Stocks Archives - Page 25 of 25

Invest in Singapore Industrial Sector Stocks

July 24, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 580 Views 0 Comments

Below is an article from guest blogger, Richard who works as a stock analyst and has 3 years of experience in the stock market. He likes to write articles and hope to share his experiences with investors in Singapore If you would like additional SGX Dividend Stocks data, information or screening tools, please visit website http://sg.dividendinvestor.com, a leading source for in-depth research and analysis for stock investments.

While talking about the Singapore stocks outlook, we should examine the general global economic outlook. As being a small country the Singapore stock market is much shaped by what is going on in the global markets. By investing in Singapore Stocks, investors can generate income for their future. I am sharing five Singapore stocks from Industrial sector in which you should invest.

MYP Ltd (SGX: F86)

MYP Ltd is a Singapore-based company. It is engaged in investment holding and providing of shipping agency, terminal operations, warehousing and logistics services. Its operating segments include Agency and terminal operations and Strategic projects/Logistics. In June 2012, Ow Chio Kiat sold its 25.69% interest in the Company. In April 2013, it completed the divestment if SSC Shipping Agencies Pte Ltd, Island Line Pte, Nanyand Maritime (s’pore) Pte Ltd and Hai Poh Terminals Pte Ltd.

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OCBC Bank: Top Investment Ideas (July 2013)

July 13, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 488 Views 0 Comments

The following coverage is from OCBC Bank Investment Seminar conducted on 9 July 2013.

Continue Drip-Feeding into Equities
We remain positive on global equities, especially with the recent correction in prices. Going forward, markets will remain volatile with uncertainties about Fed monetary policy and China. However, we see this as an opportunity to buy, and continue to recommend that investors drip-feed capital into the markets.

The US and Japan are still our preferred regions: an allocation to US equities is an important element of your core portfolio. Meanwhile, as expected, investment-grade bonds have borne the brunt of the rise in long-term interest rate; we prefer high-yield bonds.

Recommendations
Equity funds: With U.S. economic data pointing to increasingly solid growth and the outlook for corporate earnings steadily improving, investors can gain exposure to the country’s recovery through the Franklin U.S. Opportunities Fund. The fund invests in leading growth companies with a sustainable competitive advantage.

Investors who prefer a geographically diversified fund that captures both yield and growth could consider Blackrock’s BGF Global Equity Income Fund, with monthly pay-out amounts of around 3 per cent per annum. The fund provides exposure to developed markets such as the U.S., investing in quality companies with strong growth potential that deliver a steady dividend stream.

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Investing in Singapore Stocks

July 10, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 0 Views 1 Comment

Below is an article from guest blogger, Richard who works as a stock analyst and has 3 years of experience in the stock market. He likes to write articles and hope to share his experiences with investors on Singapore stocks. If you would like additional Singapore stocks data, information or screening tools, please visit website http://sg.dividendinvestor.com, a leading source for in-depth research and analysis for stock investments.

Singapore is the fourth largest foreign exchange trading center which is also rated as the most business-friendly economy in the world. The country had an estimated growth rate of 8.2% for the second quarter of 2007. The country has many financial advantages. It has also a strong currency. Focus on these Singapore stocks to add your portfolio.

SembCorp Marine Ltd. (SGX: S51)

SembCorp Marine Ltd is a marine and offshore engineering company. It is engaged in the provision of management services and an investment holding. The company provides ship repair, shipbuilding, rig building and offshore engineering and construction. It operates in two segments: Ship and rig repair, building and conversion, and ship chartering.

The company has a market capitalization of 9.03 Billion, EPS is 0.26, P/E ratio is 16.58 and the dividend yield is 2.55% at the annual dividend payout of 0.06

Rickmers Maritime (SGX: B1ZU)

Rickmers Maritime is a Singapore-based company.

Stocks

OCBC Blue Chip Investment Plan

June 27, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 888 Views 3 Comments

On Tuesday, OCBC Bank partners with SGX to launch the OCBC Blue Chip Investment Plan (BCIP). Under this plan, investors can opt to use cash, CPF or their SRS accounts to invest a fixed amount on a monthly basis. For as little as $100 a month, retail investors can get to invest in local blue chips.

You do not need to go through the hassle and open any securities trading account or Central Depository (Pte) Ltd securities account for your shares under this plan. All you need is an OCBC deposit account, OCBC CPF Investment Account or OCBC SRS account.

My view on this scheme is that OCBC has identified a gap in the market and that this scheme is actually meant to address this gap. According to SGX, retail investors account for only 89 per cent of the daily turnover for stocks with a market capitalisation of under S$200 million. But retail investors make up only a quarter of the daily turnover for blue chips, with the rest of the trading controlled by institutional investors. So clearly, most retail players’ participation rate has been low because blue chips’ entry price is relatively high compared to other counters. OCBC hopes that the new plan gives investors an option to buy smaller number of shares with their chosen monthly investment amount.

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How to read an annual report in 10 minutes

June 25, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 525 Views 0 Comments

The annual report is the only published document that provides investors an annual snapshot of the company’s progress, so it is essential that investors spend some time and effort to read the content. Very often, important information can be gleaned from the annual report. So you should make the effort to read the annual report of the companies you invested in.

While you must be a qualified accountant to compile the report, you certainly do not need to be an accountant to read and understand the annual report. Below is a few pointers extracted from Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX) on how to read an annual report in 10 minutes.

1) Read the first two and last two paragraphs of the CEO/Chairman’s statements. This will give you an idea of the company’s performances. Do the same for management’s discussions and operational analysis.

2) Check if independent auditors gave a clean bill of health.

3) Look at the financial statements in the annual report and check for the following:
i) Check if the net profits for the last 5 years are rising or falling. In general, avoid investing in businesses with new direction or in the midst of a turnaround because the risk of losing your investment is very high.

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Is Haw Par Corporation a dividend stock?

June 5, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 1 Views 0 Comments

Many Singaporeans can probably relate Haw Par Corp as the manufacturer of the famous Tiger Balm but how many investors know that it also owns the famous Underwater World at Sentosa? I like this company because it had been consistently giving out dividends for the past 20 years. The company is cash rich, is financially strong and is trading at below net asset value.

However, this counter has risen in value so much for the past two years that it is beyond my entry price, which is $4.00. Looks like I have to wait until the next stock market crash to load up this overlooked stock in SGX.

The original business of manufacturing and distributing through Southeast Asia pharmaceuticals under the Tiger Brand names, the best known of which is ‘Tiger Balm’, was founded at the turn of the century. This was subsequently incorporated under the name, Haw Par Brothers (Pte) Ltd and in 1969, Haw Par Brothers Intl Ltd was formed to acquire the main part of that business. The Company took on its present name, Haw Par Corporation Ltd in December 1997.

In the seventies and eighties, it has grown into a conglomerate with diversified interests. The Group’s core business in healthcare and leisure products promotes healthy lifestyles through its health products, Haw Par’s healthcare products are manufactured and marketed under its established Tiger Balm and Kwan Loong brands.

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Biosensors declares dividend payout of USD$0.02

May 31, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 526 Views 0 Comments

Biosensors announced a set of good results. Below is a short write-up on this SGX-listed company.

Quick Glance
1) Net Profit: US$115milliom
2) Cash and cash equivalent: US$614million
3) Net current asset: US$688million
4) Long term borrowing: US$277million
5) Net cash from operation: US$123million
6) Net asset value per share: US$0.72

Performance Summary for FY13
For the full year FY13, total revenue was US$336.2 million, a 15% increase from the fiscal year ended 31 March 2012 (FY12). Total product revenue was US$278.5 million, a 32% year-on-year increase while IVP revenue rose 35% year-on-year to US$264.9 million, primarily driven by growth in the Company’s DES sales and the consolidation of JWMS’ financial results starting from the third quarter of FY12 (Q3 FY12). CCP revenue was US$13.6 million, a 7% decrease from US$14.6 million in FY12. Licensing and royalties revenue was US$57.7 million, down US$23.1 million or 29% from US$80.8 million in FY12.

Gross margin on total product sales was 81% for FY13, a significant improvement from 73% in FY12 attributable to more favorable geographical and product mix as well as greater economies of scale.
Total operating expenses accounted for 57% of product revenue in FY13, compared to 61% for FY12.

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Super Group Q1 Net Profit Grew 24%

May 28, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 490 Views 0 Comments

Super Group Ltd is a stock which I like very much and has been tracking for several years now. The company is a leading instant F&B with market dominance in SE Asia. It manufactures and distributes branded consumer products, primarily instant coffee, instant cereals and instant tea mixes products, for which it maintains top market positions in key markets throughout SE Asia.

1Q13 Results

Net profit increased 24% YoY to S$22.9m from S$18.5m

Sales up 9% YoY to S$132.4m from S$121.6m

Earnings per share up 25% to 3.97 cents

In line with the strategy of focusing on the Group’s core business, the Company entered into a

conditional sale and purchase agreement in May 2013 to dispose its 35.3% interest in Sun Resources Holdings Pte Ltd, an associated company engaging in property development. The total consideration amounted to $26m and will result in a gain of approximately S$16m upon completion. I viewed this as a good development because the group would then be able to focus on it core business and continue to enhance its brand.

The company has strong financial strength and coupled with its strong branding in SE Asia, I believe it can scale new heights within the next decade.

Stocks

Boustead’s 10 Consecutive Years of Dividend

May 15, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 612 Views 1 Comment

Not many listed companies in Singapore can claim to have more than 100 years of history. Boustead belongs to this handful group of companies.

Boustead is a progressive global Engineering Services & Geo-Spatial Technology Group offering an extensive range of specialized engineering services and geo-spatial solutions. Its suite of engineering services is geared to fulfil the demands of specialized engineering fields such as energy-related engineering (for oil & gas / petrochemicals and solid waste energy recovery), water & wastewater engineering and industrial real estate solutions.

Under its geo-spatial technology arm, the Group provides consulting services and distribute ESRI geo-spatial technology to major markets across Australia, South East Asia and South Asia.

Dividend History
Although Boustead has no formal dividend policy, it has a tradition of paying dividends linked to long-term net profit growth. Boustead has achieved respectable growth in dividends over the past ten years, with a compounded annual growth rate of 21% over that period.

Their history of annual dividend payments includes:
1)Ten consecutive years of dividend payments;
2) Growth in the ordinary dividend to 5 cents per share in FY2012 after maintaining the ordinary dividend at 4 cents per share for four consecutive years; and
3) Paying a total of 33.75 cents in cash dividends over ten consecutive years, equivalent to almost 200% of the purchase price of the Boustead share at 17 cents at the beginning of FY2003.

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Singapore Dividend Stocks: Making Passive Income

May 3, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 653 Views 0 Comments

One of the best ways to diversify a dividend growth portfolio is investing internationally. Singapore is an excellent country in which investors can look for the companies that have a stable earnings and long history of dividend growth. There are several reasons behind it such as: Singapore’s companies have benefits of easy access to the world’s second largest economy, China, as well as many other growing economies in Southeast Asia, region, such as Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.

DBS Group Holding Ltd (SGX: D05) –

DBS Group Holding Limited is an investment holding company in Singapore. The company operates through its main subsidiary DBS Bank Ltd. This bank is engages in the provision of retail, small and medium-sized enterprise, corporate and investment banking services. The company’s institutional banking provides to its institutional clients the financial services and products.

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Stock Investments Insights: Sold off my k1 Ventures shares

April 18, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 624 Views 3 Comments

Today, I sold off my k1 Ventures shares at $0.162. Taking into account the various dividend pay outs in the last three years and after deducting off the commission fees, the annual return rate is average 3.33%. I made about S$1000 profit. Actually all along, I had never considered my holding in k1 Ventures as a form of “investment”. This is because back in 2010, I had wanted to pull out a portion of my CPF Ordinary Account (CPF-OA) monies and parked it under a stable stock before my HDB flat purchase. The intent was to sell off the stock at a later date and slowly build up an emergency fund. Well after three years, k1 Ventures delivered and I got back my CPF OA funds.

Dividend Stock
My decision to sell off k1 Ventures is not because of the stock performance. In fact, it has always delivered consistent good corporate results because it is well managed by a team of experienced management. Since 2005, it has been giving out dividends and returning capital reductions to its investors. I stand corrected, but any investors who bought this stock in 2005 would have gotten back their principle capital.

Stocks

Build your investment portfolio with Singapore dividend stocks

April 12, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 577 Views 0 Comments

Dividends are very important for all investors because they provide a non-market-dependent form of return. A company that has the ability to pay consistently high dividend is a well-managed business. In Singapore, investors are putting their money into high dividend stock Singapore to get high yield from their investment. Here I am sharing some dividend stock Singapore with high yield, which investor should consider.

City Spring Infrastructure Trust (SGX: A7RU) –

City Spring Infrastructure Trust is a publicly owned infrastructure business trust, based in Singapore. It was established with the principal objective of investing in infrastructure assets. It provides unit holders with long-term, regular and predictable distributions and potential capital growth. Its investments are made through acquisitions across the globe. City Spring Infrastructure Trust was incorporated in 2007.

The trust has a market capitalization of 729.07 M, EPS is 0.01, P/E ratio is 39.80 and dividend yield is 6.83 percent at the annual dividend payout of $0.01.

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SGX Stocks to Grow Your Money

April 7, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 594 Views 0 Comments

Below is an article from guest blogger, Richard who works as a stock analyst and has 3 years of experience in the stock market. He likes to write articles and hope to share his experiences with investors in Singapore If you would like additional SGX Dividend Stocks data, information or screening tools, please visit website http://sg.dividendinvestor.com/, a leading source for in-depth research and analysis for stock investments.

Dividend investing is a great way to increase your income and make money in Singapore. In this article we will talk about dividend investing and how to become rich in Singapore. In Singapore investors are continuously putting their money in the top Singapore dividend stocks that have the highest indicative dividend yields and also fast growing stock. If you are thinking to invest in Singapore dividend stocks then here are some of the stocks, you should consider.

AVAGO Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: AVGO)

AVAGO technologies (NASDAQ: AVGO) is a Singaporean company that provides the semiconductor, development, and supply devices with a focus on III-V based products. The company holds more than 5,000 patents and sells over 6,500 products to OEM customers in the Wireless and Wired communications, industrials and automotive electronics and consumer target markets.

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Singapore Stock Market Highlights

March 13, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 518 Views 1 Comment

Below is an article from guest blogger, Richard who works as a stock market analyst and has 3 years of experience in the stock market. He likes to write articles and hope to share his experiences with investors in Singapore If you would like additional SGX Dividend Stocks data, information or screening tools, please visit website http://sg.dividendinvestor.com/, a leading source for in-depth research and analysis for stock investments.

Singapore stock market came in limelight on 1^st December, 1999. This provides different services related to securities and derivative trading facilities. SGX is a member of the WFE (World Federation of Exchanges) and Asian and Ocean stock exchanges federation.

Measure the stock value

In Singapore several renowned companies are listed on the SGX stock market. These companies are good for the economy and wealth of the city. Times to time market values of these listed companies are changed therefore to track changes of the market values Singapore stock market provides market indices such as:

§ SGX Indices

§ BT Singapore Regional Index

§ Straits Times Index

§ FTSE/ASEAN Indices

§ FTSE ST Catalist Index

§ UOB Catalist Index

§ Prime Partners China Index

§ FTSE SGX

§ Asia Shariah 100 Index

§ SiMSCI, MSCI India

§ A50

§ FTSE Xinhua China.

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OSIM FY12 results

March 11, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 662 Views 0 Comments

OSIM announced a set of good results for FY12. I am not vested in this counter but has been keeping a close watch on it. OSIM’s share price has rocketed since three years ago after management cut losses on its US investment losses. Since then, it has never looked back and the latest results showed that they have achieved their third consecutive years of record profit despite tough economic environment.

Record PBT S$115 million +17% , Q4 PBT of S$31 million +28%

Record PAT S$87 million +26% , Q4 PAT S$23million +32%

Record EBITDA S$126 million +13% , Q4 EBITDA S$34 million +20%

Final Dividend of 1 cent per share + Special Dividend of 1 cent per share

Cash & Cash Equivalents and Fixed Income Investments as at 31 December 2012 were S$235 million

Besides the above results, one aspect that I liked about OSIM is that it offers significant opportunities for growth. It has managed to re-invent itself and brand itself as “Asia’s Number 1 brand in well being and healthy lifestyle products”. This means that the OSIM has a lot of leg-room for future growth and business expansion. In fact, its venture into GNC health products and subsequent penetration into China market has helped to boost the company’s coffers.

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Financial Overview of Singapore Stocks

March 8, 2013 sgwealthbuilder 607 Views 0 Comments

Below is an article from guest blogger, Richard, from Dividend Investor. Richard works as a stock analyst and has 3 years of experience in the stock market. He likes to write articles and hope to share his experiences with investors in Singapore

If you would like additional SGX Dividend Stocks data, information or screening tools, please visit website http://sg.dividendinvestor.com/, a leading source for in-depth research and analysis for stock investments.

Make Money through stock dividends

A dividend is a premium which a company gives to its shareholders. Generally, a dividend stock pays quarter dividends (4 times in a year) in order for investors participate in the company’s success. In company’s earning the amount of dividend is called payout ratio. This figure measures the part of the earned money which is paid to the shareholders. A fifty percent value which is half of it earns is a good figure. Sometimes the companies could pay 90 percent of its net income due to its business model. These types of businesses do not need much money for increasing. In Singapore there are many investment companies. The investment plans are designed according to investment requirement of the clients.

Buy dividend stocks without Pay Commission

Investors gradually want to buy dividends directly from the companies through dividend reinvestment plans, which are known as DRIPs.

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My investment adventure with YHM (formerly known as China Enersave)

November 14, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 980 Views 2 Comments

I invested in YHM, formerly known as China Enersave, since 2008. Recently, I noted that it is currently one of the top traded stock in Singapore stock market. I would like to share with my readers my investment experience on this stock.

Back in 2008, China Enersave was a company that specialized in building and operating biomass generation plants in China. The business model was good as it collected waste biomass from farmers in China and used the waste as feedstock to generate electricity.

However, instead of focussing on the renewable energy sector, the company made the terrible mistake of investing in one coal powerplant. The management team hope to generate revenue from the coal powerplant to fuel the expansion of its biomass plants. Apparently this strategy did not work out as the fluctuating coal prices hurt their revenue from the coal powerplant. Second mistake by the company was that it had diversified it’s business ventures too much and had lost focus. At one point, it had 7 to 10 business associates/subsidiaries, ranging from property investment, renewable energy and marine scaffolding.

Because of these factors, coupled with the financial crisis in 2008-2009, the company was on the brink of being liquidated in 2011.

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Victory for k1 minority shareholders!

September 25, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 586 Views 0 Comments

Last month, I posted an article on GKB Holding’s proposed voluntary conditional cash offer for k1 Ventures Limited, the investment arm of Keppel Group. I am pleased to inform readers that the proposal did not go through and that the offer had lapsed on 14 September.

The company had received only 77.62% of the total number of issued shares, way below the required 90% for the proposal to go through.

Extension of offer closing date
I was quite annoyed with GKB Holdings for extending the offer closing date TWICE. I thought the management of GKB Holdings was quite disrespectful to the minority shareholders when they extended the offer closing date without even improving the offer.

In view of the APB and Heineken saga, they should have revised and enhance the offer to make it appealing to the shareholders. Instead, they stuck with their initial offer of $0.135 per share and expect more shareholders to take up the offer. Their stance is that the counter is thinly traded and the offer is made at a premium based on the last 6 months of trading.

Being a long-term investor and loyal supporter of the company, I am disappointed with this recent turn of events.

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K1 Ventures Stocks

August 25, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 715 Views 0 Comments

I have been tracking K1 Ventures for more than 7 years and had invested in the stock over the years. K1 Ventures is an investment holding company invested in diverse sectors such as finance, transportation leasing, education and oil and gas.

Those who are vested in this counter would know that this is an excellent stock which had paid out huge dividends over the years. Since FY05, it had consistently paid out dividends amounting to a total of $0.2275 per share.

If you had bought the share 7 years ago at $0.33 and hold on to them till now, you would have an incredible yield of 68.9%. Now, how many stocks in SGX are capable of giving this sort of dividends nowadays?

Voluntary Offer

Henceforth, I was pretty upset that GKB recently made a voluntary offer for K1 Ventures at $0.135 per share. For the uninitiated, GKB is an investment vehicle owned by Keppel Corp, CEO of K1 and BV Singapore. The consortium currently owns a combined stake of 62% in K1 and will own 100% on successful takeover.

The offer was so low that I didn’t even bother to think twice on whether to accept it. After all, if I hold on to the stock, over the next few years, I could potentially receive dividends well in excess of the current stock price, bearing in mind that many of the investments of K1 Ventures are riped for divestment.

Stocks

My views on Ascendas Hospitality Trust

July 19, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 624 Views 1 Comment

I am no stock analyst but yesterday one of my readers emailed and asked about my views on the Ascendas Hospitality Trust impending IPO.

First of all, investors need to know that Ascendas Hospitality Trust is a business trust and not a typical real estate investment trust (Reit). In this case, about 80 percent of the assets will be in the business trust and 20 percent in the Reit.

To be honest, I am not sure how business trust works and normally if I don’t understand a business model, I would not invest in the company. This is not to say that Ascendas Hospitality Trust is not a good stock.

On the contrary, it can be a potentially good stock that delivers consistent yield for long term investors. However, I would not invest in such business trust because I will only invest in stocks with business models that I can understand. To me, investing should be kept simple and as a rule of thumb, you must be able to describe the business in one sentence.

Secondly, I usually do not invest in IPO. Most speculators or novice investors like to dabble in IPO. They might have made some money but I observed that many times, after the euphoria died down, investor’s interest in these IPO would also disappear, causing the prices to drop.

Stocks

Investment Insight 2012: Thakral

May 4, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 0 Views 0 Comments

In 2010, I invested a fair bit of money in Thakral, one of the listed companies in Singapore. At that point of time, they declared their intention to change business focus and also proposed a significant dividend for the shareholders.

I did some research on the company and decided to invest, tempted by the declared dividend. Eventually, I did receive the dividends, but the stock prices fell in tandem. As the stock prices languished at that price, I sold my Thakral shares after a couple of months. Subsequently I did keep track of the stock price and company performance. For 2 years, the price remained at S$0.030.

Recently, due to the penny stock rally, I realized that Thakral had rocketed to S$0.040. I wondered if I had kept faith with Thakral, I would have made thousands of profits in one week. I don’t know if you ever had such investment experience but it sure pain like hell seeing the stock which you once owned rocketed by so much.

I sure am tempted to re-enter the stock market but still stand by my resolution to wait till the next stock market crash and then invest. Hopefully I can make a killing by then.

Stocks

Wrap fee for CPF Investment Scheme

January 3, 2012 sgwealthbuilder 526 Views 0 Comments

From 1st July 2012, the CPF Board will subject wrap fee charged for CPF Investment Scheme to a maximum of 1% per annum.

A wrap fee is an ongoing fee charged by financial advisors for providing bundled services such as advisory, brokerage and administrative fees. It is typically levied monthly or quarterly by liquidating a small portion of the investment. Currently, CPF members who maintain wrap accounts for their CPF Investment accounts are charged up to 1.5% annually by their advisors.

Since 2006, CPF board has been progressively implementing new measures to lower the cost of investment and enhance the quality of funds under CPF Investment Scheme. This new measure should bring cheers to retail investors as high costs may potentially erode investment returns over the long term.

Such development is in the right direction and will go a long way to encourage more Singaporean to invest responsibly using their CPF funds.

Under the CPF Investment Scheme, you may invest in CPF-approved unit trusts, bonds, endowment policies and gold products, after setting aside $20,000 in your Ordinary Account. If you wished to invest using your CPF Special Account, you need to set aside $40,000.

But before you start to invest your CPF monies, it is important to examine your risk tolerance and your financial situation.

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Investment article: What you may not know about stocks?

December 28, 2011 sgwealthbuilder 774 Views 0 Comments

Below is an investment article by Jeff Augen, extracted from my favorite blog “CreateWealth8888″, dated 4 Feb 2011. I like the blog because many of the articles are sensible, informative and educational. Hope readers can benefit from the article:

” Most investors who buy a stock believe that they are investing in a company. That view, while technically correct, is also misleading. A stock investment is really nothing more than a bet on the direction that money will take as it flows through the financial markets. A stock can rise only if market forces align to aggressively drive up the bid price causing new money to flow into the stock.

Many different factors are involved including economic news, announcements from other companies in the same industry, political events, the actions of large institutional investors, analysts’ forecast, and a variety of global economic forces such as changes to currency exchange rates and interest rates. the long-term performance of a stock represents nothing more than the compound effect of these forces over time.

It is important to recognize that the financial markets are zero sum game with competition at all levels. the stock market competes for money against the bond and currency markets; industries compete for money with each other; and money flows between stocks within a particular industry.