StashAway Hong Kong Review: Fee Tiers, Portfolios, Asset Custody and the Real Value of the 6-Month Management Fee Waiver

StashAway Hong Kong is operated by StashAway Hong Kong Limited, a licensed corporation registered with the Securities and Futures Commission (CE No. BQE542). Since 3 February 2021 it has been licensed for Type 1 (dealing in securities), Type 4 (advising on securities) and Type 9 (asset management) regulated activities. The SFC public register lists one licensing condition: in respect of Type 9 regulated activity, it shall not conduct business involving the discretionary management of any collective investment scheme. Its principal place of business is 13/F, YF Life Tower, 33 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai.

According to the StashAway Help Centre and its security page, money deposited by clients is first held in a trust account with Citibank's Hong Kong branch, where Hong Kong dollars are converted into US dollars, and is then transferred to the Singapore broker Saxo Capital Markets Pte Ltd, which buys ETFs on the client's behalf; the investments bought are held by Saxo in a segregated trust account with Citibank's Singapore branch. Client assets are kept separate from StashAway's operating funds, and two-factor authentication is required when logging in on a new device or changing account details.

StashAway is not a bank: client money is not a deposit and is not protected by the Deposit Protection Scheme. The SFC's Investor Compensation Fund covers only defaults by licensed intermediaries involving products traded on the Hong Kong exchanges (and mainland securities traded through Northbound trading under Stock Connect), up to HK$500,000 per claimant. StashAway invests in ETFs domiciled in the United States and the United Kingdom, so this site infers that the Fund would generally not apply, although StashAway has not commented on the point.

"General Investing powered by StashAway" manages global ETFs using StashAway's ERAA economic-regime asset allocation framework and offers 12 risk levels. In "General Investing powered by BlackRock", BlackRock provides the asset allocation recommendations while StashAway handles trading and service; it offers 4 equity-to-bond ratios (from 20-80 to 100-0), covers more than 30 ETFs and is re-optimised 4 to 6 times a year.

Other options include "Responsible Investing", which selects ETFs with higher ESG scores; "Flexible Portfolios", in which you build your own allocation from more than 70 ETFs; "Thematic Portfolios", which invest in themes such as technology, healthcare and the environment, paired with balancing assets to manage risk; and "USD Cash Yield", a US dollar cash management portfolio that invests in a fund holding US Treasuries with 0 to 3 months to maturity. The underlying fund is managed by J.P. Morgan Asset Management; its yield to maturity on 23 September 2026 was 4% a year, a figure provided by the fund manager that does not represent future returns.

Alternative investments such as private credit, private equity, private infrastructure and hedge funds are available only to professional investors.

Each portfolio's risk is expressed as a "StashAway Risk Index", calculated as a 99% value at risk: a portfolio with a risk index of 10% has a 99% probability of losing no more than 10% of its value within one year. On HK$100,000, that means a 99% probability of losing no more than HK$10,000 within a year; in other words, there remains a 1% probability of losing more.

The 9 Core Portfolios have risk indices between 6.5% and 22%, and the 3 Higher-risk Portfolios between 26% and 36%. Before opening an account you must complete an assessment of your financial situation and investment knowledge; depending on the outcome, the system may limit you to Core Portfolios, without access to the Higher-risk Portfolios. Past returns shown on the website are for reference only; past performance is not indicative of future results, and the value of investments may go down as well as up.

StashAway charges a single management fee, calculated in tiers on the total value of your investment portfolios: 0.8% a year on the first HK$150,000, 0.7% on the portion from HK$150,000 to HK$300,000, 0.6% from HK$300,000 to HK$600,000, 0.5% from HK$600,000 to HK$1,500,000, 0.4% from HK$1,500,000 to HK$3,000,000, 0.3% from HK$3,000,000 to HK$6,000,000, and 0.2% on any amount above HK$6,000,000. On an investment of HK$200,000, for example, the annual management fee is HK$1,200 plus HK$350, HK$1,550 in total, a blended rate of about 0.78%. Flexible Portfolios that invest in a single ETF are charged a flat 0.3%.

The management fee is calculated pro rata to the number of days invested and charged once a month, deducted from the cash allocation of about 1% held within the portfolio; January's fee, for example, is collected in the first week of February. StashAway charges no account opening or exit fees, bears the costs of rebalancing, trading and re-optimisation, and charges nothing for withdrawals or for transfers between portfolios.

Two further costs apply beyond the management fee. The first is the ETF managers' own charges, which the pricing page puts at about 0.2% a year (the Help Centre gives an average of 0.15% to 0.25%) and which are reflected in fund prices. The second is currency conversion: on deposits or withdrawals in Hong Kong dollars, the custodian bank, Citibank, charges 0.10%, built into the exchange rate; deposits in US dollars need no conversion, although your bank may charge its own fee. USD Cash Yield is charged separately, with a management fee of 0.3% a year and fund charges of 0.07%; Hong Kong dollar deposits likewise incur the 0.10% conversion fee, and its balance is not counted towards the total investment used for the tiered fees above.

Dividends paid by US-listed securities are subject to 30% withholding tax deducted at source, whether they are held through StashAway or any other broker; the remainder is automatically reinvested, and the amounts shown in your transaction history are already net of tax. StashAway states that it considers the total cost, including withholding tax, expense ratios, tracking error and bid-ask spreads, when selecting ETFs, and the ETFs it invests in include both US-domiciled and UK-domiciled ETFs.

The fund underlying USD Cash Yield is domiciled in Ireland and UCITS-compliant; it is not affected by US dividend withholding tax, and all income is reinvested.

Opening an account through this site's invitation link gives you 6 months of management fees waived on up to HK$50,000 of investment portfolio assets. The conditions set out in StashAway's referral programme FAQs are: you do not have an existing StashAway account; you register through the invitation link; you fund the account within 30 days of registering; and the referrer's own account must already be funded (this site's account is funded). As the initial deposit must be at least HK$10,000 (or US$1,300), in practice you must deposit at least that amount within 30 days of registering.

The English version of the pricing page states that the waiver applies to "investment portfolios", while the Chinese version describes it as free management of up to HK$50,000 of investments for 6 months. StashAway has not published the following points, and this site has been unable to verify them: the date from which the 6 months run; how the HK$50,000 limit is converted when assets are held in US dollars; whether the waiver covers USD Cash Yield (whose balance is not counted towards investments under management) and portfolios that invest in a single ETF; and whether people who previously held a StashAway account that has since been closed, or who hold an account in another market, are eligible. The programme has no separate terms document and no published end date; StashAway's latest arrangements prevail in all cases.

The invitation link on this page is our referral link. Under the programme, your full name is shown to the referrer so that the progress of the invitation can be tracked; each referrer may invite up to 10 people.

Management fees are calculated daily. Assuming a General Investing portfolio, the first-tier annual fee of 0.8%, 6 months of about 182.5 days and a deposit in Hong Kong dollars: investing HK$10,000 (the minimum initial deposit) saves about HK$40 over 6 months; investing HK$50,000 (the waiver limit) saves about HK$200, or HK$198 to HK$202 depending on the actual number of days; and investing HK$100,000, the waived portion is still worth about HK$200, while the remaining HK$50,000 incurs the usual management fee of about HK$200.

The waiver does not cover ETF fees or conversion fees. On HK$50,000, ETF fees over 6 months come to about HK$50, the conversion fee on a Hong Kong dollar deposit to about HK$50, and a later withdrawal in Hong Kong dollars to about HK$50 more. After the waiver period, the management fee is about HK$400 a year for each HK$50,000. The offer is therefore a small saving and should not be the reason for choosing a platform; nor is the waiver cash, and the investments themselves may go down as well as up.

Anyone aged 18 or over with a Hong Kong bank account in their own name may open an account; applications from US citizens are not currently accepted. Hong Kong permanent residents must provide a Hong Kong identity card and proof of address dated within the last three months (such as a utility bill, a telephone bill, or a credit card or bank statement); non-permanent residents must provide a passport valid for at least six months and similar proof of address. People employed by SFC-licensed firms must obtain their employer's consent; on request, StashAway can provide a signed discretionary mandate confirmation letter to meet the employer's compliance requirements.

You can register through the StashAway app or the website, and must complete a financial assessment and set up two-factor authentication along the way. The initial deposit must be at least HK$10,000 or US$1,300, a bank account verification step required by regulation; thereafter there is no minimum balance and no minimum per deposit, and monthly contributions can be paused and resumed without penalty. Money is accepted only by transfer from licensed Hong Kong banks; transfers from other non-bank financial institutions may be returned, and all deposits are subject to anti-money laundering checks.

Money that reaches the Citibank trust account before noon on a working day is credited to your account the same day; if it is received before 3 p.m., it is generally invested that evening when the US market opens and shown on the next working day. The whole process usually takes 2 to 3 working days.

StashAway has no lock-in period: you may withdraw part of your money or close your account at any time. Withdrawals themselves are free, but withdrawals in Hong Kong dollars still incur the 0.10% conversion fee. Assets must be sold during US trading hours; requests submitted before 6 p.m. are generally processed that evening, and the money usually reaches your bank account within 2 to 4 working days. A withdrawal of more than 90% of a portfolio's assets is converted into a full withdrawal to allow for market movements, and money can be paid only into the designated bank account in your name that was used for the initial deposit (of more than HK$10,000).

The Help Centre states only that you may close your account at any time, and this site has not found detailed steps; if needed, contact customer service by email at [email protected], on WhatsApp at 9862 2676 or by telephone on 5803 7274, Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (excluding public holidays). Complaints can be emailed to [email protected]; StashAway will acknowledge them in writing within 2 working days and give a final reply within 20 working days, or explain in writing the reason for the delay, when a reply can be expected and your right to refer the matter to an approved dispute resolution scheme.

As at 12 October 2026, the StashAway app was rated 4.6 on the App Store (Hong Kong), from 111 ratings, with the latest version released on 8 October; on Google Play it was rated 4.2, from 6,410 ratings and with more than 1 million downloads, but that listing is shared across markets and most reviews come from users in Singapore and Malaysia. Written reviews from Hong Kong are limited in number, so what follows reflects only broad trends.

Positive reviews centre on the simple interface, its suitability for beginners, and prompt replies from WhatsApp and telephone support. The main criticisms are that the 0.8% management fee is high; that the account opening process has had problems, for example a user in 2022 reported that the registration form would not accept a Chinese name; and that in 2024 a user found it difficult to reach a person to help set up monthly contributions. Reviews from other markets mention slow matching or crediting of deposits, and having to leave the app to make a deposit.

Suitable for: Hong Kong residents who plan to invest for the long term, can deposit at least HK$10,000 at the outset and would like allocation and rebalancing to be handled automatically; people who wish to manage idle US dollars through a short-term US Treasury portfolio; and new customers who already intended to use StashAway and can take the 6-month management fee waiver along the way.

Not suitable for: US citizens and people without a Hong Kong bank account in their own name; those who plan to invest only a few thousand Hong Kong dollars and are sensitive to a 0.8% management fee; those who may need the money in the short term and cannot bear a fall in market value; and those who would like to trade individual stocks themselves or who need deposit protection.