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Hi Ray,
Actually, when I finally fully divested from CitySpring, I did not lose money.
See: CitySpring Infrastructure Trust: Thoughts on divestment.
I was also spared the subsequent rights issue.
See: CitySpring Infrastructure Trust: Rights issue.
Up till now, for me, the trusts which I count as heavy losses are MPSF and FSL Trust. For REITs, I lost on FCOT (the former Allco REIT) and Saizen REIT but these were not heavy losses if I take into consideration dividends received and trading gains, if any. I would consider 5 figure losses as heavy losses. That's just me.
All other REITs I am vested in are in the black. Many, like AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT, were in the red but recognising the improving fundamentals, I used the weakness in the last crisis to add to my investments. Such decisions have been rewarding and I am likely to repeat such decisions if history should repeat itself.
The divested investments were growth stocks mostly. The one which was not was Hyflux Water Trust and that was privatised. So, it was a forced divestment but at a premium of 150% to my purchase price, I couldn't complain.
See: Hyflux Water Trust: Privatisation.
Overall for me, in the last three years, trading gains outweigh trading losses 3 to 1 but in the last one year, all the gains to my portfolio of stocks were from the hefty dividends received as circumstances did not and still do not favour long investors. Honestly, I booked some paper losses trying to trade the market in recent months. The decision to focus more on investing for income, however, paid off.
Dr. Marc Faber said the last crisis was a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a lot of money in the stock market. Is it likely to be repeated in the near future? I do not know and, hence, my current strategy of being partially invested.
Generally, how did I grow and manage my wealth? I have shared my thoughts here in my blog but I have left out the specifics because I care about my privacy and I believe it to be extremely unlikely that two unrelated persons would have the exact same path anyway. For anyone who might be interested, the relevant blog posts are in the right sidebar under the headings of "Passive Income Journey" and "Wealth Creation".
There are many roads to wealth creation and each of us should choose our own path. Some well known bloggers like Musicwhiz and Createwealth do not invest in properties, for example, and they are doing well following their own paths.
Personally, I invested in properties and their recent divestments gave me some handsome gains which are now in my warchest awaiting deployment.
Know what we want. Know ourselves and what we can deal with given our circumstances. Finally, strategise and work towards a target.
It is the toughest at the beginning and this I can say for sure. However, whichever school we decide to follow, it gets easier with time. So, do not lose heart. There is no short cut but do not cut short your journey towards financial freedom.
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