Singlife Sure Invest Cessation: Singlife Gives Up on its “Good” ILP
In a mailer sent out a couple of weeks ago, Singlife announced the discontinuation of Singlife Sure Invest. Those who have been reading the site and/or watching my videos for a while now might know this product by its older name – Singlife Grow.
If you’re a current policyholder, this is obviously quite relevant to you, but even if you’re not, it still makes for quite an interesting look at the life and death of an investment-linked policy (ILP) that was probably too benign for this world.
What is Singlife Sure Invest?
Some 3 years ago, I said in my video review that Singlife Grow isn’t the worst ILP I’ve seen. In fact, it might possibly be one of the best around. That’s not saying much though, since ILPs tend to give terrible value to those who buy them. Singlife Grow, however, was in a few ways significantly better than the traditional ILPs being actively sold in Singapore.
Compared to its lousier counterparts, Singlife Grow seemed almost good with no lock-in period and it did not require ongoing premium payments. Though its policy and fund-level fees were high at more than 2% p.a. combined, it at least did not have high distribution costs to further eat into one’s returns that plagues most other ILPs heavily marketed by insurers and their agents. It even came with a modest sign-up reward, and it’s nothing like the bonus units promised by other ILPs that invariably gets eaten back and then some by the high ongoing costs and lengthy lock-in period.
Alas, being a better ILP doesn’t really make sense to customers since the ongoing fees are still higher than what is reasonable. Roboadvisers and trading apps have made investing easy and affordable over the years so there hasn’t been much point hanging onto this policy once you have enjoyed the initial cashback and sign-up promo.
If you have indeed kept this product till now, there is some good news ahead.
Singlife is “Refunding” Premiums With a Bit of Interest
In a move that I find pleasantly surprising, Singlife is returning existing policyholders their premiums with a bit of interest. Policyholders will be given the higher of the Net Asset Value (prevailing value of the policy) or Net Capital of your policy plus a 2.5% p.a. interest on the Net Capital.
*Net Capital = Initial Premium + Top-ups – Withdrawals/Refunds – Fees
This is in my opinion quite a generous gesture. When we buy investment products, we expect to bear the risk of it and only get back the prevailing Net Asset Value at the time the investment is terminated/sold. In this case, however, Singlife is ensuring that policyholders do not make any loss, and in fact get out with a little bit of interest.
What Happens
- Net Asset Value is refunded to policyholders by 30th September 2024
- 2.5% p.a. interest on Net Capital is given to policyholders by 18th October 2024
- If Net Asset Value is lower than Net Capital (policy is at a loss), the difference in amount is given
There’s a bit of mathematical calculation going on, but from what I understand, this is the summary of what happens:
If Your Policy is Making a Loss: you will get your premiums back + roughly 1.48% p.a. interest on your Initial Premium. If you’re curious why the 1.48% figure, it’s because the policy fee of 1% p.a. is subtracted from the Initial Premium first before 2.5% p.a. interest is applied.
If Your Policy is Making a Gain: you will keep the Net Asset Value in full + roughly 2.48% of your Initial Premium
These are based on what I understand from their support document on the discontinuation.
Example
For someone who invested S$10,000 and incurred S$100 of fees, their Net Capital is S$9,900. Their Singlife Sure Invest policy has dropped to S$9,000 in value.
| Initial Premium (at 17th September 2023) | S$10,000 |
| Fees Incurred (Singlife Sure Invest’s 0.25% quarterly charge) | S$100 |
| Net Capital | S$9,900 |
| Net Asset Value (at 16th September 2024) | S$9,000 |
Net Asset Value is first refunded to the policyholder by 30th September 2024.
The 2.5% p.a. interest is applied to the Net Capital of S$9,900, resulting in S$247.50 of interest. This is given to the policyholder by 18th October 2024.
Since the policy is at a loss, the S$900 difference between the Net Asset Value and Net Capital is also given to the policyholder by 18th October.
The policyholder will receive a total of S$10,147.50.
What if I Have Already Withdrawn?
Since withdrawals subtract from your Net Capital, only amounts remaining will be treated in the manner above. Those who have withdrawn their entire sum completely will not be getting anything from this.
Maybe Singlife Sure Invest Really is the Best ILP?
ILPs sold to unsuspecting consumers often give poor value to their policyholders. With their high fees, many struggle to make money. Even they do make money, agents’ upfront commissions plus the insurer and fund manager’s ongoing fees eat into the returns, leading to poorer risk-adjusted return.
Against this backdrop, it appears that Singlife Sure Invest might really be one of the better ILPs we have ever seen. Credit where it’s due, Singlife is making good our losses, and even giving a bit more to reduce our opportunity cost provided we have kept this policy until now. Buyers of other ILPs can only hope to be this fortunate.
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Seth Wee was a licensed financial adviser representative from 2009 to 2025, with over 16 years of experience in Singapore’s financial advisory industry.
He started Sethisfy.com in 2019 to share practical insights on credit cards, banking products, and miles strategies, helping readers identify financial products that deliver the best value. Seth has been featured in CNA, Channel 8, Today, and a host of other publications. In 2025, he was also part of a panel at CPF’s Ready For Life festival.
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