Vitamin Account

Dear Mr. Tan,

I have invested $X in the Vitamin account from a large local bank for the past 2 over years. I received a total payout of 4.1% to date, and the value of my investment is now 89.5% only. This means that I will lose more than 6% if I withdraw my investment now. Instead of getting a positive return for the past two over years, I get a negative return.

I made this investment because it is principal protected, but I did not realize that I will have to suffer a loss if I withdraw early. Looks like I will have to be stuck with this bad investment until the maturity date.

REPLY

Many people have invested in this product, and they are now stuck. Some have decided to withdraw their money and take a loss.

I understand that the return is quite low. If the return is more than 3%, the bank has the right to redeem the investment. If the return is negative (as is the case now), the customer is stuck for 5 or 6 years.

This does not appear to be fair. Perhaps you can complain to the Monetary Authority of Singapore.