August 2025 Updates

For the month of August, I bought MIT @ $1.99 and Comfortdelgro @ $1.47.

The former is a continuing accumulation to build up my existing position when price dips. With this addition, MIT now occupies 8.75% of the portfolio based on market value.

The latter is a reentry since I sold it 8 years ago. Bought it post XD as the price felt comfortable for a first tranche, dividend yield has become attractive and business fundamentals & outlook are improving.

This month also seen dividends received from

OCBC @ $476.42

DBS @ $495

SingTel @ $800

Total: $1,771.42

Looking forward to next month's dividends. 

Local portfolio value and P&L excluding dividends:

I also transferred $19,999 to DBS fixed deposit with 2.45% interest.

Had a rather unpleasant experience at Punggol Coast Mall Fairprice Finest with my family yesterday.

We were at the 2nd floor doing our shopping and an auntie promoter at the 'Europe' shelving offered my 5 year old a sample.

My son declined as he will always ask me or my wife for permission before accepting things from strangers. 

What irks me is that I heard the promoter told my son to stop looking if he does not want the sample.

After that my son came back to me and I squatted down to ask him what did the promoter said to him. From the corner of my eye I saw the promoter crept up and hid behind one of the shelves near us to eavesdrop on our conversation.

When my son told me the exact words that I heard earlier, I had wanted to go to confront the promoter but my two kids stopped me, saying they are afraid I would be taken away by the police. That gave me a chuckle.

Nevertheless I happened to see the Fairprice store manager and feedback to her about the incident.

Her empathy, professionalism and prompt action are exemplary and show why she deserves to be a manager.

Two ladies, two poles apart in behaviour. 

Anyway writing this to let off some steam.

Thanks for reading. 

May 2025 Updates

For the month of May, received dividends from OCBC ($662.34), Venture ($250) and DBS ($495). Total dividends amounted to S$1,407.34.

 

Also added MIT @ $1.93 to my existing holding.

Discretionary income from side hustle and dividends increased month-on-month. Rifle loaded, pending targets to pop up for firing.

 

Portfolio value currently stands at $205,719.98.

 

Cash-wise, currently holding high amount (probably highest in recent times) due to uncertainties in the macro environment.

March 2025 Updates

First dividend season of the year. Received dividends from the following: 

1) Ascendas REIT

2) Mapletree Logistics Trust

3) Mapletree Industrial Trust

4) CapitaLand Integrated Commercial Trust

5) CapitaLand China Trust

 

Total dividends received for this 1st quarter amounted to S$2,258.04.

 

Pretty satisfied as this is slightly higher YoY. Figure for same quarter last year is S$2,003.27.

 

Per usual practice, all dividends + 50% of my side income are invested back to the portfolio for compounding: the 8th wonder of the world.

 

This month I've added OCBC @ $16.57 and Venture @ $12.45 to my existing positions.

 

The OCBC purchase comes with a 5.1% dividend yield excluding special dividend.  The group has released a pretty solid FY24 with a 8% increase in net profit and EPS. Final dividend was reduced by $0.01 YoY while CEO Helen's pay when up instead. Not much to complain anyway, just an observation on my part.

The Venture purchase comes with a 6% dividend yield. This was done partly to average down, partly to reduce my REITs concentration and partly as a recovery bet in the company. Their recent results haven't been very encouraging although they are maintaining their dividend amount and they are consistently generating positive free cash flow. Hence I am keeping this counter to a small portion of my portfolio. In fact this is the smallest position at 3.2%.

Interesting bit, after I made the Venture purchase, another counter which I have been eyeing actually fell to my TP. Alas I have already expended my bullets this month so guess this has to wait. If another opportunity arises in April this will probably take precedent. Let's see.

Another important news is regarding OCBC 360 Account. There will be a revision to the interest rates on 1st May 2025. Based on the revised terms, I can probably earn 2.65 - 3.85%. Not fantastic but not too shabby either. Moving forward this will probably be the trend across the banking sector so I won't be in a hurry to move funds around yet.

Revised terms from 1st May 2025 onwards:

 

Jan 2025 Investment Update

Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

3rd day of the new year and it seems like most are not back to work yet. Traffic is smooth throughout the day. For me, I have resumed my work, albeit in a slower manner.

Just to do a quick update for my recent investments which can basically be summed up in the following sentences:

Buy what, what drop. 

Sell what, what rise. 

1) BABA

I cut loss for this counter at 84.78 at the end of last year partly due to their drastic price cutting of Qwen. Have briefly talked about this here.

Then on the first day of CNY they released a new version of Qwen (Qwen 2.5-Max) which supposedly surpasses DeepSeek-V3, GPT-4o and Llama-3.1 in performance.

Share price immediately shot up. At this point of writing, BABA is trading at 101.92 pre-market.

What a difference a month makes. 

2) NVDA

Added this counter at 137.80 one week before CNY. Seeing some decent profits in the first two days.

On the third day, DeepSeek was released. NVDA share price went south. As of now it is still recovering from the twin pressures of Qwen and DeepSeek.

Talk about timing again. 

3) MIT

Added MIT at 2.19 on 24th Jan. Three days later unit price went south. Probably due to worries to their DC assets from DeepSeek release.

4) Venture

Around two weeks ago I identified five stocks as potential investment to reduce my REITs concentration. Subsequently after delving into the respective AR and latest business updates I whittled it down to 2 stocks of which Venture is one of them. 

The company has been doing share buyback recently at 12.98, 12.93, 12.95, 12.56, 12.66 and 12.81.

This caught my notice and I decided to pay closer attention to the price movement. At one point it went below 12.60 but I missed the opportunity. It shot up after that and I decided to add MIT instead (as above).

Subsequently the price dropped below 12.70 earlier this week and I added some  at 12.68 on 27th Jan. I feel this compares well and comfortably against the prices added upon by the company. If they feel those are fair values for them, this leaves me with sufficient margin of safety as well. 

5) In General

I have identified Venture and another counter to diversify away from REITs. However I ventured into Venture first partly because the share price of the other counter is stubbornly resolute and refused to drop to my TP.

Nevertheless I will continue to monitor both and prepare to add when opportunities arise.

Recently Powell has sung a different tune to Trump's order to reduce rates further. The latest signal from Fed was to hold the rates at status quo for now.

This prompted a big rise in the share price of local banks and drop in the price of local-listed REITs in general.

Overall effect on my portfolio is still a net positive. 

Local portfolio value stands at S$182,776.40

Some thoughts that came into mind with the present market situation. 

1. Should I take profit off my DBS and OCBC? The capital gains now are roughly equivalent to 16 to 20 years of dividends. This is an age old question that has come to haunt me again.

2. If the current unit prices of the local-listed REITs are the fair values assigned by the market in this climate of 4.25 to 4.50% interest rates, then these price points could form the basis of my TPs (+/-) moving forward.

Last but not least, Heng Ong Huat Ah! 

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 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.

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. 

Aug 2022 Updates

August 2022

 

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

S$136,406.14

Purchase

 

None

Sold

None

Dividends

 

SingTel: $384

DBS: $216

OCBC: $297.36

 

Total: $897.36 

Short-Term Transactions

  

Sold 4 x SE 220826 Calls at $105 strike with $1.26 premium. Closed early at $0.04.  

 

Summary

SGD portfolio:

  

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

Syfe Core Growth portfolio:

 

Current TWR at -7.52%.

Not adding anymore funds to it.

USD / HKD portfolio: 

 

Made a net profit of US$477.58 (~S$668.26) from my call options in SE this month.

 

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

 

Personal:

 

I have started the side gig which I mentioned last month. So far did 9 sessions which will yield me about $340. Not bad for a two weeks period.

 

I have also started my part time Masters programme at NUS. So far so good though assignments have been assigned which means less free time for me.

May 2022 Updates

May 2022

 

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

S$134,505.84

Purchase

 

None

Sold

None

Dividends

 

DBS @ $216

OCBC @ $297.36

 

Total: $513.36

Short-Term Transactions

  

Sold 4 x SE Call 220520 at $110 strike with $0.79 premium. Expired.

 

Sold 3 x SE Call 220527 at $90 strike with $0.14 premium. Expired.

 

Sold 1 x Futu Call 220527 at $37 strike with $0.73 premium. Closed early at $0.11.

 

2 x Didi Call 220520 at $10 strike with $0.17 premium expired.

 

Summary

SGD portfolio:

  

Portfolio value went down by about $7K in line with the market. 

 

No new transaction for this portfolio.

Syfe Core Growth portfolio:

 

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 -5.56%.

USD / HKD portfolio: 

 

Did not make any transaction in terms of outright shares. Made use of the volatility and sold some call options to earn some pocket money for the month instead.

 

Overall profit of US$433.82 (~S$596.73) in options this month.

Review of OCBC FY2021 Results

Final dividend declared: $0.28 per share

 

Full year dividend: $0.53 per share

 

Dividend payout date: 20th May 2022

 

Dividend yield on my cost: ~6%

 

Overall an acceptable set of results from OCBC for FY21. We can't possibly say bad to 35% increase in net profit and resumption of full year dividend to pre-Covid level right?

 

 

However delving deeper into the numbers there are a few observations that I would like to highlight as follows.

 

Net Profit

 

Propped up by the non-interest income, contributions from associates and lower allowances catered for loans.

 

Net Interest Income

 

Fell slightly which is expected due to the fall in NIM. Looking from another angle, this segment should perform better next year due to the rising interest rates and coming off from a low base this year.

 

Non-interest Income

 

Traditional cash cow from Great Eastern Holdings saves the day again with a 63% YoY increase.

 

Associates

 

A big part of the jump in overall net profit comes from the associates which contributed a 35% increase in income YoY.

 

However not much is mentioned about the associates. I dug around and managed to find some information on who are these entities from last year's annual report.

 

Lower Allowances

 

There is a 57% drop in allowances catered for FY21 as compared to FY20.

 

However looking at the details, there is a 180% and 92% increase in allowances for impaired loans in Malaysia and Greater China respectively, suggesting sustained risks in these markets.

While the Malaysia market accounts for about 9.5% of the total loans to customers by geography, a greater concern lies with the Greater China market which accounts for 25.6% of the total loans by geography.

This is something to take note of.

 

Non-performing Loan Ratio

 

Remains at 1.5%

 

Non-performing Assets

 

Increased 8% YoY

 

Capital Adequacy Ratios

 

While the business is doing fine, I also want to know whether my money is safe in the bank.

 

OCBC Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1): 15.5% (vs regulatory minimum of 6.5%)

 

OCBC Tier 1: 16% (vs regulatory minimum of 8%)

 

OCBC Total Capital Adequacy Ratio (Total CAR): 17.6% (vs regulatory minimum of 10%)

Earnings Per Share

$1.07 (FY20: $0.80)

Return On Equity

9.6% (FY20: 7.6%)

Net Asset Value Per Share

$11.46 (FY20: $10.82)

 

Conclusion

 

With the expected improvement in the net interest income coupled with continual strong performance from the non-interest income segment, I believe OCBC should report a much better set of results in the next full year report.

 

Having said that, there lies certain areas of concern where there is room for improvement.

 

Among the different subsidiaries - GEH, OCBC Malaysia, OCBC NISP and OCBC Wing Hang; all posted 17% - 20% increase in net profit except for OCBC Wing Hang Hong Kong which suffered a 19% drop in net profit YoY.

This further proved the challenges faced by OCBC in the Greater China which is their third largest market by profit contribution.

 

Also, although the EPS and ROE has improved YoY, they are still lower than the figures of FY19 (pre-Covid).

 

Earlier in the post I mentioned that this is an acceptable set of full year results for OCBC. However breaking down into Q4, their result actually pales in comparison to DBS and UOB.

The market promptly sent the share price down this morning although it has somewhat recovered by noon.

 

OCBC has brought the full year dividend back to $0.53 per share - a level last seen before Covid. This represents slightly below 50% of the net profit after tax.

OCBC has always been prudent with the dividend payout ratio over the years. They are in fact, the most prudent among the three local banks. However if the new CEO can increase this payout ratio slightly to the levels offered by DBS and UOB, I'm pretty sure it will have a corresponding effect on the share price.

 

Last but not least, the leadership acumen of Ms Helen Wong will be important in steering OCBC forward especially with her background in Greater China. I will be looking forward to her first full year results as Group CEO next year.

Overall I am satisfied with the full year performance of FY21 and I am in no hurry to sell my current holdings. In fact I will add if the opportunities arise.