Get someone qualified to fix the sorry state of our MRT.

I have said before in my blog I am not averse to companies I am invested in paying their top executives top dollar if they are worth the money. However, when it is obvious they are not worth the money, we should replace them.

I have been ranting a bit on my FB wall recently regarding SMRT after the massive breakdown a few days ago. It has gone beyond being a bit of an embarrassment and mere inconvenience. I think it is really unacceptable.

From my FB wall:

"Highest pay for SMRT CEO ever = Largest MRT breakdown ever?
What is LTA going to do? Slap SMRT with a big fine again?
Who is bearing the burden of the fines? SMRT shareholders!
Why not consider slapping the CEO with a fine?"

Enough is enough. It is time we get someone who can do the job properly to lead SMRT. It might have to be a foreign talent if no Singaporean has the knowledge or experience to do the job well.

Which is less embarrassing? Admitting that we need foreign talent or having a MRT system that keeps breaking down?

Related post:
MRT nightmare at Bugis.

SRS account, CPF account and rights issues.

I always avoid using money in my SRS or CPF accounts to buy stocks of companies which I think might need to do equity fund raising in future. 

So, no REITs or business trusts, for examples.




Here are a couple of conversations I had recently:

Reader #1...

this is the first time i'm writing, and I'm hoping you can spare a few minutes to share your knowledge and experience with me. 

i bought a counter through my CPF-IS long ago, and I have maxed out my CPF-IS. 

this counter has an on-going rights issue (190 for every 100 owned). 




i would like to sell the rights (as i don't have the "capacity" in my CPF-IS to buy the rights. 

assuming i owned 2000 shares, do i sell 2000 rights, or 3800 rights?

i tried asking my broker, but my broker doesnt seem to know the answer.

I know you have blogged about rights a number of occasions, so i figured you probably know better than most people. 

AK says...
I am not a licensed financial adviser or broker, so, take what I say with a pinch of salt. 

Disclaimer applies. ;)

First, find out if the rights are renounceable. 

If they are renounceable, then, you are allowed to sell the nil-paid rights given to you when they start trading.




If you are given 190 rights for 100 shares owned, if you owned 2,000 shares, you should be given 3,800 rights units (nil-paid) and that is what you can sell.

Oh, you might want to consider firing your broker. ;p

Reader #2...

Hope all is well.

Have been Following your blog silently for the past 5 years & invested quite a bit on reits. 

Thanks for the education.

Recently OUE Com Reit issued rights.
I bought some using SRS.

How do I subscribe to my entitled rights using my SRS?

If my SRS has no excess funds, what can I do?




AK says...
I only use my SRS money to buy stocks which I am pretty sure will not have rights issue precisely to avoid a situation like the one you have described.

If you do not have extra funds in your SRS account, then, you are caught in a difficult situation. 

You might want to call the bank your SRS account is maintained with and ask them for advice.




As an aside, in case there are people who are wondering why AK is not blogging as much as before, this is another recent conversation:

I need to learn how to break and blog. :)

Related post:
High yielding business trusts: A discussion.