In September, I write that SBO, or the LionGlobal Short Duration ETF is a very useful ETF if you wish to:
- Park money in SGD that you have T + 3/5 days liquidity
- Earn slightly longer in duration but not too long (which also means taking on some duration risks).
- Centralize your money in your Broker (for example, Interactive Brokers Singapore for many readers).
You can read: The new LionGlobal Short Duration Bond Active ETF Fund SGD (SBO) is Very Useful for Interactive Brokers Singapore Investors.
One of my reader recently let me know of the Phillip SGD Money Market ETF (Ticker: MMS) and I think it can serve the same purpose.
In fact, I think the duration risk is slightly shorter (which also means the return is also shorter). MMS is not exactly a full fixed deposit fund. From the prospectus it holds 30% fixed deposits that will mature in 90 days and cash, and 70% in money market instruments.
Please be aware that the indicative yield or return is not fixed. They invest in these very short term instruments and in the past 3 years, the short term rates have been good but dropping in the past year.
Some details of the fund:
| Currency | SGD (Ticker: MMS) and USD (Ticker: MMT) |
| Benchmark Index | FTSE 3-Month Compounded SORA Index [SORA = Singapore overnight rate average] |
| Current Total Expense Ratio | 0.26% p.a. [Fullerton Cash Fund: 0.21% p.a.] |
| Management Fee | 0.10% p.a. [TER includes this already, capped at 0.30%] |
| EIP or SIP | EIP [Excluded Investment Product] |
| 7-day average fund indicative yield return | 1.91% p.a. [Fullerton Cash Fund: 1.59% | 14 Nov 2025] |
| Board lot size | 1 unit [Current price: $103] |
| Manager | Phillip Capital Management |
| Inception | 2023 |
| Net Assets | S$200 million [September 25] |
| Dividend frequency | Quarterly |
Here is the historical dividend payout, taken from the SGX:
We observe that the payout is higher in the past and it has been dropping. As the short end of the interest rate curve comes down this will happen. Feels to me the distribution is closer to 1.2% annualized lol.
Since you are transacting this on a brokerage, and maybe on Interactive Brokers, I would like to give you some sensing on the commission rate based on different amounts which may help in your planning:
| Amount Transacted | Commission ($SGD) | Commission (%) |
| $103 | $2.77 | 2.68% |
| $309 | $2.87 | 0.93% |
| $515 | $2.97 | 0.58% |
| $1030 | $3.21 | 0.31% |
| $1545 | $3.46 | 0.22% |
| $2060 | $3.70 | 0.18% |
| $3090 | $4.19 | 0.1355% |
| $3811 | $5.13 | 0.1346% |
| $4120 | $5.55 | 0.1345% |
| $5150 | $6.94 | 0.1345% |
| $7725 | $10.41 | 0.1345% |
So the sweet spot is kind of somewhere $3800 above and you are going to incur 0.1345% in cost. If you factor in the sell, then that is like 0.27% in total. This will eat into the return.
When you work out the math, there is a point where you won’t earn much. They can still serve its liquidity and low volatility purpose though.
In case that you cannot find it on your Interactive Brokers:
Personally, if you ask me, due to the transaction cost, I might need to take some risks on credit and term to cover that cost. The LionGlobal Short Duration ETF might make more sense.
If you want to trade these stocks I mentioned, you can open an account with Interactive Brokers. Interactive Brokers is the leading low-cost and efficient broker I use and trust to invest & trade my holdings in Singapore, the United States, London Stock Exchange and Hong Kong Stock Exchange. They allow you to trade stocks, ETFs, options, futures, forex, bonds and funds worldwide from a single integrated account.
You can read more about my thoughts about Interactive Brokers in this Interactive Brokers Deep Dive Series, starting with how to create & fund your Interactive Brokers account easily.
Kyith is the Owner and Sole Writer behind Investment Moats. Readers tune in to Investment Moats to learn and build stronger, firmer wealth foundations, how to have a Passive investment strategy, know more about investing in REITs and the nuts and bolts of Active Investing.
Readers also follow Kyith to learn how to plan well for Financial Security and Financial Independence.
Kyith worked as an IT operations engineer from 2004 to 2019. Currently, he works as a Senior Solutions Specialist in Insurance Start-up Havend. All opinions on Investment Moats are his own and does not represent the views of Providend.
You can view Kyith’s current portfolio here, which uses his Free Google Stock Portfolio Tracker.
His investment broker of choice is Interactive Brokers, which allows him to invest in securities from different exchanges all over the world, at very low commission rates, without custodian fees, near spot currency rates.
You can read more about Kyith here.
