Summary of September 2024

Investment

 

$1,904.02 collected in dividends from Ascendas Reit, MIT, MLT, CLCT and CICT. Lol all the acronyms. 

Also collected 200 scrips from MLT and 1,800 rights + excess from the recent CICT PO.

For MLT, I elected to receive partial scrips with partial cash. The scrip price of $1.276 is attractive and more so given the expected rise in share prices as a result of Fed's rate cut. Partial cash is for avoidance of odd lots.

For CICT, it was an average up for me. I elected to subscribe for the rights and apply for excess for a total of 1,800 units. I received the full allocation today. While the rights price of $2.007 is quite high relative to my average price, it was attractive in comparison to the market price with a view of impending rise in share price.

With the averaging up from this addition, my average price for CICT now stands at $1.80 which is still yielding a good 5.8% in yearly income.

These are the only additions to my portfolio for this month. There are still some bullets left which are ready to be fired anytime when a target pop up.

Highlight of my portfolio for this month must be SingTel which is finally reaping the rewards after the strategic reset. Of course the banks and Reits are also outstanding. 

Meanwhile my investment in BABA is finally turning green. Glad I stayed with my conviction. 

Actually Alibaba reminded me of SingTel. They are not bad fundamentally speaking. Just some wrong moves over the years which were corrected or are in the process of correcting. Look at SingTel. After Mr Yuen rectified the issues brought about by his predecessor, the market rewarded SingTel accordingly. 

Overall September is good month for me and I believe, for most investors as well. 

However as we approach year end we should keep in mind the customary window dressing and look out for opportunities to add.

Also not to forget the tensions in Middle East. Iran just fired about 200 missiles at Israel this morning. This is a reminder of how dynamic the world is today. 

Business

 

Another good month for my side hustle as a freelance personal trainer. Apart from the clients allocated from my gym, I have started to train a client outside of the gym. This is a referral from word of mouth and since this is my own client, I am able to charge more per session.

My main business in the environmental management sector is also keeping me busy. Jobs are coming but the project value is low.

The new growth driver that I mentioned in previous posts is gearing up well. Just had a second meeting with a local university on the co-development of this technology. 

I am rather excited by this. 

 

Family

We have found a new school for our son for the next three months before he goes to Kindergarten next year.

We have pulled him out of his previous nursery as we suspected he has been traumatised by an assistant teacher there. We have decided to bring this up with ECDA. 

Summary of August 2024

Investment

 

$1,455.68 collected in dividends from DBS, OCBC and SingTel.

 

This, together with another good month in terms of my side hustle as a freelance personal trainer means I have a higher investable amount without touching my main income or savings.

Have not added anything in August since share price of the counters I had planned to add has ran up. Will monitor for dips and enter.

Will continue to add into my income portfolio using: 75% of my side income + 100% of dividends received.

Have been doing this on a monthly basis whenever possible and it has worked well so far.

 

On the one hand I get to grow my portfolio and increase my passive income through compounding, on the other I leave my savings which is my safety net, untouched.

Have also opted to take partial scrips for the upcoming Mapletree Logistics Trust distributions in September.

 

Family

Wifey and I have decided to withdraw our son from his nursery school as we have reasons to believe he has been verbally and physically abused at school.

 

Along with the abrupt change in our son's demeanour, we have also personally witnessed an incident which further substantiated our thoughts above.

Have spoken to the school principal about our son's safety and well-being but she claimed that nothing unusual have been caught on CCTV and that's about it.

Will probably bring this up with ECDA.

Business

 

Exciting times for me work-wise. I have signed an MoA with another company to co-develop an innovative solution to solve one of the biggest environmental issues in today's world.

While it is still an early stage, once the prototype is developed and buy-in is received from the authorities, the scale up will be fast. I'm very much looking forward to this.

Summary of July 2024

No dividends collected this month.

Added Mapletree Industrial Trust @ $2.10 and Mapletree Logistic Trust @ $1.26. Have blogged about this in an earlier post.

Looking to add some non-Reits for the next couple of months. Double "S" maybe?

Must say I have been pleased though not surprised with SingTel's recovery in share price recently. I have blogged several times in the past on my confidence in SingTel, their potential catalysts and the actions they are doing to turn things around.

Mr Yuen has done an excellent job so far in pulling the company out from the previous doldrums and pushing the company to greater heights by future-proofing the business. Of course the value realisation dividend which will be on a recurring nature, is a big welcome for the loyal shareholders (me included).

This month's income for my side hustle hits another record high which puts it close to 1/3 of my main income. This means more fund for my investment again.

Last but not least, I am happy to finally complete my Masters programme.

Did not attend the commencement ceremony earlier this month and instead opted to collect my scroll from the school after that. Reckoned it's the right choice. Attending the ceremony would means waiting for 2 - 3 hours to go up on stage for that 30 seconds.

When I dropped by to collect my scroll from the school last week, from the time I alighted from my car and back to my car, it took less than 5 min.

Summary of my performance

GPA: 4.47/5

Graded A+ for my thesis

Biggest takeaway is of course the knowledge and network gained.

It gives me some sense of accomplishment, knowing I have managed to juggle between my studies, full time job, my side hustle, my two kids and my investments for the past two years.

 

Mini achievement unlocked for someone in his early 40s I guess.

MIT vs MLT. Which To Choose?

As mentioned in an earlier post in June, I have more funds to add to my portfolio this month.

 

Coupled with my aim this year to veer my portfolio to be less Reits-concentrated, I did two rounds of stock screening to uncover suitable counters for further study.

The screening did shown some promising counters on first glance. However I eventually decided against adding into these due to various reasons such as low trading liquidity, outlook of business, unsustainable / irregular dividend payment or the business nature simply doesn't align with my values (as is the case for one of the counters).

 

Long story short, I went back to look at my existing holdings and decided to take this opportunity to average down on couple of them.

 

I would have added into Ascendas Reit if it is not the top position in my portfolio now.

 

So I looked into Mapletree Logistics Trust and Mapletree Industrial Trust.

All three mentioned are among the fastest to recover during an upturn.

Anyway I did a quick study on the annual reports of MLT and MIT to guide my decision.

 

Sharing below summary for readers and fellow investors.

 

Notes: Data gathered from respective FY23/24 annual report. Both MIT and MLT did EFR in this period.

 

Sentiments from the findings

1) Both are well managed in terms of maintaining their portfolio occupancy, achieving positive rental revisions, increasing their distributable income and managing their debt profiles --> increasing income and well-managed debt are two of the most important attributes for any business aren't they?

 

2) However they are affected by certain macro factors e.g. in the case of MLT, China's oversupply of warehouse spaces.

 

3) Interest rates and Forex effect are and will always be something to look out for. In my opinion the management of these metrics is what set the good Reits apart from the mediocre ones.

 

4) Especially in times like now, points 2 and 3 above form the basis of analysis for Reits investment.

5) Buy into MIT if you believe in the future of DCs and don't mind the concentration risk in geography.

6) Buy into MLT if you believe in the importance of logistics and don't mind the potential slight drop in DPU yield while waiting for the chinese assets to recover.

My personal mantra has always been technology develops the world (DC) and logistics moves the world (globalisation and commerce). In this century there's simply no avoiding either.

Hence I did the best thing I can in this situation. I added to my holdings for both counters in around equal quantum - MIT @ $2.10 and MLT @ $1.26.

Quick tip: If you do not have time or do not want to go through the entire annual report, it would be useful to at least read through the Chairman and CEO message to unitholders.

Giving Back To Society (Business ESG Efforts)

Company has performed quite well in the last FY with revenue setting a new record.

 

Being in the environmental management business, our business operation itself is already covering the "E" part of our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) efforts.

 

To contribute to the "S" part of the ESG pillars, I have just made a donation to three selected organisations.

 

The causes selected are nature, elderly and children. All of which are close to my heart and with the first one synergistic to my business as well.

 

Now the line between personal and business is blurring. And a Pte Ltd is supposed to be a separate entity from the owner. How ironic.

 

Anyway, the total donation amounted to 0.5% of our operating profit based on our last FY. I've mentioned about this commitment in a previous post.

 

I certainly hope I can do this year after year.

Again, this post is not about showing off or haolian~ing. Rather, it serves to instill some positivities and inspire readers to contribute back to the society.

 

On a separate note, my previous personal donation was done in December last year. How time flies. Cannot keep getting dividends without giving something in return right? I look forward to December this year!

Summary of June 2024

Collected scrips + dividends from MLT and dividends from MIT and NLT this month.

Closed my Syfe portfolio with a small profit after a slightly over three years experimentation. 

Another record income achieved for my side hustle as a personal trainer.

Combining all the above, what this means is that I have a higher than usual fund for investing into my portfolio this month.

Have not added anything yet since my recent stock screening did not yield any mouth-watering prospects.

 

Price of the REITs I'm currently holding are attractive and tempting though I have mentioned earlier this year (I think) that one of my aims in 2024 is to make my portfolio less REITs concentrated.

Another option is the US market where some of my counters are inching to 100% gain.

NVDA is hot! Waiting for a pullback towards $96 region.

Will update in subsequent post for any trades made.

Summary of May 2024

Collected dividends from OCBC and DBS. 

Syfe portfolio finally turned in a small profit after so many years although it gave up the gains towards end of the month. 

Added 1,700 units of Netlink NBN Trust @ $0.84.

This is my second purchase in recent months and at the same price. 

On my sideline as a personal trainer, this month is the record in terms of income as I took on a number of new clients. 

As usual, 75% of this income stream goes to my portfolio along with any dividends collected for the month. 

Family-wise, the kids have finally gotten better from their cough and phlegm. However the PD has recommended didi to see the specialist as he is exhibiting signs of sleep apnea.

We are now waiting for the appointment date. Hopefully everything turns out fine.