Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Portfolio - November 2020

Hi readers, hope everyone is doing well... We're now just 1 month away from wrapping up 2020. It's crunch time at work - so I'm just keeping this a very short Portfolio update.

NOTE: Stock prices shown in this portfolio update is based on closing prices on 30 November 2020.

Interesting, kind of a sharp fall in STI components on 30 November 2020.


See: Link to Main Portfolio page

Contents:

  1. Portfolio (30 November 2020)
  2. Transactions and Dividends
  3. Closing Thoughts




Portfolio (30 November 2020)





Performance

 




Some commentary on my portfolio
  • I'm kind of surprised Wilmar is not trending higher. It looks like I will be holding it quite a while.
  • It's pleasing to see some recovery from October 2020 (See: October 2020 Portfolio update), just a bit lower than September 2020.
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Transactions and Dividends 

(a) Transaction Summary
  • No transaction was done in the month of November 2020.
(b) Dividend Summary
  • No new dividend declared or received in the month of November 2020.

(back to top)

Closing Thoughts
I think I may have spoke too soon about Phase 3 drawing nearer. If we are not careful, community cases might go on an uptrend again. Let's be vigilant.

I'm trying to get some units for Credit Bureau Asia's IPO (this falls under December 2020 / Year end Portfolio update if successful).

I'm expecting to continue keeping to portfolio updates for the few months ahead, but I hope to do a bit more.


Sunday, November 1, 2020

Portfolio - October 2020

October marks the beginning of 4Q 2020. Towards the final week of October, the market started seeing increased volatility.


See: Link to Main Portfolio page

Contents:

  1. Portfolio (31 October 2020)
  2. Transactions and Dividends
  3. Closing Thoughts




Portfolio (31 October 2020)





Performance

 



Some commentary on my portfolio
  • With the exception of Fu Yu Corp (SGX: F13) which dropped only half a cent, the portfolio saw a significant drop. Overall, the portfolio value has changed by about -7.5%.
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Transactions and Dividends 

(a) Transaction Summary
  • No transaction was done in the month of October 2020.
(b) Dividend Summary
  • No new dividend declared in the month of October 2020. (Wilmar's ~15% proceed from YKA IPO is not counted at the moment)
  • No new dividend received in the month of October 2020.

(back to top)

Closing Thoughts
I am seeing some opportunities for fellow investors to accumulate positions with the increased volatility in the market. It's also a pity I did not offload Wilmar (it has not hit my target price yet) when it hit 4.6x - 4.7x. Previously, in my September 2020 Portfolio update, I had also mentioned toying with the idea of offloading Fu Yu Corp to increase position on stocks belonging to my current portfolio. 

Read: Portfolio update for month of September 2020.

Observing the market movement, this thought has once again presented itself. The near-term weakness in market, the indifference in Fu Yu Corp's stock price movement, and the possibility of near-term catalyst coming sooner to my other position than Fu Yu Corp is the reasoning behind this thought. Decisions, decisions...

I guess if I do take action, you will see it in next month's Portfolio update. Haha.

Other than market matters, I guess it's been a while since I shared any updates for personal events? If you are curious, here goes:

(1) I have recently just completed a high-key In-Camp Training (ICT). It was a good change of pace from work affair, and give opportunities to catch up with peers from the same unit.

(2) Taking advantage of the lower interest rate, I am working to change from HDB Concessionary Loan to a DBS 5-year 1.5% Fixed rate loan. (Thanks for the heads-up on Red Brick Mortgage Advisory, B!)

(3) Started to learn about Data Science, either to explore opportunities that also combines knowledge as a Mechanical Engineer in a manufacturing environment, or to explore an opportunity towards a change in career altogether.

Phase 3 is probably around the corner, and it is just a matter of time before announcements are out. It is fortunate the Covid-19 situation in Singapore is contained, but we should still be vigilant, until it has been eradicated altogether. Stay safe, all!

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Portfolio - September 2020

It is the end of Sep 2020, bringing 3rd quarter of 2020 to a close.


See: Link to Main Portfolio page

Contents:

  1. Portfolio (30 September 2020)
  2. Transactions and Dividends
  3. Closing Thoughts




Portfolio (30 September 2020)




Performance

 
From this month onward, I have added Capital Injection (CI) into the graph, so as to show any increase or decrease not owing to stock movement. The Portfolio Value is inclusive of CI by itself.

Some commentary on my portfolio
  • Wilmar dropped to 4.1x range for a bit before climbing back to 4.3x - 4.4x.
  • Took action on my portfolio this month - I drew down remaining amount from war chest, topped up a little bit from my wallet and added more Lendlease Global Commercial REIT (SGX:JYEU), or LREIT for short. This brings down my average price to ~0.73 SGD per unit.
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Transactions and Dividends 

(a) Transaction Summary
  • Bought 4500 units of LREIT on 4 September 2020 at SGD 0.645 each.
(b) Dividend Summary
  • No new dividend declared in the month of September 2020
  • Received approximately SGD 145.30 in dividends for month of September 2020.
    • PRIME US REIT (SGX: OXMU): SGD 34.80 
    • Lendlease REIT: SGD 72
      • DPU of SGD 0.048
    • Fu Yu (SGX:F13): SGD 38.5
      • Dividend of SGD 0.0035 per unit

(back to top)

Closing Thoughts

Going forward, short of any rights issue, I do not expect to further top up additional capital for the remainder of the year. However I have not ruled out any possibility of cycling funds ("change horse") within the portfolio. 

For instance, a thought I have at the moment is how Fu Yu is dragging my portfolio performance because I bought at a high. Could the money be deployed elsewhere that would benefit my portfolio more in spite of Fu Yu's good business fundamentals?

In addition, I have started to think of my investment plan going forward. Currently thinking that I am likely focus on mid-term (think holding period of 3-5 years?). I could lean towards banks, or certain cyclical industries. Wilmar is currently a short-term play (could be multi-month play, but may stretch up to 2 years max). Let's see how it goes.

Other than that, I have been trying to figure out how to automate data extraction to facilitate portfolio updates. It takes multiple steps for me to get my data, and introduces human error as well. Tried some solutions that was supposed to call the stock prices from Yahoo Finance into Excel but to no avail. Hope I find some ways around this.

Monday, August 31, 2020

Portfolio - August 2020

It is the end of Aug 2020 and this means it's time for the monthly portfolio update! There is a bit of activity this month (read on).


See: Link to Main Portfolio page

Contents:

  1. Portfolio (31 August 2020)
  2. Transactions and Dividends
  3. Closing Thoughts




Portfolio (31 August 2020)





Performance



Some commentary on my portfolio
  • Finally took action on my portfolio - I drew down SGD 4400 from war chest and added Wilmar (SGX:F34) at SGD 4.37 each (and SGD 30 for brokerage fees) due to the 10% drop in price which I deem unrelated to its fundamentals. It is one of the stocks I had been eyeing after news of Wilmar's YKA Listing started coming out. How long will I hold this for? Somewhat undecided between short term punt or up to a couple of years.
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Transactions and Dividends 

(a) Transaction Summary
  • Bought 1000 units of Wilmar on 20 August 2020 at SGD 4.37 each. As it has gone XD on 17 August 2020, I am not entitled to the interim dividend of SGD 0.04.
(b) Dividend Summary
  • No dividend received in the month of August 2020
  • Expecting to receive approximately SGD 158 in dividends for month of September 2020.
    • PRIME US REIT declared DPU of 3.52 2.56 US cents (approximately SGD 0.048 0.0348)
      • XD on 14 August 2020
      • Correction done on 30-09-2020
    • Lendlease REIT declared DPU of SGD 0.048
      • XD on 18 August 2020
    • Fu Yu declared dividend of SGD 0.0035 per unit
      • XD on 7 September 2020

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Closing Thoughts

The community cases in Singapore have been kept relatively contained, having hanged around single digit for a while. It is a relief, but we must not get complacent.

On the investing front, my purchase in Wilmar leaves me with ~39% of warchest (inclusive of upcoming dividends) and I am considering my next course of action what to do with the remainder. I foresee making a choice between adding to an existing position, but we shall see yeah?

An interesting read I came across is posted by Financial Horse, whom recently wrote on his concern for how the next phase of COVID-19 could play out, and it's something I mostly, if not wholeheartedly agree with.

Read: Financial Horse - Why I am Worried About the Next Phase In Stocks

Elsewhere, US Presidential Election is also around the corner, scheduled to take place in November 2020. The period leading up till then could see increase volatility, and that could produce more opportunities to add positions.

Stay safe, all.


Friday, July 31, 2020

Portfolio Update - July 2020

July 2020 was a pretty interesting month, with the General Elections held on 10th July, before being wrapped up with a Hari Raya Haji holiday and giving us a longer weekend for a good breather.

See: Link to Main Portfolio page

Contents:
  1. Portfolio (31 July 2020)
  2. Transactions and Dividends
  3. Closing Thoughts




Portfolio (31 July 2020)




Performance



Some commentary on my portfolio
  • Nope, I still haven't taken any action to add or cut position, but just keeping an eye for stocks I am interested in, including positions I'm vested in.
  • Largely flat in comparison to June 2020. I'm down 0.44% from June 2020.
  • However, Lendlease REIT dropped quite a fair bit from my last Portfolio update in June 2020
(back to top)

Transactions and Dividends 

(a) Transaction Summary
  • No transaction for the month of July 2020.
(b) Dividend Summary
  • Received SGD 0.100 per share (Fu Yu Corp)
  • No dividend was declared in the month of July 2020.
(back to top)

Closing Thoughts

It's been a few months and yet, I still don't feel I can act on any stocks I have my eyes on at the moment, but continue to monitor my watchlist.

Perhaps it also raised questions to my idea for stock selection and action plan - namely having strategy or criteria more suitable for entering into new positions for the current investing climate.

It has been barely over a year since I changed job. Work commitment is taking up more energy (involves getting more physical and putting hours in) and I enjoy my current work for the challenges it presents and the new knowledge I am picking up. While we have adapted to working with countermeasures for Covid-19 quite well, it did throw a bit of a curveball in taking my pay raise for the year away.

Normally, my company has the pay raise and promotion done end of July. Due to Covid-19, there was a corporate-wide pay freeze (i.e. no increment) unless you were getting promoted, and management-level staff past a certain level took a pay cut. While I understand the reasoning behind the pay freeze and still grateful for my job security, I can't pretend to not find it a pity to have my target wage for the near future impeded. This also meant I need to be that little bit more prudent on spendings.

Elsewhere, people in the workforce are harder hit and if it weren't for the government intervention, the fallout would have been far worse.


I am currently putting writing on the blog on the backburner, save for my monthly portfolio updates. There were a few posts I meant to write, but ultimately leading to being discarded as the information is no longer useful for reasons (e.g. outdated and obsoleted by new info). Other times, I feel like I have writer's block or something. I do wonder if it is related to my inaction on the market.

I currently foresee the frequency of new blog post to remain muted, but I do have some articles still in the drafting stage (yes, I'm working like an old man on that Alita hindsight post, and I also have one related to recurring expenditure of owning a HDB Flat).

Slowly (but surely) will churn those posts out one day. One day. Hahaha.

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Portfolio Update - June 2020

It's end of June, so time for another portfolio update. Nothing much going on to be honest - like watching paint dry. Haha.

See: Link to Main Portfolio page

Contents:
  1. Portfolio (30 June 2020)
  2. Transactions and Dividends
  3. Closing Thoughts




Portfolio (30 June 2020)



Performance



Some commentary on my portfolio
  • Overall, very slight recovery in existing positions.
(back to top)

Transactions and Dividends 

(a) Transaction Summary
  • Cash injection of $300 into war chest.
  • No transaction for the month of June 2020 otherwise.
(b) Dividend Summary
  • Fu Yu declared dividend of SGD 0.100 per share.
  • No dividend received for the month of June 2020
(back to top)

Closing Thoughts
As of mid-June 2020, Phase 2 begun and we see crowd start to return to malls and other public areas. To be honest I am worried at the increase in cases again and folks intentionally not observing safety. I hope it trends downwards soon.

A recap to the phased approach:
Read: Gov.sg - Ending circuit breaker: phased approach to resuming activities safely

Elsewhere, China is seeing a second wave and also returning swine flu, but China's military is getting experimental vaccines for Covid-19.

Read: The Jakarta Post - CanSino's COVID-19 vaccine candidate approved for military use in China
Read: BBC News - Hebei: China locks down 400,000 people after virus spike near Beijing
Read: CNA - New swine flu found in China has pandemic potential: Study

Market-wise, I am still sitting by the sidelines as I do not feel comfortable injecting funds yet. It is a "kangaroo" market at the moment and unless one feels certain stocks are valued at a decent enough price, it is probably otherwise more suitable to do rangebound trading. The temptation is there for me too, but I am trying my best to resist.

Read: Seedly - What is a Kangaroo market?

In the coming months, I think there is going to be several significant events which will further dictate the direction the market goes, such as US presidential elections, for example.

I'm going to echo my ending note from May 2020 - Let us continue practise social responsibility to the best of our abilities as we all have a part to play towards recovery from Covid-19. Stay safe.

Sunday, May 31, 2020

Portfolio Update - May 2020

It's end of May, so time for another portfolio update.

See: Link to Main Portfolio page

Contents:
  1. Portfolio (31 May 2020)
  2. Transactions and Dividends
  3. Closing Thoughts




Portfolio (31 May 2020)

Performance


Some commentary on my portfolio
  • Lendlease REIT had quite a bit of recovery, but still quite some ways off pre-Covid-19 price.
  • More than half of the portfolio consists of the war chest now, which I will increase by SGD 300 for the month of June 2020.
  • Fu Yu Corp has yet to gone cum-dividend due to the delay in AGM. I'm presuming it will go CD and XD in the month of July or August 2020, and this proceeds will again, be added to the warchest.
(back to top)

Transactions and Dividends 

(a) Transaction Summary
  • No transaction for the month of May 2020.
(b) Dividend Summary
  • No dividend declared/received for the month of May 2020
(back to top)

Closing Thoughts
Singapore is starting to ease Circuit Breaker and we will begin Phase 1 of reopening on 2 June 2020. But what interests me more is Phase 2, where further easing is done.

Read: Gov.sg - Ending circuit breaker: phased approach to resuming activities safely


There is a chance we may enter Phase 2 earlier, which will allow dining in at F&B establishments albeit with safety measures, as well as small group social gathering, and that may further soften the impact of Covid-19 on Retail / F&B establishments a little more. It is conditional to stability in community cases and I keep my fingers crossed this will be the case.

It is also heartening to know further support will be granted to employees and businesses alike with the Fortitude Package.

Read: Gov.sg - A summary of the Fortitude Budget 2020

On the market, I was surprised at the rally to a number of S-REITs on 29 May 2020. I can understand the MSCI Singapore Index inclusion for Mapletree Logistic Trust, but I have yet to understand the reasoning behind rally on the non blue-chip S-REITs (Can anyone shed a light why?).

For now, I remain on the sideline figuring out what to put my warchest into. A number of stocks I am watching has gone some ways up in pricing and I am figuring out if there are more attractive ones I can buy into, or if we will see some corrections to keep stock prices rangebound in the months to come. I will also keep an eye out for further financial impact to businesses.

Lastly, I hope everyone stay safe. Let us practise social responsibility to the best of our abilities as we all have a part to play towards recovery from Covid-19.

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Portfolio Update - April 2020

It's the end of the month once more, and you know what that means on my blog - a portfolio update for the month of April 2020.

I have been preoccupied with work and some personal matters, and been needing a mental break to recharge, so I had not written anything for the month of April 2020, until now. Even for this portfolio update, I am keeping it brief (might as well, since not much to observe besides watching Covid-19 runs its course).

See: Link to Main Portfolio page

Contents:
  1. Portfolio (30 April 2020)
  2. Transactions and Dividends
  3. Closing Thoughts




Portfolio (30 April 2020)

Performance

Some commentary on my portfolio
  • Besides Lendlease REIT, all other counters saw some recovery, though nowhere near pre-crash.
  • I decided to sell off CMT on 30th April after some thinking. 
    • Fundamentally, it should recover eventually, and the merger with CapitaCommercial Trust will moderate the impact to retail somewhat, but recovery is probably still some ways off.
    • Technically, there was a triple top with resistance at ~SGD 1.90. It should stay range-bound (1.7x-1.9x) for a while. Probably at least until the merger is completed?
    • I am taking some profits off the table, but it is still on my watchlist as investment, and may buy in again if it hits mid SGD1.7x or lower.
(back to top)

Transactions and Dividends 

(a) Transaction Summary
  • Sold 2000 units CMT at SGD1.89 each (Net Profit ~SGD 80)
  • Cash from payout (SGD 600) and sale of CMT (~SGD3720 after deducting brokerage fee) is added into warchest.
(b) Dividend Summary
  • No dividend received for the month of April 2020
  • No dividend declared for the month of April 2020 (CMT was sold off)
(back to top)

Closing Thoughts
It remains my opinion we will not see V-shape recovery. The damage done by Covid-19 is extensive, even with support to business from the government and prudence exercised to weather the storm.

As with my closing of portfolio update in March 2020, continue to get lock and loaded, and to accumulate if you see solid stocks at good prices. Stay well, guys!

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Portfolio Update - March 2020

It's the end of the month once more, and you know what that means on my blog - a portfolio update for the month of March 2020.

Just when you thought February was pretty eventful already, March 2020 came in hard and wrecked havoc to everyone's portfolio. The oil price crash and escalating Covid-19 hits hard, and recession looms.

However, is this not one of the reasons why we invest? To guard our future via wealth accumulation in case one became victims to retrenchment or any personal black-swan events?

See: Link to Main Portfolio page

Contents:
  1. Portfolio (31 March 2020)
  2. Transactions and Dividends
  3. First Tranche Deployed
  4. Closing Thoughts



Portfolio (31 March 2020)


Notes
1 - Forex rate is based off indicative conversion (actual values will differ)

Performance


The chart shows a sharp increase, only due to distortion from capital injection (CMT + warchest).

Without the capital injection:
  • I would actually be down by a whopping 24.6% since end-Feb 2020.
  • I would actually be down by a whopping 22.1% YTD.
Some commentary on my portfolio
  • Welcome back CMT! Readers of my blog in its early days will know I used to own it back in 1Q2018, but chose to let go of it when faced with a choice what to divest to fund my home purchase. (Big mistake)
  • The price of Fu Yu Corp seems to have stabilised for now, but we have yet to observe financial impact. I am thankful Fu Yu Corp is debt-free and significantly net-cash positive.
  • Prime US REIT and Lendlease REIT were amongst those hit very hard earlier on, but has have slight recovery from their lows since then.
(back to top)

Transactions and Dividends 

(a) Transaction Summary
  • Injected SGD 6000 into portfolio, of which 3640 was spent on Capitamall Trust (CMT).
  • Bought 2000 units CMT at SGD1.82 each.
  • Remaining cash is added into warchest.
(b) Dividend Summary
  • Dividend received
    • Totals approximately SGD79, and this is cycled into the warchest
    • PRIME US REIT: SGD 59.72 (4.11 US cent per unit)
      • This represents a forex rate of 1.453 USD/SGD.
    •  Lendlease Global REIT: SGD 19.35(1.29 Singapore cents per unit)
  • No dividend declared for the month of March 2020
(back to top)




First Tranche deployed
This is going to sound contradictive, but despite what I said previously that we have yet to observe the impact on financial report (see Portfolio Feb 2020 update), I decided to "open fire" at CMT, as this price is quite attractive (it saw a low of 1.855 back in 2015, representing a 5-year low). Unfortunately somewhat too early as it saw a further selldown to as low as SGD1.56 before climbing back up to its closing price of SGD1.79 today.

Yet here I am in two minds, however, to get itchy fingers and sell CMT for small profit if it does bounce back up to 1.89 or more while we wait for it to revisit lows again. My budget for this year is limited to ~6000 + any dividends I get, and the purchase of CMT, already bite-sized to begin with,  leaves me with a tiny balance of 2400. Trading this way might help increase my balance, but then the risk of losing money is probably much more elevated.

FOMO is real, and managing emotional aspect in my opinion is one of the more challenging things in the world of investing. And see, this is probably why we do investment instead of trading - so we don't end up dealing with such what-ifs, and proceed to reap our rewards after some years.

It was said that the crash of REITs (does it apply to other equities? I can't remember) was due to forced selldown from margin calls on leveraged positions. I wonder if and/or when there will be another bout of selloff as realisation of actual financial impact.

Closing Thoughts
This concludes the portfolio update for 1Q2020. I have made a bunch more mistakes since the start of the year due to FOMO, so I ought to straighten up and get back on track with recovering from losses before pushing hard to outperform the market.

While buying opportunities has risen this month, we have yet to see the financial impact through financial reporting. I believe despite the measures taken to mitigate the situation worldwide to aid businesses, it ain't over yet.

So get lock and loaded, and get ready to accumulate again soon.

Sunday, March 15, 2020

When the Bear strikes 2020 (Part 1) - Damage Report 2020-03-15

Wow, what a week! The market got hammered left, right, center by not just the escalating Covid-19 situation, but also the crash in oil prices. Circuit breaker in the US market even got triggered - historically it has been triggered only 4 times, and even the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) back in 2008 did not cause their market circuit breaker to be tripped.

Folks, the bears has finally started their assault - and perhaps it's time to take up arms towards a better personal financial future.





Take a look at the chart for Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), Standard & Poors 500 (S&P500) and Straits Times Index (STI).

DJIA Chart (Source: Yahoo! Finance)

S&P500 Chart (Source: Yahoo! Finance)

Both DJIA and S&P500 got hit hard, taking them to a low of 21,154.46 and 2478.86 respectively, before spiking back up by 9+% to close at 23,185.62 and 2,711.02 respectively following the spike in Dow Futures.

STI Chart (Source: Yahoo! Finance)
STI also got spooked, and we saw it crash to a low 2510.88 in the morning of 13 March (Friday) before recovering to close at 2634.00, following a spike in Dow Futures. The last time we came anywhere close this low was in 2016.

Naturally, my current portfolio is not spared from this either (you can visit the StocksCafe portion on my main Portfolio page to see my current positions at last closing price).

  • Down-Month on-Month (MoM) by 18.46% (In comparison, STI is down MoM by 12.52%)
  • Down Year-to-Date (YTD) by 15.63%. (In comparison, STI is down YTD by 18.67%)



I see a number of investors have taken this opportunity to load up on their targets as well, deploying their "troops" (cash) in waves to "attack" positions , anticipating possibility of further hits.

This is the first bear market I am experiencing as an investor and I am looking forward to accumulate although so far I had not added any new positions yet.

Also beating myself up for my loss in Alita Resources for not having much "troops" to deploy, and buying in Fu Yu Corp too early - so many "objectives" (targets) I want to "attack", but not enough to make the most of the opportunity. But what to do, just gonna make the most out of what I have on hand instead.

Anyway folks, what do you think of the rally on 13 March (Friday)? Dead cat bounce? Or recovery?

Saturday, February 29, 2020

Portfolio Update - February 2020, Blood on the streets and buying opportunities?

February has come to an end and it has been pretty eventful since the start of 2020 - most noticeably the market selloff driven by the evolving Covid-19 situation. Here's the portfolio update for the month of February 2020.

See: Link to Main Portfolio page

Contents:
  1. Portfolio (29 February 2020)
  2. Transactions and Dividends
  3. Blood on the streets and emerging buying opportunities?


Portfolio (29 February 2020)



Notes
1 - Forex rate is based off indicative conversion (actual values will differ)
2 - Alita Resources was previously known as Alliance Minerals Assets Limited.
3 - I had written down Alita Resources to 0. Unless some miracle happen to revive the company or salvage the investment, I expect to remove from my portfolio sometime end-March 2020.

Performance
Down by 4.56% since end-January 2020.



Some commentary on my portfolio
  • Still surprised by the relative resilience of Fu Yu Corp's share price - I was expecting it to touch 0.220-0.230 due to exposure to operations in China. I'm interested to know the upcoming financial results to observe the extent of impact of Covid-19 to its business.
  • Prime US REIT lau-sai (diarrhoea) from high of 1.07, but slightly offset by forex.
  • Lendlease REIT also lau-sai, and is now cheaper than its IPO price.

(back to top)

Transactions and Dividends 

(a) Transaction Summary
  • No transactions
(b) Dividend Summary
  • Dividend Declared
    • PRIME US REIT: 4.11 US cent per unit, payable end-March 2020
    •  Lendlease Global REIT: 1.29 Singapore cents per unit, payable end-March 2020
  • No dividends received for the month of February 2020.
(back to top)



    Blood on the streets and emerging buying opportunities?
    It seems that more has finally started feeling the heat of Covid-19. The past week has saw the market bathed in red. Dow Jones and S&P500 are now officially in correction territory.


    Screencap of past few days of market for Dow Jones and S&P500 (Source: Yahoo! Finance)
    Similarly, Singapore market has tanked, with STI down to 3011.08. Likewise, I am not spared from the onslaught, being down -4.56% from end-January 2020.

    Straits Times Index chart (Source: Yahoo! Finance)

    But I am not panicking (In fact, feeling zen). I attributed could be due to my degree (lack of) of exposure to the market and having a bit more experience (read: stomached significant losses before) now. In my opinion, a correction was overdue and stock valuations was generally too high and not in line with fundamental growth - Covid-19 was merely the catalyst for it. I am starting to see possible opportunities and taking aim.


    Is this really the right time to buy though?

    In my opinion (and probably shared by quite a number of people too), while we have observed actions by businesses to brace for impact, we have not seen the actual impact to businesses, and the current selloff is more attributable to being fear-driven as opposed to fundamental-driven. In other words, I think this selloff is just a start and there may be a second wave of selloff later on when businesses starts reporting their next financial results.

    Some sharing - I also came across one of Dr Wealth's post on Facebook - a list of "Signs of market tops and bottoms". Think it will be a useful read for you guys too.


    Closing Thoughts
    As tempting as it is, I have decided to stay by sidelines for now, at least until it is possible to observe fundamental impact. There's limited funds for deployment to market and I will have to make the best of it (Ah, the pains of not having much capital at the moment).

    (back to top)

    Sunday, February 23, 2020

    The Moving Target Board of CPF Minimum Sum - Are You On Track?


    Retirement planning is something I believe one should start as early as possible - perhaps as early as early 20s, and developing financial intelligence even earlier on. After all, time is a valuable resource and a key advantage younger people have over older people. Part of the retirement planning usually takes your CPF into account. And when we talk about CPF for retirement planning, CPF Minimum Sum would be on the mind of most Singaporeans.

    Also a pretty timely moment to write on CPF, given the announcement of Budget 2020.




    What is the CPF Minimum Sum
    It is a sum of money one needs to set aside in your CPF Retirement Account (CPF-RA), so as to help one prepare for retirement. Your CPF Ordinary Account (CPF-OA) and CPF Special Account (CPF-SA) is transferred into CPF-RA when you reach the age of 55.

    This is subsequently drawn down when you reach age of 65-70 (depending on which option you have opted for) under CPF-LIFE or Retirement Sum Scheme.

    CPF Minimum Sum in broken into 3 brackets:
    • Basic Retirement Sum (BRS)
      • The Minimum Sum for a person owning a property with lease that can last till at least the age of 95
    • Full Retirement Sum (FRS)
      • 2x BRS
      • The Minimum Sum for a person who does not own a property or a person who owns a property and wishes to receive the full monthly payout.
    • Enhanced Retirement Sum(ERS)
      • 3x BRS
      • For members who wishes to receive higher monthly payout.
    For Singaporeans turning 55 in 2020, BRS is currently $90,500, which translates into FRS of $181,000 and ERS of $271,500. For the year 2017 to 2020, the increment to FRS has been consistent at +$5,000. With the release of Singapore's Budget 2020, the Minimum Sums for year 2021 and 2022 are listed as below, with subsequent years expected to keep up at a +3% annual increment for subsequent cohort.

    The table below shows the Minimum Sums required for Year 2020 to 2022, as well as the projected sum from Year 2023 to 2050, with increment of 3%, BRS rounded up to the next highest $500, and multiplying 2x and 3x for FRS and ERS respectively, assuming the format of the increment remains consistent. There will be some distortion baked-in in the form of the rounding up, but it might add a little bit of safety factor in planning so let's just roll with that.


    Accelerating CPF Minimum Sum Accumulation by leveraging on CPF
    It is possible to accelerate the accumulation of you or your loved ones' Minimum Sum by leveraging on the effects of compounding and the interest rates of CPF-OA (base of 2.5%) and CPF-SA (base of 4%).

    Remember what I have said before for effects of compounding!

    See old post: Effects of Compounding on Principle Amount

    Some things that you can do with your CPF monies:
    • Voluntary Cash Top-up to CPF account (Risk-free)
    • Voluntary Transfer of CPF-OA monies to CPF-SA (Risk-free)
    • Using CPF monies for investment with CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) (*not* risk-free)
    See: Link to CPF Retirement Sum Topping-up Scheme FAQ

    For those who are not comfortable with taking on risks, I do think leveraging cash top-up or CPF transfer is a good way to meet the Minimum Sum.

    So question for readers at this point:
    Is your retirement planning on track?





    Personal Sharing - Am I on track?
    Relating this to myself, I am turning 32 this year. If the increment remains consistent up till I turn 55 at 2043, I am looking at an FRS of $370,000. With my current combined CPF-OA and CPF-SA balance at about 26,000, there is a sum of $344,000 to close up on. Annualising this figure, I need to achieve an average yearly compounded growth of about $15,000. This works out to a required CAGR of 11.9%.

    In all honesty, my balls shrank I found it quite daunting when I look at the figure and that made me want to see what extent am I on or off track by.

    (Yes, the strikethrough bit is intentional for a bit of humour, though a bit coarse.)

    I did a calculation up till age 55 with some assumptions to a particular scenario:
    • CPF
      • CPF Interest rate unchanged
      • CPF Contribution rate unchanged
      • CPF Allocation rate unchanged
      • No voluntary top-ups or transfers
    • Career
      • Working up till age 55 in my current company, without any no-pay leaves or salary deduction.
      • A base case steady salary increment of 3%, with a couple promotion increment (6% instead of 3%) in between before salary peaking mid-life.
      • Yearly bonus of 1.5 months
      • Gross salary peaking mid-life at 6000, and no further changes up to age 55.
    • Expenses
      • Owning my current home and not downgrading/upgrading
      • No change to CPF-OA expenses until fully paid (Mortgage, Home Insurance)
    • Investment with CPF
      • Not making any investment with CPFIS
    It is a rather smooth-sailing (read: no retrenchment or penalties) scenario but nothing out of the ordinary, which should lead to me hitting FRS by age 50. However, I will still miss ERS by almost $90,000 when I turn 55.

    It is likely there will be a lot of deviation from this, but:
    • At least I have visibility of numbers if this is the direction I chose to take and my life decides to play out as per this particular scenario 
    • I also have visibility how the numbers will change if I make any decisions or if there is any other events that will reduce the balance in my CPF accounts (e.g. upgrading to a more expensive property, investing with CPF-OA monies).

    New Feature - Introducing Stock Database
    While still in its infancy, I am excited to try out starting this project to maintain a database of stocks and personally tracking major announcement of shares.

    You can check it up by accessing the the Database here! On the desktop website, you can also access the Database page via the tab on top, while you can also select the page from the dropdown box.

    PRIME US REIT and Lendlease Global Commercial REIT represents my initial entries to the database, with Elite Commercial REIT being the latest entry - feel free to check it out too!

    Like my post? Feel free to subscribe to my blog to look out for new posts, or share it on social medias!

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    Friday, February 14, 2020

    PRIME US REIT - Maiden Distribution, Placement, DPU and NAV Accretive Acquisition





    On 12 February 2020, PRIME US REIT requested for trading halt to announce the following:
    • Announcement of 4Q19 and FY19 results
    • Sale of new units at USD0.957 via private placement to raise USD 120m (inclusive of 20m upsize option exercised)
    • Acquisition of Park Tower in Downtown Sacramento, California for USD165.5m
    • Estimated maiden distribution of 4.11 US cent consisting of FY19 distribution and advance distribution for period 1 Jan 2020 - 20 Feb 2020 in relation to the private placement
    See following announcement on SGX:
    PSA - Please do not forget to send your W8-BEN to avoid the 30% withholding tax for your distribution!




    Performance for 4Q19 and FY19
    In my opinion, the REIT did fantastic in beating the forecast. It will be interesting to see where PRIME goes from here.

    Source: FY19Results Presentation Slide, Page 6
    • 4Q2019
      • DPU of 1.77 US cents (9% above forecast of 1.63 US cents)
      • Gross Revenue of USD33.5m (Above forecast of USD32.9m due to higher rental income and recoveries income)
      • NPI of USD22.3m for the quarter (3% above forecast of USD21.3m)
      • Income available for distribution was USD16.4m (8.8% above forecast of USD15m)
    • FY2019
      • DPU of 3.15 US cents (7.5% above forecast of 2.93 US cents)
      • Income available for distribution at USD29.2m (7.3% above forecast of  US$27.2m)
      • Gross Revenue of USD60.7m (2.2% above forecast of USD59.4m)
      • NPI of USD40.2m (2.9% above forecast of USD39m)
    FY2019's DPU of 3.15 US cents is for the period between 19 July 2019 - 31 Dec 2019. If we annualise this figure, we get 7.09 US cents. At today's closing price of USD1.040, this works out to an annualised yield of 6.8%.

    Trivia: If you are a Singapore unitholder and you subscribed to the public tranche, your annualised yield on cost for your IPO units works out to be about 8.2% - the increasing forex rate has played a part in slightly raising this too.

    Also do note the management is currently opting to receive 80% of their base fee in units and DPU will be lower if they opt to receive more or all of the base fee in cash.

    Usage of Placement Proceeds
    • ~USD115m to partially fund acquisition of Park Tower, with remainder funded by debt.
    • ~USD5m to pay for fees and expenses in connection with private placement and acquisition.
    • Balance of gross proceeds (if any) to be used for general corporate and/or working capital purposes.
    Acquisition of Park Tower
    The property in question is Park Tower in Downtown Sacramento, California. The acquisition will be USD165.5m, representing a discount of  2.7% over its valuation of USD170.1m (given as at January 2020).

    Source: Acquisition Presentation Slide, Page 8

    This will expand their portfolio to include a new market, and the enlarged portfolio also adds government into the tenant mix.


    Source: Acquisition Presentation Slide, Page 12 and 13

    They touted Downtown Sacramento as "One of US's Strongest Real Estate Market".

    Source: Acquisition Presentation Slide, Page 9
    Collier's 4Q2019 report for Sacramento seems to support this:
    • 4Q2019 Average Asking Market Rates for Downtown Class A increased by 9.1% to USD3.35/SF y-o-y.
    • It was also mentioned in the last page of report that "Space constraints Downtown remains an issue with no sign of letting up any time soon".
    Sere: Collier - 4Q2019 Office Report - Sacramento





    Gearing after Acquisition and Placement
    The aggregate gearing as at 31 December 2019 is indicated at 33.7% (Source: 4Q19 Financial Report, page 9 and FY19 Results Presentation Slide, page). Working out some calculations, the gearing should work out to 30% 33% - 33.1% after the placement and acquisition. (please correct me if I'm wrong - I'm happy to make any necessary corrections) (2020-02-17 - Made corrections to my calculation, my bad)

    Source: FY19 Results Presentation Slide, Page 7

    DPU and NAV Accretive Purchase
    Taking a look at the 4Q19 Results and the Acquisition Presentation Slides, they have announced the private placement to fund the acquisition will be accretive to DPU, and to a much lesser degree, to NAV as well. I do wish there was a rights issue to participate in instead but understand their rationale behind the private placement.

    Anyway, onto the main topic:

    Source: Acquisition Presentation Slide, Page 15
    So based on the presentation slides for the Acquisition, they are running the numbers with the following:
    • Assuming 106,045,000 new units are issued at illustrative price of USD0.943
    • Assuming raising only USD100m. The figure for overallotment being exercised is given in the footnotes.
    • Units to be issued for Management Base Fees on 31 Dec 2019 is excluded.
    (a) Units to be issued for Management Base Fees Excluded
    Based on the 4Q19 Financial Report (page 14), 1,374,720 units are to be issued for Management Base Fees. This is what they were referring to when they mention in the footnotes "Excludes units to be issued at 31 Dec 2019." While these units will not be entitled to FY2019 distribution, they will be entitled from 1 Jan 2020 onwards - that includes the advance distribution before the placement shares are issued. The changes are not meaningful and do not impact the numbers shown.

    (b) Price and Number of new units
    Illustrative Price of USD0.943 is the mean value of USD0.928 and 0.957 and rounded up from 0.9425. With 125,392,000 new units to be issued out at USD0.957, the numbers remains unchanged.

    However, since over-allotment is exercised, the Pro-forma DPU and NAV is actually 3.20 US cents (after round up from 3.196) and USD0.894 respectively, remaining unchanged to what is mentioned in the footnotes.




    Closing thoughts
    I am happy with the outperformance from forecast and the acqusition being DPU-accretive. I am only finding it a pity I was not able to try and get more units during IPO and the early days since launch.

    With the current USD/SGD exchange rate and my tiny shareholding of 1000 units, I should be getting about SGD55-56 for the distribution to be paid on 30 March 2020.

    Still keeping fingers crossed for opportunity to participate in rights issue.

    New Feature - Introducing Stock Database
    While still in its infancy, I am excited to try out starting this project to maintain a database of stocks and personally tracking major announcement of shares.

    You can check it up by accessing the the Database here! On the desktop website, you can also access the Database page via the tab on top, while you can also select the page from the dropdown box

    PRIME US REIT and Lendlease Global Commercial REIT represents my initial entries to the database (yes I just started out and not done with past events yet, haha!) - feel free to check it out too!

    Like my post? Feel free to subscribe to my blog to look out for new posts, or share it on social medias!

    Follow by Email