My investment portfolio, market value and position sizing.

Tachikawa City, Tokyo, was ranked the third most desirable city to live in due to its easy access to central Tokyo. Croesus Tachikawa consists of three basement floors and eight floors above ground. 

I feel that I have been blogging a bit too much recently and it is probably a good idea for me to go offline for a few days.

So, it won't just be blogging that I am avoiding but everything else that requires me to go online to do as well. Hence, I won't be replying to comments and emails either.




Before I go offline in another few hours for the next few days, I should respond to a request from a reader.

Reader:
"I know you won't reveal your portfolio's details. You also won't tell us the size of your portfolio and the average yield."

Now, I know some bloggers share full details of their investment portfolios. I don't know their reasons for doing so. They probably feel comfortable with sharing in detail but I don't.

After some thought, I decided I am comfortable enough to share the sizes of my investments in bands just like how companies disclose remuneration of top executives in their annual reports.





Aqualine Golf Club in Tokyo, an AGT asset.

Based on current market value:

From $350,000 to $499,999:
AIMS AMP Cap Ind'l REIT

From $200,000 to $349,999:
ACCORDIA Golf Trust
CROESUS Retail Trust
FIRST REIT

From $100,000 to $199,999:
ASCENDAS H-Trust
QAF Limited
WILMAR Int'l

All other investments in my portfolio have market values of less than $100,000 each, with many of them being lower than $50,000 each.

Without revealing specifics, this gives an idea of the relative sizes of my investments.


Wilmar went into the sugar business in 2010.

Why did I decide to share in such a manner after refusing to reveal anything more specific for so many years?





I have said before that position sizing is important and how we size our investments should depend on our own circumstances and not someone else's. 

If someone we respect and trust invested $40,000 in a stock, it does not mean that we should too.

We should size our investments in such a way that if it should go wrong, it would not set us back too much. If we should get it wrong, it should not take us a very long time to recover.

So, for example, taken on its own, to most people, it might seem like I have a very big investment in Accordia Golf Trust. However, in relation to the size of my entire portfolio, it is actually not that big.






I have refused to share my portfolio in detail all along because I know some people might just replicate it but probably on a smaller scale. So, I still refuse to do it.

After all, apart from our circumstances, we should also size our investments based on our motivations and beliefs. 

My portfolio suits me. It might also suit some other people but it definitely doesn't suit everyone else.

So, why did I choose to share in such a manner after refusing to reveal anything more specific for so many years? You tell me.

Until my next blog, be good. Practice prudence, pragmatism and patience. Farewell for now.

Win and win again with SRS.

I blog about the SRS pretty often and how my SRS account is a war chest. 

I also said before that I don't mind having quite a bit of money idling and waiting for opportunities. 

When opportunities come knocking, I pounce!

 Chatting with a reader in FB.

I get to save on income tax and invest for higher returns. 

It is a win win situation with both winners being me! 

Greedy AK! 

Bad AK!




SRS money cannot be withdrawn until age 62 unless we are OK with incurring a penalty. 

So, it would be good to use the money to buy into businesses which we believe will still be around when we are 62. 

This might sound amusing but it is the truth.

Of course, the businesses should pay meaningful dividends and offer sustainable yields that at least mimic CPF interest rates.

In a nutshell, invest with our SRS money when the time is right. Don't speculate with it. 




SRS money is meant to be our second retirement nest egg, after the CPF. 

Don't play play.

Being unemployed, I will not be contributing to my SRS account anymore. 

So, any growth in my SRS account will be purely organic henceforth.





Why win once when we can win twice with the SRS? 

Win and win again with SRS?

I like.

Related posts:
1. SRS, CPF and rights issues.
2. SRS: e-book and analysis.
3. How AK uses his SRS money and why?

Investor psychology and beating our fears.

This blog is a follow up to an earlier blog titled:

Increased investment in Religare Health Trust by more than 150%.




This is in response to a request by Reader A.

READER A.

 We should expect volatility in prices. 

In fact, we should welcome it as investors. 

If we do not have the stomach for volatility, stocks could be a bad place for our money.

READER B.

In a situation like that, apart from having an idea of what is a decent price to pay, how do we prepare ourselves mentally to pull the trigger?

Ask: 

To what extent can we afford to be totally wrong?




After all, if we are totally wrong, we could lose all the money we invested. 

Can we stomach that?

It is all about having peace of mind as investors. 

If you have forgotten or have never read my blog on that before. 

Read it: HERE.




Remember:

1. Don't use borrowed funds.

2. Don't use funds earmarked for other purposes.

Use only money we can afford to lose and meant for investing for income.

Even though it is money we can afford to lose, ask: 

How much of it can we lose without losing our minds if things should go wrong?




Of course, we want to avoid being wrong. 

We try our best to get our facts and reasoning correct.  

However, despite our best effort, we could still be wrong.




We want to be greedy when others are fearful but we don't want to be so greedy that we throw prudence out the window.

The resulting monetary loss from being wrong must be something we can stomach easily.

Otherwise, don't be in doubt. 

We really should stay out.