June 2025 Updates

Received dividends from Netlink NBN Trust, Mapletree Industrial Trust, Mapletree Logistics Trust and Ascendas Reit.

NLT: $281.40

MIT: $268.80

MLT: $318.67

AReit: $894.11

Didn't make any trade this month. 

June also seen the start of the slow down in my side line as more and more clients go on their summer break. 

Every year June to August is like that since majority of my clients is ang moh.

Nevertheless it's not a bad thing as I was rather occupied with my environmental management business which is my main work. 

Coming July which is officially the 2nd half of the year, hopefully there will be buying opportunity soon.

Current amount available for investment (excluding main warchest): $5,155.00.

Portfolio value at point of writing: $210,704.37.

 

Edit: Added Ascendas Reit dividends which came in after the original post.

A Review of 2024

 

Happy New Year everyone.

 

Quick review of 2024 and looking forward to a better 2025.

 

Family

 

Overall not a bad year for us. Only thing is jie jie kept falling down and hurt herself. It got so frequent that we are thinking if there is something wrong with her legs or other parts of the body. This is worrying for my wife and I.

 

There was once I saw her fell down in front of me. She just fell to her knees and I thought that was it. But suddenly her body started to lean forward and her head fell to the ground as well. This process is like happening in slow motion right in front of me.

 

The superstitious side of me even started wondering if something unseen is disturbing her. Yes, my worry got to that extent.

Hopefully 2025 onwards will be a better year for both jie jie and didi.

Some personal reflection for me: I realised I have been getting short tempered nowadays and sometimes my reaction can be rather extreme. This is definitely not good and I really got to constantly remind myself to be more chill moving forward.

 

On a bright side, we just came back from a family trip to Bali. Last trip there was 10 years ago with wifey and we didn't have kids then.

 

Had a good time for this 5-days holiday over Christmas although we nearly missed our return flight.

Our hotel is 15 min from the airport. But the trip took nearly an hour because of traffic. Our flight is scheduled for 9.05 pm and we reached the airport around 8.50 pm and the boarding gate at 9.10 pm.

Luckily the flight itself is also delayed and we managed to join the queue.. in waiting. The flight eventually took off around 10.05 pm.

Lessons learnt:

1) I checked-in online the night before and it turned out to be the best decision because by the time we reached the airport, the check-in counter was already closed. Had we not checked-in beforehand, we would not be able to go through the customs, delayed flight or not.

2) Always cater for extra extra time for Bali especially during weekends.

 

Today is also the first day at their new school for both kids. I accompanied didi while wifey accompanied jie jie. New environment, new teachers. Both seem to be coping well.

I hope they enjoy the process of learning and not be fixated on the end results because if they achieve the former, the latter will take care of itself.

 

Investments

 

SGD

 

Have been adding on a monthly basis whenever possible over the past year.

 

Although the plan in the beginning of the year was to diversify and reduce the REITs concentration in my portfolio, only one of the purchases was for a non-REIT - Netlink NBN Trust, which I bought on two separate occasions. The rest of the purchases was for Ascendas REIT, MIT and MLT. I also subscribed and applied for excess for CICT PO.

 

If I have stuck to my plan in 2024, portfolio performance would perhaps, be even better. Really got to be more disciplined and execute my plan this year which is again, to reduce the REITs concentration.

 

I started tracking my portfolio performance in 2016 and hence cumulative dividends is recorded from that year onwards.

 

As of writing, Ascendas REIT is my biggest holding at around 20% by market value.

Best performer is DBS at +119.91% followed by OCBC at +88%.

Worst performer is CLCT at -46.24%.

 

Summary of my holdings and performance as follows.

 

USD / HKD

 

Did some cleaning up of this portfolio in the last two trading days of the year.

Took profit off AAPL (+54.93%)

Took partial profit off MSFT (+47.08%)

 

Got rid of GREE (-99.21%). The speculation of this counter is one of the biggest mistakes of my investing career so far.

 

Cut loss on BABA (-33.73%) because macro outlook remains murky and rounds of stimulus and pep talk by the central government failed to lift the share price. They have also recently did a drastic price reduction on Qwen, which is their AI tool for enterprises. This move is probably meant to gain market share domestically and I believe it will help to a certain extent. I am never a fan of price war and whether this will spark one with other players like Baidu remains to be seen. However one thing is certain, margin for this segment for Alibaba will be compressed by this move.

Portfolio Value (SGD equivalent): $16,626.37

Overall

Total Portfolio Value: S$188,452.35

Business

 

Business so far has been average after the record performance last FY. Still got two more months to go before closing. I am hopeful one of the government contracts we are negotiating will come through soon.

 

Collaboration for the new technology is moving forward albeit on a slower pace than I would like to. We are collaborating with one of the local institutes of higher learning. Maybe that's just how academics work but on and off I need to push them along to move things faster.

 

Nevertheless this is the engine for our next phase of growth and I am determined to make this work.

 

Side Line

Did a tabulation and realised I generated S$19,500 over the past year from my side line as a personal trainer. Not bad considering I dedicated only week day mornings to this hustle. No evenings, no weekends, no holidays. Those are strictly for my family and personal time.

This figure should be higher in 2025 as more private clients are starting to sign up with me. They are mainly referred through word of mouth as I do not actively advertise my service.

I would say most if not all the clients are either c-suite or rich tais tais who are generally not bothered by the price and would not haggle over it so that makes things easier. I just need to focus on helping them achieve their goals.

My current allocation for this side income is:

50% goes to investment

25% goes to SA top up

25% goes to discretionary spending

Moving forward this will remains.

Donation

 

Personal donation is a yearly ongoing affair for me. Other than the monthly GIRO contribution to certain charities, I will usually make ad hoc donations towards year end as well.

 

Same as previous years, this year I have chosen to donate to causes close to my heart - the young and the elderly.

Hopefully this post will inspire readers too.

 

Other than personal donation, I have also donated on a company-level with the latest one in July 2024. This will continue as long as the business continues to be profitable.

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 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.

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 February 2024

Following my purchase of Mapletree Logistics Trust in January, I continued my purchasing in February when opportunity presented itself.

 

My queue for Netlink NBN Trust @ $0.84 got filled at the end of trading hours. This is an addition to existing position and an average up at that. Coincidentally, last month's purchase of MLT was also done on the 29th.

 

2929. Huat Ah!

 

This purchase price translates to a dividend yield of more than 6.2%.

 

Have been monitoring the market every day as usual. There was a dip in price earlier this month for majority of the counters in my watchlist - if I remember correctly, the dip lasted only for the trading hours before lunch on that particular day.

 

I wasn't in time to make my move then due to work. Nevertheless this week NLT presented a comfortable price for me to add and eventually I got it after queuing for two days.

 

This price is slightly lower than the $0.845 that Netlink NBN Management executive director and CEO paid for his purchase of 100,000 units on 16th Feb. 

 

Another reason is the announcement of the S$100 million investment from the government into the national broadband network upgrade.

 

While the details on how this will impact NLT's financials are not clear at this moment, I believe this NBN upgrade will at least stabilise NLT's profitability and provide visibility on its business outlook in the next 2 - 3 years.

This helps to allay my concern on the sustainability of NLT's dividend payout moving forward.

On a side note, next month should see some dividends coming in from various counters including MIT, MLT and CLCT. As usual, will reinvest into the portfolio to let compounding works its magic for me.

With that, till next time. Cheers.

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.

Mar 2022 Update

Mar 2022

 

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

S$147,984.56

Purchase

 

None

Sold

None

Dividends

 

Ascendas Reit @ $805.38

CLCT @ $217.80

MLT @ $83.98

CICT @ $19.97

Total: $1,127.13

Short-Term Transactions

  

Closed early at $0.02 for 1 x SE Call 220304 at $180 strike with $1.28 premium.

 

Closed early at $0.07 for 1 x SE Call 220325 at $180 strike with $1.28 premium.

 

Sold 3 x AMD Put 220325 at $97 strike. Expired. 

 

Summary

SGD portfolio:

  

Portfolio value boosted by the buoyant local market despite no additions.

Syfe Core Growth portfolio:

 

Still seeing slight negative returns for this month although the gap has narrowed.

USD / HKD portfolio: 

 

No trades in equities for this month. 

 

Made a small profit of US$254.15 (~S$344.09) in my overall option positions in March.

 

Moving forward I will remain cautious and will remain on the side line if I don't see a clear trend ahead.

Also, the treasury yield curve has started to invert recently and this almost always precede a recession so all the more reason to be nimble.