Cory Diary : Year 2019 Reit Year

We have come to an end in the last day of SGX Trading for Year 2019. For Income Investor this has been nothing but solid. S&P 500 has record year too. But it will be closer to home if we just look at Singapore Reits.

Cory Portfolio has large amount of Reits. And here's Performance tracked throughout 2019. There is some work but also a lot of investing fun provided is in profit ...

Cory Portfolio Table 

Year 2019 Realized and Unrealized Profit hits new record. Reits take up 70% of the profit. Just Reit alone the XIRR is 31.7% This is a Reit year. For year 2020 preparation there is some diversification shifts on segments as blogged earlier. Chances are yield compression is harder. For financial planning reason, there will be steps on going more into indexes to hold long term. Hopefully will have the opportunity to do so to allow the portfolio go through next stage of growth.

FTSE ST Real Estate Investment Trusts (INDEX: FSTAS8670) returns 18.8% for the year.  LION-PHILLIP S-REIT (SGX: CLR) an ETF has 23.3% including dividend. So anyone who are vested in Singapore Reits will hit this range of score generally unless your pick is bias to extreme. Once again time in market has proven to be really true for Year 2019. If one has sit out, this year will be sorely missed.

Happy New Year !

Cory
2019-1231

Cory Diary : Dividends 2019

With the year coming to a close, all the expected dividends have been accorded for. Year 2019 seen a number of acquisitions and mergers which has change the expected dividends. Therefore some deliberations made for it. Total dividend for Year 2019 received $52, 299 which is equivalent to $4,358 monthly cash-flow. Cumulative dividends tracked $324,750.

Scrip Dividends
Decided to take up Aims Apac Reit and OCBC scrips which are a good discount. To compute dividend returns two steps were done. First is to register the expected dividends and then replace them with the number of shares given.

Rights
Ascendas Reit issued relatively deep discount of Rights. They were sold off for about $1,700.
Strictly speaking I am not sure should count them in as dividend but since is one-time, and it supports cash-flow, this will be included for this time.

Merger
Ascendas h-tr merged with Ascott Reit. Took profit on half before merger. Remainder will get $2,715 cash. As the de-listing is on 3rd Jan 2020 it won't be counted into Year 2019.

"A-HTRUST Scheme, each A-HTRUST Stapled Unitholder as at the A-HTRUST Scheme Entitlement Date will be paid S$0.0543 in cash and will be issued 0.7942 in Ascott Reit-BT Stapled Units issued at a price of S$1.30 each, in each case, for each A-HTRUST Stapled Unit held by it."

The other merger is between Frasers Com Tr and Frasers L&I Tr. Decided to take profit and exit the counter.

Private Placement
SPH Reit has a private placement and unit holder has early dividend registered however the cash will not be seen till Year 2020. Since is already registered it will be counted towards Year 2019.


For Year 2020, theoretical dividends on current holdings will be $53, 384. This should hits higher with capital injection and DPU growth assuming no market surprises. The far fetched goal will be $60, 000.


Happy New Year 

Cory
2019-1229

Cory Diary : Real Game in Investing

Has been writing on performance for years. Some years like this year we have good result as in 20% XIRR. That doesn't mean good profits. In good year if we aren't earning good absolute profit we are just like in baby pool ... splashing. That's fine if we are still a baby. The worst outcome is to give a baby large amount of money to swim in the sea !

When Cory is just learning or in the long learning curve years of investing, he understands the needs of baby pool. We need to use XIRR to measure our performance. We then need to progress to swim in larger and larger pools as we gain in experience with saving. So how large is large ? We probably need to go back to why we invest. If is to help support our retirement then the size of investment should be enough to support that. If is partial, so be it due to individual preference.

Talking about size of investment. For a 5% yield portfolio on average 2% growth on a million dollar portfolio. The returns will be $50k dividends and $20k capital gains. For 2%, capital gain is only good to see but not for Cory to take in an inflationary world. If Cory takes it as dividend for cash flow needs, portfolio becomes smaller over time in real term. Again, that's fine if that's the plan. So to put into perspective on the obvious, for a capital of 100K that's 5K annual dividends.

One would think if Cory can have strong performance in baby pool, naturally given larger amount he would do the same performance. Assume same market condition, with much larger pool size, the waves will make the leg shivers, his breathing breathless and his nights cooler. Cory knows because he has makes mistake he doesn't when small.

At the end of the day, Real Performance = Investment Size x XIRR = Absolute Profit or Loss.
So are you an Adult splashing in Baby Pool ? Is ok if we aren't ready. Really.

Cory

2019-1227

Cory Diary : Portfolio Changes 2019

From start of year till now, Portfolio has undergo significant changes with my thinking and progress. Expense Ratio is now at 0.85% which almost $10 K. I think did about 150 to 200 trades. One of my practice is to break down my purchases and sales so that ramp up the numbers. Thankfully my broker has agreed to give me a better rate.

Year 2019 has been joyful because of lowering yield pushing up Reits. I would think the curbs on property helps too as there is too much cash in the system looking for safe returns. Whether it will fallback is anyone guess but for dividend players this could be good news ironically.

This is the first time i present my portfolio in excel in this format. Something which I have been using for long time. Portfolio table reflects what I have and what have left the portfolio. The returns are mainly computed using XIRR or situation where I could safely use formula of returns/invested ratio to give more absolute feeling on returns. Take note the yield and price is just an estimation and delayed.

Yes, it has been a good year for Income Investor even for Cory with Fixed holdings within the portfolio. This year XIRR 20% for a 47% Reit portfolio. Take note that Profits will be lower due to past year losses. And returns included Dividends/Rights. Moving forward my posts will be less revealing as wife wants more privacy. Happy Wife Happy Life. I fully agree ! 😃


Cory
2019-1224

Cory Diary : Feedspot

Just get to know about Feedspot recently from an IN friend.

https://www.feedspot.com/ 

https://blog.feedspot.com/singapore_investment_blogs/

"Top 75 Singapore Investment Blogs" . Proud to know I hit 38 :)

Cory

2019-1222

Cory Diary : Income and Expense 2019

Year 2019 is special because Cory becomes a father to a baby girl. Unlike most parents, financially Cory is much more ready. The thing lacking is experience which Wife will always take care or be ready to remind Uncle Cory ..... . Nevertheless, raising baby is really not easy. The good thing is we have Baby Bonus supports and this do help some. Fortunately, company is also supportive and provide as much work from home time and leaves as needed.

Expenses wise, as previously blogged ( link ), kind of exploded and will not come down significantly for years. Good problem to have. How to fix it is to ensure that we have higher saving prior, predictable income, investments or saving to mitigate which the last option is not a viable plan for wife 😂.

For 2019 Income, Cory has a good bonus. This helps to pay for Income Tax and Parents Allowances. A nice surprise is that some of the Company Stock has also come into vesting period and this help to add into the year end 2nd Bonus. Hmm, why has this becomes a so look forward thing ...

For 2019 Expenses, the value expects to cross $140, 000. This is inclusive of home loan which is a major ticket item. However, Net worth and Income Returns looks able to match the increase in spending ( above chart ).

As Cory has stake in lower levels investment returns such as SSB and FDs, all additional savings could go into higher equity returns in Year 2020 to build higher dividend income plan. Investment returns wise, returns has been quite significant which will be blogged later once year ended. Touch-wood it will not change negatively by then.

Before signing off. Two wishes from Birthday Boy.

1. To do : Things that we could change. ie. Continue working. 
2.  Not to do : Focus on things that we could not change. Negative thoughts.


Cory

2019-1220

Cory Diary : Mini-Repeat of Sell Down of Reits Stocks

Yesterday STI Index was up. Interestingly, many of the key Reits are down. This have some similarity whenever there is longer term view that interest rates have dropped enough especially when the trade deal could conclude positively.

As blogged earlier ( link ) , and the shift to Banking Sectors. This has acted as counter balance to the Reits. While Cory can never be sure they will always be on opposite polarity, it does put the portfolio at much lower risk which makes a lot of comfort sense.

Will this trend continue will be anyone guess. Hope that there is some attractive valuation for Cory to pick from the ground.

In the meantime, Cory steals some Astrea 3.85% lots before Ex-dividend. If calculation is correct still get roughly 3% yield. The funny thing is Cory sold some Frasers 3.65% Bond to the market to par down his 6 digits interests to 5. To shift some of 3.65% yield asset to 3% is something to wrap about. As long one is happy, who cares.

Cory also decided to expand a little more into AGT for the yield and of-course the bonus will be the buyout. Talking about Bonus, Year 2019 Bonus is quite cool. Looks like is good to work as long as possible. 😎

Anyone watched "The Mandalorian" ? Investment can be lonely ....

Cory
2019-1212

Cory Diary : Dividend Investing is Boring. Easy ?

Capitaland Mall Trust has been with Cory Portfolio for about 6 years ago.  It has been one of the key starter for Cory to learn about dividend investing. The yield is not so great, not bad, stable and well backed. This gives confidence to Cory to mend his ways in the early years of aimless speculative investing.

Below historical data of Cory's CMT Table.


As you can see, starts on Year 2014, took some breaks on Year 2015 and 2016 before it becomes Core Position in Portfolio in Year 2017, 2018 and 2019. Years where Cory P/L is positive is also years Cory holds for long time within the year.

Even on a not so great yield, Cory collected S$33K from it slowly. How much capital deployed ? In/Out trading on some and holding on mains maybe around $50K-$60K. Looks like quite profitable so far. Maybe is not that surprising as dividends act as a good buffer from market fluctuation to trade. To get to know more about CMT here's the chain articles on CMT.

Yes, Dividend investing can be boring. Maybe Year 2019 is different. Well, it is usually boring but often profitable from Cory experiences so far till it is not .... 😨. Investing maybe is that easy. I hope ! 


Cory
2019-12-08

Cory Diary : Sector View of Cory Portfolio

Sector tracker comparison for 2 month periods


Cory Top 7 Investments

1. Ascendas Reit

2. DBS

3. STI ETF

4. Frasers Bond

5. CapitaLand Mall Trust ( CMT )

6. VICOM

7. SPH Reit

Previous Investment as link.

Note: Netlink BNB Tr is classified under Telco

Main Key Change is the expansion move in Banking Segment which are relatively more attractive to position for Year 2020. This provide a more balance portfolio that is strong enough to match Reits exposure which has enjoyed significant run up this year. Chances are we are't going to see same scale in jump for Year 2020.

Cory
2019-1206

Cory Diary : Performance Nov'19

The month ended with one of the most actions seen on Reits in Cory Portfolio this year.

1. Ascendas Reit Rights Issue
2. FCOT Halts
3. Accordia Golf Tr Potential buyer
4. SPH Reit Private Placements
5. MINT acquisitions of DCs
6. Aims Apac Reit books building exercise


Performance Tracker

STI Index continues to reel from Trade War falls out which means well for yield assets. Interestingly, DJIA hits new 28K records with strong jobs report despite on-going  trade tariffs. Cory Portfolio has to work harder to keep up with the score with increasing exposure to banking.

Cory

2019-1201

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 : Be very careful - listening

Often in leadership training, Listening is a Core Skill. The ability and willingness to listen can give us a very different picture on our conclusion and values. That's why communication and empathy is important. Your willingness to bring down your judgement and let the lava flows.

During the course of my work blockages happen therefore sometimes I do have disagreements with colleagues.  However, I have a practice of keep thinking about the problem and why people have different views from our "100% Right" ours. This are intelligent people. We are suppose to think logically for the same problem which often not ! Overnight our brain will sub-consciously think about it , and the picture formed with the Eureka moment.

We can extend this ideas to recent event such as HK democracy movements. Often we will see the deepening violence by Rioters. Many Singaporean will conclude is no reason for violence. Frankly, my thoughts will be HK people aren't less stupid than us. Like us, their economy is on toe to toe competing with us. So why the 6 months of violence and protests ? This question will ring in my head as I try to form the rationale.

Many will say this are spoil brats kids. Hold on, didn't we have millions marches on their side ? How about the landslide victory by Pro-democracy candidates in Hong Kong's district council elections ? This doesn't make a lot of sense. We know Violence is bad. But what Media tells us do not match with the "Results". And that's the point with brain washing on the Media inclinations. That's the power of Media. It can Brainwashed even intelligent humans into tamed animals. See what happen if done in a national scale without the other opposing media except a single authoritative one. We can have a whole generation breed align to state doctrine sub-consciously even on very smart people. In rare situations, a few will takes the Red Pills.

Same thing this can applies to stock market. When you have analysts, Guru in forums or even bloggers pushing for specific stock recommendation or ideas. The interesting thing about this is that they do not need to lie. They don't have to. They just have to present what they like you to see and keep quiet on opposing arguments to "brainwash" you.

And this is what I like about American democracy. We have CNN and Fox News out there competing each other on opposing stunts to brainwash the public on Trump/Republicans and Democrats. A lot of noise certainly but it can be worst if is one-sided Blue Pills.



Cory

2019-1125

Cory Diary : Wake-up Call - Performance Mid-Nov'19

When China mentioned that they are close to a trade deal, this send a shocker to the market used to flip-flop sending investors to good safe haven equities of good dividend returns. A strong recipe for good quality REITs locally. The good news send a little cooling of sizable reduction in share prices not seen for some period of time on surprisingly strong quality counters. Is market finally feels is real ?

This is a wake-up call to Cory who just got his portfolio ready for 2020 and now has to do another re-balance. Took some rather drastic and decisive actions to re-balance the portfolio by profit level as the previous assumption were always defensive is good except how to is a big question. The learning is we see FCT, CMT, Ascendas Reit, MCT, MINT etc driven down much lower than other REITs of lower quality is humbling. The rationale is interesting but something to explore with on other time.

In another front, if we could remember, Ascendas Reit has quite a large discount in it's Rights. After Ex-rights and Ex-dividend, price was driven much lower in subsequent days. At 5.7% yield, this is attractive, and Cory took the opportunity to expand more at $2.88. Yes, Cory still loves good quality Reits especially at cheaper price.

Today, DJIA broke 28,004 and STI Index is at higher 3228 level. Cory XIRR 22.6% YTD. Profit Yield ( Profits / [Total Portfolio + Investment Cash] ) at 18%. Just another reminder that strategy has to be nimble to accept change to counter the unexpected and assumption. 

(updated for privacy) - Cory aren't complaining as is better to sleep well with some profit buffers. Yes, Cory has a bazooka right now. A good problem to have for Year 2020.

Cory
2019-1116

Cory Diary : Ascendas Reit gets even better with Rights !

Ascendas Reit


This Reit comes into Cory portfolio pretty late. In the initial positions in 2017 there were quite a number of trading activities. Make some kopi money.  Investment only get significant in 2018 which interestingly registered a net loss position by year end. Today, Ascendas Reit is Cory largest position after STI ETF.

So one may ask why so late in the game on this one. The key reason is Ascendas is expensive relative to itself. The chart is ever growing so stock price continues to climb year after year. So Cory keep postponing and finally one day strike his head that if one day it does really get cheap enough, he may not want to buy any ! So that's the 2nd Enlightenment !

Strong Reit is sort after because they perform consistently or should I say grow continuously in DPU. What this mean is for every share invested, the dividend returns are more each year. To top it up, the capital gain as well. So if one try to wait, this may never comes. We can miss this gem completely but Cory prefers to be late than never. This year for some period Ascendas Reit is Cory top performer registering strong returns before being overtaken by little brother Ascendas-h Tr, and Mapletree Ind Tr later.

When the News is out on the large acquisition, Cory is bewildered. Most people would automatically expect stock price to be lowered on the next trading session but not Cory when he regains his composure and who then secretly wish for price gains (link). Indeed, it does and Cory managed to sell some lots at $3.19. The many reasons Cory has provided in the link. However, the price come down later to $3.12 which is still respectable considering the huge Rights discount. The reason for the sale is more on re-balance rationale and taking some profit off the table.

Will the price comes back up is anybody guess. However in Cory heart l, it easily could. And considering the size and yields, it gets more attractive than before. If the price fall significant enough, getting more lots would be very tempting for a stake in the biggest Reit in town. Cory almost want to say Ah Gong throw money to investor to take. LOL

There is one saying. If you visit China but did not climb the Great Wall, you aren't a MAN (“不到长城非好汉”). Cory like to add, if you do not have Ascendas Reit in your portfolio, you aren't a dividend player either. (joking ... don't kill me .. is late). And as usual disclaimers .... for errors and not a stock pick recommendation. Is just a diary of what Cory is thinking and he could be very very wrong.


Cory
20191106

Cory Diary : Equity Allocation Nov'19 Report

Just about a week ago Cory documented an early exam report card thinking the score will go down this week but he didn't. If you miss his Diary on Oct Performance. Must visit.  ( link ). Is good to be wrong for this case isn't it ? Again a good problem to have.

And then he wrote another piece of work on How to make money ..... (No Scam okay ... here's the link ). This piece of Diary is Classic .... as it summaries Cory progression .... or regression .... . which I find is important to understand the essence though kiasu and kiasi methods can varies.

To cut it short here's the Final Equity Allocation.

For Year 2019,

XIRR YTD      : 24.4%
XIRR Dec'19 : 19.7%

(updated for privacy) . Cory maybe right to say portfolio will be lowered just that is not this week but probably next. 

First of all is the announcement of Ascendas Reit Rights Issue. In Cory opinion, the discount is quite large in order to raise enough sum. The fortunate thing is for this time is not along private placement lines that they are quite familiar with as this will put a dent on shareholders value. The second thing the manager did right is to allow the rights to be sold. This mitigate value loss. And on top of it is DPU and Yield accretive on such a solid Reit which gets even better in gearing and property spread after. The ex-rights date is also aligned to Ex-dividend. Though Cory secretly hopes for price increase, needs to prepare for reduction in his heart too.

Secondly, Portfolio took a small hit due to Aims Apac Reit secondary listing. So much learning for the past weeks. There is no new share issue but the placement at $1.35 basically allows "richer retailers" to do a quick flush into the market. It has since climb back a little. Guess vested folks will be looking sternly into the coming DPU report for any misgiving. Yes, Cory clinching to George reputation, integrity, acumen, ... apology for the stress if you have read it though unlikely. 

(updated for privacy) 


Cheers

Cory
2019-1101

Cory Diary : Making money work for you

Most people work on salaried income. Spend like 9 hours or even 15 hours a day.  And If you are in this mode of life and trying to get out from this rat race, there is limited options. One of the popular option is to join the long queue with aunties and uncles and hope to strike TOTO. This seems to be harder than kenna strike by lightning but many aren't deterred by it. Cory sometimes go buy when he is down in morale ... but halfhearted. So even harder to strike. LOL

Uncle Cory thinks he should work on a more viable option. That's to have money. And hatched his plan more than a decade ago by saving money. And then he saw the property bubbles come and go. Stocks market bubbles come and go. Even Fixed deposits "Bubbles" come and go ... Every $100, 000 loses $3, 000 annually to inflation ... ( Cory must be "Rich" .... to let this happen  ! ). Are you too ?

After going through Math, Uncle Cory decided to hatch another plan that is really really viable. That's to make money works for him. This time he probably get it right. One of the main reason is that the effort invested is little or using his spare time to learn as Cory needs to work. Of-course Cory needs to have money to Work. He has .... if you remember his first plan. LOL.

That doesn't mean is a linear process as Cory can do in parallel. Amount is never too small.  The experience gained and incremental saving will be compounded for the future. However Cory aren't savvy enough to use leverage other than technically the property loan which also means avoid stacking the risk to uncontrollable level.

So as you can see, Cory is kiasi and kiasu. I think most NORMALs are ! So that's what Cory do below. Depending on situation,  money is apportioned due to regulation and needs through below.


CPF

Investment is very limited when it is "Sure Win". The obvious one is CPF which are systematically saved and contributed. Is not like we have a choice anyway but nevertheless on paper they have saving, contribution and interests elements build into it. As many would know, is politically not so correct to promote to everyone. Cory has a friend who curse day in and out on it that is not our money and that is a fraud but then he plans to reserve it for his children education. huh ?! 

Cory have another friend who is on the extreme end and keep topping up money into CPF till millionaire status however he is a savvy investor, and supporter of establishment. Maybe Life is full of irony and Cory takes is that Investment and political view should not mixed. Cory plan is not to touch them for investment, and optimise enough OA into SA. Maybe some experts got better ideas. Cory is just sharing his current plan.


Bonds/Preference Shares

The next "safer" ones probably are Bonds/Preference Shares on the local banks. Is quite unimaginable they will collapse or write down. However, never say never. Leman Brothers is a living proof. Unique exceptions aside, generally I would assume our local banks are next best things to Gov guaranteed.

Between CPF and above, probably Singapore Saving Bonds (SBB) for more protective funds. Limited to $200 k of 1.7% currently. Not very exciting but good enough for those who are conservative like Cory. However don't get this wrong. The devil is always in the detail and so is goodies. Cory is vested between 2%~2.5% range and is only single digit percentage of his net worth. Most importantly, is money reserve for emergency and loan installments back up which could otherwise by in Fixed Deposits.


Fixed Deposits / Cash

The worst thing to do is too have ample cash in Saving bank doing nothing. Cory typically only needs certain amount for emergency cash flow needs. A large portion of it parked in Fixed Deposits which can earns 1.4% easily. So got this FIXED. You can try other banks .... . Just make sure is really safe.


Equity

Is a path to wealth expansion for those who do not have a really good paying jobs. However, the market is ruthless on those who make mistakes and could set you back for years financially. Cory struggles on who should be in it. Having swim in the shark-infested water for many years and still surviving doesn't mean many can. However, to reach financial independence faster, Cory thinks this is the main path other than building up a business ourselves if we have the right attributes.

This year is especially good for dividend investors due to Cory thinks are the building up of wealth after property curbs and the money printing world wide. Money has to go some where and they end up in stock markets. However this class of investors look for safe investment and REITs and Bonds are quickly identified with.

We know what happens to Risky bonds, and investors learned some big lessons from Hyflux and Swiber that yield is not the primary. Within the REITs universe there is different classes of them too. Again some investors will have to pay school fees if they think all REITs are the same and are only along the line of yields only.

Some REITs are US denominated and from limited experience in US market, is better for Cory to leave this class alone. Life is much more simpler to layman Cory. 


Property

One thing Cory learned from his Condo, is location. The $psf shoots up after Top.  Leverage to the max as the loan is cheapest. So Cory has more cash to deploy elsewhere but not to spend ! Age matters. Young people can maximum their loan period. Condo maintenance very high ... but renovation is cheap as most is already build-up. At the end of the day, is nice to have a shelter over his head. Maybe Cory needs a bigger head now as he finds his Condo too small.


Philosophy

So what is Cory investment philosophy. Simple lah. Don't lose money. 

If we have studied solid "Blue Chip" REITs, the price fluctuations can be quite significant. This may convince some investors that timing matters. While Cory do not disagree to it, what matter is how can to execute them. For example this year REIT returns easily come in with 20% returns. Is a GFC impact to those who stays out in a single year alone create by oneself ! Will the price correct ? Why not. But to hold on to our investment or to re-balance them is another Cory article. A good problem to have.

The mindset for REITs investment is to think it as cash flow. Say 5% yield of initial capital returns. Stock price will fluctuates. Looks for those that can grow. Doesn't matter whether is 0% or 10%. They can be apportion into the portfolio accordingly to risk levels but they all have to be solid REITs and not those that sponsors dumped, mismanaged or have integrity issues. Most importantly the business behinds this REITs are solid or not, and that can build value over time.

Lastly, performance is DPU + Capital Value. How they play around it, we value them appropriately.


Happy Reading and Belated Happy Deepavali 2019 ... sorry ... started to write this piece on that day ... so busy this week.


Cory
2019-1030