2018 Year-End Reflection and Game Plan for 2019

In the blink of an eye, 2018 will be over soon and another year has passed. This year has been a big drought for IPO as none has attracted my attention. IPO aside, there were a other few listing which I applied for, namely, Astrea IV4.35%B280614, Temasek 2.7% 231025XB and the NikkoAM SGD IGBond. These products are non-equities and have low correlation to the market movement. I personally like all these additions to my portfolio as they provide further diversification to my portfolio.

Portfolio return has fallen this year even though portfolio size has increased with capital injection of around $73K. New additions to my portfolio this year include Mapletree Logistic Trust, CapitaR China Trust, OCBC Bank and Fraser Property. Total dividend collected this year has increased to around $17K compared to last year of around $14K due to larger portfolio size. Details will be posted in subsequent weeks of January.

I have not done any capital injections since September and has been increasing my holdings in Singapore Savings Bonds. SSB has been acting as my warchest while waiting for opportunities to enter the market. I will not sit out totally from the market and my plan for next capital injection tentatively is in Feb 2019 using around 20% of my warchest. Any additions to my portfolio will be focused on defensive and resilience stocks. My watchlist for 2019 includes Sheng Siong, VICOM, Netlink Trust and Keppel DC Reit.

Overall, this year is definitely not as good as 2017. The markets are bordering bear market and could even be heading into recession. Market remains volatile as we saw the whipsaw before and after Christmas day. Regardless of how the market turn out to be in 2019, I will continue to stay in the game.

Here are some follow-ups and review of my posts this year.

SHOULD YOU SWITCH TO DECEMBER 2018 SINGAPORE SAVINGS BONDS?

Singapore Savings Bonds has attracted the attention of many investors and this is one of my post with the highest view counts. MAS has recently reviewed the scheme to allow purchases using SRS funds and increased the Individual Limit from $100K to $200K. This is good news for all. SSBs should continue to attract investors in 2019 due to the raising interest rates environment and the bearish market sentiments.

HAVE YOU TRULY REACHED FIRE?

The term 'FIRE' has became a social media trend and gained a lot of attention from the younger generation of investors. A few months back, Suze Orman, an American author made comments that FIRE will be the biggest mistake to make financially and we will probably need around US$5 million to retire early. The comments faced some backlash from FIRE community. There were both sides to the argument and I think the main reason is because the definition of FIRE was not clear.

There is no standard definition for FIRE and different people may interpret it differently. I think that the term 'Retire Early' has to be interpreted with more caution. As we grow older, the expenses may increase exponentially especially medical expenses. We should also consider the expenses for our next generation. If we failed to plan for it and retired too early, it will be financially challenging for us in the later stage of our life. Those that argue against her comments suggested that FIRE is about way of life and living a purposeful life. Proper finance management will handle the higher expenses, which is all part of FIRE.

No matter which side you are on, make sure you have a proper plan before fully retiring.

THE 'NOBLE' HUSTLE

In the post, I shared my view on the role of SGX RegCo and their jurisdiction in the case for Noble. Just when we thought the episode has come to an end after the restructuring plan has been approved by shareholders, the authorities decided to come in and started their investigation. The auditing firm involved will also come under review.

Although late is better than never, the investigation will be a long-drawn process and if any charges were to follow, it will also take many years before reaching any conclusion. The money is long gone and shareholders should not have any more expectation out of the investigation. The company has since completed their restructuring but the authorities have blocked the listing of the new company.

MY THOUGHTS ON CRYPTOCURRENCY

This year is not a good year for cryptos as price has fallen across all major cryptos. Bitcoin has fallen to below US$4,000 from close to US$20,000 last December. As mentioned in my post, distributed ledger or blockchain should not be confused with cryptocurrency. One is a technology and the other is a by-product of using that technology. Blockchain will continue to gain adoption and cryptocurrency may to continue to fall. Cryptocurrency is something which I will never invest in.
 
Lastly, I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!