Cory Diary : STI Index that I understand ...

STI Index is Straits Times Index

The Straits Times Index (STI) is a market capitalisation weighted index that tracks the performance of the top 30 companies listed on SGX. It is jointly calculated by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), Singapore Exchange (SGX) and FTSE Group (FTSE).

What this mean is when you buy ETF shares of this Index, you have exposure to this 30 companies. Below table obtained from SG Investor link here.

The Index regularly updated with new companies which replaced some companies in the index. Recent times, the Index has not been doing well. One of the reason I feel is lack of Tech stocks that we see in NASDAQ while Covid-19 do it's work on traditional companies. Another reason is that the process of company selection is not as fast as I feel it should. For example strong Reits comes in after they have risen much for years before they get to replace companies that should have been replaced long ago. Restricting to only 30 companies may have some constraints. Finally the last spanner  is the dividend restriction on the 3 main banks in the index which dampen the market further on STI Index.

Theoretically, the ETF of the index will be kind of perpetual. So I find this quite passive in management as there is no expiry or right issue in my experience. The more diversification nature also protect investor from significant losses as is mitigated by poor performance of a few.  The STI ETF I often use is ES3. To trade, the stock quote is ES3. At current time,  in my personal view rather than long term hold, ETF is more good for Timing Trade on lows such as down trend or when is tuning up. STI ETF shares are traded like any other equity. Last Friday it closed at $2.527. So for 1000 shares will be $2,527. 

Lastly, this ETF do give dividends. Usually Feb and August periods. In comparison to Reits, the yield is lower however the risk is that one could hit with EHT or Sabana ... and have your portfolio blow up. One don't view the risk high till really got hit. Nothing is free in this world .... maybe except fatherly (bias) loves.

Cheers                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Cory

2020-0920

Cory Diary : Equity Allocation Feb'20 - Part 1

Has been a long time since I last post on SG Overall Equity Position. There has been quite a change since last posted. The change is huge and this won't be the last. Every time I tell myself not to do that but my survival instinct fails me. However don't get me wrong. I like the fun and so is my broker for the fees.... . So is a mutual thing. 😂

The equity allocation is pretty detail imo and I hope by sharing my experience will helps people on portfolio management and as a record for myself on where I could improve on. Is my sincere believe that one has to build up alternative sustainable income stream to be better in the future. Our future. Don't wait till we need it. Is still work in progress for that matter.

However, the blog articles are my learning experience and is on personal perspective which may not fit you or the conclusion can be wrong since is an ever learning process. So read it with a pinch of salts.

SIA 3.03% 240328

Since last record earning, I have not do enough "Parking" to my Fixed segment of my portfolio. This portion of my portfolio is like a reserve that provide buffers in time of needs so growing them is important. Manage to double my SIA Bond recently. If we are to use YTM to compute yield one may arrive roughly 2.4x%. That is a little misleading considering the coming interest in march. So I view it as a steal. Am I right ?


STI ETF

Did some roughly 25% par down recently when Wuhan first emerge. Even though Wuhan Virus is not as damaging to the market like Sars did the last time this has contribute some to the warchest. Will the situation get worst is anybody guess. But I am happy to hold the remaining 75% through if that happens as it is providing one of core dividend contribution. Yield wise is not as good as Reits so this put the portfolio in better yield shape.


OCBC

This counter is wiped down as I feel the management is not as strong as DBS. Furthermore with Digital Banking, the impact may be a surprise to existing players who are not aggressive enough. Considering I did do a scrip, the remaining will be odd lot for long time to come. I thought this could be with me for long enough time despite the overhanging digital baking concern but Wuhan thing changes my plan.


DBS

DBS allocation has been reduced a little. Contributing some funding to the warchest. Is still quite size-able in the portfolio. If there is impact from Digital Banking, the only horse I would bet is DBS. The current yield is good and could be under-valued. I would like to expand if there is opportunity.


NETLINK NBN TR

Sold off 40% recently when the price run up. At roughly 5% yield for a slow growth stock I thought this make sense. The 60% remaining gives a good enough dividends contribution for now and do provide stability support on portfolio value when the market turns. There maybe some upside but it will only be significant if we could see long term consumer segment contribution on the retail ends and not be impacted by 5G roll-out.


VICOM

This stock has been providing solid returns over the years. Last year 34% XIRR. Since  last year I have been steadily reducing my exposure 2 lots at a time with the recent one just yesterday. Is always seller remorse situation.  The remaining 50% will be difficult to sell. Hopefully market allows me to build the allocation back. Their recent result is good and will provide robust dividends for the portfolio.


KOUFU

Initiated a position on this. This stock has been hit by Wuhan. In normal situation, it may not be easy to get this price. Therefore this is a position for possible gain after this whole thing is over and be a growth stock for the portfolio.


CRCT

Initiated a position on this as well which has corrected quite significantly due to Wuhan event. Same thing, in normal situation especially for a Reit, it is quite impossible to get at current price.  There is an inertial of whether one should wait longer but for me there aren't many Reits of good standing that can provide this yield. The down side risk is the short leases and therefore possible risk of renewal which I do not have much knowledge on. The Reit dividend distribution is half yearly and it just Ex-dividend.


ASCOTT RESIDENCE TRUST

Blogged previously. No longer in the portfolio. (link)


ASCENDAS REIT

This was largest position and with increasing stock price this year, I decided to take profits to build up my warchest. Remaining 25% left as core for dividends. Depending who we ask, the learning from this episode is that I could have oversold my position. It was so significant prior to the sale due to increasing price and that kind of unnerve me that I wanted to realize it asap. The current yield is 4.9% which is quite good for this Reit. If we are to look at the Radar map, the stock is clearly not in right allocation size. A mistake imo.


Want to go on but  it will be 2am soon. I will leave the rest for part 2.


Cheers

Cory
2020-0215

Cory Diary : Mind Boggling Trades

Following article is just a re-collection as I struggle through my thoughts. Not an encouragement of what you should do or not. There is a lot of dynamics and risks on my actions and likely not suitable for anyone who attempt to follow as always.

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Has been quite some time since I last posted about my trading activities. Maybe is good time to re-collect on it on those that I can remember and correctly remembered. Since the last scare on stable Reits, I have decided to take profit on a number of my higher profit counters. 

However, there's still a need to continue my dividend "Story line". This few months saw a number of Reits actions. Very happening months and trading costs have been escalating which I have to watch closely as expense ratio can climb very fast with lowering profits when the market turns while I am searching for the Nirvana Portfolio to suit myself.

Maple Ind Tr

Not bad for a stock which I started investing only last year. In Year 2018, after dividends is only kopi money. Hardly cover my transaction costs. However the logic is clear for me and which I continue to add even more after. Year 2019 profits kind of exploded. Is good to have a happy closure on this counter. 

Basically I cleared out this counter. Good 5 digits profits for Year 2019. Rationale is that it has hit below 5% yield. I do like this counter though as I am expecting DPU growth for some period of time.What this mean is I am no longer have any Maple counters ( sigh ).... . Not sure is the best thing to do but it has been decided and so a counter less. 

Ascendas Reit

To cut the the long story short, sold all my Rights Shares however bought the Mother-Shares later. This push my holding relatively high. I have yet completely recovered to my previous  max profits on this counter net net. However, at roughly 5.5% yield I am happy to wait while collecting dividends.

This is the largest Reit in town. I have been harping how attractive it is for myself. And I am willing to go along with it growth along Singapore Story Line with the added twist on recent US acquisitions. Certainly I put a lot of faith in the management. I could be wrong and pay for it.

Accordia Golf Trust

AGT is something I owned few years back/ Not so profitable exercise. In fact net net a slight loss if my memory serves me correct. I hate the pendulum swing in the stock prices. The DPU swings too with the directional of the "weather" or weather ...

Back on this counter due to recent news on potential sales of all it's golf courses. The reason I go in is 2 folds. First the NAV and possible premium. Apparently, the market did not drives it high enough so I decided to do a calculated risk to buy some despite the premium. Of-course this is speculation move and can becomes long term holding which isn't that bad with roughly 7% yield @0.675. Yes, high can go higher ... . The fall can be great too sadly.

Fact check on myself. Without AK affirmation, I wouldn't have go in. After keying in the lots acquired on how much dividends I could get, Year 2020 dividends moved up nicely. So I thought maybe I should get 10 lots more but the price has ran away in the seconds that I was deliberating. I always remind myself that when one buy on speculation please treat the trade as such. I did not on this one.

Netlink BNB Trust

Decided to increase my holding since I am not going to clear them all. This to me is a defensive play while yield is average. There's talk about sustainability of the distribution but I am not sure is a concern considering the gearing is low. Anyway the size is risk adjusted and does help to spread out my dividend play. 5G risk is unknown 😱. Something I have to stomach with. However, I got a good enough 5 digits buffers on this year alone. 

The history on this one with me is boring. There aren't much profits on this one and for a period of time looking at how shipping trust or harbor trust go, this aren't one of my pillow that I can sleep soundly. I even lose money on this last year after dividends. Other than being similar to a business trust their commonality ends.

The only calculation I did is yield and that they are here to over stays for years to come. There has been many discussion on their viability. So we walk with our eyes open so blame no one. Just have to stay nimble.

FCOT

Took profits about 40% of it few weeks back. Is another nice 5 digits from this year alone in total considering I only start investing in them in Year 2018 and have the lots doubled in Year 2019. Why the confidence is like the enlightenment I had on it being treated as bond-like in nature. This easily explain why I make my moves on a number of other Reit counters.

Just yesterday there is this merger news. Frankly not sure is good or bad timing for me. It has maintained 2.4 cents for longest time I can remember quarterly. So they know how to make Shareholders happy. Let see what they could come out with. Hopefully I will have a better deal from FLT. The suspend is interesting.

Ascendas-h Trust

This has been with me for past few years. Is small but nimble. When I have it I know what I am going into. I have this tract rather closely quarterly and was quite interested in what they have been doing strategically. Unlike others, I have time to tripled my allocation over the years.

Together with the others, sold about 30% off this counter. This is the largest profit of all the reits I have of this year. You can say is re-balance of the profits 😌. I have nothing against Ascott Reit other than offering me a lower yield than AHT can but it is going to be in a stronger entity. Look forward to my Ascott Shares.

 DBS

Continue to increase my holding on this at opportune time. Right now is slightly above 8% of my portfolio holding. So, think I am good on this one.  CEO performs much better than the others. He knows what is Shareholder values I feel or my feel. The only risk is the digital banking licenses which I have not much clue on the impact. Gut feel is DBS should weather it through safely.

This counter also acts as a counter-balance on the Reits which are interest rates sensitive so that my portfolio do not swing like a pendulum. That's not saying both won't go lower on a single day though. Having dividend like nature and longevity in the business gives me the confidence.

STI ETF

Sold some off when it hits $3.3 early Nov. This is more of re-balance and improving yield moves as STI seems to hit a new peak. (Link). Should have sold more but hindsight is always 20/20. Future purchase will be to nominee account for long term and lower trading cost structure as a personal reminder. If one has followed my blog, STI has not been performing well for past decade. You can try to put your start point before GFC or after it's recovery and the end point today and see whether this is align to my thoughts. I am in it for long term diversification as a portion in my portfolio. With the yield at 3.x%, I would prefer to time the market on this one.

SPH Reit & CMT

Increased some SPH Reit shares as I view this is a better yield performer than CMT. My view is both their dividends and DPU will be quite defensive. Interestingly, I do bought some more CMT this month when it comes back up in yield. Maybe I should have only one of them in the future. There is always this balance between defensive and better yield fluctuating within my mind. Their combine holdings probably square off with AR in exposure.

Frasers 3.65% Bond

With the cash raised, I took some to buy some bonds. Think roughly 10% max holding now that I would go. Not sure this is the right move come to think of it today. I will have to give further thought on this size. This aren't the problem now as I have cash available for opportunity and Frasers family seems running well.

Aims Apac Reit

Average down at 1.373 and then sold half when it rebounded. This is the current size I am happy to hold and sleep well. One of the "alpha" in the Reit team as it provides 7% yield at today price I think. In term of profits, this year is kopi money. I am happy to keep the remaining as long term holding. This does help my Year 2020 plan.

Overall

After all above, there is still good amount of cash in net sales which will be for opportunity. My only concern is my portfolio has not been as stable as before. In the first 3 quarters of the year. almost always one counter will counteract the other falls quite amazingly. Not so now. Maybe the market has turned less bullish or maybe the counters are not in perfect fit to support each other which means will see lumpiness in P/L. P/L and Div are on-track. (updated for privacy 12/21) 

Cory

2019-1129

Cory Diary : Cory Portfolio Re-balance - aftermath of MNACT sale

Cory Portfolio Re-balance

Mapletree NACT is one of Cory Striker and Dividend producer. One of Cory Core position in the portfolio. However the Black Swan event in Hong Kong provides some jittery to Cory fragile heart. After a black eye, decided to release it for better nights and securing profits. The pain is felt as not only Cory needs to look for growth compensation but also dividend support. At the same time to mitigate the risk.

To cover the gap, four new / add positions are made. Namely,

Sph Reit - Average Dividends Stability
iReit Global - Strong Yield with high level risk. Small position.
Vicom - Average Dividend Stability and Strong Defensive (expanded significantly)
Aims Apac Reit - Good Dividends with slightly higher risk

follow by sale of Sheng Siong. Long time lover who provided 5 years of good returns.

What an exercise ! Thank you Hong Kong ! I will be back when time is ripe.

Further investment is made to further expand existing STI ETF and DBS allocation for longer term investment on lows. This significantly protects the portfolio when dividend stocks slowed down and STI ignited recently.

Lastly, further expanded Ascendas Reit to the right proportion to other Reits lifting the theoretical dividends to $51k for Year 2020 positioning. Yes, is time to prepare. Have you ?


Cory

2019-0914

Cory Diary : Dividends Shortfall

For those who miss my Aug Performance Report. Here you are.

Cory Portfolio Resilience


With the recent sales of Singtel and Mapletree NAC Tr, estimated dividends by year end will be reduced (updated for privacy) . This means potentially Cory Equity Portfolio may collect slightly lesser than Year 2018 despite bull year for Cory portfolio. Alamak ! Without saying it will be some distance from expected (updated for privacy)  target..... sigh !

Portfolio yield is at 4.6%. This is mainly due to STI ETF and Bonds/ Preference shares holding the values down which has seen significant expansion as I try to lock my happy returns to safer harbor. Another possible reason is that there are additional stakes in some counters which do not have dividends for the remainder of the year. One for yield, the other speculation.

Will gather some bullets and re-balancing. Hopefully I can do some magics to fix the issue.


Cheers

Cory
2019-0901

Cory Diary : Portfolio Resilience August Report

STI Index has major roller coaster rides this year. The most recent one is just this month when it erases all it this year winning and then creep back up a little to end at +1.23% YTD. After dividends, probably +4% range.

How did Cory Portfolio performs ? If we are to use the relative perform chart against STI, End Jun report is Here and Early Aug in Here. Iran conflict did not happen. I was trying to secure the widened gap. Let's look how it goes.

Year-to-Date

(updated for privacy) 

Cory Portfolio  : 15.8% which came down from 18.x% range 
excluding fixed instruments (ie bond)  : 19.2%.  This is mainly due to weakness in Banks, STI ETF and lastly Mapletree NAC Tr (Black-swan - HK Riots/RMB Depreciation).

(updated for privacy) 

Overall portfolio outperforms STI by 11.x% so far this year. There are some changes in portfolio mix which I will elaborate in later blogging.


Cory
2019-0830

Cory Diary : Trades - 2019-0809

I have been looking further into banks but find it not easy to buy more considering the interests rates are being talked down. Getting more Reits are a bit tricky. CMT and FCOT do have some lows past few weeks period but I do not have a chance to investigate further with my recent hospitalization. CMT yield is quite low so my keenness is limited and happy with what I have currently. Buying high yield with weak fundamental is risky. I rather leave my cash alone. They aren't the same league as Ascendas, Frasers, Mapletree or Capitaland breeds ...

STI Index

STI Index has seen rather dynamic swings whereas Cory portfolio has been rather mute. Other than Reits stability, I found could be the bonds which I have expanded to lock in some of my gains. A detail checks on my record I did do a smallish cash injection via my the other trading account. I did another cash injection  when STI went low again recently. This move up my STI Index allocation to more than 12% of my portfolio. This will also align to my interests if STI decides to move back up.

VICOM

As you may know, I have been ranting how small my exposure is in this counter. So I do some buying which boost my Portfolio Yield despite the price has run up this year. I feel there is sufficient positive to have a large stake in. I am more interested in their other businesses. So a bet there will be some growth while able to continue to support the dividend yield (excluding special dividends). This is quite an illiquid counter. You can't buy much and I suspect you can't do much shorts as the counter can spikes and you will be caught with pants down for a long time.

SIngtel

I have been holding from averaging down on Singtel till i see sufficient signs. The last one is the quarterly report which is kind of below expectation. This mean I need to wait for another quarter to review. Meantime, I reduce my stake further to lock in some gains YTD to buy more into Vicom. I almost decide to sell the remainder of Singtel to manage my counter numbers but decides otherwise as there could be rebound that I will hate to miss.

Netlink BNB Tr

As you may be aware . I am back on securing some from this counter. Frankly, the feeling is good as the price goes back up quicker than I expected. So is just a small moon in my bubble chart. Nevertheless, I am glad to be able to get some.

My family and I are very well vested in Singapore. We hope Singapore continues to prosper. So our wishes may this continues !

Happy National Day, Singapore !

Cory

2019-0809