SG Wealth Builder

Make money. Build Wealth. Preserve Wealth

Author: sgwealthbuilder

Property investment; Singapore market;

SG Wealth Builder Email Interview with Co-Founder of FirstPropInvest.com

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SG Wealth Builder is pleased to conduct an email interview with Myles Clement,  co-founder of FirstPropInvest.com, a property platform that connects Singapore investors to the UK property developers.

1) Congratulations on the launch of FirstPropInvest.com! Can you share with the readers what gap or problem is the platform addressing?

Thank you! Firstpropinvest.com was created to give Singaporean investors CHOICE when looking to invest in the UK. We saw there is a gap in the market to create a clear, simple, impartial, platform that brings investors the latest UK properties directly, with no heavy sales tactics as we are not agents. Currently only the medium to large developers can afford to market their developments out here at great cost. Why not allow everyone to be able to market to the Far East market, bringing greater transparency, more choice, and hopefully better value to the investor, as opposed to being sold what is launched on any given weekend. We feel investors aren’t being given the best options available to them within their budgets. You have worked hard to buy that investment property in the UK why not have a choice.

Logo with web address 2 (2)

2) Who is the target customers?
FirstPropInvest.com targets anyone who is interested in investing in property based in SE Asia, from the first time investor, to the professional investor with large portfolios already.

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Property investment; Singapore market; private housing prices

Mortgage Interest Rates– Key Factors That Impacts it

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Interest Rate
Interest rate charged is the reward for taking the risk on the capital. Interest rate is often referred to as the “cost of funds” or hurdle rate.

Risk to Capital
If the lender perceives a higher default risk on capital lent out, the higher the interest demanded. The causes to credit risks can come from shocks to the financial system from within the country or beyond. As the world’s financial systems are increasingly interlinked, any credit event far away can increase potential default risk.

Demand for funds
The increased demand for funds when it outstrips the supply will also cause interest rates to rise. Genuine demand of funds comes from the industry’s need for investment. Industry will borrow money for investments if they think their investments returns can better the interest rate. This type of capital demand can help a country increase its productive capacity. The other types of demand are for household consumption such as housing mortgages, car loans, renovation loans or personal consumption.

Supply of funds
The supply of funds varies in each country. The supply of funds can come in local currency or
foreign currency. The supply of funds generally comes from the banks. The banks in turn receive
their funds from equity and depositor’s funds.

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Gold; currency

BullionStar: Storage of Coins

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Below is a piece of editorial from BullionStar, a bullion dealer based in Singapore which exempted investment grade precious metals from the goods and services tax (GST). Just like BullionStar, one of the the goals of SG Wealth Builder is to educate Singaporeans on the merits of owning gold and silver bullion as a means of wealth preservation.

A common question that our customers ask us is, “How do I keep my precious metals such that its’ condition will be immaculate forever?” The short answer is that for silver, it is not possible since silver tarnishing is a natural process, as discussed in another editorial by my colleague Gustav. However, there are ways in which we can delay the process for as long as possible so that your precious metals are still beautiful to look at.

1.Keeping your precious metals in a cool and dry place

For collectors who are beginning their collection, it would be good to invest in a good storage solution in order to protect the coins. One could consider large air-tite boxes or even camera cabinets that allows for the adjustment of humidity. Do take care to keep the boxes in a place where it would not be exposed to high temperatures or light.

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financial freedom
Insurance coverage; medical shield; financial planning; personal finance

How to be a successful investor

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Last year, during a meet up with the man behind BeMoneySavvyToday.com, Brendan Yong shared with me his insights on how to succeed in investing. Brendan works in the financial industry for 11 years and is a veteran when it comes to insurance matters.

First and foremost, most Singaporeans tend to rely on tips from friends and investment bloggers on when is the best time to invest and which are the best stocks to invest in. Most of them either are not financially savvy or have no time to do research. But to succeed in investing, there is no shortcut and you need to put in a lot of hard work. Half the game is won if you make the effort to analyse and take care of the downside risks.

Secondly, you must understand your character and priorities. Your personality and behavior determine the outcome of your investment decision, not the market. Over time, you would realize that your greatest enemy is yourself because managing your emotions is key to winning the investment game. On priorities, many of us have family commitments or hectic careers, so not many people can have the luxury of time to do stock research. For this group of people, choosing a reliable financial planner would make sense.

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Gold

Authentic gold in Singapore

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Below is a piece of editorial from BullionStar, a bullion dealer based in Singapore which exempted investment grade precious metals from the goods and services tax (GST). Just like BullionStar, one of the the goals of SG Wealth Builder is to educate Singaporeans on the merits of owning gold and silver bullion as a means of wealth preservation. This article will discuss where to buy authentic gold in Singapore.

We often get questions on the authenticity of different products.

How can I know it’s really gold?

How can I test?

Is there a certificate of authenticity included?

Let’s address the last question first. Most bullion bars and bullion coins don’t come with any certificate of authenticity. The refinery’s stamp on the coin or bar is the refinery’s guarantee of the authenticity.

gold bullion Singapore

It’s after all much easier to fake a piece of paper certificate than it is to fake the metal. As a matter of fact, a metal can’t be faked, it can only be imitated in regards to some characteristics but never all.

One of the most important characteristics for gold is its high density. The density for gold is 19.3 g/cm3 which is almost the highest density of all elements on earth.

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gold price
Gold

Singapore is among top 40 countries with reported official gold holdings

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In the latest gold demand trends reported by World Gold Council, it was stated that Singapore central bank amassed more than 120 tonnes of gold as reserves. The amount constitutes only 2% of our reserves and the report also ranked Singapore as number 27. The top country with the most gold holding is USA, with more than 8100 tonnes of gold, followed by Germany with 3400 tonnes. Not surprisingly, North America and Europe dominated the list.

Determining the official gold holdings and demand trends are challenging, given the lack of transparency and sheer complexity of the gold market. The report by World Gold Council is based on a complex methodology of data collected from domestic sources and international trade.

The important thing that can be gleaned from the report is that there was a 17th consecutive net purchase by various governments, reflecting a sign that central banks continue to rely on bullion as a form of hedge against volatile currency movements.

gold

Given that Singapore is neither a country known for gold consumption nor a gold exporter, our strong gold holding reflects the government’s belief in the precious metal’s status as a form of holding value. This is probably because the value of Sing dollar is pegged against a basket of currencies of our major trading partners and competitors.

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Gold; silver

BullionStar launches new silver products and bullion competition

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Below is a newsletter from BullionStar, a bullion dealer based in Singapore which exempted investment grade precious metals from the goods and services tax (GST). Just like BullionStar, one of the the goals of SG Wealth Builder is to educate Singaporeans on the merits of owning gold and silver bullion as a means of wealth preservation.

Nadir Silver Bar Promotion 

Nadir Silver Bars are produced by the LBMA certified Nadir Refinery. The Nadir Silver Bars known for their attractive price premium offering investors more silver for their money.

Nadir is one of very few LBMA certified companies to produce 250 gram and 500 gram silver bars. As the price per gram for these bars is lower than for coins, they may serve as a good alternative to silver coins.

We currently run an exceptional time-limited offer for these silver bars reducing the price premium as much as 40 % compared to the normal price! The offer is valid until 24 May or while stocks last.


Nadir Silver Bar 250 gram

Current time-limited price: Spot price of silver + 9.9 % regardless of quantity bought!

Nadir Refinery Silver Bar – 500 gram

Current time-limited price: Spot price of silver + 8.4 % regardless of quantity bought!

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life insurance
Insurance coverage; medical shield; financial planning; personal finance

Frightening Truth about Investment-Linked Insurance Policies

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Last month, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) launched compareFIRST with Consumers Association of Singapore, Life Insurance Association of Singapore and MoneySENSE. compareFIRST is a portal that contains information on life insurance products offered by all the life insurers in Singapore. However, way before the website was launched, last year, SG Wealth Builder had an opportunity to meet up with Brendan Yong, of BeMoneySavvyToday.com.

Unlike me, Brendan has worked in the financial industry for 11 years and is a veteran when it comes to insurance matters. Nevertheless, both of us shared the same belief that insurance is a form of protection, and never meant for investment purposes. In that meeting, he revealed a frightening industry secret on investment-linked insurance policies.

When touched on the topic that there was an initiative by MAS to promote online direct purchase for insurance products, Brendan chuckled and commented “Of course I knew that as I work in the industry. As a matter of fact, MAS had a round of consultation with the industry players on the proposed move”. However, Brendan dismissed that such a move reflected that consumers are ready to purchase insurance products directly from the insurers.

He shared that financial planners and insurance agents still has a role in helping consumers in making the most informed choice when it comes to buying the most suitable insurance products.

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Property investment; Singapore market;

Buying My First Private Property 1-Day Workshop

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In today’s article, SG Wealth Builder is pleased to catch up with Property Soul on her upcoming property workshop. Property Soul is one of the most well known property bloggers in Singapore  and is the author of the best selling book “No B.S. Guide to Property Investment – Dirty Truths and Profitable Secrets to Building Wealth Through Properties”.

Can you share with the readers what are the key takeaways they can expect from your upcoming Buying My First Private Property 1-Day Workshop?

They will learn how to save faster to buy their first property, and what is the highest property price that they can afford. They will know where the hidden traps are, and what properties to buy or avoid for first time buyers. They will also pick up tips on negotiation skills, housing loans and dealing with lawyers and property agents.

This workshop is basically designed for first time private property buyers to help them avoid all the costly mistakes that would have cost them thousands times more than the small fee of the workshop.

What are the general profile of those who attended your seminars and workshops? Property investors, upgraders or first time property buyers?

It depends on the topic of the talk or workshop.

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Gold

How to buy gold and silver bullion online in Singapore

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One of the best things about e-commerce is that it allows retail investors to make orders online and have the purchases deliver to home, thus saving a lot of hassle for investors. In Singapore, you can buy gold and silver bullion online from BullionStar, a bullion dealer based in Singapore which exempted investment grade precious metals from the goods and services tax (GST). You can choose to self collect your bullion at BullionStar’s store, or opt for home delivery. Alternatively, you can choose to store your bullion at BullionStar’s vault storage.

There are 4 easy steps to buy your precious metals through BullionStar as described below. A more detailed step by step guide is available here.

Step 1: Place the desired products in your shopping cart. There is no minimum or maximum amount when purchasing from BullionStar.

Step 2: Click “Checkout” in the Shopping Cart to go to the checkout. Select delivery and payment method in the checkout.

Step 3: Confirm and pay for your order.

Step 4: Depending on the delivery method you have chosen, your products will be:

– Available for pick-up at 45 New Bridge Road, Singapore 059398. No appointment for pick-up is necessary.

– Shipped to your delivery address; or

– Stored for you in My Vault Storage® in our vault at 45 New Bridge Road for you to inspect, sell or physically withdraw anytime.

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Investments

Capital Match on making money from Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending

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In this article, SG Wealth Builder is pleased to catch up with Pawel Kuznicki, co-founder of Capital Match, a homegrown Singapore-based peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform that helps Singapore SMEs obtain loans financed by individual investors.

1) Peer-to-Peer lending is something new in Singapore. In your opinion, what are the potential pitfalls that investors should look out for when choosing the right platform to invest?

The key risk of this type of investment is a default risk of the borrowers. The investors should carefully assess if the information provided to them about the potential borrower is sufficient to make an informed decision on the risk involved and if the proposed interest rate is sufficient to compensate for the risk.

2) How does Capital Match deal with default loans and what mitigating measures can investors expect from Capital Match?

If the default were to happen, we would employ a debt collection agency to attempt to collect the debt from the borrower. The directors of the borrower have to provide personal guarantees so the debt can be collected both from the company and its directors. If the debt collection is unsuccessful, we would then advise lenders if they should start the legal action against the borrower.

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Gold; silver

BullionStar offers Gold Buffalos for only spot price of gold +3.99%!

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Below is a newsletter from BullionStar, a bullion dealer based in Singapore which exempted investment grade precious metals from the goods and services tax (GST). Just like BullionStar, one of the the goals of SG Wealth Builder is to educate Singaporeans on the merits of owning gold and silver bullion as a means of wealth preservation. 

We are currently offering 1 oz Gold Buffalos (2013, 2014 and various years) for only the spot price of gold + 3.99 %. The offer is valid until 4 May or as long as stocks last.

The Gold Buffalo was first minted in 2006 and is the only 1 oz .9999 gold coin produced by the United States Mint. Encapsulating a monumental time in history, this beautiful coin is a modern rendition of the James Earle Fraser’s 1913 Buffalo Nickel, produced in pure .9999 fine Gold.

New Sales and Operations Manager

We would like to introduce our new Sales and Operations Manager, Mr. Luke Chua.

Luke brings with him the skills and experience required to propel us forward in the areas of customer experience, operational efficiency and effectiveness.

If you have any development ideas or would like to give us any feedback, please feel free to contact Luke.

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Sembcorp Industries share price
Book review; investment

Why Singapore investors always lose money in shares

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For the past few years, there has been a proliferation of young investment bloggers in Singapore. While I am not sure if this is a good phenomenon, it certainly reflects a growing interest in the stock market among young Singaporeans. However, have you paused to wonder why Singapore investors always lose money in shares?

Many years ago, a veteran in the stock market told me that when taxi-drivers, housewives and students start to dabble in shares, it’s a warning sign that the market has peaked. In fact, for the past few years, the stock market in U.S. has rallied and surged to multiple highs. Entering the market during this boom period can be dangerous because many stocks have risen beyond their fair values. In such case, the return of your money is far more critical than the return on your money.

You must have heard of Warren Buffett’s famous quote “be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful”. To be frank I am not sure whether Warren Buffett practice what he preached because in reality, nobody knows how he invests behind the scene. In reality, telling this to someone who try to find value stocks in the current market is akin to telling a horny male to remain celibate, and thus, I often find this quote unhelpful.

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Gold; currency

Gold and the currency market

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For the past few weeks, the rising Singapore dollar has caused substantial market swing in the currency market. Notably, Malaysia ringgit reached a low on April 17 when one Singapore dollar could buy RM2.7234. This inevitably created worries for many Malaysians who travel to Singapore or send their children here to study on a daily basis. The unfavorable exchange rate has reduced their purchasing power substantially.

If you think that the currency movements affect only forex traders, then you are wrong. In fact, it affects our daily lives because a stronger Singapore dollar can make imports cheaper and hence, help to curb inflation.

Indeed, the exchange rate is merely a tool used by many central banks, such as the Monetary of Singapore, to manage the country’s economy. From an investor’s standpoint, volatility in the currency market may not be a good news if the majority of their wealth is in cash holdings. Just imagine, a Malaysian millionaire who stash most of his bank savings in Malaysia ringgit must be very worried now. This is because the ringgit may depreciate further due to the strengthening of US dollars and potential analysts’ downgrades.

On the other hand, Singapore investors should not be complacent and think that Singapore dollar would always remain strong.

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Investments

Crowdfunding will be a game-changer for retail investors

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For many years, investors in Singapore have been lamenting the lack of fixed income investment opportunities. This is because most of the corporate bonds in the market are accessible only to the institutional investors. Further to this, the dream of owning a second property to generate rental incomes for retirement purposes has also become unattainable for many retail investors after the implementation of the slew of property cooling measures. The emergence of crowdfunding is set to change all this. In fact, crowdfunding could well be a game-changer for the financial sector in Singapore.

In a consultation paper issued by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in February 2015, the MAS recognizes the enormous growth potential of crowdfunding and defines crowdfunding into four forms, namely: donations, reward-based, lending-based and equity-based. MAS deems that the latter two involves exchange of “debentures or shares”, and hence, they would be subjected to securities regulation.

Currently, there are a few companies in the market that offer lending-based crowdfunding services in the form of “peer-to-peer lending”. One of them is Capital Match, co-founded by Pawel Kuznicki. According to Pawel, Capital Match aims to provide business borrowers with the next best interest rates after banks and at the same time, offers investors access to attractive yield with a low investment entry amount.

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structured deposit
Stocks

Importance of managing cash flow

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When investors have some monies in hand, one of the most difficult decisions to make is how to use the fund efficiently and effectively. Should you use the money to pay off your outstanding housing loan or car loan? Or should you top up your CPF accounts? Is it a better option to use the money to invest in shares than generate better returns than saving deposits? Or should you invest in a second property to produce a fixed income for your retirement?

cash flow

In any case, there is no right or wrong answer. But my personal strategy is to maintain a healthy cash flow and I don’t like to pay off all my loans and be debt-free. Having some amount of money in hand allows me to invest in appropriate instruments when the opportunity arises and also cover needs during emergency times. But I always make it a point to clear all my credit card bills on time to avoid incurring late payment charges and interest fees.

But just what is cash flow and why is it important to manage it? From an equity investor’s point of view, free cash flow within a company is the balance of money remaining after the operating expenses are deducted.

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Investments

Homegrown start-up Capital Match launches peer-to-peer platform to lend to Singapore businesses

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SINGAPORE – 14th April 2015 – We are pleased to announce the launch of Capital Match, a homegrown Singapore-based peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform that helps Singapore SMEs obtain loans financed by individual investors.

The objectives of the company are two-fold:

–          provide business borrowers with the next best interest rates after banks, and

–          give investors access to an attractive yield with a low investment entry amount.

Capital Match (CM) has an in-house credit function that carefully evaluates the circumstances and purpose of each borrower to determine an appropriate loan amount, tenure and interest rate.

This in turn allows CM to provide investors with a curated selection of loans to build their investment portfolio.

Helping SMEs with financing

According to figures released by Singapore SME consultancy Loyal Reliance, only about 13% of loan applications made by its SME clients in 2012 were approved.

“The SMEs we speak to tell us it is increasingly difficult for them to get loans from banks”, says Pawel Kuznicki, an ex-management consultant formerly from Rocket Internet, who co-founded the company with Kevin Lim, an ex-investment banker and Dr. Arnaud Bailly, a software engineer.

“P2P lending will provide a much needed source of alternative financing for our local SMEs.

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Silver price
Gold

SG Wealth Builder Email Interview with BullionStar

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SG Wealth Builder is pleased to conduct an email interview with Torgny Persson, CEO of BullionStar, a bullion dealer based in Singapore which exempted investment grade precious metals from the goods and services tax (GST). Just like BullionStar, one of the the goals of SG Wealth Builder is to educate Singaporeans on the merits of owning gold and silver bullion as a means of wealth preservation. 

1) Mr Torgny, in your opinion, what is the outlook for gold in 2015? Given that the economy recovery is gaining traction in United States, would there be any negative or positive impact for gold prices moving forward?

 The so called recovery is a phony recovery in my opinion. The economies in the West are facing a lot of underlying problems with unprecedented debt levels, trade imbalances, high unemployment and misallocated investments. The current monetary system based on fiat credit and fractional reserve banking is going to implode under the debt burden. The price of gold thus hasn’t got so much to do with gold but everything to do with how worthless our currencies get.

Gold will revalue significantly in terms of purchasing power in the monetary reset we are soon to embark on.

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Property investment;

Property: Foreign Investment Opportunities

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Below is a guest article contributed by Lamudi, a German properties listing company. Given the current cooling measures, many Singapore investors are turning their eyes on property market in South East Asia countries. Investors should be aware of the risks involved and the regulations in these countries to avoid losing monies in such investments.

2015 is predicted to be the year when many emerging markets in Asia such open up their property ownership to include foreigners. As it stands in many countries, non-citizens are prohibited from buying properties. For example, in Philippines the country’s constitution bans non-Filipinos from owning land and in Sri Lanka non-citizens pay more tax when they own any property.

However, there are signs that this may be about to change. 2015 will see countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) merge to form a single market. The establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community is expected to boost foreign direct investment in the Philippines and also in untapped markets across the region, putting pressure on lawmakers to amend these ownership restrictions. This year, foreign ownership laws will also come into focus elsewhere in Asia, with debate set to continue in Indonesia and Myanmar about opening up the countries’ property sectors to international investors.

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Personal finance; saving accounts; bonuses; financial planning

The most financially challenging period of my life

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On 8th of April, I became a father for the second time! My little bundle of joy came slightly earlier than expected and my wife and I were a bit unprepared because incidentally, my elder daughter happened to fall sick during this period. But thank goodness, my mother-in-law and mum were around to help out. I really appreciate for what they did.

Everyone has the right to procreate and pass on his legacy. Nobody can take this right away from him. But I think most Singaporeans have the wrong mindset about raising kids in Singapore. They always associate money and the high cost of living as two key factors that deter them from having babies. Most Singaporeans want to establish their careers first before having children. Of course money is important, and we need good incomes to support family needs. But then again, how much is considered enough and when is the right age to be considered financially stable to have babies? Before they knew it, many Singaporeans could be well past their child-bearing age in no time and would regret not conceiving when young and healthy.

For the past three years, my daughter had brought us so much love, joy, tears, laughter, anger and frustrations.

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Gold; silver

BullionStar: Gold, Governments and Central Banks

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Below is an article from BullionStar, a bullion dealer based in Singapore which exempted investment grade precious metals from the goods and services tax (GST). Just like BullionStar, one of the the goals of SG Wealth Builder is educate Singaporeans on the merits of owning gold and silver bullion as a means of wealth preservation. 

 

Governments and central banks are frequently criticized by goldbugs for being anti-gold. Examples include the Indian government restricting gold import, the US government refusing to carry out a full audit of the US Treasury’s gold holdings and the Swiss government and central bank strongly opposing the “gold initiative” demands.

India, the US and Switzerland are all three on the top 10 list of official gold holding countries and thus relevant for the discussion.

India

The Indian government and central bank are notorious for repeatedly discouraging gold importing and gold hoarding. In trying to curb India’s trade deficit, the Indian government and central bank, Reserve Bank of India, are working together in pushing a policy they call “moderating gold demand”. There’s currently an import duty of 10 % on gold imported to India.

India, in a rare glimmer of common sense, however recently announced that it had scrapped the weird 80:20 rule mandating gold importers to re-export 20 % of their imports.

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overseas properties
Property investment; Singapore market;

URA improves property price index (PPI) to better reflect price changes in private residential market

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Data don’t lie but how it is sliced can lead to different pictures. Therefore in a bid to improve the methodology, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) released the flash estimate of the private residential property price index (PPI) for 1st Quarter 2015.

The rationale for the revision is because there is greater variation in the housing size and age profile of the private housing developments. With this in mind, URA has decided to switch to a regression method and used the period of 1Q2009 as baseline reference.

Flash estimate of 1st Quarter 2015 PPI

Using the revised methodology for the PPI, the overall private residential property index fell by 1.1%. This is the sixth continuous quarter of price decrease. This moderate decline is within my expectation and in my view, the slide is expected to continue unless the government lift some of the restrictive cooling measures.

Prices of non-landed private residential properties declined in all market segments, as they did in the previous quarter. Price fell 0.6% in Core Central Region (CCR), 1.8% in Rest of Central Region (RCR), and 0.9% in Outside Central Region (OCR). Prices of landed properties fell 1.1%.

The Terrace

The flash estimates are compiled based on transaction prices given in contracts submitted for stamp duty payment, caveats lodged and survey data on new units sold by developers during the first ten weeks of the quarter.

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Keppel REIT
Money management; personal finance

A nation in disgrace

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Would you take our children to court if they do not support us when we are old and jobless? This was the question that I posed to my wife after I saw an article by a money blogger who regretted the way he treated his late father.  Apparently, he was not on good term with his father and was compelled by the family court to support his father under the Maintenance of Parents Act.

After reading his article, I could feel his remorse, but I was not impressed with him either. To be taken to court by parents is a shameful thing, especially in an Asian society like Singapore, where family disputes are often confined within homes. Because of dignity and face value, very few parents are inclined to haul their children to court for not supporting them. Those who did are usually driven to desperation and forced to make their children pay up.

SG Wealth Builder

The Maintenance of Parents Act was promulgated in 1995 to give parents above 60 years old who could not support themselves the legal means to claim maintenance from their children. The implementation of such an Act in a First World country like Singapore shows the lack of social value and filial piety among many Singaporeans.

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Property investment; Singapore market; housing prices

Homeowners feel the heat from rising interest rate

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It is like a rude shock to a sweet dream. Singapore homeowners are given a reality check since the start of the year when the key interest shot up like nobody business. Perhaps it is a sign of things to come but the trend is expected for a long time since the last financial crisis in 2008, which led to many countries to adopt loose monetary policies in the form of quantitative easing, notably from United States, Europe, Japan and China.

According to the Association of Banks in Singapore’s website, the latest three-month Singapore interbank offered rate, SIBOR, was 0.972% as of 20th March 2015. This was the highest level since 2008 amid expectations that United States Federal Reserve would possibly raise the lending rates mid of this year.

Obviously the above information is bad news for home-owners who borrowed a lot from the banks to finance their properties. Any slight incremental increase in the lending rate would affect their spending abilities.

I can relate to homeowners’ fear as I have home mortgage loan as well. Any form of market uncertainty is bad from a homeowner’s point of view because of budgeting concerns. Incidentally, in a few months’ time, the tenure of my mortgage loan will expire and I am looking to refinance my mortgage loan.

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Stocks

When is the best time for you to invest in great businesses?

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Investment moats is the competitive advantage of a company that allows it to fend off competition from its rivals and enable it to earn excess returns for many years. According to Morningstar’s Why Moats Matter, there is a stock research process which guides investors on how to invest in great businesses at the right time and make money from the stock market.

The process involves a bottom-up approach which requires investors to identify the company’s moat(s), establish the fair value and determine the margin of safety. On the surface, it may seem straightforward but when you put it into practice, it is not so simple.

Moat Sources

According to Morningstar’s investment framework, there are five main sources that a company may possess: intangible assets, cost advantage, switching costs, network effect and efficient scale. Now why is having a moat source important from an investor’s point of view? If you recall that 15 years ago, Nokia used to dominate the worldwide mobile phone market and boasted the majority market share for a number of years. However, the entry of Apple’s iphone in 2007 changed the game and led to a dramatic shift towards smartphone, leading to Nokia losing its status as the market leader.

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EntrepreneurshipInvestments

Capital Match: Singapore’s Peer-to-Peer Lending Fintech

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Capital MatchKevin LimCapital Match

Capital MatchSince SG Wealth Builder was founded in 2010, I had the opportunities to meet CEOs and entrepreneurs who unselfishly shared with me their visions and investment insights. Today, I am excited to be granted an email interview with Pawel Kuznicki, co-founder of Capital Match. The company is a peer-to-peer lending fintech start-up in Singapore.

1) Can you share with the readers your background and business model?
I started my career as a consultant with McKinsey & Company in Europe and Africa. Then I moved to Rocket Internet, global venture builder, to build their portfolio companies in Southeast Asia (Zalora and Lazada). Last year I started my current business, Capital Match.

Capital Match is a peer-to-peer lending online marketplace to SMEs. Peer-to-peer lending is essentially banking without a bank as an intermediary – investors lend money directly to companies with Capital Match facilitating the transactions by providing credit risk assessment, legal documentation and debt collection services.

We mainly serve SMEs who cannot get a bank loan (a majority of SMEs in Singapore). We provide them loans of SGD 50,000-200,000 for a term of 3-12 months. Loans are syndicated with multiple investors providing funds to one borrower. The interest rates vary from 1.5% to 2.5% per month (on top of it there is additional processing fee of 0.2-0.5% per month).

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gold price
Gold

Bullion Star Financials 2014

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In a step to further increase customer transparency, Bullion Star published its financial information such as sales revenue, number of orders, average order, medium order, website visits and other key data in its website on 14th March 2015.

Sales revenue was impressive and amounted to $53 million with average order of $6475. BullionStar.com also had more than 850,000 visits from 268,000 unique visitors in 2014. Among the 180 different products that Bullion Star carries, gold bars were the most popular products, consisting of 52% of its total sales, followed by silver bars (18%).

To be frank, I struggle to find another bullion dealer that carries so many variety of bullion products that Bullion Star offers. Furthermore, the prices of their bullion products are among the most competitive that you can find in Singapore.

The company was started in 2012, straight after the Singapore government announced GST removal for investment grade precious metals, and became operational in 2013. SG Wealth Builder is honored to partner with Bullion Star to bring new exciting technology into the precious metal industry since 2013!

Among the various product offerings of Bullion Star, my favorite one is the Bullion Savings Program (BSP) that are fully backed by precious metals and allows customers to convert to physical bullion at any time.

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personal finance

CPF Medisave Minimum Sum to be scrapped on 1 January 2016

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Health Minister Gan Kim Yong announced in Parliament yesterday that the Medisave Minimum Sum will be scrapped next year January. For many Singaporeans who had been lamenting that their CPF monies “don’t really belong to them”, this is definitely a form of greater flexibility on the uses of their Medisave accounts. This is because when Singaporeans withdraw their CPF monies at age 55, they will no longer need to first top up their Medisave accounts to the MMS. Instead, they will only need to meet the withdrawal rules.

Another change would be the Medisave Maximum Ceiling, which would be fixed for each cohort of Singaporeans when they turn 65 years old. Mr Gan reiterated that the ceiling has to be raised every year to keep pace with rising inflation and increasing life expectancy. Given a choice, I would not touch my Medisave monies even if I am 55 years old now because the interest earned in Medisave account is so much higher than the current bank saving rates. However, going forward, the interest rate environment might change, so I really appreciate the scrapping of the Medisave Minimum Sum.

The revised Medisave rules is a sign that the government is beginning to soften its hardline approach on CPF monies.

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Stocks

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is proposing new rules on securities-based crowdfunding

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Crowdfunding is the latest investment trend that uses online technology platforms to address both the needs of investors and small-medium enterprises (SME). At one hand, retail investors are looking for viable fixed income sources to grow their wealth. On the other hand, we have start-ups and SMEs which lack access to alternative pools of private financing, other than commercial banks. This is where crowdfunding can help to bridge the gap.

In a recent consultation paper issued, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is proposing measures to facilitate crowdfunding involving securities.

Generally there are four types of crowdfunding – donation-based, reward-based, lending-based and securities-based. According to MAS, donation-based and reward-based are not subjected to securities regulation as there are no exchange of securities and promised of financial returns. However, for lending-based and securities-based, MAS deemed that they are subjected to securities rules.

Henceforth, MAS’ proposed framework for securities-based include the requirement for companies operating lending-based or securities-based crowdfunding platforms to hold Capital Markets Services (“CMS”) licenses. In addition, MAS would restrict offerings from lending-based and securities-based to only Accredited (AIs) and Institutional Investors (IIs). The rationale for this approach is because MAS aims to safeguard the interest of retail investors as there is a certain amount of risks in such investment products and MAS deemed that AIs and IIs are better positioned to handle the level of risks involved as they have more capitals and experiences.

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Gold

BullionStar is hiring!

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Below is newsletter from BullionStar, a Singapore online bullion company where you can buy gold and silver at competitive prices. To be a successful wealth builder, investors must always stay ahead of the the curve and keep abreast on the latest development in investment trends. For the past few years, the government has been trying to establish Singapore as a precious metal trading hub, with the aim of creating good job opportunities for Singaporeans. The salaries offered by BullionStar is really attractive and competitive. So Singaporeans should have no valid reason to complain the lack of good paying job positions in Singapore. Read on to find out more

BullionStar is currently hiring for customer service roles. Singapore is the go to place in the world for precious metals. If you are passionate about the bullion industry, now is the time to join our team!

 We are hiring 1-2 people for customer service roles which include serving bullion customers, handling transactions, handling bullion and carrying out various administrative tasks.

BullionStar is a fast paced company. To contribute to our team you will have the following skills:

– Accurate and meticulous
– Versatile and hard working
– Communicative taking initiatives and giving feedback

The job location is BullionStar’s bullion shop, showroom and vault at 45 New Bridge Road.

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