Cory Diary : Trading Log 2020-0925

Long time since I last post on Trading Log. In my portfolio when I last did on this log series, I venture a bit far on the risk side for higher dividends. So sometimes I get a little nervous. Next is my build-up in SGX has pulled off in Diary of Trading Log 2020-0814. Often act as counter balance to down trend stocks.

Accordia Trust

As earlier articles, I have reduced my position 40% on this. Is still sizeable but I no longer in "fear mode" :P .  AGT is Golf Trust nevertheless with "sibei" good dividends as we wait for the final offer that since arrived. And soon it will be Ex-dividend and then finally delisted. Good returns and not bad for a stock I know so long and suffer the mental rides of the prices this year as position grew.

Ascendas Reit

Continue to build up on this position which I have cleared some time back. I am waiting for a big gap down if any before willing to average down else I will leave my cash in War chest. At around 4.5% yield, this is one counter I can afford to hold for long term and sleep well. Not sure why but I feel the last dividend seems a little low. Is it just me for an accretive deal to be given a reason that there is now more shares in the market from the last acquisition to have lower DPU ? Interesting to know.

IReit Global

I have decided to take profit 80% (CDP) with remaining 20% remains with another broker for the rights issue. I could use this to try out custodian broker for rights issue and learn something from it.

This sales put a large dent in my dividend returns so I am still in the work on mitigation mode before Year 2020 ends. The concern with this counter is the rights issue is discounted so much that I feel the management has taken investors for a ride. Furthermore the Spanish investment doesn't seem a good deal. I miss the previous CEO. I may still find opportunity to increase my position after as the they will have another chance but just smaller chance in my portfolio. Need to remind myself credibility is very important.

Mapletree Com Tr

Manage to build up some positions past few months. So now we have driven a gap of capital profits. I am still considering whether it worth to expand the allocation. This is Quality Reit in my opinion so unlikely will sell any in mid-long term. Is not everyday we can secure a position in the famous Reits at good price. So hold tight tight ....

Cromwell Reit

When it first listed I am pretty negative on the reit. I still do not have full trust in it. However it has dual currency denomination listed which I want and also act as a hedge being mainly listed in Europe. Small position so far.

With all this, I end up with much more net cash position for War Chest build up at lower theoretical dividend of-course.

Cory

2020-0925

Cory Diary : Feeling stuck in current Portfolio growth momentum

This post stuck with me for weeks in draft mode before I have the courage to release it. Reason being I feel stuck in current portfolio setup. This is finally released when iReit Global release the rights issue today. Read on ...

For the past few weeks, I was wishing to squeeze more juices ( cash ) out of my portfolio lately but feeling quite difficult. On one hand I need to watch for dividend returns and the other holding to some core positions that I don't want to sell. However with current listless market in SG and turmoil in US Market, there maybe opportunity for some low hanging fruit pickings if we are to see major tech correction happening which may pull the whole market along.

Still in Transition Chart

In-addition, the lines blurred between what can be use for investment aka War Chest and what is Reserve for Emergency or other needs. Therefore I decided to create a segment called Investment accounts. This will be my War Chest which is also primarily cash holding area for stocks sold as they are separate accounts from saving. In POEMS account situation, it is also Money Market Fund therefore not idle in returns. Above is still in the work. Here's previous update ( link ).

With this iron out, is clear to me what I can do with each accounts.

Saving and Fixed Deposits

I could explore some of my fixed deposits and see which I can terminate earlier now. After reviewing the 4 batches I have with DBS Bank, one of them expect to expire next month. Remainder on Year 2021. Since there is a large one near expiry, i will wait it out. This will release some funds. 

In-addition, I also have some cash saving in foreign accounts and some amount will be moved to investment accounts. 

Reprice my Housing Loan

Just found out the deal today. Is quite a significant downward adjustment by DBS. Other than the lowering interest rate another reason I suspect is the coming competition of Digital Banking. Not surprisingly the lock-in period extend to 5 years but the fixed package is attractive now with flexi after. This do gives peace of mind for years to come.

The downside is that FHR24 after 5 years can be tricky as such a long period usually drives higher rates even though currently is lowered. I guess mitigated by one free conversion. Overall this will reduce my monthly repayment loan some but won't see a sudden cash saving. However the cash reserves need to support this loan will be reduced quite drastically as I have more than 5 years of emergency funds currently parked for it in SSB, Cash and Fixed Deposits.

DBS just told me i need to wait a few more months more before I could re-price as the penalty for breaking current loan contract is high. I will wait out as is not pro-rated. Expects to Save $333 monthly or $3996 annually !

 

CPF

I borrowed a little money from my own CPF account that time to give myself a slightly larger boost in cash flow when I purchase my investment property. The more i look at it especially at current low interest rate, the more I feel the decision is bad as the Accrued Interest i need to pay back is growing as the cost is widening. I should return the borrowed back to my own account. It doesn't make sense for me to earn fixed deposit of less than 1% and need to pay back 2.5% to CPF Account. And if I have to  shift the returned money to SA account, the cost is even wider ! What am I waiting for ..... . Ok need to work on clearing it. Maybe 10k at a time till zero. First I need to get my eNets working ...

CASH LEVEL

On conservative level, I am able to generate about $58k ( comes down to 53.5k after some iReit Sales ) of dividends and with the additional $4k contribution from SSB will then totaled $62k (57.5k). SSB is where I reserve for housing loan, with current dividends, I reckon there is no need to have too high a bond allocation now. Hence I plan to reduce my Fixed deposit and Cash level amount instead since SSB provide better rates.

Dividend Re-Investing

Usually i don't specially manage the reinvestment of dividend received. It will just go into my saving pool and manage as portfolio injection. So is opportunity based. I will be slowing down my procurement and keep most of the juices in Investment accounts.

Child Development Account

Just top up $6k through account transfer recently. However only the first 3K will be matched.  For POSB CDA, up to the first $50k will enjoy 2% Interest rates. So currently she has at least 12k after Baby Bonus Matching and initial 3k grants.  There are restriction of use so this cannot be classify as emergency fund. Unused sum will continue to progress to different level of account as the child grows. So is a long term thing but the rate will change. Something to note of. In-addition I have propose to my wife on possible CPF top-up for the kids as she is wanting for some form of saving for them.

Cory

2020-0922

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