Friday, 2 June 2023

My Investment Portfolio - SG (End May 2023)

 


Transactions made:
- Added 2,000 units of Ascendas Reit at $2.75

The last time I purchased a stock was in Feb. I am glad to have bought something again after three months. Ascendas Reit is a stock in which I had been eyeing and I am glad to have added it as it gives a yield of just above 5%. This purchase is really for the long term as the USA Fed Bank may not be cutting interest rate this year. I had also added more of this stock at $2.69 for my wife's portfolio.

In the meantime, I am keeping a close watch on the other Reits and even Singapore Banks. Mapletree Industrial Trust has dropped quite a fair bit and the price looks so tempting. I might add on the stock next week if it continues to drop. 

As for the Singapore banks, I am keeping a close watch because historically they tend to peak 6 months before USA Fed Bank cut the rates. They have already fallen from the peak and now the question is how much more will the price drop.  I am actually looking at purchasing more DBS at around $25.5 as the price to book ratio will be 1.2 then. Currently, DBS price is at $30.6 with a book value of $21.41. This means its price to book ratio is 1.43, which is above its 5 years average. 

One interesting note. There has been sexy big terms in investing such as Sustainable Investing, Responsible Investing, Eco-Investing, Green Investing and the list goes on and on. Recently, I noticed a new term called Impact Investing. We humans are really good at innovation and marketing. 

Dividends received* during the month: $4,082.18 (Suntec Reit, Astrea 7 Class A-1 Bonds (4.125%), Raffles Medical, DBS, Mapletree Logistics Trust, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd, ComfortDelGro, Wilmar, Keppel Corp, Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd)

Total dividends received in 2023: $7,603.03

Average dividends per month^: $633.59

Total Portfolio Market Value: $340,214.4


* Dividends are recognised after payment date. Average dividends per month is calculated by dividing the dividends received by 12 months regardless of the month. 
Portfolio excludes Singapore Savings Bonds, T-bills and Foreign Stocks
Divided by 12 months regardless of month of the year. 

Tuesday, 2 May 2023

My Investment Portfolio - SG (End Apr 2023)

 

No transactions were made in the month of April 2023. 

I have been looking out for months, but has not bought anything. Not much opportunities and I have been telling myself to be patient, but I must say that I am getting very trigger happy. I also did not have any luck in T-bills balloting.

Meanwhile, I have been monitoring the stocks result especially REITS as they are facing higher borrowing cost. thanks to a friend who noticed and pointed out that Mapletree Industrial Trust has reported a negative loss for 4th Q FY22/23.

Mapletree Industrial Trust 4Q FY2223

As shown in the image above, Mapletree Industrial Trust reported a $110 million loss in "Net fair value (loss)/gain on investment properties and investment property under development". This resulted in a loss for the quarter. Quite disappointed that Mapletree Industrial Trust is not transparent and share with shareholders the reason for this $110 million loss.  They should explain this in their powerpoint without anyone asking. 
 

Dividends received* during the month: $984.4 (DBS)

Total dividends received in 2023: $3,520.85

Average dividends per month^: $293.40

Total Portfolio Market Value: $349,540.4


* Dividends are recognised after payment date. Average dividends per month is calculated by dividing the dividends received by 12 months regardless of the month. 
Portfolio excludes Singapore Savings Bonds, T-bills and Foreign Stocks
Divided by 12 months regardless of month of the year. 

Sunday, 2 April 2023

My Investment Portfolio - SG (End Mar 2023)

 

Transactions made:

- Received 175,582 units of Sembcorp Marine (This is due to Keppel Offshore and Marine combination and the asset co-transfer, as well as the distribution of Sembcorp Marine shares)
- Sold off 175,500 units of Sembcorp Marine at $0.12
- Added 200 units of Mapletree Ind Trust at $2.3255 via scrip dividends
- Added 150 units of Lendlease Global Commercial REIT at $0.6788 via scrip dividends

There were many transactions this month, but majority were as a result of corporate actions and not deliberate purchases made using warchest. I was disappointed that none of my orders to add Ascendas Reit and CICT were fulfilled.

I have no luck in recent T-bills too. I have not managed to get allotted with any 6 months T-bills since mid Jan 23 and my laddered T-bills from Aug 22 had matured since Feb 22. As these safer instruments were purchased mainly using my wife's warchest, her warchest has been growing. ps: The stocks above are mainly my portfolio, not hers.

I hope that the month of Apr will present opportunities for me to grow both my wife and my portfolios.

Dividends received* during the month: $2,496.65 (Ascendas Reit, Lendlease Reit, CapitaLand China Trust, IREIT Global Reit, Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust, Keppel DC Reit, Mapletree Logistic Trust, CapitaLand Ascott Trust)

Total dividends received in 2023: $2,536.45

Average dividends per month^: $211.37

Total Portfolio Market Value: $344,544.38


* Dividends are recognised after payment date. Average dividends per month is calculated by dividing the dividends received by 12 months regardless of the month. 
Portfolio excludes Singapore Savings Bonds, T-bills and Foreign Stocks
Divided by 12 months regardless of month of the year. 





Sunday, 5 March 2023

Accounting for Keppel Corp’s disposal of Keppel Offshore & Marine

Sembcorp Marine acquisition of Keppel Offshore and Marine (O&M) was great news for Keppel Corp shareholders. I was please seeing Keppel Corp go asset light and cutting off their O&M business. But this whole scheme of things was so complicated! I had a really hard time trying to account for this transaction.

The proper way to account properly on paper was to do the following:
a) Sell Keppel Corp at $7.34, which is its closing price on 22 Feb 2023;
b) For every 1 unit Keppel Corp owned on 22 Feb, buy 19.085033835 units of Sembcorp Marine at $0.134, its closing price on 22 Feb 2023; and
c) Buy back the exact number of units of Keppel Corp you sold at $4.7826. ($4.7826 because it is the adjusted-for-distribution price; $7.34-(19.085033835*$0.134))

But because I want to track when my different tranches of Keppel Corp transactions will be freehold, I had to use a different method. Since I sold off my Sembcorp Marine stocks on the very first day (i.e. 1 Mar 2023), I could use the value of that sold transaction for this accounting. I treated the value of the sold transaction as cash dividends and accorded them to my Keppel Corp holdings. 


The flaw is that my dividends recorded in stockcafe is now inflated by this. I need to mindful and remember to take note of this. 

Which method did you use to account for this or did you use other methods? 

Wednesday, 1 March 2023

My Investment Portfolio - SG (End Feb 2023)

 

Transactions made:

- Added 2,000 units of Mapletree Industrial Trust at $2.39
- Added 500 units of Keppel Corp at $5.66
- Added 500 units of Keppel Corp at $5.40

February was an exciting month as I made three purchase transactions and the local banks released their results announcing dividends increase. DBS even announced special dividends. Companies such as Wilmar, Raffles Medical and even Comfortdelgro announced dividends increase. This is getting so exciting. At the same time, I am mindful that we cannot celebrate too early as we will not know how the full year will be. But these increase in dividends will help mitigate the decrease in dividends announced by REITS.

Whether the USA Fed Bank cut interest rates this year or in 2024 or even later, my personal view is that I am well positioned to ride this out. If interest rate remains high, banks will continue to earn high profit through NIM. On the other hand, if interest rate is cut and low, REITS borrowing cost and gearing will trend downwards. So having a diversified portfolio is important.

As I was reviewing my portfolio, I was surprised that Mapletree Industrial Trust (MINT) accounted for 14% of my portfolio. I need to watch what I purchase next. But frankly speaking, MINT still looks so  attractive . Moreover, I participated in MINT's Distribution Reinvestment Plan (DRP), opting for partial shares and cash. I am also likely to opt for Lendlease's DRP. I hope there is an opportunity for me to add to Ascendas REIT, MLT and ST Eng in the near future.


Dividends received* during the month: $39.80 (Suntec Reit)

Total dividends received in 2023: $39.80

Average dividends per month^: $3.32

Total Portfolio Market Value: $339,541.57

* Dividends are recognised after payment date. Average dividends per month is calculated by dividing the dividends received by 12 months regardless of the month. 
Portfolio excludes Singapore Savings Bonds, T-bills and Foreign Stocks
Divided by 12 months regardless of month of the year. 


Tuesday, 14 February 2023

10 Learning Points In My Investment Journey

I have been in this journey since 2011 with the aim to generate passive income to off set my daily expenses. During this journey, I found out about Financial Freedom and FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early). I hope I can reach such a stage. Since I started the journey, I have learnt several learning points which I thought would be useful to document down these learning points. This would be a useful reminder for me and it could be helpful to you.

Investing is like growing a plant, you need to give it attention and provide it with tender loving care. Providing it with water, fertilisers and pesticides in adequate amount at the right time. When its leaves and branches are too overgrown, you will even need to prune it.

Your boss or company is not going to plan your retirement and look after you after your retire. When you or your boss leave the organisation, you each go your own way. You are in charge of your own finances, retirement and life. If you do not work on this yourself, no one will and no one can help you. 

1) Know yourself 

You need to understand yourself. Who are you? What motivates you, your strengths and weaknesses, and emotions. Are you emotional or calm? Are you disciplined and a numbers person, or do you buy on gut feel and hearsay. 

What are the reasons you buy a particular stock for? Always fall back onto these reasons before you buy more or sell.

By knowing yourself, you will know your strengths and weakness, and what you should watch out for.

2) Ask yourself whether you are a trader or investor? 

If you are a trader, there is no point reading on as I am an investor and everything here is for an investor. As an investor, I am not looking for quick gains. I buy fundamentally sounded stocks and do not monitor their prices frequently unless there are business news that impact it. I intend to hold these stocks until they reach 'freehold' (i.e. dividends cover the stock purchase cost). Unless something fundamentally changes and I do my due diligence,  I will cut off the share, even at a loss. 

Take for example I cut off Hyflux at a loss of 67.2%! Had I held on to it, the loss would have been nearly 100%. 

If you are emotional, then you need to take a timeout when market crashes and ask yourself why you bought the stock and if that reason is still valid. Panic selling will not help you. 

3) Do not buy penny shares

Yes, I know that penny shares are cheap and that they are more affordable. When you start your investing journey, you are likely to be FOMO (fear of missing out) and want to flip (make a profit) a few times. But the reality is that you may loss all. 

Also, when you start your journey, you only have a limited amount of capital and buying penny shares allow you to buy more number of shares compared to blue chip shares (or those listed in the mainboard).

Penny shares are cheap for a reason. Most of the times, they are small companies. I get it that there are gems such as ifast, but these cases are rare. 

Success is not always what you see

4) Buy blue chips

Blue chip stocks are generally more expensive for a reason. These stocks are from well-known and established company, with track records. Buying them provides me with a peace of mind and allow me to sleep soundly. 

Investing with in blue chips may not make you rich fast, but it will get you there. Do not rush the process. 

5) Never chase dividends yield

There are reasons why a particular stock has high dividends yield. Its yield is high to compensate for a higher risk. If you are buying a stock with high dividends yield, you need to find out why it is offering such a high yield and whether your portfolio can manage the risk.

In 2013, Asian Pay Television Trust IPO and was offering a high dividend yield of around 8.5%. Its IPO price was then 97 cents. Many people were sharing about its high yield and subscribed to it. I did not subscribe due to its declining business. Today, its share price is $0.11, with a yield of 9%.

Need 1 more example? Eagle Hospitality Trust IPO in May 2019 at US$0.78 with a projected yield of 8.2%. Today, its share is suspended after one of its units defaulted on a loan.

6) There is no free lunch 

If it is too good to be truth, it probably is. You reap what you sow. You need to do your homework and due diligence. Do you want to plant the seeds now and monitor it or just buy on hearsay or rumours? 

7) Observe your surroundings

Instead of using the phone constantly (on the train and bus, and at restaurant and malls etc), observe your surroundings wherever you are. Is the place crowded? Are people spending money or just walking pass or doing window shopping? What are most people using and doing? 

Doing this on a constant basis, you will know what is in demand and what is not. This has impact on stock prices. 
The more you see the more you learn



8) Think ahead of others 

The stock market is efficient and typically prices move 6 months to a year in advance, in anticipation of the impact on their financial performance. 

9) Stop procrastinating

The first step is always hard. If you do not plant the seeds now, you will not get the fruits or tree full of shade years later.

First step is the hardest


10) Do not be dishearten and do not give up

Investing is a slow and long journey. Know what is your end goal and be realistic about it. Do not give up easily. 

My own investing journey was so slow that I questioned myself. But I never gave up and tried and tried. I build my portfolio slowly bit by bit. Today, I am really proud of this portfolio and I hope I am right about this. Time will tell. The journey and lessons learnt have also made me stronger and wise (I hope), 


Let me know your thoughts and learning points too. 

Wednesday, 1 February 2023

My Investment Portfolio - SG (End Jan 2023)

 

Ironically in the year of the water rabbit and the wet weather, I had a dry harvest for the month of January. No transactions made and no dividends. For the first time, no dividends was received in the first month of the year since 2016. I am expecting dividends to start coming in from February and this year's dividends should exceed last year's one (fingers crossed).

I am expecting myself to make transactions soon, as the laddered T bills structure that I started since August 2022 would mature from February 2023. 

I doubt my top 5 holdings will changes drastically. 

I had been constantly nibbling and adding on Reits last year despite the sell down. Now that the tide seems to have turned. I am debating whether I should sit back or still add on. I have a big portion of my portfolio, nearly 50% in Reits. But chances are I am still looking at Reits.

Dividends received* during the month: $0

Total dividends received in 2023: $0

Average dividends per month^: $0

Total Portfolio Market Value: $349,158.98

* Dividends are recognised after payment date. Average dividends per month is calculated by dividing the dividends received by 12 months regardless of the month. 
Portfolio excludes Singapore Savings Bonds, T-bills and Foreign Stocks
Divided by 12 months regardless of month of the year.