Friday, September 29, 2017

Q3 2017 Portfolio Update

I didn't bother to find the exact date, but I should be 2.5 years old in the market as at September 2017. When I first started out in investing, I read voraciously (both books and blogs) and checked the prices of stocks in my watch list fastidiously. Now? I really couldn't be bothered with the latter.

I am predominantly an income investor who invest for the long term. Once I identified my target, I allocate a sum of money that I am comfortable with to it. The amount I allocate varies, depending on the counter's riskiness and the extent of opacity I have on that particular counter. Therefore, the counters which I have more knowledge and conviction in are given a higher weight in my portfolio than counters which I am less knowledgeable in. Once done, I check up on the individual counters from time to time.

Sometimes, I think I am pushing my luck with my sloven ways in portfolio management. Whenever there are new corporate actions, I observe bloggers, investment sites, and forums bustling with activity. Yours truly is the clueless clown who is last in line to get and react to any new information. There have been multiple instances when I logged in to my bank account and realized that there are dividends that I do not know of that have come in! How unbecoming of me!

What's with my ramblings? My Q3 2017 dividends were lesser than my Q3 2016 dividends. At first, I don't even know why that is the case until it dawned on me that I have been trimming down my portfolio in Q2 2017 (see here). Clueless? Much.


Moving forward, I expect dividend income to drop further. I am waiting for the payout from Croesus Retail Trust in end October. Once CRT is delisted, it will deal yet another blow to my portfolio's income generation.


Next, we have my USD-denominated counters. Do note that the y-axis for the above chart is different from the first chart. I am still getting nowhere in terms of dividend income from my USD-denominated portfolio. Well, if I really wanna force some sort of silver lining to focus on, I could say that: Hey! I got some kopi money in Q3 2017 instead of a big fat zero in Q3 2016.

Portfolio Actions in Q3 2017
I am still cautious and am still holding tightly to my cash. However, my itchy fingers got the better of me, so I nibbled on Singtel, Raffles Medical Group, and General Mills.

Singtel to increase my non-REIT income and reduce my exposure to the REIT sector. I was already vested in Singtel previously.

Raffles Medical Group to average down. When I first initiated a position in RMG, it was a nibble as well. Back then, the price has corrected slightly, but the earnings multiple was still fairly lofty. I kinda knew it would fall further but my itchy fingers got the better of me, so I initiated a super small position to mitigate the risk of the potential fall.

It is a psychological thing, really. It is something that I must learn to overcome myself. I either learn to: (1) accept and internalize the fear-of-missing-out feeling, wait for value to emerge and enter at a safer level, or (2) nibble a new position and nibble down together with the down trend.

New position in General Mills. Consumer staples company facing some headwinds. Nuff said.

The Bleeding ones
Ho ho ho! The consumer staples sector is bleeding.

In my portfolio, J.M. Smucker and Hormel Foods are bleeding. Will be looking forward to nibble average down if the price permits.

Kimberly Clark is going to bleed soon (with reference to my entry price), so it's back on my watch list. Same goes for Welltower REIT.

At the SGD-portfolio side, the bleeding ones are the usual culprits (QAF, Raffles Medical Group), so I am not too concerned. There's a new member to the list though (Kingsmen Creatives).

Net worth breakdown
I think it would also be helpful if I include a section on my net worth breakdown. It's more for identifying how prepared I am for a market crash (available cash for investment against what I currently have in equities).


The pie chart depicts the breakdown in my net worth across the various asset classes in percentage (pie chart neither includes my CPF nor my emergency fund). To be conservative, I computed my precious metals allocation at spot price even though I am holding everything in physicals. 

Moving forward, and after deducting allocations to our emergency fund, I will be trying to increase the proportion of cash held in the overall pie chart of my net worth. That's provided if gold/silver prices doesn't pull back and tempt me and I don't suffer from "itchy finger" and nibble on equities further.

9 comments:

  1. Hi UN

    Wow youre still holding a lot of cash!! Keep on receiving dividend for the long term :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi B,

      I'm doing just that. Loving the incoming divvys! :D

      My pie chart is deceptive, lol. Proportion-wise, cash seems huge, but actual dollar value-wise, it's meh. :(

      Delete
  2. Haha. We have the same bleeding stocks.. I have a pie chart on my net worth which includes CPF and I am sitting only on < 5% cash. My fingers always itchy. lol.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi KPO,

      Naughty! Don't stick your hand into the cookie jar too often lah! :P

      Delete
  3. US stocks dividends attract withholding taxes right? The playbook shouldn't be income for US i feel but personal opinion...thanks for sharing

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi SGDividends,

      Yes, there are dividend withholding taxes. My US counters consist of dividend aristocrats with sufficient scale, healthy payout ratio, recession-resistant businesses who have a history of increasing their dividends year after year, and strong cashflow.

      Mainly, I get them for their sustainable dividend-paying and dividend-growth ability (albeit the actual yield, after dividend withholding taxes, are way lower than the yields I could get from SG counters). When I get them at the lower end of their historical PE ratio, I can step off the gas pedal ever so slightly. :)

      Cheers

      Delete
  4. 24.1% cash.. You're gearing up for the great correction I suppose? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Sleepydevil,

      24.1% is for precious metals lah. Cash is 31.4% :)

      Delete
    2. Oppsss sorry!! at that timing my eyes are blurred. Wow. that's even higher. I see you're well prepared :p

      Delete