Love it or hate it, many economists predict China’s rise as a global superpower is unstoppable. It has the second largest economy and a large trade surplus, which hit a record $676 billion in 2021. China also has the largest banking sector in the world. In fact, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence, their major state-owned or controlled banks, continue to rank in the top four positions globally with an expanded balance sheet in 2021. These top four Chinese banks are Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), China Construction Bank (CCB), Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), and Bank of China (BOC). Together these big four banks constitute around 5% of the FTSE China A50 Index, which represents the largest companies by market capitalisation listed on the mainland Shanghai

The net assets value went up mostly due to the dividends of S$19K received over the past month from the investment portfolio along with some slight recovery in the overall markets. The Ukraine-Russo war is here to stay and so is the battle against inflation by US Federal Reserve via the raising of interest rates. Singapore banks strangely rallied during the last week of April'22 in spite of the drop of around 10% in earnings.1. Portfolio 1- Stocks held in SGX Central DepositoryThis portfolio is designed to provide immediate dividends for use (if required) as it is under my own CDP account and the dividends credited goes directly to my bank account. Going forward, I will be concentrating resources to increase the quantum here as my other Portfolio 2- Margin Purchased Securities (please see

Not too long ago, profitable investing and doing good for the planet used to be objectives that sit on the extreme ends of a spectrum. On one hand, investors aim to maximise their returns by investing in the right companies while on the other hand, saving the earth usually means that you need to fork out money instead to help causes that you believe in. However, this is about to change as global warming becomes the defining crisis of our time. We can no longer ignore the disastrous effects of climate change which bring about more frequent and intense drought, heat waves, rising sea levels and warming oceans. In fact, there is a burgeoning group of retail investors looking to make their money work for a greater good by investing in companies that focus on environmental, social and governanc

This article contains affiliate links. DollarsAndSense may receive a share of the revenue from your sign-ups that goes towards keeping the site sustainable. You can read our editorial policy for more information. Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) is a popular type of investment in Singapore. In fact, it is so popular that Singapore has grown to become the largest REIT market in Asia ex-Japan with a market capitalisation of $108 billion comprising 42 REITs and Property Trusts. While there are many REITs with both local and overseas property portfolio, many REITs with purely overseas properties have also chosen to list on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). Investors in Singapore are mainly drawn to REIT investments for two reasons. #1 REITs Are Essentially Property Investments. Singapore

As the second-largest economy in the world, investors cannot afford to ignore China in our investment portfolio. For REIT investors in Singapore, there also 5 China-focused REITs listed on the SGX – CapitaLand China Trust; BHG Retail REIT; Dasin Retail Trust; EC World REIT; Sasseur REIT. However, there are several things we need to consider when investing in China-focused REITs. First, there has been increasing uncertainty over loan refinancing – as reported by both Dasin Retail Trust in December 2021 and EC World REIT more recently. Like most businesses, REITs were severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as global economies are well into their re-opening strategy today, China is still pursuing a zero-COVID policy – which will continue to impact various REITs in China. The C

Dasin Retail Trust ("Dasin") made a shocking announcement on Sunday (20th March 2022) that it has entered into a non-binding memorandum of understanding ("MOU") with Wuhu Yuanche Bisheng investment Centre ("Purchaser") to explore the sales of Shiqi Metro Mall and Xiaolan Metro Mall in Guandong Province. This was a big surprise to me as instead of announcing whether the current syndicated loan (that has expired on 19th March 2022) has been extended for another 3 months, it went on to announce this first. Anyway, this is a sure sign that the syndicated loans bankers must have some serious concern on the entire Dasin for them to be only willing to give short-term extensions for the past 2 rounds and after another 3 months, no progress has been made. I will put up some points to take note of h

Dasin Retail Trust ("Dasin") S$500Mil syndicated bank loan is still in limbo despite the past 2 loan extensions- latest extension being given is from 20 December 2021 till 19 March 2022. Once again, there is not much news or disclosure from the Senior Management of Dasin with regard to the status of the syndicated bank loan albeit the deadline of 19th March 2022 fast approaching. The unit price of Dasin has been severely punished by the market and has dropped from its 52 weeks high of S$0.765 per unit to S$0.310 at its lowest point due to the high possibility of bank loan default. As at 11 March 2022 (Friday), the unit price of Dasin recovered slightly back to S$0.340 per unit. The late payment of distribution for the 1st half of FY2021 as well as the repeated failures to renew the syndica

The net assets value went down overall due to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Oil prices soared to USD129 per barrel on fear that the United States and its European allies will be banning imports of Russian oil. As energy prices went out of control, this will impact all aspects of products and services hence stock markets continued to react adversely to the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war. 1. Portfolio 1- Stocks held in SGX Central DepositoryI have sold off my units in Mapletree NAC Trust and bought additional units in United Hampshire US REIT and Lendlease REIT from the sales proceeds.Lendlease REIT has just announced the remaining acquisition of JEM shopping mall. I am rather intrigued by this additional acquisition of a suburban shopping mall along with its office property signed on

Investing in dividend stocks can actually do more harm than good? I was looking at this local You-Tuber channel and his proclamation and nearly fainted. First and foremost, I think it is strange that someone can actually brand a particular type of investor as "growth investor" or "dividend investor". I am not sure whether such a simplistic view holds true given that most investors actually invest in a number of assets and stocks. Anyone, for me, I guess i am mostly a "dividend investor" mentioned by the You-Tuber so I will proceed to examine some of the interesting points raised by the You-Tuber below:1. One should not invest just based on dividend criteria aloneOf course. I thought every investors know this. The high dividend yield trap is a well known phenomenon. We need to look at many

It is certainly great news that the SGX ended the last week of December 2021 with a little bang which brings much needed reprieve from the Omicron variant shock just over a month ago. The performance of Singapore REITs has so far been extremely disappointing.  It has been a lagger in 2021 compared to other sectors and if 2022 is good, hopefully, we can see at least 10% increase in capital appreciation which will bring my overall investment gross portfolio to over the S$1Mil mark. Saying that, as an income focused investor, I am happy to see my projected dividend growing gradually rather than the wild fluctuation up and down in stock prices throughout the year. Mapletree has also announced the proposed merger of 2 of its REITs into a $17 billion asset new entity known as the Mapletree