UT Portfolio as at 26 Jan 07

As of 26 Jan 07, my profit has crossed the $3,000 mark. Though this is nothing to shout about compared to those who invest directly in equities (like my wife), i still feel that the growth is pretty decent. :)

The past week has been hectic for me at work, resulted in very little time spent researching. Hence, i don't have anything much to comment except to advise those who trade equities to be extra careful. There are lots of noise in the market; contributed from dropping oil prices to shortage of sand. As the year has only just started, there is still a lot of chance to up your profit. :)

Today, i overheard another of my colleague going into UT investment. I am very happy for him. With the help of available data from FundSupermart, he have selected two Single Country funds and a balance fund for his portfolio. I have issued him a challenge that i can beat him in the overall profit taking within a three month period by selecting a set of funds of similar nature. This is the portfolio breakdown of his selection:

Chin:

• DWS China Equity Fund - 25%
• Lion Capital Vietnam - 25%
• First State Bridge - 50%

Calvin:

• DWS China Equity - 25%
• Aberdeen Thailand - 25%
• Lion Capital Global Flexi - 50%

The rationale for my portfolio came from a strong believe in the growth of equities in 2007. For those who have heard my story on China and my conviction on her growth, would understand why i chose China Equity. And the reason for chosing DWS instead of the rest is because of its better track record especially during the April/May '06 correction.

Being a quarter Thai myself, i always believe Thai equity would do well. It has the fundamentals required and ready for economic boom. Without the recent selldown, Thai equity would have done better in 2006. The good news is that bad storm will past and now is a good time for a great year for Thai equity in 2007. I chose Abeerdeen Thailand because of its great resiliense from correction in April/May '06 and in December '06.

Choosing a balance fund to complement is easy in this case; though i favoured Asia, the Lion Capital Global Flexi have all the fundamentals and technicals in place, with the help of a small fraction of hedging derivatives.

The challenge period will begin from 01 March 06 to 30 June 06. Loser will buy the winner lunch. :)

Anyway, this is my updated portfolio:

UT Portfolio as at 23 Jan 07

As seen from the summary, the dividend from Henderson Glb Pty has been credited. The NAV have also raised from 1.42 to 1.45 in the last two weeks. This trend is in line with the current property upward trend in the global market, led by improving US housing sentiments.

In Asia, overall market sentiments are still good, with Chinese funds leading the charge. Asian property market continues to surge, led by numerous new REITs launched in the market. Property market sentiments in countries like China, Korea and Singapore have been reported delightful.

However, caution must be taken when dumping every cents into property investments. As the saying goes: "everything that goes up, must cme down". It is always good not to leave all the eggs in one basket. :)

Oil prices continue to slide... though this is happy news for me as it gets cheaper to drive around now, but my poor investments suffer profit erosion. Take extra care when investing directly into resources related funds.

Do you own a LV handbag?

Try this when you are on the street tomorrow morning....

Watch out for the people around you when you are walking to the MRT station where you frequently take your daily transport to work. How many people you observed carry a LV handbag? How many wear Gucci heels? How many reads time on their Rolex?

If the answers to the above questions are: "Wow, there are so many, I lose count!" then there is no reason why you should miss the following fund......

..... SGAM Luxury fund, denominated in both SGD & USD.

It would not be surprising to note that those who owns such branded/luxury goods belongs to the younger generation of age between 20 - 40; even primary school students carry the latest model of Nokia 3G handphones nowadays!

I have to admit that this fund really caught my attention. Just like many of my peers, all of us do not recall when we started to fall deeply in love for luxury goods. From Louis Vuitton to Prada, from Cartier to Rolex, such items are no longer just "show-offs" but a symbol of our self-image.

If you want to know more about this fund, stay tune to this blog. :)

Definition of "Lifestyle" - a manner of living that reflects the person's values and attitudes. Can you imagine a life without style? :)

UT Portfolio as at 12 Jan 07

Recent volatility in the market lead by plunging of oil prices and profit taking of investors around the world caused the dipping in UT profits. Asian markets and Emerging markets have been slow in the recent weeks although major indices have been growing steadily.

With low oil prices driving better productivity, growth in tech sector is expected. Current portfolio will remain unchanged for another week. Watch up for more updates. :)


NOTE: Dividends from Henderson Global Property fund has not been credited in this portfolio as it was only declared in the first week of january 2007.

My UT Portfolio

Portfolio as of 05 Jan 07:

I have been investing through iFast platform for the past year and i would like to share some detailed insights on a portion of my investments using CPF. I willbe updating this every week from today. If you wish to save on your transaction fees (a.k.a. sale charges), send me a mail and i will refer you to my adviser.

DISCLAIMER: This is not an inducement to buy or sell. You should do your own analysis on top of my postings.

How to get rich?

If you’ve ever wondered how the rich get so obscenely rich, it’s not because it’s in their blood or because they attend the best schools. The reason is much simpler than that. You see, while you work hard for your money, rich people make their money work hard for them; they have the power of Passive Income!.

There are three types of income - earned, portfolio and passive income. Most types of passive income are derived from real estate/property, while other types of passive income are derived from royalties from patents or license agreements.

An income stream falling into passive income category is one where money is received usually on a regular basis, without continuing effort. This does not mean no effort at all; most passive income streams require great effort to start with.

Some Examples:

• Automated web business.
• Interest Income paid from bank deposits.
• Rental income from real estate/property.
• Royalties from writing a book.
• Dividends from shares holding.
• Selling digital files like software / ebooks or scripts or offering a service that doesn't require the merchant's intervention. In these cases, PayPal IPN may be used to achieve this.
• Network marketing.

Have fun choosing your favorite way to financial success!

Loose those credit card debts!

Today it’s possible to transfer the higher-interest credit card balances onto a credit card with a lower interest rate. It is possible with balance transfer feature available on most credit card offered in the market.

Opening a new credit card may seem like the last smart thing to do when faced with mounting credit card debt. In one case, however, this may make sense and wind up saving you a lot of money as well. This special exception is a credit card balance transfer.

In an effort to lure consumers to their credit card, many companies offer free balance transfers from your old credit card. Once the money is safely owed to the new company, they will often provide a grace period where they charge far less on the transferred balance. Finding two, one, or even zero percent interest is possible. Often, this introductory rate lasts for around six months to a year after the balance transfer takes place.

For a savvy consumer, this can be an excellent method of reducing credit card debt. It leaves the person free to pay down the balance on a credit card without incurring interest charges. Using this strategy, a person could potentially open a new account that offers a balance transfer when the old one expires. Then transfer all of the balance to the new card to begin a new grace period of low or non-existent finance charges. If you plan to do a balance transfer, be sure to close your old account immediately; having more than two credit card accounts open may damage credit scores.

Making a balance transfer work for you is an excellent practice, but diligence is required. Sometimes there is fine print attached with hidden charges. Some banks may charge a transfer fee that can be a percentage of the balance transferred. Be sure that there is a cap on the amount, like fifty or seventy-five dollars, or else a balance transfer in the thousands may end up costing a couple hundred dollars. Also, be sure the bank doesn't charge a high annual fee, or joining fee. The credit card companies are already getting your business, so don't let them take the upper hand in a balance transfer.