Portfolio Update February 2023

Today is the last day of Feb 2023.

Let me provide a quick update of my investment portfolios.

My SGX Income Portfolio value drops to $296k from $304k last month.

My US/HK Growth Portfolio value dips to US$14.1k from US$14.7k last month.

My SRS Ultra Long-Term Portfolio value rises slightly to $124k from $120k due to recent contribution of $6.8k into my SRS account.

The Fed will slow down interest rate hikes and global recession is on the cards. The stock markets have displayed signs of retracement despite earlier bullish trend amidst immense volatility in a high inflationary environment still clouded by immense noises and fears. We should remain calm and clear-minded and make the best out of current situation by investing and deploying our financial resources into assets tactfully in 2023.

Portfolio Actions

1. Rollover 1 unit of GOOGL230203 call option with $95 strike price by closing at $10.30 and sold 1 unit of GOOGL230616 call option with $100 strike price at US$11.85.

Portfolio Dividends

1. Received $90 of dividends from Savings Bonds on 1 Feb.

2. Received $99.50 of dividends from Suntec Reit on 28 Feb.

SGX Income Portfolio

Portfolio Value = $296k

US/HK Growth Portfolio

Moomoo

Tiger Broker

Syfe Trade

Portfolio Value = US$14.7k

SRS Ultra Long-Term Portfolio

Portfolio Value = S$124k

Thanks for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love and peace, 

Qiongster

Applied for Singapore Savings Bonds using SRS funds (SBMAR23 GX23030X)

The March 2023 tranche of Singapore Savings Bonds (SSB) has an average yield of 2.9% over 10 years.

This is not appealing considering that other low to risk-free alternatives such as T Bills and bank fixed deposits easily yield more than 4% currently.

However, if we consider the great flexibility, liquidity of SSB for redemption and long-term lock down at above CPF OA yield for the next decade, then this tranche of SSB is fairly decent for us to park our spare cash at zero risk. We could redeem SSB anytime in the coming months, earning interest at 2.76% while getting back my capital for deployment to other investments or large item purchases unlike T Bills and bank fixed deposits which would incur losses or forfeit of interest with premature withdrawals.

I decided to apply for $10k of this Jan 2023 tranche using my idle SRS funds which were initially earmarked for adding local bank stock with no sign of weakness.

There it goes.

$600m is up for grabs. Due to the relatively low yield, I anticipate lower popularity for this tranche and almost guaranteed allotment amounts per person.

The first payment will be on 1 Sep 2023 and this bond will mature on 1 Mar 2033.

If you are interested in this tranche of SSB, do note that the application dateline is on today, 23 Feb 2023, 9pm.

Thanks for reading.

With love & peace,

Qiongster

No luck with T-Bill but some luck with IPPT

  

The allotment results for Feb 2023 Treasury Bill BS23103T are out!

The cut-off yield is 3.93% which is still rather attractive but it is disappointing that only approximately 21% of competitive applications at cutoff are allotted.

I applied for $10k competitive bid at 4.03% and was unsuccessful. 

For non-competitive applicants, they will get 100% of the amount they applied for.

The next tranche of 6 month T-Bill (BS23104X) will be open for application on 23 Feb 2023 next week for auction on 2 Mar 2023.

On a side quest, I went to take my Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) today despite having not exercised for 2 weeks.

As Singaporean sons, IPPT is either an annual national service liability to attempt and pass it or rather an opportunity to reap some monetary rewards from acing it.

I only can do 29 push ups and 32 sit ups, clocking 36 points for static stations in my uncle age group 6.

I managed to drag my weak legs and heart to run 14:19 mins for 25 points from 2.4km run to pass with 61 points for $200 incentive!

Thanks for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always.

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Test My Luck on T-Bill (BS23103T) using SRS funds

I shave idle SRS funds earning meagre 0.05% after the refund from previous T-Bill application and recent contribution.

Great opportunity costs incurred from waiting on the sidelines to add investment for local banks. I decided to deploy the idle SRS funds to try my luck on this latest tranche of Treasury Bill, a short-term government debt security with 12 months tenor, fully backed by the Singapore government and having an AAA credit rating.

The auction date for latest tranche of T-Bill is on 16 Feb 2023. The issue date is on 21 Feb 2023 and maturity date is on 22 Aug 2023. Results will be out on 16 Feb 2023, 1pm.

There it goes.

There is no admin fee for internet banking applications unlike SSB.

I look forward to a successful application and hope to lock in my SRS funds for 6 months at above 4% yield before getting it back to apply for SSB in Sep 2023.

Thanks for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love & peace,

Qiongster

Net Worth Update Feb 2023

S$1.4m

My net worth rises $20k or 1.4% to $1.4m, another all time high!

The increase is mainly due to recent recovery of REITs in my investments, CPF contributions and savings from Feb 2023 salary.

My CPF forms the bulk 38% of my wealth. I have already achieved full retirement sum in CPF SA and have topped up my Medisave account to the basic healthcare sum of $68.5k last month. I have also topped up $8k into my mum's CPF Retirement account for the 5 reasons.

My stocks and Reits in SGX Income Portfolio forms 23% of my net worth. I intend to continue adding high quality S-Reits while also accumulating low-risk assets such as fixed deposits, short-term government bonds which are yielding more than 4% in today's high interest, inflationary environment. 

In terms of US growth tech stocks, I plan to just dabble with options to collect premiums this year. I have no plan to increase exposure to HK or china equities.

SRS forms 8% of my wealth and I have topped up $7.8k till date for this year. I plan to top up the remaining $8k in Mar 23 to max out the annual quota of $15.3k. I may use some of the idle funds in my SRS account to apply for the current tranche of T-bill or SSB.

I am still stashing away cash in Fullerton cash funds under custody of Moomoo and Tiger Broker, and in Money Market Funds held by Phillips Capital yielding around 3.5% p.a. with interest paid daily.  I will monitor the next few months of Singapore Savings Bonds and may subscribe if they yield above 3% for the next decade. Ultimately, I hope to max out SSB individual limit of $200k by end of this year.

My conservative strategy of building a well balanced portfolio for my financial assets involves hoarding cash to earn decent risk-free interest rates above 4% short-term while waiting for greater opportunities to slowly invest in income-producing assets and growth tech businesses for the long-term.

My asset allocation of low-risk cash (19%)/risk-free bonds (6%)/CPF(38%) to higher-risk equities (23%)/SRS equities (8%) ratio is around 63-31, which provides a rather huge defensive safety net.

My target net worth by the end of 2023 is at least S$1.45m or S$1.5m ideally, with a passive income of S$22k.

Life is exciting in a post pandemic world. Ignore the noises. Remain on track. Be greedy when others are fearful. Be hungry when others are contented. Live everyday to the maximum! En route to financial freedom!

Thanks for reading. Stay focused and remain steadfast as always!

With love & peace,

Qiongster