Portfolio (Jun 2020)

Why I started "Take Stock Sing Song"

As ladies, we don't invest enough like the men because of our lower risk appetite. I think it also has to do with our biological makeup. 

Men will go out to hunt and bring back game meat for the family, risking life and death. Meanwhile, women will take care of the family and nurture the children. 

Hope by chronicling my investing journey here, it will inspire more women to take the first step.

What made me step out of my comfort zone was some frustration with my financial advisor. 

Once, I thought my colleague, a Finance Manager, gave better advice than he did on housing matters. 

In the end, I figured that even I have an advisor on retainer, but ultimately, I need to learn more about finance and investing and do it myself. 

Another reason I wanted to do this is to force myself to take stock of my long-term investment thesis. When you put it out in the public, it ensures ownership and accountability on my part. 

Here's what I did

1) Mar 2017

Monthly DCA into Singtel and STI-ETF with POEMS Share Builder Plan. I'm thinking about whether to stop DCA - CSO said can. Because 3 years already and it's not doing as well as my REITs / Trusts portfolio. In time to come, I will terminate it when the loss gap is smaller. 

10 Jun 2020: 
Portfolio return -14% (Incl. dividends reinvested)
XIRR: -5.7%

2) Jul 2019

Invested in these 4 unit trust funds via my advisor ($395 went to his commission)
Eastspring Investments Fd - Monthly Income Plan Fd A SGD (Mainly USD & Asian Bonds)
United SGD Fund CL A (Acc) SGD (Short Duration Bonds)

Funds with monthly dividends reinvested
PIMCO Income Fund E SGD Hedged (Income Generating Bonds)
United Emerging Markets Bond Fund A Dis SGD (Emerging Markets Bonds)

10 Jun 2020: 
Portfolio return -5%
I didn't do monthly DCA. All are in bonds since I'm quite exposed to equities.

3) Oct 2019 

I attended a REITs course. It was paid via monthly installments. I built a portfolio of 11 counters which is my first foray into DIY investing. I sold off First Reit on 3 Jun 2020 because I had enough of their drama. I want a good night's sleep. Luckily, I only have a small position. Lost $300. I plan to deploy this elsewhere.

Lesson learned: Do not buy anything that is by Lippo Kawaraci.

• Kep Infra Tr
• EC World Reit
• CromwellReit EUR
• Ascott Trust
• NetLink NBN Tr
• CapitaR China Tr
• Ascendas-iTrust
• Sasseur Reit
• IREIT Global
• Frasers L&I Tr
• ParkwayLife Reit

10 Jun 2020: 
Portfolio return -5%
XIRR: -6%

If I include Mapletree Industrial Trust and Lendlease Reit, which I got them during their IPO:
Portfolio return +14%
XIRR: 12%

Future Plans

1) I have an AIA ILP that I will discontinue so that I can recycle this sum of money elsewhere. I held it for 12 years, coming to 13 years. 

Portfolio return 6% but XIRR is a miserable 0.86%

I feel like almost 13 years of my opportunity cost gone with this ILP. 

2) I have set up my CPF-OA to invest with Endowus. Pending them to confirm.
Every month, I see my mortgage loan deducted. I need a higher interest rate for the rest of the investable money which will come with a bit of risk.

Balanced portfolio: 60% stocks 40% bonds 
I didn't do monthly DCA.

3) Investing in US equities. I plan to go with TD Ameritrade to set up a portfolio of growth stocks. 25 free trade promotion (till Dec 2020) for min. US$10K is very tempting. 

No custodian fees. According to a guy on Seedly who has used TD Ameritrade, there don't seem to have fees on corporate actions or dividend handling.