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ASSI's Guest bloggers

Stronger personal balance sheet and cash flow statement.

Saturday, April 28, 2018

Reader says...
I need to spend more time to learn more about investment and not wait till it's too late.

I find it inspirational to read your blog and it motivates me to invest more to be like you.





I have some savings every month and would like to seek your advice on how I can manage it to optimize the very little amount and still be able to grow it further.

1) Reduce my housing loan with the bank in Jan 2020

2) Transfer money to SRS to reduce my income tax contribution for 2018

3) Put aside for my savings account

4) Put aside money for trading





Should I divide my savings evenly among the 4? And since the money in SRS cannot be withdrawn, do you think I should use it to trade?



AK says...
Welcome to my blog. :)

I am glad that you have realised the importance of investing for income.

I believe that you will thank yourself in your golden years. :)





For sure, unless we are born with a spoon made of some precious metal in our mouths, we need to save money in order to have money to invest with.

OK, I know we can also borrow money to invest with but not everyone can sleep well investing with borrowed money.

Indeed, I have a blog on how to have peace of mind as an investor and you might want to read the related posts at the end of this blog.





You have to know that I am not a financial adviser and I am not allowed to give specific advice to anyone.

As a blogger, however, it should be safe enough for me to talk about things in general and you have to make your own decisions.





1. If interest rates go much higher and is even higher than the 2.5% we earn on our savings in the CPF-OA, it makes sense for us to pay down our home loan, especially, if we don't know how to safely invest our savings for much higher returns.

2. Use the SRS to reduce income tax payable only if you have maxed out your CPF-SA. With the CPF-SA, you earn 4% to 5% per annum. 

If you decide to do this, remember, only the first $7K of top up (per year) to the SA will enjoy income tax relief. 







If you have more to contribute, let it flow into your SRS and you could use the SRS savings to invest for income (but dividends cannot be withdrawn until age 62 together with the SRS savings).

See: SRS: e-book and analysis.


3. We always need an emergency fund and a war chest. Having more money saved up is a good idea.

4. Of course, you should think about investing for income.





Which one you do and in what proportion depends on what is more important to you.

If you feel that some measure of financial security is more important while retaining flexibility, then, you should concentrate on #3 first, for example.





It doesn't take much to have a stronger personal balance sheet and cash flow statement.

It does, however, require a lot of discipline.

Related posts:
1. Peace of mind as investors.
2. Top Up SA, MA or SRS?
3. How much in Emergency Fund?

Dislike QAF's CEO and investing in QAF.

Friday, April 27, 2018

Reader says...
What is your view with QAF now and what do you think about their management?

Heard some negative comments on their current management, especially about their CEO background.







AK says...
QAF is related to the Salim group in Indonesia. They have a tight grip on the business. Some don't like this kind of family controlled businesses.

I try to stay objective.






QAF did pretty well until the downturn in the pork business in Australia and that is a cyclical commodity business which means things should look up again eventually.

QAF does have a strong balance sheet and should be able to weather the downturn.





Having such a large majority stake in the business, it is in the interest of the insiders to make sure the business does well and continue to be the major beneficiary of a steady and meaningful dividend payout.





Many years ago, some people also told me horror stories about Old Chang Kee's CEO but it has turned out to be one of my best investments.

Most people are attracted to gossip and that is why tabloids do well.






We should only have to concern ourselves with whether the business is able to deliver what we expect from our investment.

Everything else is just a distraction.

Related post:
QAF's earnings downs but...

Frasers L&I Trust and 21 European assets.

Monday, April 23, 2018

My investment in FLT made more than a year ago has done quite well so far and I would have been quite happy to have them keep the status quo.

Of course, that is not how things work in the real world.





FLT is proposing to buy 21 properties in Europe from its sponsor, most of them German and the rest are Dutch.

Germany is Europe's strongest economy and that is one reason why I invested in IREIT Global so many years ago.





So, to me, that is a reason to like FLT's proposal to invest in German properties.

The properties are 100% occupied, are mostly freehold and mostly come with some form of built in rental escalation.





The proposed acquisitions should make FLT more resilient overall, having less concentration risk in terms of geography as well as tenants.

Of course, the most important question to be answered is how is this going to benefit us as retail investors from an income perspective?

After all, it is reasonable to assume that we are investing in FLT for income.





From FLT's presentation, the deal is likely to be yield accretive and NAV per unit is likely to creep upwards too.

So, income investors should approve.

However, it would depend on how the deal is funded and this is key.





We are not talking about buying 1 or 2 buildings here, we are talking about increasing the portfolio value by some 50%.

For a portfolio that is valued at more than a billion dollars, 50% is a big deal.







Even after taking on more debt, there is going to be a big shortfall.

So, there has to be equity fund raising which, of course, is a private placement and/or a rights issue.





Regular readers would know that I very much prefer a rights issue because it would allow retail investors like me to participate in the fund raising exercise as well.

The number of units in issue is going to increase by a third or so to help fund the deal.

There will be both a private placement and a rights issue.








Find the details in the EGM announcement on page 66: HERE.

As long as the deal allows retail investors to participate in the equity fund raising and as long as it is DPU accretive, I am happy enough for now.





See announcement: HERE.
See presentation: HERE.

Related post:
FLT and CRCT.


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