulated activities, all effective from 25 January 2022. The licence carries a condition that it may not conduct business involving the discretionary management of collective investment schemes; in other words, Endowus itself may not act as a fund's manager, and the funds on the platform are managed by their respective fund houses.

Endowus is a fund (unit trust) platform, not a robo-adviser that builds portfolios from ETFs. It offers only funds that are not traded on an exchange and does not offer individual stocks, bonds or exchange-traded securities. Endowus states that it does not lend out client money or assets, and it does not offer leverage.

Uninvested cash is held in a segregated client money account with HSBC (Hong Kong), while fund units are held in custody accounts opened with each fund house's transfer agent. Client assets are kept separate from Endowus's own corporate assets as SFC rules require; Endowus states that if the company were wound up, client assets could not be claimed by its creditors and would be transferred to another licensed institution or returned to clients.

The scope of protection should be clearly understood. The Investor Compensation Fund covers only exchange-traded products, up to HK$500,000 per claimant; as none of Endowus's products is exchange-traded, our understanding is that they fall outside its scope, although Endowus has not addressed the point. CashUp and Fixed-Rate Savings are also stated not to be protected by the Deposit Protection Scheme. None of these arrangements protects against losses caused by falling market prices.

There are six Flagship Portfolios, with equity-to-bond ratios ranging from 100/0 to 0/100 and portfolio risk ratings, as assigned by Endowus, of 5, 5, 4, 4, 3 and 2 respectively. They are managed on a discretionary basis, meaning that Endowus adjusts the holdings on the client's behalf, and the minimum investment is HK$10,000. Fund Smart, by contrast, lets clients choose individual funds or build their own portfolio of funds, or use one of the preset multi-fund portfolios.

CashUp consists of money market funds and short-duration bond funds and comes in two versions, Simple and Plus. As at 31 August 2026, the product page showed net yields after fees of 3.6% and 3.9% a year respectively; these are annualised seven-day figures, and returns are neither fixed nor promised. On the minimum amount, one part of the product page states US$100 (HK$800), while the comparison table states US$100 or HK$1,000; the two are inconsistent, and the amount shown when placing the order prevails.

IncomeUp is a portfolio of funds that aims to pay monthly distributions; the distribution rate is a target, not a commitment. Fixed-Rate Savings is provided by HSBC and ANZ, with terms of 1, 2, 3, 6, 9 or 12 months and a minimum of HK$100,000 or US$10,000, and cannot be withdrawn before maturity. Endowus notes that it is not a deposit product and is not protected by the Deposit Protection Scheme, and the rates shown are net of the 0.10% annual advisory fee. Alternative investments such as private markets and hedge funds are available to professional investors only.

Endowus does not offer MPF services and is not on the MPFA's list of approved trustees.

Endowus charges no subscription or transaction fees, only a single advisory fee. For medium- to long-term strategies (the Flagship Portfolios and Fund Smart portfolios of funds), the fee is tiered by assets: 0.60% a year below HK$1 million, 0.50% from HK$1 million to below HK$8 million, 0.40% from HK$8 million to below HK$20 million, 0.35% from HK$20 million to below HK$35 million, and 0.25% for HK$35 million or more. Single funds below HK$20 million are charged 0.40%, cash management such as CashUp and money market funds 0.10%, and alternative investments, available to professional investors only, 0.30% to 0.60%, charged in US dollars.

The tiers are calculated separately for each category: assets in all currencies within a category are combined, and the rate is applied to that category's total. Fees are charged quarterly, calculated pro rata by days on the average daily asset value, and are generally deducted within 10 business days after the end of each quarter. If an investment goal is fully redeemed mid-quarter, the fee for that goal is charged immediately. Deductions are made first from the advisory fee credit, then from the cash balance in the same currency, and any shortfall is met by redeeming fund units.

In addition to the advisory fee, fund houses charge the funds' own fees (the total expense ratio), which are already reflected in fund prices. Where a retail share class pays a trailer fee, Endowus rebates it in full to the cash balance, generally quarterly. Endowus's own example: a fund with a total expense ratio of 1.03%, plus a 0.40% advisory fee, gives a total cost of 1.43% a year. According to an Endowus article of December 2025, the Flagship Portfolios have total expense ratios of 0.21% to 0.35% a year; adding the 0.60% advisory fee gives a total cost of roughly 0.81% to 0.95% a year (our calculation; the ratios may since have been updated).

The credit offsets advisory fees only, not the funds' own charges. Taking a Flagship Portfolio or portfolio of funds with assets below HK$1 million (0.60% a year, or about 0.15% a quarter), and assuming the asset value stays the same: on HK$10,000 the advisory fee is about HK$15 a quarter, so the HK$300 takes about five years to use up; on HK$50,000 it is about HK$75 a quarter, or about one year; and on HK$100,000 about HK$150 a quarter, or about six months. Invested in CashUp (0.10% a year), HK$10,000 incurs only about HK$10 in fees a year, and the credit would take about 30 years to use up.

The current referral terms do not state a validity period for the credit, but the Endowus Help Centre mentions that fee vouchers carry expiry dates and that the voucher expiring earliest is used first when fees are charged. If the credit were valid for only six months, an investment of HK$10,000 could use only about HK$30 of it, and about HK$100,000 would need to be invested to use it in full within six months. Once the credit has been issued, you should check in your account whether an expiry date is shown.

The value of the credit therefore depends on the amount invested and the holding period. For those who already intend to invest for the long term, it amounts to several years of reduced fees; for those who open an account solely for the welcome offer and invest the minimum, the actual benefit is small, and they still bear the investment risk.

Enter this site's invite code 6N8CS when opening an account and make cumulative "qualifying investments" of at least HK$10,000 or US$1,300 in the same currency to receive the HK$300 advisory fee credit. The terms require that the account be a new individual account opened with the invite code (joint accounts do not count); that the invitee has never held any Endowus account, product or service in an individual or joint name and is not an Endowus employee; that each person uses only one invite code; and that the invitee is a Hong Kong resident. Cash deposited but not invested does not count towards qualifying investments, and Hong Kong dollar and US dollar amounts cannot be combined.

The credit is added to the account once the investment transaction shows "Completed" (settled), can be viewed on the "Earn rewards" page, and is applied automatically when the quarterly fee is charged. By default it is issued in Hong Kong dollars and can offset only the advisory fees on Hong Kong dollar investments; for investors who hold only US dollar investments, Endowus deducts the equivalent amount in US dollars directly when the quarterly fee is charged. The credit is non-transferable, cannot be exchanged for cash and will not be reinstated in any form after a withdrawal.

The terms do not state whether CashUp, money market funds or Fixed-Rate Savings count as qualifying investments, so you should check with Endowus before investing. Endowus may end or extend the offer at any time and has not announced a closing date; it may also decline to issue, or take back, the reward if it considers that it was obtained improperly, that account opening details were incorrect or that the platform agreement was breached. The Help Centre states that anyone who forgot to enter the invite code when opening an account can add it later under "Add a promo code" in "Earn rewards", but it is still advisable to enter it when opening the account.

6N8CS is this site's invite code.

The minimum total account balance is HK$10,000, counted across all investment goals. The first investment in each fund must be at least HK$500 (Hong Kong dollar funds) or HK$1,000/US$100 (US dollar funds); each redemption must be at least HK$100 (US$100 for US dollar investments), and a redemption of 97% or more is treated as a full redemption.

Endowus charges no deposit or withdrawal fees, but accepts transfers only from a registered account in your own name that matches your Endowus account. Third-party transfers (including from family members' accounts) and transfers from a joint account into an individual account are returned with a HK$250 refund fee, and the return can take up to about two months.

Hong Kong dollar withdrawals by FPS or local transfer are free of charge; for withdrawals above HK$1 million, the receiving bank may charge a Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) fee. The Help Centre also indicates that withdrawals in US dollars or euros, whether local or overseas, involve a HK$40 remittance fee plus the receiving bank's charges, so it is advisable to confirm the costs before withdrawing US dollars.

Endowus submits orders for execution twice each business day: certain money market funds and designated funds close at 9:00 am, and all other funds at 1:30 pm. Orders confirmed before the cut-off are generally executed the same day at that day's fund price and then take a further 1 to 5 business days to settle, with some funds requiring one to several additional days. Once an order has been submitted for execution, it cannot be cancelled.

Redemptions are likewise subject to the 1:30 pm cut-off; about 3 to 5 business days after settlement, the proceeds are paid to the registered bank account or the cash balance, and cash withdrawals generally arrive within 1 to 3 business days. From the sale to the money reaching your bank account, the whole process may take a week or more, so the platform is not suited to money you may need urgently.

The platform supports investments in Hong Kong dollars and US dollars. Automatic currency conversion (Auto-FX) carries no additional charge, currently applies only to Hong Kong dollar and US dollar liquid fund investments, and uses the exchange rate at the time of conversion.

If you already hold funds with another institution, you can transfer unit trusts to Endowus free of charge without selling and buying them back. For funds already available on the platform, the minimum transfer value is HK$10,000, and the process takes at least about two weeks and six to eight weeks on average. Note that once units have been transferred in, they cannot be moved to another custodian or platform and can later only be sold.

Anyone aged 18 or over with a Hong Kong bank account may apply, except US persons (citizens, green card holders, residents or tax residents), citizens of sanctioned countries, and people living in mainland China, the United Kingdom or the European Union. The referral offer is further limited to Hong Kong residents.

There are three ways to open an account: verifying your identity with iAM Smart, which requires neither an identity card upload nor an initial HK$10,000 deposit; completing the form manually, which requires a single deposit of at least HK$10,000 from a Hong Kong bank account in your sole name to verify your identity (the deposit has no lock-up period, but does not count towards the referral offer until it is invested); or booking an appointment at the office for help from a client adviser. Endowus takes about 3 to 5 business days to open an account. Joint accounts are also available, but they do not qualify for the referral offer.

To close an account, you must first redeem all investments and withdraw the cash balance to zero, then apply by email to [email protected]. There is no account fee, so the account can be kept free of charge even without investments; once it is closed, the original email address cannot be used to open a new account.

Endowus Hong Kong and Singapore share the same app. As at 12 October 2026, it was rated 4.3 on the Hong Kong App Store (49 ratings), 4.7 on the Singapore App Store (2,148 ratings) and 4.1 on Google Play (about 1,450 reviews, more than 100,000 downloads). The small number of Hong Kong ratings limits their value as a guide.

The more common complaints include: unit trust trades taking several days; frequent logouts and failed one-time passwords and logins; forced app updates; many features requiring the web version, and an iPad layout that has not been adapted; investment goals investing newly deposited money automatically before it could be cancelled; minimum investment amounts for some funds shown only late in the order process; and dissatisfaction with the level of fees. Positive reviews centre on the clear Chinese and English interface, deposits by electronic Direct Debit Authorisation (eDDA), access to human advisers and relatively low fees.

To compare the welcome arrangements of other SFC-licensed platforms, see our comparison of robo-advisor welcome offers. When comparing, it is advisable to work out the total cost (the platform fee plus the fees of the funds or ETFs themselves), the minimum investment, the types of investment product and whether the welcome reward is cash or a fee reduction.

Suitable for: Hong Kong residents who intend to invest in funds for the long term and can commit at least HK$10,000 for several years; those who already hold retail funds that pay trailer fees and would like to transfer them in to receive the rebates; and those who value having their assets held separately from the platform company and the option of consulting a human adviser.

Not suitable for: those who wish to trade stocks or ETFs or need same-day execution; US persons and people living in mainland China, the United Kingdom or the European Union; those who need MPF services; those who may need the money in the short term; and those who would open an account solely for the HK$300 credit without any plan to invest.