March 2026 Updates

March is a comparatively busy month for me both at work and in the market.

 

Dividends received

 

MLT @ $296.01

MIT @ $285.30

Ascendas REIT @ $1,038.86

CICT @ $331.92

CLCT @ $349.50 (last dividend)

 

Total received for March 2026: $2,301.59

This amount is slightly higher year on year.

 

Transactions

 

1) This month marks the end of my relationship with CapitaLand China Trust aka CLCT after holding it for 6 years.

 

I've sold all my 15,000 units at $0.675. Overall loss incurred is -47.24% including cumulative dividends over the years.

 

This is following my review of portfolio done in January this year.

 

What prompted me to sell is the structural deterioration in the REIT's performance, continuous challenging macro environment and most importantly, I don't see an improvement in sight in the near future.

 

Performance of the REIT manager is nothing short of shocking. Rental reversion is in the negative territory across the three segments of retail, logistics park and business park.

 

Retail, which is traditionally their largest portfolio contributor, seen a fall in both revenue and occupancy rate.

Consequently DPU fell nearly 15% compared to 2024.

As such I have to make the decision to cut this bleeding counter from my portfolio and reinvest the proceeds into other more resilient and promising counters.

It is a painful but necessary decision.

2) Using the proceeds from above sale and dividends received, I added more CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust (CICT) at $2.37 and $2.30.

 

This brought my average price to $1.93. An average up.

 

Dividend yield on average cost: 6%.

 

CICT is one of the few REITs that performed admirably in my opinion. Their latest financial results show a solid performance with both revenue and NPI increasing year on year. Occupancy rate remains high at nearly 97%.

 

I also like the fact that gearing remains below 40% with ICR increasing YoY. Equally important, cost of debt went down to 3.2% and is set to go down even further to about 3.0% in FY2026. Nice!

No qualms in increasing my holdings in this counter which currently makes up about 9.2% of my portfolio.

3) Also using the proceeds and dividends, I bought into Centurion Accomodation REIT (Cent Accom REIT) at $1.09.

This is a counter that I have been wanting to buy after failing to get any allocation during IPO.

Based on a prudent IPO projected dividend amount (they have apparently exceeded this forecasted amount), my yield on cost would be 6.03%.

Even after taking 10% off - the REIT has stated after 2027 they would pay out at least 90% of distributable income instead of the 100% now, my yield would be 5.43%. Still quite decent.

 

So long as Singapore remains a foreign worker-based economy, I'm optimistic about this counter. Looking to build up this holding in tranches.

4) I also applied for the UI Boustead REIT IPO this month and got allocated 3,200 units. The listing couldn't come at a worse time with the war in Middle East raging on.

Share price of this counter went downhill on day one of listing and has remained below the IPO price although I feel this is a reaction to the macro environment rather than structural issues with the counter.

Can add more depending on my funds and opportunities with other counters.

5) ABVX put option that I wrote last month has expired. Premium in the pocket remains intact.

6) Bought ABVX at $119.77 and $102.76 post-earnings. First came across this counter when it was mentioned by Doc TTI. Wasn't in a hurry to enter then as I wanted to wait for the earning release.

It's not about the numbers - For biotech companies at this stage, the financial numbers are pretty meaningless. What I wanted to read is the management comments and business updates. And these didn't disappoint.

Two points I picked up in the updates:

- Firstly, a Chief Commercial Officer is appointed and the Chief Scientific Officer is leaving. I interpret this as: the company do not foresee any issue with Obefazimod and the planned NDA application in the 2nd half of the year. Even if no buyout materialised, the company is prepared to market the drug themselves.

- Secondly the Data Safety Monitoring Board found no new safety signals in the latest ABTECT Phase 3 maintenance trial.

First point spells confidence. Second point further reinforce the first.

The potential of Obefazimod doesn't just ends here. Because of the delivery mechanism, the drug has high potential of application in most other inflammatory diseases as well. The company is concurrently running trials on Obefazimod for Crohn's disease now with the 12-week induction data expected in second half 2026.

 

The more due diligence I do for this counter, the more excited I am. This drug is like a game-changer in that it reduces inflammation in the first place by deregulating the release of cytokines which are pro-inflammatory proteins in our body.

This is radically different from the immunosuppressants that are usually prescribed in current practice which can cause a host of other issue because of weakened immune system.

So in my opinion even if no buyout occurs, the commercialisation of the drug by Abivax themselves isn't a bad thing too.

Risk of this investment is obviously the failure to get NDA approval for Obefazimod. However this is probably a low risk and I am mitigating with position sizing.

 

The question now is how much of the good news has been priced in already. My feel is not fully yet. So I will continue to add and build up for this counter.

7) Took partial profits off my MSFT holdings at $370.28 partly because of the recent price weakness and partly to fund my planned purchases of ABVX.

 

MSFT has been a multi-bagger for me and I still hold the counter after this partial profit-taking.

Conclusion

Same strategy applies for all counters. Since the current war situation is so dynamic - market can move in any direction in the blink of an eye based on one social media post from Donald Trump, I will continue to buy in tranches and at the same time mitigate risk with position sizing.

Reviewing my portfolio cost yield

New year new beginning.

 

Decided to do a review on the cost yield of my individual holdings since it is one of the most important metrics to me. I'm an income investor afterall.

 

I also looked at the recent trend of the individual counters to see if they are paying more (or less) over the years.

 

Not looking at other fundamentals for this exercise. Any fundamental analysis can easily take up a blog post of its own.

My target yield is minimum 5%.

CapitaLand Investment (CLI) is an exception to the rule. It is a recent addition to the portfolio and the less than 5% yield was already known when I made the move.

I went ahead because at that time I have no other more attractive counters to put my funds in. Also CLI has given dividend in species previously so I felt the 4.58% yield is acceptable.

 

Question

Looking at the results, it is obvious CapitaLand China Trust (CLCT) is a laggard both in terms of yield against cost and dividend trend.

It is also the worst performer in my portfolio in terms of capital loss as mentioned here previously.

 

Now the question is what will I do for this counter?

 

Based on today's closing price of $0.805, I am staring at a capital loss of $8,015.42.

 

My cumulative dividends for CLCT over the years amounted to $4,868.91.

 

Hence net loss is $3,146.51.

 

Option 1: Continue to hold and collect dividends while waiting for price to recover.

 

Issue with this is I don't see any catalyst for recovery in the market that CLCT is operating in. Rental reversion for all three asset types is in negative territory. The downtrend of annual dividends is a double whammy. There is also the opportunity cost involved.

On the other hand, there might be some bright spark this year from the ROI of their 5% investment in CapitaLand Commercial C-REIT (CLCR) which is currently trading above IPO price.

Option 2: Sell now and reinvest in other counters or assets. This might be a quicker way to recover my loss.

Issue with this is there are no other dividend counters that are attractive enough to me at the moment. Nevertheless I can put the funds in my US / HK portfolio or gold / silver though that will mean my dividends receivable will take a hit this year.

Action

For now I'm inclined to wait for the next financial update from CLCT before making my move. I'm also interested to see what they will do with the ROI from CLCR investment. If it does not flow down to existing unitholders, I guess I would have more clarity in my decision by then.

Wrapping Up for 2025

Quick wrap up for a year that flew past for me. 

 

Family

This year we went to Bali again for our year end holiday. We stayed 4 nights at the mountainous region of Ubud this time which we really love (last year we stayed entirely at Kuta). Our room opens up to this view:

On the last 2 days we stayed at Kuta to be nearer to the airport. We managed to visit Waterbom Bali this time. I suspect I might just make Bali a yearly visit from now on 🤭.

School work-wise, daughter got an award for Mathematics at the end of school year. Guess it's a good end for her Primary 1.

 

I've never been worried about her school work. It's her stubbornness and temper that I'm concerned with. I seriously think she inherited those from me.

Son's also getting better at being focus at his work. I would like to think his happy-go-lucky character is a blessing.

 

I will be very happy as long as they remain healthy and develop good character. The latter is always my focus when I'm teaching them.

Work

My company remains the main focus. It has been 8 years since I started the business bootstrapped. While it has its ups and downs through the years including surviving Covid, our mission in providing solutions in emission control and protecting our planet never change.

I would consider 2025 a so-so year for the company. While the numbers are not that great compared to past years, the highlights are constant repeat orders from a client - a testament to their trust in us, and a breakthrough into the public sector with a prominent government agency onboard.

I'm looking forward to 2026.

Side line 1:

My side gig as a personal trainer yields better than expected income for 2025. While I was aiming for $20k from this in the beginning of the year, the actual income achieved amounted to $23,640.

 

Not bad considering I only dedicate weekday mornings to this.

This is helped by the signing up of a private client who was introduced to me by her family member who in turn was already training with me.

I find this really fulfilling.

In fact another of his family member contacted me yesterday to enquire about my training schedule.

 

Side line 2:

 

I just embarked on this in October 2025, as an adjunct lecturer in a local IHL. I am only taking two classes per week for now. Income achieved amounted to $2,000.

I'm starting to get the hang of teaching and the administrative work but I must say this side gig is taking too much of my time. Way more than what I expected.

I will most likely continue for the next semester which should be less of a learning curve by then.

CPF

Throughout the year I have made voluntary cash top up to my CPF SA. Total top ups amounted to $5,590. These are taken from the side gig incomes.

In December I also made a transfer from OA to SA to achieve the FRS amount. This is done to take advantage of the higher interest in SA in order to further secure my retirement expenses.

Of course the downside is I have lesser amount to use should I decide to purchase another property in the near future. It is because of this consideration that I have taken so long to make this decision.

Personal Social Responsibility

 

For this year, my choice of causes remain the same: the young, the elderly and the environment.

 

This is just a small gesture to contribute back to the society on a regular basis.

 

Other than this yearly donation habit, part of the reason why I went into adjunct teaching is also to inspire the younger generation. I am teaching the subject of sustainability which is my area of expertise and which is closely related to my work and passion.

If I can motivate more young people to live sustainably and equip them with the knowledge to do so, there is a better chance our future generations can have a decent quality of life.

 

"Sustainability is meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” (Brundtland Commission)

 

Last but not least, my wife and I also donated our household CDC vouchers to Tzu-Chi Foundation (Singapore).

 

Investment

2025 was a mini breakthrough year for me in terms of dividends.

For the first time since tracking, my annual dividends collected crossed the 5 figure mark.

My number of holdings increased to 12 counters. A number not seen since years back.

I invested about $29k in 2025 which is more than the estimated $20k figure foresaw in the beginning of the year. This amount is largely from my side gig incomes. I didn't really touch my savings or main income for investment this year.

Local portfolio value also hit a new high of $235k.

Cumulative dividends since tracking amounted to $62,714.56.

Total portfolio value (SG, HK, US) amounted to $257k.

In December the last batch of dividends came in from SingTel ($656), MIT ($286.20) and MLT ($295.86).

I also bought CapitaLand Invest (CLI) @ 2.61 in December. This feels like a renewed relationship as I have sold this counter few years back when it was still known as CapitaLand.

 

For non-REITS, other than CLI I also bought ComfortDelGro (CDG) and Venture this year. Lastly I also added more DBS and OCBC.

 

For CDG it's another reacquaintance.

 

Best performers in 2025:

 

1) DBS (+131.22%)

2) OCBC (+108.49%)

3) SingTel (+41.90%)

Worst performers in 2025:

1) CLCT (-41.39%)

2) MLT (-5.73%)

3) MIT (-4.89%)

 

CLCT continued to be the worst performer. Same position as last year although there is a slight improvement compared to 2024 (-46.24%).

For the last two years I have tried to divert my portfolio away from REITs by adding other equities. In 2026, I will adopt a more balanced view with a mixture of both asset classes as I feel the worse is over for REITs.

Having said that I will still be prudent with my cash by holding a certain percentage of it due to the present geopolitical risks and the whims of Trump. This will be achieved by only investing from my side incomes while leaving my main income and savings untouched. Same strategy as 2025.

I will probably only deploy the latter income sources if (a) a compelling buy case arises or (b) more clarity on the geopolitical situations arise e.g. concrete end of the wars, step down of office by Trump, etc. However the trick is to remain nimble as is always the case in investing especially so in this era where dynamics change ever so quickly.

For the US / HK portfolio, I will continue to concentrate force on the tech sector since my outlay is relatively small for too many counters. In the US market, I will continue to build a position in MSFT and NVDA. For HK market, I might add more 9988 if it hits $120.

Talking about MSFT, it is the second multi-bagger achieved in this portfolio with a P&L of +179.18%.

Worst performer: PYPL (-68.44%)

September 2025 Updates

September is traditionally a bountiful month for me in terms of dividends received. This year is no different.

 

Total of $1,720.02 is received from the following:

 

1) Ascendas Reit @ $137.72

2) MIT @ $261.60

3) MLT @ $295.37

4) Venture @ $150

5) CICT @ $501.84

6) CLCT @ $373.50

 

This brings the dividends received YTD to just shy of $10k.

 

In the local market, I did not made any transaction. Applied for 10,000 units of Centurion Accomodation Reit (CA Reit) but got zero allocation. Did introduced this IPO to a friend and he got allocated 1,000 units. Instant profit if he were to cash out now like the institutional investors.

 

I am not surprised at the popularity of this counter though. Was telling my friend I rated NTT DC Reit a 4 out of 10 previously and CA Reit is at least a 7 or 8 for me.

 

In fact I had already set my mind to apply for this IPO halfway through the prospectus.

 

Nevertheless one thing I've learnt from the market over the years is that opportunity always comes back.

 

I guess this time round I didn't get allocated for a reason. But I will be monitoring closely for the chance to add when it arises.

 

In the US market, I averaged up on NVDA by adding @ $170.88 to my existing holding. This one is a keeper and I'm pretty sure it will be the next multi-bagger for me after MSFT.

 

Work-wise, I also received the confirmation letter for my 2nd side hustle. From October onwards I will be teaching in one of our local institution of higher learning as an adjunct lecturer.

 

Hope it will be a fun and enriching journey for me and the students. If it turns out well, I will dedicate more hours to this in subsequent semesters.

 

See how it goes. Excited.

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 April 2024

April is a month of mixed feelings in terms of investment.

At the closing today, my CLCT officially lost half of its value with capital loss of 50.35%. No thanks to the double blow of the new asset class performance and Forex effect. 

Silver lining is the dividends collected over the years that help soften the blow.

Will hold on and ride through this while continuing the dividend collections to lessen the blow.

On the other hand, my DBS and OCBC achieved capital gains of ~59% and ~61% respectively. 

Overall portfolio is still staring at 4.52% loss YTD excluding dividends.

For this month I have added 1,100 units of Ascendas Reit @ $2.66.

Will continue my strategy of making monthly purchase whenever possible.

On the US side, my BABA is at a loss of ~33%. This is somewhat compensated by my AAPL and MSFT which have gains of ~38% and ~59% respectively.

TLDR version: position sizing is important.

On the work front, it is a busy period for me this month with project executions and plenty of paperwork such as quotations to be done.

On my sideline as a personal trainer, I am getting more clients onboard as well so moving forward this income stream is expected to be more significant. 

All in all, fulfilling at work. 

Family time is still my most treasured component. Top all the above to be frank.

Kids are getting fine though their cough has been ongoing for about a month already which is starting to make me worry.

Didi just gave wifey and I a pleasant surprise on Sunday. 

I have just finished ordering our meals with the waiter when Didi suddenly tapped the waiter uncle's hand and said: "and a french fries too".

Both wifey and I laughed instantly. 

When the dishes are served subsequently sans the fries, Didi actually told the waiter uncle "the french fries please".

What a joy to hear that. That initiative to place his order and subsequently reminded the waiter of his order all on his own accord, is incredible to me because Didi is only 3 years old. 

I hope both he and his sister grow up healthy and happy. 

Sept 2022 Updates

Sept 2022

 

Local Portfolio Value after market close (excluding USD and HKD)

S$130,521.12

Purchase

 

None

Sold

None

Dividends

 

Ascendas Reit: $834.54

CICT: $281.88

MLT: $263.09

CLCT: $574

 

Total: $1,953.51 

Short-Term Transactions

  

Sold 6 x SE 221028 Calls at $70 strike with $0.68 premium.  

 

Closed early for 1 x GREE221216C5 with $0.30 premium at $0.05.  

 

Summary

SGD portfolio:

  

Portfolio value dropped about $6K with the drop in the broad market.

 

Nothing added or sold. Continue to wait for dividends to come in.

Syfe Core Growth portfolio:

 

Current TWR at -13.27%.

 

Disappointing performance from this robo-advisor. Luckily it's just a small experimental portfolio but still painful nonetheless.

Not adding anymore funds to it.

USD / HKD portfolio: 

 

Made some coffee money of US$18.28 (~S$26.24) from options this month.

 

Inactive month for me due to my busy schedule.

 

Have been writing calls since May till now. Will probably continue to do so.

 

Personal:

 

First paycheck from my side gig received. $320 for August.

 

Will be more than double for the month of September.

 

Have been quite busy with my part-time Masters programme at NUS.

 

Assignments, supplementary readings and such have been occupying a substantial portion of my time. And the rigours of a Masters programme is really different compared to a Bachelor's.

 

Scored pretty well for my first assignment but that's just a first step.

 

Will take one step at a time.

June 2022 Updates

June 2022

 

Local Portfolio Value after market close (excluding USD and HKD)

S$135,610.18

Purchase

 

1,900 units of CLCT @ $1.13

Sold

None

Dividends

 

Netlink Trust @ $205.60

MLT @ $263.09

 

Total: $468.69

Short-Term Transactions

  

Sold 4 x SE 220624 Calls at $92 strike with $0.43 premium. Expired.  

 

Summary

SGD portfolio:

  

Portfolio value dropped by about $6K month on month mostly due to the banks.

 

Mentioned that I was eyeing Ascendas Reit and CLCT in last month's update.

 

Since the latter tested $1.13 couple of times in recent weeks I decided to add a small bit to my portfolio.

Current holding for CLCT stands at 14,000 units which bring it to the top 5 counters in the portfolio in terms of market value.

Syfe Core Growth portfolio:

 

Portfolio loss has widen from last month's figure.

 

Will probably close this experimental portfolio when the value recovers. It has not been as resilient as I would like it to be.

 

A bear market is a good way to see a portfolio manager's performance. In this case Syfe Core Growth has not met my expectations.

Current TWR at -7.18%.

USD / HKD portfolio: 

 

Made a net profit of US$166.63 (~S$231.77) from selling 4 call options in SEA this month.

 

Nothing added or sold from the portfolio holdings.