Portfolio @ October 2019

Performance Indicators / Dividends

• YTD Time weighted return: 18.57%
• XIRR since portfolio inception in 2013: 14.55%
• Dividends collected: SGD 5,707.40
• Cum-Dividend:
  • Starhill Global REIT: SGD 56.50
  • Yuexiu Transportation Infrastructure: HKD 1,080
  • Visa Inc: USD 8.40

A new high

October went by in another blur. This month was signified by restructuring my portfolio and facing 2 sucker punches – the Eagle Hospitality Trust (EHT) controversy and the AIMS APAC REIT placement.

Overall portfolio value increased to $170,306 mainly due to $4k of capital injections into the portfolio from savings and offset by $2k of capital losses, setting a new high in the process.

Significant transactions this month include removing Amazon and iShares CSI300 ETF from my portfolio (as they are non-core positions), while adding OCBC (new position) and more EHT and Manulife US REIT (Preferential offering).

Some gentle reminders…

On Portfolio Management

This was a trying month due to the continued decline in EHT. Much has been said in news media and Telegram about the potentially shady things going on with the REIT. Many have expressed their sentiments that “its too risky” and that “they value their sleep.”

Well this may come as a shock to you, but I actually sleep very well despite holding a risky position like EHT.

I rationalise this by understanding my own situation and risk appetite. I’m an investor who from time to time will like to take contrarian or risky bets. This is because I’m still relatively young and looking to grow my portfolio. I can afford to speculate on certain counters and allocate a small proportion of my portfolio to my more speculative bets. If these bets go to zero, in the worst case, I have many more years of my life to earn it back. On the other hand, if these speculative positions work out, I could be looking at handsome returns.

Contrast this with someone who is in the twilight of his career or even in retirement. He / she should obviously be thinking about capital preservation and avoid speculation all together.

The key is to recognise the stage of life you are in, the risk involved and sizing your position appropriately.

On forming your own opinion

I’ve been passively following a couple of investment chat groups in Telegram and I’m concerned at the level of trust some members have placed in some of the more experienced members of the group. Some people seem to have even acted on buy calls made by said experienced members without much due diligence.

This is something I really frown upon. If someone makes a compelling investment case (even if its from me), you owe it to yourself to do the necessary work to make sure things check out.

Form your own opinion and own your investment decision. It is, after all, your money that is on the line.

Ascendas REIT rights issue

Just a quick PSA to say that Ascendas REIT is looking to raise equity from investors through a rights issue to finance the purchase of a massive $1.66b portfolio of assets.

I have been waiting for an opportunity like this to gain exposure to the granddaddy of S-REITs for some time now and I’ll be watching its unit price with much interest when trading resumes Monday.

Reader Appreciation

I’m always thankful when people see value in what I write and subscribe to my blog or like my Facebook page. To the 10 and 5 people who subscribed to my blog and liked my Facebook page respectively since my last portfolio update, welcome.

Feel free to reach out via email or Facebook. I’m usually quite responsive. Hope that you have found my blog content useful so far 🙂

Past updates:

September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
2018 Performance Scorecard
2017 Performance Scorecard

Happy Hunting,
KK

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