- SaaS
- FinTech
- Case Study
1965 Intelligence: planning software that works in the room, not the night before
Kenneth Neo is a practising financial adviser in Singapore. Too many of his evenings went into spreadsheets and slide decks so clients could see their own numbers, and one changed assumption in the meeting made the deck out of date. He asked for tools he could use live, in English or Chinese. Since March 2026 we have designed, built and kept shipping 1965 Intelligence, a subscription platform with six planning tools, shared client files, a portfolio tracker and accounts for advisory firms.
- Industry
- Financial advisory software
- Target market
- Financial advisers & advisory firms · Singapore
- Project
- Subscription SaaS platform, design to production
- Services
- Product design, Full-stack development, Payments, AI
- Timeline
- First build March 2026, still shipping
- Key outcome
- Live with advisers managing $1.5M+ AUM
Interface Snapshots
Inside the platform, on sample data
About the client
1965 Intelligence
1965 Intelligence is a Singapore company that makes planning tools for financial advisers. It was started by Kenneth Neo, a practising adviser who works with affluent and high-net-worth families on wealth, estate and legacy planning. The name is a nod to the year Singapore became independent.
His problem is one most advisers will recognise. The advice happens in the meeting, but the numbers were being built beforehand, in spreadsheets and slides. He wanted software that does the arithmetic live, looks credible on a shared screen, and leaves the judgment where it belongs: with the adviser. Every screenshot on this page uses invented sample clients, never real ones.
- Based in
- Singapore
- Industry
- Financial Advisory Software
- Year
- 2026
The Challenge
What made this hard
Financial planning software has a high bar. A wrong number in front of a client costs the adviser their credibility, and Singapore's rules on CPF, SRS and income tax relief are specific enough that a generic calculator gets them wrong. It also had to be a real business from the start, with sign-ups, plans, payments and teams, not a prototype.
- Every figure had to be right to the dollar, including relief caps that differ for citizens, PRs and foreigners
- Tools had to work live in a meeting, redrawing as the adviser moves an assumption on a laptop or a shared screen
- Plenty of clients prefer Chinese, so the whole product had to run in English and 中文, not just the marketing site
- Client finances are sensitive, so the platform had to collect as little as it could and protect what it does keep
- The founder is an adviser, not an engineer, and still needed to steer the product week by week
Our Solution
What we built
One subscription platform with a shared client file at its centre. An adviser enters a client's figures once and every tool picks them up. Each tool is designed to be turned around and shown to the client, then exported under the adviser's own practice name.
- Six planning tools: FIRE Calculator, Financial Health Snapshot, CPF & SRS Tax Planner, Income Tax Calculator, Policy Summary Generator and the 1965 Book portfolio tracker
- A health score that places each client in one of six wealth tiers, scores nine ratios and ranks what to fix first, with talking points written for the adviser
- Client files that carry figures between tools, so the next meeting starts where the last one ended
- PDF, PowerPoint and Word exports under the adviser's own branding, and a complete English and Chinese interface
- A Firm plan for advisory teams, with per-seat billing, shared branding and one view of assets, clients and activity across every adviser
- An AI assistant that reads the portfolio book and imported statements, then proposes changes that are only saved once the adviser approves them
Our Process
How we delivered it
- 01
Learn the meeting
We started with how Kenneth actually runs a review: what he opens first, what clients ask, where the spreadsheet slowed him down. The FIRE Calculator came first, because it is the tool he uses every week.
- 02
Get the rules right
Singapore's rules went in as tested code: YA2026 tax brackets, the S$80,000 personal relief cap, CPF top-up and SRS limits by residency. Calculators are checked against worked examples before they ship.
- 03
Design for the room
Big numbers, plain labels, charts that redraw as an input moves. Every screen is built to be read from across a table, with a Present mode for the moment the laptop turns round.
- 04
Build the business around it
Accounts with two-factor sign-in, a free plan and paid plans, per-seat billing for firms, and live payments. A Next.js front end over a Node.js API and PostgreSQL, hosted on AWS.
- 05
Let the founder steer
We gave the client's team a safe copy of the interface running on invented data, so they could ask for changes in plain English. We review what comes back and merge it into the live product.
- 06
Keep shipping
Since March 2026 we have kept adding to it: new tools, the Chinese translation, the Firm plan, portfolio imports from Excel and the AI assistant. A new tool reaches every subscriber the day it ships.
The Results
Where it stands today
1965 Intelligence is live and used by financial advisers who, between them, manage more than $1.5 million in client assets on the platform. The projection, the tax answer and the health score now happen in one session, with the client watching the numbers move instead of waiting for an email three days later.
- Planning tools on one subscription
- 6
- Health ratios scored per client
- 9
- Languages, English and 中文
- 2
- Client assets managed by advisers on it
- $1.5M+
- Advisers run projections, tax relief and health scores live, instead of preparing them the night before
- Clients leave with a branded PDF, PowerPoint or Word report, dated for their next review
- Advisory firms put the whole team on one account, with shared branding and a view of the firm's book
“I believe every financial advisor deserves tools that let them do what they do best. Guide their clients toward a better financial future. This is not a side project. Not an experiment. It's a platform I intend to develop and improve for years.”
Tech Stack
What we built it with
- Frontend
- Next.js & TypeScript
- Backend
- Node.js, PostgreSQL & AWS
- Payments
- Airwallex
- AI
- Claude by Anthropic
Why White Phoenix
What made the difference
We learned the job first
Built around how an adviser runs a meeting, not around a feature list.
Rules as tested code
Tax and CPF logic is checked against worked examples, so the numbers hold up.
Fast enough to use live
Every chart recalculates as an input moves. Nobody in the room waits.
Still shipping
An ongoing product team, adding tools as advisers ask for them.
FAQ
Common questions
Can you build a SaaS product for my industry?
Yes. 1965 Intelligence has everything a subscription product needs: accounts, plans and payments, team seats, exports, analytics and an admin side. The domain rules change from industry to industry, the foundations don't. We start by learning how your customers actually work, then build the smallest version they would pay for.
Can you turn our spreadsheets into software?
That is often where it starts. These tools began as the calculations advisers did by hand. We turn the formulas into tested code, put a clear interface on top, and make sure the results match the spreadsheet you already trust. Our post on signs a business has outgrown spreadsheets covers when it is worth doing.
Can you add AI to our product safely?
Yes, with a person kept in charge. In 1965 Intelligence the assistant can read the adviser's portfolio book and imported statements, but every change it proposes is shown with a before and after, saved only once the adviser approves it, and can be undone.
Do you work with founders who aren't technical?
Most of our clients aren't. Kenneth is a financial adviser. He describes what he needs in his own words, we turn that into a scoped plan, and he sees working software early and often.
Let's Talk
Have a product you need built?
Tell us what you're building. We'll come back within one business day with honest advice, and a clear path forward if we're the right fit.