In Singapore’s stock market, the three major bank shares are DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (SGX: O39), and United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11). After peaking in April this year, the three banks have seen their share prices decline by around 20% each from their respective highs. The recent fall in DBS Group, OCBC, and UOB’s share prices may have led to some investors wondering which bank they should consider investing in now. There’s no easy answer, but I want to directly compare the important business and valuation aspects of the three banks in a mini article-series. This article is the second in the series and it compares the long-term track record of growth of the banking trio; the objective is to find out which bank did

In Singapore’s stock market, the three major bank shares are DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (SGX: O39), and United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11). After peaking in April this year, the three banks have seen their share prices decline by around 20% each from their respective highs. The recent fall in DBS Group, OCBC, and UOB’s share prices may have led to some investors wondering which bank they should consider investing in now. There’s no easy answer, but I want to directly compare the important business and valuation aspects of the three banks in a mini article-series. This article is the third in the series and it compares the valuation metrics for the three banks. In particular, the valuation metrics I will focus on are the price-t

In Singapore’s stock market, the three major bank shares are DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (SGX: O39), and United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11). After peaking in April this year, the three banks have seen their share prices decline by around 20% each from their respective highs. The recent fall in DBS Group, OCBC, and UOB’s share prices may have led to some investors wondering which bank they should consider investing in now. There’s no easy answer, but I want to directly compare the important business and valuation aspects of the three banks in a mini article-series. This article is the first in the series and it compares the most recent quarterly earnings updates of the banking trio. The objective is to find out which ban

The markets are ugly. Overnight, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) – a major market index in the US – fell by 3.3%. According to some market commentators, this has caused Asian markets to fall hard too. Singapore’s Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) is currently down by 2.6% from yesterday’s close at the time of writing, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index (^HSI) has slipped by 3.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 (^N225) has fallen by 4.0%. It’s easy to panic in a time like this. But it is in times like these that we have to keep a level keel – otherwise we’ll fall prey to our emotions and commit unnecessary investing mistakes. One of the best ways we can stave off panic is to look back at history. Look at how the market has done in the past to get to where we are today. Turns out, lar

Banks in Singapore have a marvellous track record of paying out dividends each year. Even during the Great Financial Crisis in 2008/2009, when many financial institutions had to be bailed out, the three major banks in Singapore still managed to pay out dividends to shareholders. Their consistency and reliability make them great dividend stocks to own. With that, here’s a quick comparison on which bank could make the best income investment. Dividend yield The dividend yield is a function of the amount of dividends a shareholder can collect against the price of the stock. The table below outlines the current dividend yield of DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Limited (SGX: O39) and United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11), as of 8 October 2018. Source: Author

A year ago, Phillip Capital Management, along with Lion Global Investors, launched the Lion-Phillip S-REIT ETF. The ETF aimed to give investors a way to invest in a diversified basket of Singapore REITs (S-REITs) which paid a steady stream of distributions. (At the moment, the average distribution yield for S-REITs is 6.8%.) The ETF was met with a largely positive response from the market – Lion Global Investors and Phillip Capital Management initially aimed to raise S$40-50 million but exceeded their target when the fund raised over S$100 million last October. Capitalizing on the Singapore market’s appetite for yield, Phillip Capital Management has now launched the Phillip SING Income ETF. The initial offer period for the ETF will close at 11:00 a.m. on 19 October 2018 before its list

Today, we are going to share with you how to grow your CPF investment money in a no-brainer way. The best part? You need not be financial savvy to do this. A beginner can do it! And I’ll reveal the exact step-by-step process, which you can follow easily. What is CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS)? It is to provide option to CPF members to invest their CPF savings in various instruments such as insurance products, unit trusts, fixed deposits, bonds and shares. The Average CPF Interest Rate is 2.5% to 4% for Ordinary Account. Check their latest interest rate here. Below is the latest CPF rate.   Share this Infographic On Your Site </p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />&l

United Overseas Bank Price – $26.85 Target – $33.30 The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) raised the US federal funds rate (FFR) by 25 basis points (bps) on 26 Sep-2018, and indicated the possibility of another FFR hike in December with three more to follow next year. Historically, there is a positive correlation between FFR and 3-month SIBOR, which has also risen to an average of 1.63% in 3Q18 from 1.51% in the prior quarter representing a 12 bps q-o-q increment. This will help to widen the 3Q18 net interest margin for United Overseas Bank (UOB). Furthermore, healthy sales in recent property launches indicated that the Government’s property cooling measures in early July might have limited impact on mortgage growth. Meanwhile, UOB pressed on with its plans for a digital bank, whi

With an aim to address the common-man-investor’s problem of being sucked into dividend traps, Phillip Capital Management is offering a new exchange-traded fund (ETF) to provide income-hungry investors with an ability to invest in a diversified group of quality dividend companies in one fell swoop. The Phillip SING Income ETF (SGX: OVQ), as it is called, is Phillip Capital’s third ETF in Singapore’s stock market. The new ETF was launched yesterday, and The Motley Fool Singapore was invited to an exclusive media briefing for the launch-event. The Phillip SING Income ETF aims to fully replicate the Morningstar Singapore Yield Focus Index. The 30-stock index selects Singapore-listed companies based on three main factors: business quality; financial health; and dividend yield. In

The Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) has dipped by about 7% since the start of the year. Much of that decline was caused by the underperformance of the three bank stocks that make up a large percentage of the index. At the moment, DBS Group Holdings Ltd (SGX: D05) and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. Limited (SGX: O39) are down 16.9% and 12.1% since the start of the year. Meanwhile, United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11) is down 9.7% from its peak for the year. With the steep declines in stock prices, could now be a good entry point for long-term shareholders? A Closer Look At DBS Group Holdings  DBS Group, the largest bank in Singapore by market capitalisation, had a good start to the year. The bank’s first half net profit rose 23% to a record high, while return on equity was 12.5%, fa

Singapore’s Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI) plays host to 30 of the largest companies in the Lion City. But one company has beaten the market’s returns by almost three times. United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11) delivered a solid 46% in total returns over the last three years. In comparison, the STI posted total returns of just 16.4% for the same period. Let’s take a closer look at how the local bank performed during this period. A Closer Look Founded in 1935, UOB has established itself as a regional bank with a presence in 19 countries. Let’s have a look at its finances to see if this outperformance is warranted. Source: UOB’s earnings presentation The graph above summarises how UOB has performed for the past three years. UOB’s net interest income has grown steadi

Despite Singapore’s healthy economic fundamentals and strong corporate earnings performance in 2Q18, analysts are striking a more cautious tone. Analysts are touting that earnings momentum is expected to decelerate, bringing an end to 18 months of earnings upgrades. For 2018, consensus has slashed earnings per share (EPS) forecasts for the MSCI Singapore by 0.7 percentage point during August. The telecommunication sector, in particular, saw the greatest earnings downgrade. Management commentary during the 2Q18 earnings season also turned less positive as compared to three months ago. Corporations cited the growing trade tensions and recent property cooling measures as the reasons behind their gloomy outlook. Only a few companies experienced a material impact from trade war but the situat

There are many ways to find investment ideas. Some useful ways are to screen for stocks or to look at a list of stocks near their 52-week lows to sieve out potential bargains. Studying what institutional investors have been buying or selling is another avenue. Institutional investors are typically large investment organisations, such as hedge funds, mutual funds, unit trust companies, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and so on. These investors tend to possess vastly greater resources than individual investors like you and me when researching stocks. Hence, it may be useful to keep a close eye on what they are doing, as a way to generate ideas. In this article, I will look at three Singapore stocks (among the top ten stocks) that have seen the highest net disposal in dollar value

United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11) or UOB in short, is one of the three major banks based out of Singapore. After reaching an intra-day peak of S$30.37 this year, UOB’s share price has declined by about 10% to S$27.32 (at the time of writing). Despite the fall in share price, there are many reasons why UOB might be a good investment for investors. I discussed the first three reasons in a previous article. As a quick recap, the reasons are: 1. Strong recent quarterly earnings update; 2. Good financial track record; 3. Stable dividend track record In this article, I will share another reason. Decent valuation As investors, we should always invest in shares that are trading at less than their intrinsic values. In other words, that means paying less than a dollar, for a dollar. The lower a

There are many ways to find investment ideas. Some useful ways are to screen for stocks or to look at a list of stocks near their 52-week lows to sieve out potential bargains. Studying what institutional investors have been buying or selling is another avenue. Institutional investors are typically large investment organisations, such as hedge funds, mutual funds, unit trust companies, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and so on. These investors tend to possess vastly greater resources than individual investors like you and me when researching stocks. Hence, it may be useful to keep a close eye on what they are doing, as a way to generate ideas. In this article, I will look at three Singapore stocks (among the top ten stocks) that have seen the highest net purchases in dollar valu

United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11), or UOB for short, is one of the three major banks in Singapore. It is also part of the Straits Times Index (SGX: ^STI), occupying around 12% of the Singapore stock market benchmark. UOB’s shares have been coming down of late. From an intraday peak of S$30.37 seen at the end of April this year, the stock has fallen some 15% to S$25.75 (at the time of writing). With such a fall, is it an opportunity to pick up some of the bank’s shares? There is no straightforward answer, but we can make some smart guesses by analysing a few aspects of the bank. Net asset value growth The net asset value (NAV) is the difference between a company’s assets and its liabilities. It also shows the company’s net worth. By looking at a bank’s net worth over the years,

There are many ways to find investment ideas. Some useful ways are to screen for stocks or to look at a list of stocks near their 52-week lows to sieve out potential bargains. Studying what institutional investors have been buying or selling is another avenue. Institutional investors are typically large investment organisations, such as hedge funds, mutual funds, unit trust companies, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and so on. These investors tend to possess vastly greater resources than individual investors like you and me when researching stocks. Hence, it may be useful to keep a close eye on what they are doing, as a way to generate ideas. In this article, I will look at three Singapore stocks (among the top ten stocks) that have seen the highest net purchases in dollar valu

United Overseas Bank Ltd (SGX: U11), or UOB, is one of the three major banks based in Singapore. Early last month, the bank announced its 2018 second quarter (2Q18) earnings update. Here are five positive things that I think investors should know about its results. The results Here’s a quick summary of some key financial metrics for 2Q18. Source: UOB’s Results Presentation Overall, we can see that most metrics improved on a year-on-year basis. But there are more to these numbers. First of all, total income grew 11% year-on-year to S$2.3 billion mainly due to strong growth in both net interest income and net fee and commission income. In other words, income growth was mostly across the board. Secondly, net interest income grew 14% year-on-year to S$1.54 billion due to broad-based loa

Many would think that religiously socking money away in the bank is the safest way to grow their wealth. That is far from the truth. With banks giving low-interest rates of around 0.05% on our savings, it is hardly enough to beat inflation. Over the long-term, Singapore’s inflation has averaged 2.6%. Therefore, our money in the bank is getting skimped away by the inflation-monster at a rate of 2.55% each year. Our hard-earned money is far from being “safe” in the bank. Therefore, all of us need to learn to invest for a more comfortable retirement. The longer you can invest for, the more time your money has on its side for compound interest to work its magic. The eighth wonder of the world The world-renowned physicist, Albert Einstein, was believed to have once quipped that compound i

An activist investor has set its sights on one of Singapore’s banks. It hasn’t said which one, yet. But there are only three banks listed in Singapore. That is unless we count deposit-taking outfit, Hong Leong Finance (SGX: S41), as a bank too, which it isn’t. So, we have a one-in-three chance of correctly guessing which one it might be. But Singapore banks have not performed that badly. So, why would Judah Value Activist Fund want to take on one of the Singapore banks. It said it wants to make it more efficient. Over the last decade, the total return of DBS Group (SGX: D05), Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (SGX: O39) and United Overseas Bank (SGX: U11) have outperformed many of its peers…. …. The median annual total return for both Asian and European banks has been around 7%