Blog about my increasing portfolio value?

Reader:
Many of your stocks have risen in price. Examples are CCL, FLT, SGR, CRT, CRCT, RHT. The actual list is much longer definitely. 

In addition to your quarterly reports on your passive income, would you consider sharing the change in the value of your portfolio as well? 

I am sure many readers are interested and it would be inspiring too.

AK:
I know some investment bloggers do what you said but I won't because it doesn't gel with my motivations both as an investor and also as a blogger. 

My focus is on investing for income and price movements don't really matter to me as long as my investments continue to do what I expect them to do and one of those things is to pay a meaningful dividend. 

So, sharing my passive income numbers is something I am quite willing to do as this is what I feel would inspire readers to invest for income to help them on their journey towards financial freedom.


Do you feel the same way as the reader or do you feel the same way I do?

I think it is probably more useful to see why I invested in some of the businesses the reader highlighted and to understand my decision making process.

If you are interested, here are a few blogs to read:

Added Frasers L&I Trust and CapitaRetail China.

Added Centurion Corporation Limited.

Added Starhill Global REIT.

I assure you that this is more productive than reading about how the value of my investment portfolio has changed.

Related post:
My portfolio or my philosophy?

Do this to get higher interest income with UOB ONE?

Reader:

Understand that you have UOB One Card.

Recently, a UOB Personal Banker approaches me regarding the other usage of One Card to earn higher interest in the One Account.

Instead of spending $500, one can just save that $500 through a Prudential savings plan. This $500 will be deducted from the One Card every month for 5 years. After which, the total amount deducted will be locked for another 10 years. 

At the end of the 15 years, one can earn an effective interest p.a. of about 3.13%. The principal is guaranteed. 

In this way, one does not need to force spend every month to reach the $500 target in order to earn a higher interest on the One Account. Through this method, one can also earn higher interest as this $500 is "spent" on the savings plan, by utilizing the One Card.

What do you think of this? Appreciate if you can talk to yourself...

AK:
I will avoid an insurance cum savings (which is really insurance cum investment) product. I always say buy term and invest the rest. Instinctively, I would say 'no' to this offer.

I believe that 3.13% per annum is the potential interest rate and not guaranteed. I do not know if you would be disappointed 15 years later if you only get back your capital then (if Prudential does not go bust).

If you have trouble spending $500 on your UOB ONE Card each month, it might be better to simply forgo the UOB ONE Account. Forget it.

Doing this, you would be forgoing an additional interest income of about $800 a year (assuming you have $50,000 in the savings account which would have earned a bonus 1.6% in interest with a monthly spend of $500) but it gives you greater financial flexibility and a chance to build a bigger war chest for the next bear market.

Related posts:
1. UOB ONE Account?
2. How many $29,000 do we have?

Bought more VIVA Industrial Trust and worried.

Reader:
I learn of your blog from reading an article you wrote about Viva Industrial Trust for a magazine. 

I am very concerned now because I just bought more after reading research provided by my broker. 

The dividend is expected to increase. 

Is the land lease situation really bad?







60 years land lease from 1961.
Expiring in 2020, no extension is allowed.

AK:
I don't remember writing for any magazine or maybe I did but I just don't remember.

Whether an investment is good or not depends in part on the motivation of the investor. 

If you are invested in Viva Industrial Trust for income, you have to question not only how high the yield is, you have to question how sustainable it is going to be?





Can there be any other motivations for investing in Viva Industrial Trust? 

The belief that, perhaps, the manager could increase asset value and to sell assets to an unsuspecting (or gullible) party at a higher price before the land leases end? 

Of course, this would make the decision more a speculation than an investment.

I know what I have said does not sit well with everybody and I can even prove it. ;p

Hey, I am only a blogger and I anyhow talk to myself in my blog lah. 






Don't care me hor.

Listen to John Lim better. 

Who is John Lim? Who else?

In an interview, John Lim said there is an issue with the structure of the Singapore industrial property market. The land tenures are relatively short and valuations will fall because they are aligned to tenure. 

Not I say. 

John Lim say hor.






This is why Cache Logistics Trust is diversifying into Australia. 

Incidentally, so has AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT. 

Of course, we also have a new comer, Frasers Logistics and Industrial Trust which is a pure Australian play.

Related posts:
1. VIVA Industrial Trust's 9% yield.
2. AA, Soilbuild and VIVA REITs. 

AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT challenged.

I have said before that AA REIT is not unique in the industrial REIT space. All industrial landlords in Singapore are facing difficulties presented by over supply and weaker demand. 

From the latest results presented by AA REIT, it is obvious that the difficult environment is not letting up anytime soon.

1. New and renewed leases are at a weighted average rental decrease of 4.3%.

2. Portfolio occupancy has declined from 94.6% to 91.0%.

Things are admittedly difficult but they are far from grim.



103 Defu Lane 10.





A competent management has kept gearing manageable at 36.3% and also managed to reduce overall blended funding cost to 3.6%.

Interest cover ratio is healthy at 4.9x and NAV per unit stands at $1.39.

We tend to be a bit less cautious when the stock market is doing better but it pays to go back to the fundamentals. Just two days ago:

http://singaporeanstocksinvestor.blogspot.sg/2017/03/aims-amp-capital-industrial-reit-is.html

Remember, price is what we pay and value is what we get.

Also, try to put things in perspective. This is hardly a crisis.

http://singaporeanstocksinvestor.blogspot.sg/2017/03/aims-amp-capital-industrial-reit-levels.html

Things would probably look up when 2 development projects (51 Marsiling Road and 8 Tuas Ave 20) are completed in 2H 2017.

30 Tuas West Road. Published on 20 July 2017.
Slides presentation: HERE