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!