OUE expanding from hospitality to hospital industry

From hospitality to the hospital industry, OUE Limited is certainly going places, But the question now is whether the share price of the real estate company is grossly undervalued? It certainly seems so as current trading price was $1.85 while Net Asset Value (NAV) amounted to a staggering $4.46.

In my opinion, the laggard share price performance could be due to legacy issues. Not many investors may be aware of the story of OUE and how it had unfolded through the years.

The company was formerly known as Overseas Union Enterprise Limited and changed its name to OUE Limited in August 2013. Read on to find out how corporate events had changed the destiny of this revered SGX-listed company. Recent developments may shed some light on its falling share price.

History of OUE

Founded in 1964, OUE had a rich history. The real estate developer started life as Overseas Union Enterprise Limited when legendary banker, Lien Ying Chow decided to enter the hotel industry. Many Singaporeans, especially those older folks, would remember Lien as the founder of Overseas Union Bank (OUB), the smallest bank among the “Big Four” in the 90s.

Like many family-owned businesses, OUB and OUE had cross-shareholdings. Thus, when OUB was acquired by UOB in 2001, it was briefly managed as a subsidiary by UOB.

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Money not spent, not yours

This is an article on an ancient money concept which you should not dismiss. You might have heard of the phrase “money not spent, not yours” What is the meaning of this phrase and does it even make sense? After all, if the money does not belong to you in the first place, how do you spend it? Let me share with you some insights of mine.

As a finance blogger, I do not advocate saving as a route to building wealth. I know, I know. The perennial thinking is that we should save for the rainy day, be frugal and practice good money habits. So, to encourage people not to save money would come across as weird, or even disrespectful to some people. In fact, it is almost criminal for a finance blogger to tell readers not to save. But read on if you think this article may be useful to your money journey.

In my life, I have come across many frugal people. In general, they are good people. I also have many friends who are generous and are successful in their careers despite being big spenders. Based on my observation of their character traits, I think I fall somewhere in between of being frugal and spendthrift.

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Heaven and hell for Frasers Commercial Trust?

As an investment blogger, my goal is always to add value and enhance my members’ investment knowledge. Thus, when a member asked me whether Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) and Frasers Commercial Trust (FCOT) are similar, I have deep concerns. This is because if they cannot get the basic fundamentals right, chances of losing money in the stock market is pretty high.

First and foremost, there is a need to reiterate that investing in a REIT is not the same as investing in stocks, though both are traded in the stock market. Basically, REIT is governed under the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Collective Investment Scheme, which requires the REIT scheme to have a Manager and Trustee. Typically, many S-REITs also have a Sponsor which owns or develops a portfolio of properties.

Under a REIT’s structure, the Manager, Trustee and Sponsor all have different roles and responsibilities. Initially, the Sponsor will transfer its assets to the portfolio of the REIT and may provide or source for a pipeline of assets to grow the REIT. The trustee is an external party tasked to hold the assets on behalf of the unit holders. The Manager is given the responsibility to execute the strategic direction of the REIT.

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CPF Retirement Sum Scheme

55 is a milestone age for many Singaporeans as we all look forward to cashing out our hard-earned CPF savings accumulated through decades of hard work. But before you rejoice, it is important to understand the CPF Retirement Sum Scheme.

This is because the amount of cash you can take out may be vastly different from what you had been dreaming of all along. There might be heart pain. There could be disappointment, or even bitterness.

To put things into perspective, Central Provident Fund (CPF) is Singapore’s social security system and over the years, it has evolved to cover not just our retirement needs, but also housing, medical and education purposes. Despite these, the central tenet of CPF is still to ensure that Singaporeans save enough for retirement.

Since the CPF Retirement Sum Scheme is so important, have you ever really sit down and figure out what is it all about?

I was curious about CPF Retirement Sum Scheme and recently tried to gain a better understanding of the retirement policy. Boy, I was nearly blown away! The framework was indeed complicated. No, I am not exaggerating because if you read carefully and make the effort to think deeply, you would realize that the CPF Retirement Sum Scheme is actually not as simple as you thought it should be.

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Baptism of fire for Frasers Centrepoint Trust

For a real estate investment trust (REIT) that achieved eleven consecutive years of distribution per unit (DPU) growth, the trust manager of Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) must be doing something right. You don’t simply sleepwalk to such fantastic results with mediocre management.

On looking back, the management has done a great job in growing this S-REIT. Over the last 5 years, FCT had registered total returns of 55.2%, outperforming both the FTSE Straits Times Index and the FTSE REIT Index.  Net Asset Value (NAV) per Unit increased 4.7% year-on-year to $2.02 per unit, due to gains from revaluation of portfolio properties.

Nonetheless, in my point of view, Frasers Centrepoint Trust may be facing a baptism of fire in the coming months. Therefore, it may be prudent to adopt a wait-and-see approach before investing in this counter. Read on to find out why.

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My insurance portfolio strategy

There are a few battles you simply cannot afford to lose in life. While insurance would not enable you to avoid these catastrophic disasters, it can provide an important safety net for you to ride out these storms and gives you a piece of mind.

Notwithstanding the above, the recent announcement on major changes to the Integrated Shield Plan rider had thrown a spanner in the works to my insurance portfolio strategy.

My family’s journey

Very often, I look at my children and can’t help feeling how fortunate they are. At their age, they already had overseas holidays, get chauffeured to school in family car and live in a comfortable condominium. These are luxuries that I could only dream of when I was a young kid.

At some point, I even felt jealous of them because they don’t have an inkling [This is a premium article. The rest of the content is blocked and can be accessible by SG Wealth Builder Members only. To read the full content, please sign up as member.]

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Creative Technology staged “mission impossible” come-back

It was a “mission impossible” come-back for Creative Technology. On 6 March 2018, I can imagine long-term investors punching the air and screaming in delirious as its share price ripped Singapore stock market apart. Creative Technology shares surged almost 10-fold to hit as high as $9.77 during the trading session.

But for those who have not invested in Creative Technology, it is best to avoid this counter. The latest financial statement revealed that this company is still suffering from huge losses. In fact, if not for the USD32 million legal settlement windfall, there would be massive net losses for 1H2017.

In August 2017, Creative Technology scored a legal victory by suing China’s Huawei over a failed broadband network project in 2012. It was awarded USD36 million by the High Court in 2017. The victory marked the third victory in a row for the Singapore company. It had successfully sued Apple twice for patent infringement for Ipod and Ipad products.

The Lost Decade

On looking back, it was surely a bitter-sweet journey for long-term investors as the local IT company endured a period of “lost decade”. From $40 in 2000 to $1.20 in February 2018, shareholders have every right to be angry with founder, Sim Wong Hoo.

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Dual-class voting shares a game-changer for Singapore Exchange (SGX)?

How often do you get to rub shoulders with a VIP like CEO of Singapore Exchange (SGX) and how would you present yourself? During a recent Chinese New Year celebration dinner hosted by SGX, I got a chance to meet the CEO, Mr Loh Boon Chye, who made a surprise appearance. Although it was a brief encounter, my impression of CEO Loh was that he is certainly larger than life and came across as a really humble person. This is in deep contrast to his controversial predecessor, the late Magnus Bocker.

Frankly, I prefer the current CEO because of his business-friendly policies such as dual-class voting shares and the adjustment of quarterly reporting for listed companies. His approach marked a huge change of tone for SGX, which used to be regarded as high-handed among the investment community.

The revolt

On looking back, the past few years had been a period of great chaos for SGX, not least because of the various changes implemented by Magnus Bocker, coupled with major trading disruptions and meltdown of penny stocks. There were heroes on both sides. Evil was everywhere.

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The investment fortress of Mapletree Logistics Trust

With four Mapletree-sponsored Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), Mapletree Logistics Trust sometimes suffered from a tricky identity crisis. The problem is further exacerbated by the numerous REITs in Singapore stock market. Nevertheless, this REIT stands out as being Singapore’s first Asia-focused logistics REIT. After being prompted by a member of SG Wealth Builder, I realize that this could be an interesting counter because of the perpetual bonds issued by Mapletree Logistics Trust.

In my previous article, I shared about Hyflux’s perpetual bonds. But do you know that REIT can also issue perpetual bonds? What are rules concerning REIT perpetual bonds and how does it impact the way investors examine the balance sheet?

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Sign up as member and receive a bonus investment report on Singapore stocks! The membership benefits include:

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5) Request for coverage on stocks, insurance and other personal financial topics
6) Comment in articles and Wealth Forum

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