Endowus makes key strategic hires to bolster its investment office

Sean Wong and Min Axthelm join Endowus from Morgan Stanley, lending their combined experience to bolster Endowus’ investment capabilities to meet all clients’ needs.

Endowus has made two strategic hires, with the appointment of Sean Wong as its Head of Investments, and Min Axthelm as its Director of Research.

Samuel Rhee, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Endowus said, “I am very excited to welcome Sean and Min to the growing Endowus Investment Office in key leadership positions. Their extensive knowledge and expertise in the funds industry for both private wealth and asset management is critical to helping our investors to achieve good outcomes. Their strong market and product knowledge and extensive experience in fund selection and fund manager due diligence as well as portfolio construction, will help our clients make better choices and achieve better outcomes, as we strive to do better for them and help lead the industry in best practices.”

Sean Wong: Head of Investments

Sean joins from Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia, and will oversee the management of Endowus’ investment and advisory solutions, as well as lead the investment office in optimising portfolio strategies and fund selections to drive growth. Sean will also be focusing on engaging with fund management companies to cultivate strategic relationships to broaden the range of investment solutions and market innovations in the sector.

With over 14 years of industry experience, Sean joins at a time when the fintech company is rapidly expanding, fueled by its latest round of funding, which saw it raise a total of S$67 million. By end-December 2021, Endowus saw a 10X growth in its client base, while Assets Under Advice (AUA) surpassed S$1.5 billion.

Sean began his career with BBR Partners, LLC, a boutique multi-family office in New York, focused on developing integrated investment solutions for ultra-high net-worth individuals and families. Prior to Endowus, he was an Executive Director in the Investment Management Services (IMS) team at Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Asia, serving as their Head of Offerings. In this role, Sean was responsible for the identification, selection, due diligence, as well as sales and distribution of all fee-based products and discretionary portfolio offerings for the firms’ Wealth Management clients. This segment of the business saw a 30+% year-on-year growth over the past two years. Before this role, Sean was a portfolio manager for Morgan Stanley’s discretionary fund-of-funds portfolios, managing over US$500 million in assets.

Sean said, “I am thrilled to join the leadership team at Endowus, as the firm embarks on the next phase of its incredible growth journey. Having spent many years in private wealth and asset management, I have an acute understanding of the intricacies and gaps of this industry. Endowus is clear in its mission – bringing institutional class advice at market-leading low access fees to everyone. This is simple, powerful, and deeply disruptive. I look forward to working with the Endowus team as we continue to drive positive change within the financial services sector.”

Min Axthelm: Director of Investment Research

With more than 10 years of experience in the investment industry, including fund manager due diligence and asset management, Min joins from Morgan Stanley in New York, where she was Lead Analyst with its Wealth Management Global Investment Office, overseeing the due diligence process from inception to completion for US Equity strategies and mutual funds. Prior to Morgan Stanley, she was a Global Manager Research Investment Analyst with the Wells Fargo Investment Institute. One of Min’s notable responsibilities was the fund and strategy additions and removals from the Wells Fargo research platform with over $1 trillion in client assets. She had also held various positions at Dimensional Fund Advisors, a strategically important partner of Endowus, and prior to that, at Morningstar, Inc. where she helped build the retirement solution platform.

Min said, “It is a privilege to join a firm with such a clear purpose of helping individual investors access better investment opportunities at the lowest cost possible. I’m excited to be able to utilise my experience and expertise to contribute to this critical mission to achieve better outcomes and solve retirement for individuals.”

Both Sean’s and Min’s extensive experience is critical in further enhancing the capabilities of the Endowus Investment Office. By leveraging academic research, industry best practices, with the best-in-class funds and robust technology, the Investment Office has built a unique digital investment platform, where individuals can seamlessly invest all sources of funds – cash, Central Provident Fund (CPF) and Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) – into globally diversified portfolios in the most efficient and low-cost way in Singapore.