In my previous post on "How Do You Prepare A Growing Warchest", I mentioned about how we can accumulate our warchest through a variety of ways.One of the ways to do them is through the accumulation of defensive stocks which tend to be more resilient during period of uncertainties.I was fortunate to have a few of these defensive resilient companies in my portfolio, which include the likes of Vicom, Starhill Reit and Netlink Trust when I started the year, each of them taking up a very large position in the portfolio.I began to unwind each of them slowly, as I look to build up more warchest in anticipation of events like what we have today, with the divestment of Starhill Reit back in May at a (relatively so-so on hindsight) price of 75 cents and divestment of Netlink Trust back in Jun a

Every three to four years, we revisit the topic issue on the importance to keep a warchest in our portfolio. This comes always on the back of something that is brewing, like the Eurozone crisis in 2011, the oil and China crisis in 2016 and the Trade War and HK protests in 2019.As the name itself implied, having sufficient warchest in your portfolio means you are keeping a sum of money that is ready when you are needed to go to war. The thing is this, we always take things granted in our lives, especially when everything are looking good and the sky is shining clear and bright.When times are good, we don't treasure them hard enough and often it gets overlooked with something which may seem more urgent to us. However, when things go sour, or when we lose it, we wish we could have put on

If you want to summarize the running of a business into just one simple formula,  it should look like this :1) Revenue - Costs = Operating Income2) Operating Income - Tax and interest expenses = Net IncomeThere are only two ways for anyone to make more money in any business endeavour:a) Increase RevenuesThis happens only if I can get more customers to sign up for my program. One way would be to keep varying my marketing preview messages so that more potential customers sign up. Another way would be to increase the frequency of my preview talks.There is also the possibility of adding more courses. The answer I have chosen for myself is to keep improving the value of the cost to justify fee increases.b) Reduce CostsIt is much harder for me to reduce costs so I do avoid taking this route

Netlink NBN Trust is the sole owner of Singapore’s passive fibre network infrastructure, which provides nationwide coverage of fibre broadband services. It is also responsible for the maintenance and operation of any infrastructure related to the fibre network, including ducts, manholes, fibre cables, and central offices. As a business trust, Netlink distributes 100% of its cash flows after company expenses such as management costs and interest payments. This enabled the company to pay shareholders a healthy distribution per share of 4.88 cents over the past year. This translates into an attractive yield of 5.55% based on its closing price of S$0.88 on 8 August 2019. While the dividend yield is enticing, it is important to find out whether the dividend can be maintained (or incr

First published in Business Times on 2 August, 2019 By Mak Yuen Teen and Chew Yi Hong The third edition of the Governance Index for Trusts (GIFT) assesses the governance and business risk of 46 real estate investment trusts (Reits) and business trusts (BTs) listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX). Four trusts are new to GIFT in the 2019 edition, having more than a year of listing status to allow us to assess them meaningfully. They are Cromwell European Reit, Keppel-KBS US Reit, NetLink NBN Trust and Sasseur Reit. The trusts that are ranked in the top five in GIFT 2019 are NetLink NBN Trust, Mapletree Commercial Trust, Keppel DC Reit, AIMS APAC Reit and Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (joint fourth). The average combined governance and business risk score has continued to improve s

By Mak Yuen Teen NetLink NBN Trust, one of the four new trusts included in the third edition of the Governance Index for Trusts (GIFT), has achieved the top ranking in its first year. This year, the governance and business risk of 46 out of the 50 real estate investment trusts (REITs) and business trusts (BTs) listed on SGX were assessed. Four trusts are new to GIFT in the 2019 edition, the other three being Cromwell European REIT, Keppel-KBS US REIT and Sasseur REIT. In general, the new trusts have fared well, with Keppel-KBS US REIT ranked joint sixth. The trusts that are ranked in the top 5 in GIFT 2019 are Netlink NBN Trust, Mapletree Commercial Trust, Keppel DC REIT, AIMS APAC REIT and Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust (joint fourth). The average combined governance and business r

According to latest official readings, the Singapore economy is “flirting” dangerously with recession. In 2Q19, Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew a meagre 0.1 percent, widely missing economists’ expectations of a 1.1 percent growth. Exacerbated by the US-China trade war, the local manufacturing sector dragged the broader economy, contracting by a wider 3.8 percent in the quarter. That said, over in the US, the Federal Reserve has been signalling a strengthening case for an interest rate cut at the end of this month. The undercurrent driving this is also none other than the ongoing trade war with China, which is beginning to materially impact on US economy as well. Given the two information, what can retail investors do to protect themselves against adverse shocks? We of

For investors, making yield plays seem to be a highly sensible thing to do. According to DBS, here are 4 yield plays that investors should consider. Investors Takeaway: 4 Yield Plays As Trade War Uncertainties Linger By DBS Frasers Property With the rise of its REITs’ share prices, DBS sees a window of opportunity for Frasers Property (Frasers) to capitalise and grow its REITs AUM. One strategy that DBS thinks Frasers Property can adopt is to recycle its mature assets into its listed REITs. This can help the developer to grow its AUM and re-allocate funds towards higher return investments. Overall, DBS remains highly positive on Frasers Property due to its limited exposure to Singapore residential properties amidst subdued sentiments. Its strong recurring income profile as a landlord i

NetLink NBN Trust’s (SGX: CJLU) latest annual report shows that future growth is intact. Here are three things I learnt from the trust's management statements.

The telco sector in Singapore has been through a competitive business landscape over the past few years. The incumbents – Singtel, StarHub and M1, have found their profits threatened by new players such as MyRepublic and Circles.Life, forcing them to slash prices in order to retain their market shares. Consumers are naturally happy to have more choices on which telco to choose but are investors better off? In this edition of 4 Stocks This Week, we look at 4 main players in the telco industry to find out how they have been performing. Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SGX: Z74) It was reported earlier this week that Singtel CEO Chua Sock Koong had her salary nearly halved, taking home ‘only’ $3.5 million for the last financial year, as compared to $6.1 million the year before

With the trade war in full steam, it does not help that Singapore is expected to experience the sharpest economic slowdown in Southeast Asia. Investors need to take extra caution when deciding what goes into their portfolio for 2H19. According to MBKE, here are five large caps that investors should pick up in these uncertain times. Investors Takeaway: 5 Large Caps That Your Portfolio Should Consist Of By MBKE UOB While United Overseas Bank (UOB) is facing slower domestic growth, MBKE believes that the slowdown in domestic growth will be offset by increasing contribution from overseas operation. UOB’s lagging net interest margin should also see an improvement going forward from re-pricing loan yields and better liquidity management. Another fundamental that MBKE likes about UOB is its s

Investors looking for a stable business trust in which to invest may want to consider NetLink NBN Trust (SGX: CJLU).

Living in Singapore, it’s unthinkable not to have internet access. While majority of us already have access to internet via our mobile phones as well as in the office, we still have to subscribe for a home broadband that provides unlimited usage for everyone in our household. Read Also: [Cheatsheet] The Best SIM-Only Plans in Singapore (2019 Edition) When it comes to choosing the best broadband plan for our home, there are six main players in the market. No. Internet Service Provider (ISP) 1 M1 2 MyRepublic 3 SingTel 4 StarHub 5 ViewQwest 6 WhizComms   When applying for a home broadband service, there are two types of fees that you may be charged, outside of what the internet service provider charges: What Is The NLT Service Activation Fee? We have to pay $56.71 fo

No.  Counters No. of Shares Market Price (SGD) Total Value (SGD) based on market price Allocation % 1. Vicom   31,300 6.59 206,267.00 23.0% 2. Netlink Trust 236,000 0.83 195,880.00 21.0% 3. Far East Hospitality Trust     3,000 0.64     1,920.00   1.0% 4. Ho Bee Land        300 2.36        708.00   0.1% 5. Warchest    513,510.00 55.0% Total 918,285.00 100% Sell in May and go away.This month has been a brutal month as we see increased risk volatility in the market due to the US-China trade war, which pushed most major indexes and s

With an increasing number of large-cap S-REITs trading at or approaching relatively unattractive yield and price-to-book value, DBS suggests investors to look towards alternative dividend plays. Here are five companies that DBS has identified that fit along this theme. Investors Takeaway: 5 Alternative Dividend Plays Frasers Property: Best Dividend Play Among Developers Among developers, Frasers Property offers the highest dividend yield of five percent. This is coupled with an attractive 0.7 times price per NAV for Frasers Property. Its strong recurring income profile as a landlord in the commercial space that is strengthened by its recent catalysts: Acquisition of PGIM Real Estate Asia Retail Fund, news on interested parties to acquire its newly completed Frasers Tower, and the latest

1. SPH REIT  --  5th Apr 20192. SPH  --  9th Apr 20193. First REIT  --  10th Apr 20194. Kep Infra Trust  --  15th Apr 20195. Kep DC Reit  --  15th Apr 20196. Kep-KBS US Reit  --  16th Apr 20197. Kep Reit  --  17th Apr 20198. Soilbuild REIT  --  17th Apr 20199. Kep Corp  --  18th Apr 201910. CapitaComm Trust  --  18th Apr 201911. MapletreeInd Trust  --  22nd Apr 201912. MapletreeCom Trust  --  23rd Apr 201913. FrasersCom Trust  --  23rd Apr 201914. Suntec Reit  --  24th Apr 201915. CapitaMall Trust -- 24th Apr 201916. Frasers Cpt Trust  --  24th Apr 201917. CapitaR China Trust  --  24th Apr 201918. SGX  --  25th Apr 201919.

NetLink NBN Trust (SGX: CJLU) reported an admirable set of earnings and declared a higher-than-projected distribution to unitholders. Here are eight things investors might be interested to know.

With all the earnings announcement finally done and underway (Netlink was the last to report yesterday), it's my favorite time of the year where I get to tally the amount of dividends I will be receiving this quarter.Please do note that this 2nd quarter covered the period of the dividend cashflow from the period 1st April 2019 to 30 June 2019.For readers who are new to this blog, this is a sequence of exercise that I've been doing for the past few years usually after the earnings season ended. This tracking not only allows me to keep abreast of any development in the payout dates and the quantum amount but also more importantly reminds me of how far I’ve come since I embarked on this journey of dividend investing which is coming to almost a decade now. Since we are a household

No.  Counters No. of Shares Market Price (SGD) Total Value (SGD) based on market price Allocation % 1. Starhill Reit 377,000 0.755 284,635.00 30.0% 2. Vicom   31,300 6.79 212,527.00 23.0% 3. Netlink Trust 236,000 0.835 197,060.00 21.0% 4. First Reit 152,000 0.98 148,994.00 17.0% 5. The Hour Glass 106,900 0.80   85,520.00   9.0% 6. Far East Hospitality Trust     3,000 0.67     2,010.00   1.0% 7. Ho Bee Land        300 2.53        759.00   1.0% 8. Warchest     1,000     1

No.  Counters No. of Shares Market Price (SGD) Total Value (SGD) based on market price Allocation % 1. Starhill Reit 377,000 0.70 263,900.00 29.0% 2. Vicom   31,300 6.48 202,824.00 22.0% 3. Netlink Trust 236,000 0.795 187,620.00 21.0% 4. First Reit 152,000 0.995 151,240.00 17.0% 5. Manulife Reit   81,000 US$0.85   92,759.00 11.0% 6. Hobee Land        300 2.51        753.00   1.0% 7. Warchest     1,000     1,000.00   1.0% Total 900,096.00 100% Earnings season is finally over so we are back to this muted season where the share price is just gyrating along with the overall trend of the market.I've ma