50 cents a day: Arki Finance CEO saved his allowance to buy his mum a watch

Staying invested consistently over the past 15 years has been one of his best financial decisions, says Arki Finance CEO David Ng.

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SINGAPORE – When David Ng was 10, he spent months squirrelling away his 50-cent daily allowance to save $50 to buy his mother a watch.

“I passed her the money, never knowing how much the watch really cost or if she actually bought one,” says the 46-year-old co-founder and chief executive of Arki Finance. “There’s joy in putting someone else’s happiness above my own... And that mindset of intentional saving and giving has stuck with me in adulthood.”

The Singaporean started digital wealth advisory platform Arki after more than two decades working in global financial institutions like Bank of America and Morgan Stanley, as well as a stint as a national rugby player from 1996 to 1997.

Arki, which received its Capital Markets Services licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore earlier in 2026, is preparing for its public launch later in the year.

The firm is targeting the mass affluent segment with a simplified wealth platform built on a three-part framework: cash, income and growth.

Ng has a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. He is married with two sons.

My portfolio is a mix of equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and private investments.

About half is in public equities focused on global and thematic strategies – sectors that I believe will define the future.

Around 30 per cent is in ETFs and index funds, and the remaining 20 per cent is in private investments such as early-stage fintechs and private credit.

Arki Finance, which I started building about two years ago, is my biggest financial and emotional investment.