Yaruzi's Learn 2 Live

Nov 2020 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2020-12-23T17:22:00.002-08:00

The stock market bounced back from October lows with the news that Pfizer vaccines found to be 95% effective. I received some cash proceeds from the sale of my HDB flat, which I injected into the portfolio. However, my debt had increased significantly with me taking a new home loan. My plan was to reduce the loan amount should the interest rate increased.

I added $115,000 from the sale proceeds and made some purchases. Equity allocation was at 93.25%, with the rest in cash or short term bonds. Return YTD was -4.25%, XIRR YTD was -5.75%, and XIRR since inception turned green once again to 1.87%.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
11-Nov-2020	Alibaba Group Holdings	Buy	HKD	200.0000	256.4000	51,280.00
13-Nov-2020	HSBC	Buy	HKD	1,600.0000	36.9000	59,040.00
17-Nov-2020	Jumbo Group Ltd	Buy	SGD	32,000.0000	0.3248	10,395.00
24-Nov-2020	Tassal Group Ltd	Buy	AUD	3,000.0000	3.6600	10,980.00
24-Nov-2020	Industrial and Commercial Bank of China	Buy	HKD	12,000.0000	4.5700	54,840.00
24-Nov-2020	Jumbo Group Ltd	Buy	SGD	30,000.0000	0.3167	9,500.10
24-Nov-2020	Reckitt Benckiser	Buy	GBP	100.0000	64.7400	6,474.00
24-Nov-2020	Ajinomoto	Buy	MYR	2,200.0000	15.1800	33,396.00
26-Nov-2020	Mapletree Industrial Trust	Buy	SGD	3,100.0000	2.9600	9,176.00
26-Nov-2020	SAP SE	Buy	EUR	180.0000	100.1200	18,021.60

I received total dividends of $1,487.32 in November.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
19-Nov-2020	Heineken Malaysia Bhd	2,480.08	808.51
19-Nov-2020	Capitaland Integrated Commercial Trust	569.67	569.67
24-Nov-2020	Unilever PLC	61.15	109.15

On a personal front, there are a few things going on for me at the moment. I plan to take a sabbatical from blogging to allow me to focus on a few personal priorities at hand. God permits, I'll return to blogging when my situations allow. Merry Christmas and God bless. Amen!

Link to Yaruzi's portfolio as of November 2020

Oct 2020 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2020-11-22T00:02:00.004-08:00

A late post, as things got really busy for me at work toward the end of the year. My portfolio's performance was probably at it's worst moment if we looked from the short term perspective. Return YTD was -13.05%, XIRR YTD was -17.05%, and XIRR since inception was -1.14%.

The positive thing was I received the sale proceeds of my flat and injected some of the cash into the portfolio. With a $120K cash injection, I went on a buying spree. As an optimist, I believe the darkest hour will be just before the dawn, and there was no better time to buy except when everyone was fearful. Aside from healthcare and consumer stocks, I also bought banks and other beaten-down stocks like Boeing.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
22-Oct-2020	Lockheed Martin	Buy	USD	20.0000	366.3600	7,327.20
22-Oct-2020	Diageo PLC	Buy	GBP	250.0000	25.4300	6,357.50
22-Oct-2020	Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd	Buy	MYR	800.0000	19.4000	15,520.00
23-Oct-2020	Maybank	Buy	MYR	5,000.0000	7.0900	35,450.00
23-Oct-2020	Bank Central Asia	Buy	IDR	4,000.0000	29,000.0000	116,000,000.00
23-Oct-2020	UOB	Buy	SGD	500.0000	19.9500	9,975.00
23-Oct-2020	Raffles Medical Group Ltd	Buy	SGD	11,300.0000	0.8000	9,040.00
23-Oct-2020	Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd	Buy	MYR	800.0000	19.4400	15,552.00
27-Oct-2020	Boeing	Buy	USD	40.0000	158.3674	6,334.70

I received dividends of $1,139.05 in Oct 2020, bringing the total dividends YTD to $20,154,70.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
6-Oct-2020	DBS	90.00	90.00
7-Oct-2020	Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd	785.95	255.59
7-Oct-2020	Raffles Medical Group Ltd	140.00	140.00
12-Oct-2020	Diageo PLC	214.28	376.94
26-Oct-2020	Ping An Insurance	1,590.71	277.42

Link to Yaruzi's portfolio as of October 2020

Sep 2020 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2020-10-25T06:23:00.000-07:00

September was a bumper month for dividends. Total dividends received were $3,792.73.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
1-Sep-2020	Kao	5,845.00	74.89
2-Sep-2020	ST Engineering	150.00	150.00
2-Sep-2020	Parkway	299.04	299.04
4-Sep-2020	Ace Hardware Indonesia	886,008.10	80.99
11-Sep-2020	Unilever PLC	60.37	105.45
16-Sep-2020	3M Co	49.00	66.50
16-Sep-2020	Raffles Medical Group Ltd	560.00	560.00
23-Sep-2020	Royal Dutch Shell PLC-B	181.80	315.20
30-Sep-2020	Tassal Group Ltd	482.03	469.16
30-Sep-2020	China Mobile	9,507.96	1,671.50

The global equity index took a breather in September. Strait Times index broke 2500 and Hang Seng broke the 24000 level. My portfolio value dipped to $823,125.60. Return YTD was -12.47%, XIRR YTD was -16.53%, and XIRR since inception -0.39%. I took the opportunity to add Tencent Holdings at HKD 505.5.

Link to Yaruzi's portfolio as of September 2020

Aug 2020 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2020-10-03T00:12:00.003-07:00

It's been busy for me at work and outside work, hence the very late update. The total portfolio value increased slightly from July to $858,014.35. Return YTD was -8.76%, XIRR YTD was -13.06%, and XIRR since inception was 1.68%. I didn't inject fresh funds. I was selling my HDB flat and buying a private property, so I need the cash flow to complete the transaction.

For the month of August, I received total dividends of $2,165.40.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
12-Aug-2020	Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur Tbk	8,065,600.35	746.31
19-Aug-2020	Unilever Indonesia	3,099,365.98	283.53
20-Aug-2020	Singtel	915.60	915.60
28-Aug-2020	Capitaland Mall Trust	189.90	189.90
28-Aug-2020	Capitaland Commercial Trust	30.06	30.06

I also made a few purchases to increase my equity allocation from 89.90% in July to 94.57%. Below are my purchases in August.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
4-Aug-2020	Diageo PLC	Buy	GBP	235.0000	27.1050	6,369.68
6-Aug-2020	Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd	Buy	MYR	600.0000	23.2000	13,920.00
28-Aug-2020	Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd	Buy	MYR	700.0000	22.7200	15,904.00
31-Aug-2020	Capitaland Mall Trust	Buy	SGD	4,700.0000	1.9400	9,118.00

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of August 2020.

July 2020 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2020-08-09T19:27:00.005-07:00

The FED and the US government were successful in rigging the market. NASDAQ and S&P500 were creeping up and closed at all-time high OR near an all-time high. The US market performance diverged when it's compared to Asia and Europe major index. My portfolio was paying the cost of protection through the use of inverse ETF. On hindsight, I should just let the portfolio ride the volatility as the cost of hedging was not worth it. It's going to cost the portfolio much lesser if I just trimmed companies I had less confidence during a volatile time and continued to stick with the higher-quality companies. I was fortunate that I decided to liquidate FIRST REIT in June after sponsor's action that made me questioned their integrity.

Analyzing my own portfolio, dividend stocks seemed to be out of favor and was outperformed by growth stocks. This could be due to the market was discounting the dividend cut for the next 6-12 months. For long term investors, the question we should ask was if the growth companies could maintain their high growth rate forever and if dividend stocks would never restore their dividend yield. I think the answer was obvious. For this reason, I believed dividend growth stocks were in the sweet spot and would be a better choice than high dividend stocks or some growth stocks with very high multiples.

In the month of July, I received total dividends of $1,547.31 and made a fresh contribution of $5,000. I also added to my position in Ping An Insurance, Parkwaylife REIT, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
22-Jul-2020	Ping An Insurance	Buy	HKD	500.0000	86.1500	43,075.00
24-Jul-2020	Parkwaylife REIT	Buy	SGD	2,700.0000	3.3600	9,072.00
24-Jul-2020	Ping An Insurance	Buy	HKD	500.0000	83.6500	41,825.00
27-Jul-2020	Industrial and Commercial Bank of China	Buy	HKD	11,000.0000	4.7700	52,470.00

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of July 2020.

June 2020 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2020-07-10T23:48:00.000-07:00

June was a good month for dividends. I received dividends of $7,427.88, bringing dividends YTD to $11,509.76. Despite bumper dividends received and a fresh contribution of $5,000, the total portfolio dropped to $855,018.41. Return YTD was -8.59%, XIRR YTD was -16.82%, and XIRR since inception was 1.00%.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
1-Jun-2020	Tencent Holdings Ltd	112.51	20.43
5-Jun-2020	Capitaland Mall Trust	76.50	76.50
8-Jun-2020	Unilever PLC	58.99	103.80
9-Jun-2020	Ping An Insurance	1,262.85	225.17
10-Jun-2020	Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna	1,751.22	1,751.22
11-Jun-2020	ComfortDelgro	1,285.47	1,285.47
16-Jun-2020	3M Co	49.65	68.83
18-Jun-2020	First REIT	768.18	768.18
22-Jun-2020	Kalbe Farma	2,105,074.32	205.35
24-Jun-2020	Royal Dutch Shell PLC-B	190.67	330.87
24-Jun-2020	China Mobile	10,687.96	1,908.87
26-Jun-2020	Takeda Pharmaceutical	52,781.00	683.20

When I reviewed the portfolio, I noticed the underperformance was mainly contributed by stocks or REITS that I considered "safe" and "cheaper" based on conventional valuation metrics such as higher dividend yield and lower price earning ratio. Those stocks that I perceived more "expensive" were the ones that held up better. If there was one thing I learned, I should have weighed more on the quality and the moat of a company rather than the valuation before investing to avoid "value trap".

On 1st June 2020, First REIT dropped by almost 30% from $0.885 to $0.635, before recovering some losses to close at $0.695, on news that Lippo Karawaci planned to initiate a restructuring process with First REIT with regards to the rental support it provided for its hospital. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic situation, the Lippo group felt that the rental support it provided was no longer sustainable. I felt the fundamental reason that made me bought First REIT in the first place has changed and that made me uncomfortable. The risk has increased significantly with First REIT future revenue and income streams depend on the solvency of Lippo Group.

For the reason above, I exited all my First REIT position on 9 Jun 2020 at $0.715. Total loss was 18.48% after taking into account dividends received. I added Tassal Group and Carlsberg in June.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
12-Jun-2020	Tassal Group Ltd	Buy	AUD	2,800.0000	3.8500	10,780.00
12-Jun-2020	Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd	Buy	MYR	500.0000	24.1000	12,050.00

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of June 2020.

May 2020 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2020-06-13T18:31:00.002-07:00

My portfolio performance suffered a dip in May. The hedge and the lack of allocation in US and technology companies played a big part in the underperformance. Having said that, the short term dip didn't really bother me as I invest for the long term. Unless the long term fundamental of a company has changed, I'll just ignore the noise and continue to invest and sleep well, while collecting dividends for the time being.

Return YTD was -7.36%, XIRR YTD -17.07%, and XIRR since inception was 1.48% at the end of the month. I added a fresh fund of $5,000 to the portfolio. If there was one important thing I learned throughout my investing journey aside from picking good companies, it would be having a good cash flow. The cash flow and holding power to ride uncertain times like this, so we didn't sell low and even bought more if possible, was what made the rich richer.

A lot of people think that picking the best companies is the key to successful investing. However, in my view, we should invest in ourselves first. My advice to younger investors will be to invest in yourselves so you become one of the best in your job or line of business. Combining good skills with prudent personal financial management, you will ensure a good and steady cashflow required to invest successfully. Many aspires to be the smartest, market-beating trader. Motivated by greed to get rich quick, they felt into the trap of fake gurus making money from the gullible (i.e: bei-kambing according to my blogger friends SMOL and Uncle8888)

Observing some weaknesses in May, I made quite a few purchases in the underperforming market such as Singapore and Hong Kong. See, we should always see crisis as an opportunity. There is always positive in every negative. I was particularly bullish on the long term prospects of China. I had no doubt that 20-30 years down the road, China would beat US hands down. I was also so happy that I could get my hand on a premium brand such as LVMH. I liked Hermes too, but it ran before I had the chance to buy it.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
8-May-2020	Industrial and Commercial Bank of China	Buy	HKD	11,000.0000	5.0900	55,990.00
18-May-2020	LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE	Buy	EUR	30.0000	335.9000	10,077.00
20-May-2020	Raffles Medical Group Ltd	Buy	SGD	10,000.0000	0.9100	9,100.00
25-May-2020	Alibaba Group Holdings	Buy	HKD	300.0000	193.7000	58,110.00
25-May-2020	Alibaba Group Holdings	Buy	HKD	300.0000	193.7000	58,110.00
25-May-2020	Industrial and Commercial Bank of China	Buy	HKD	11,000.0000	4.9400	54,340.00
26-May-2020	Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur	Buy	IDR	8,000.0000	8,950.0000	71,600,000.00
28-May-2020	ComfortDelgro	Buy	SGD	6,000.0000	1.5100	9,060.00
28-May-2020	SATS	Buy	SGD	3,200.0000	2.8400	9,088.00

I received total dividends of $1,380.12

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
6-May-2020	Bayer AG	571.05	874.28
29-May-2020	ST Engineering	300.00	300.00
29-May-2020	Parkway	205.84	205.84

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of May 2020.

April 2020 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2020-05-16T02:05:00.004-07:00

Stock market indexes around the world rebounded in April. US, especially, staged a strong rebound supported by unprecedented money printing by the FED. The fear of losing out and greed fuelled the stock market up, despite many people losing jobs and uncertainties awaiting.

I bought Proshares Ultrashort S&P500 as a hedge. It is a 2xleveraged inverse ETF where it would gain value if S&P 500 lost value. I sold some China Mobile during the rebound to reduce my allocation on it and bought Ping An Insurance. I also bought ST Engineering.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
3-Apr-2020	Proshares Ultrashort S&P500	Buy	USD	340.0000	29.4690	10,019.46
3-Apr-2020	Proshares Ultrashort S&P500	Buy	USD	340.0000	29.2799	9,955.17
8-Apr-2020	Proshares Ultrashort S&P500	Buy	USD	360.0000	26.0999	9,395.96
28-Apr-2020	Proshares Ultrashort S&P500	Buy	USD	440.0000	22.9100	10,080.40
20-Apr-2020	China Mobile	Sell	HKD	1,500.0000	60.4000	90,600.00
20-Apr-2020	Ping An Insurance	Buy	HKD	1,000.0000	78.6500	78,650.00
24-Apr-2020	ST Engineering	Buy	SGD	3,000.0000	3.1900	9,570.00

As usual, I added $5,000 of fresh funds to the portfolio. Return YTD recovered from -11.55% in March to -5.48% in April. XIRR YTD was -15.91% and XIRR since inception recovered to 2.22%. Equity allocation was 79.83% at the end of April. Total dividends received in April was $280.42.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
1-Apr-2020	Tassal Group Ltd	260.77	226.48
15-Apr-2020	Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd	166.42	53.94

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of April 2020.

March 2020 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2020-04-17T21:28:00.002-07:00

Fear gripped the market in March as COVID-19 spread globally and took its toll. Stock markets all over the world kept hitting limit down and forced the FED's hand to announce an unprecedented stimulus. My heart went for the most vulnerable in the society. With the economy shutting down, these group of people lost their source of income. I think Singapore is rather fortunate as our government has been prudent in managing the country's finance and has the necessary reserves to tide us during this difficult time.

I have been preparing myself for a time such as this and March presented a good buying opportunity. I was on purchasing spree and used almost $185k from my war chest. I also took a small position in an inverse ETF for hedging when the market rebounded. Portfolio return YTD was -11.55% at the end of March and XIRR YTD was -39.45%. XIRR since inception was at 0%, practically giving back all the profits accumulated since 2015. Equity allocation was at 76.88%, cash and equivalent was at 19.51%.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
9-Mar-2020	Royal Dutch Shell PLC-B	Buy	GBP	480.0000	13.0653	6,271.32
12-Mar-2020	Gudang Garam	Buy	IDR	1,600.0000	44,400.0000	71,040,000.00
12-Mar-2020	Kalbe Farma	Buy	IDR	67,000.0000	1,055.0000	70,685,000.00
12-Mar-2020	Kao	Buy	JPY	100.0000	7,735.0000	773,500.00
12-Mar-2020	Diageo PLC	Buy	GBP	275.0000	24.3123	6,685.88
12-Mar-2020	Unilever PLC	Buy	GBP	165.0000	38.1000	6,286.50
12-Mar-2020	Berkshire Hathaway B	Buy	USD	37.0000	180.1711	6,666.33
12-Mar-2020	3M Co	Buy	USD	49.0000	136.0799	6,667.92
13-Mar-2020	Heineken Malaysia Bhd	Buy	MYR	2,000.0000	21.8430	43,686.00
13-Mar-2020	Tencent Holdings	Buy	HKD	100.0000	341.8000	34,180.00
13-Mar-2020	Alibaba Group Holdings	Buy	HKD	300.0000	183.2000	54,960.00
13-Mar-2020	Parkwaylife REIT	Buy	SGD	3,000.0000	3.0900	9,270.00
16-Mar-2020	Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd	Buy	SGD	1,000.0000	19.9620	19,962.00
17-Mar-2020	Parkwaylife REIT	Buy	SGD	3,200.0000	2.8400	9,088.00
18-Mar-2020	Royal Dutch Shell PLC-B	Buy	GBP	670.0000	9.3090	6,237.03
18-Mar-2020	Capitaland Mall Trust	Buy	SGD	4,800.0000	1.9100	9,168.00
18-Mar-2020	Facebook Inc	Buy	SGD	47.0000	141.5500	6,652.85
19-Mar-2020	SATS	Buy	SGD	3,200.0000	2.8600	9,152.00
20-Mar-2020	Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur	Buy	IDR	8,600.0000	8,349.7093	71,807,499.98
20-Mar-2020	Unilever Indonesia	Buy	IDR	13,600.0000	5,275.0000	71,740,000.00

I received a total dividends of $1,113.58 in March from First REIT and Royal Dutch Shell. The cut in dividends should be expected with companies preserving cash to stay solvent.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
13-Mar-2020	First REIT	887.95	887.95
25-Mar-2020	Royal Dutch Shell PLC-B	133.24	225.63

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of March 2020

Seven Years of Abundance and Seven Years of Famine

2020-03-22T00:39:00.002-07:00

Back in 2011, I was having severe depression. My health wasn't well, and I was under tremendous stress of losing my job and not able to provide for my family. The company I worked for went bankrupt and was bought over. You could read about my story here:

As the dark episode ended, I started afresh with a new job in a new industry in January 2012. For reason beyond my understanding, my Lord seemed to put a voice within me to meditate and observe the story of Joseph in Genesis 41. It was about the dream that Pharaoh's had and Joseph was given the ability to interpret it. God foretold Pharaoh's through his dream about seven years of great abundance that were to come, followed by seven years of great famine. Long story short, God gave Joseph not only the understanding about the dream, but also the wisdom to overcome the famine.

"Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine." - Genesis 41:34-36.

If you have been reading my blog, you should know that I have been keeping aside some money from my monthly salary to build my investment portfolio a.k.a Yaruzi's portfolio. I used "a fifth" as a guide, though I didn't strictly follow it like a law. Some months I saved more and some months I saved less, but overall I think I save more than 20% of my income.

The bull market has been ravaging ferociously and honestly even until very recently, I didn't expect for the "famine" to suddenly come. As the covid-19 spread globally, it put an abrupt end to this long bull market. As panic and fear gripped the market, within a very short period, the equity markets globally lost 30% or more of their value.

Learning from the wisdom and revelation given to Joseph during the famine, these are the few principles I'll follow to overcome the difficult time.

Keep aside some cash and have it ready to be exchanged during the famine. I have faithfully done this the past 7 years and will continue to do so as long as I have my job as the source of income. In Joseph's time, it was grain. I believe in this age, it will be cash or cash equivalent.
Have patience and holding power. "Seven years of great abundance are coming throughout the land of Egypt, but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. The abundance in the land will not be remembered, because the famine that follows it will be so severe." - Genesis 41:29-31. As God is merciful to the world, I strongly believe that the covid-19 crisis will be significantly shortened, hence the impact to the world economy will be limited. I really don't think it will last for 7 years. Instead these verses taught me the wisdom to have patience and holding power, as the recovery will take time. I have been buying quite a few in March, but the verse serve as a good reminder for me to phase my buying slowly because the abundance of the 11 years bull market would likely have to be erased first before the new bull market starts again.
There will be transfer of wealth. "Joseph collected all the money that was to be found in Egypt and Canaan in payment for the grain they were buying, and he brought it to Pharaoh’s palace." - Genesis 47:14. "So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and he gave them food in exchange for their horses, their sheep and goats, their cattle and donkeys..." - Genesis 47:17. "So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh..." - Genesis 47:20.
The wealth is not meant to satisfy my materialistic wants. It was meant to preserve the apple of God's eye (the nation of Israel) and the gentiles (the Egyptians, who later enslaved Israel). Why does God bother to preserve the world? I believe the answer is because He always loves the world. So if you're the blessed ones, be kind and generous to your neighbour, who may fall into hardship. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16.

I pray that God's blessing and protection is always upon us. Stay safe and be joyful, your salvation is near.

February 2020 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2020-03-01T00:26:00.001-08:00

What a roller coaster month we had in February. I was up about $14,000 on 7th February and I gave that gains and almost all my 2019 gain back by the end of the month. As the fear of COVID-19 started to spread around the world, the global stock market started to discount the economic impact of the virus. Real business impact will start to show in the Q1-2020 financial reports, and I expect the market to further adjust the overly-optimistic valuation of public listed companies.

Despite the bloodshed in the market, there were many heart warming moments when we saw many little act of kindness and the selfless sacrifices by medical personnels around the world against COVID-19. In Singapore, we're also blessed by the prompt and effective responses of the Singapore Government that contained the spread of the virus rather quickly.

For my friends, readers, and fellow Singaporean, please let me pray God's blessing of protections from Psalm 91:

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High 

Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;

 My God, in Him I will trust.”

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler 

And from the perilous pestilence.

He shall cover you with His feathers, 

And under His wings you shall take refuge; 

His truth shall be your shield and buckler.

You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, 
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,

Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, 

Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, 

And ten thousand at your right hand; 

But it shall not come near you."

As the market corrected, I nibbled the shares of some companies I have been eyeing for a while now.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
6-Feb-2020	Raffles Medical Group Ltd	Buy	SGD	9,000.0000	1.0300	9,270.00
7-Feb-2020	Raffles Medical Group Ltd	Buy	SGD	9,000.0000	1.0200	9,180.00
24-Feb-2020	Unilever Indonesia	Buy	IDR	11,000.0000	7,325.0000	80,575,000.00
28-Feb-2020	Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur	Buy	IDR	8,000.0000	10,150.0000	81,200,000.00
28-Feb-2020	Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna	Buy	IDR	50,000.0000	1,655.0000	82,750,000.00
28-Feb-2020	Gudang Garam	Buy	IDR	2,000.0000	50,500.0000	101,000,000.00
28-Feb-2020	Unilever Indonesia	Buy	IDR	12,000.0000	6,725.0000	80,700,000.00
28-Feb-2020	Kalbe Farma	Buy	IDR	66,000.0000	1,215.0000	80,190,000.00

Total portfolio value dropped to $875,928.42 despite $30,000 fresh fund injections. Return YTD was -4.31%, XIRR YTD -23.95%, and XIRR since inception was on all time low of 2.80%. Equity allocation was at 58.24% with the rest in short term bonds and cash, which I will utilize as war chest when market trades lower. I received a total dividends of $165.36 for the month.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
28-Feb-2020	Capitaland Mall Trust	130.62	130.62
28-Feb-2020	Capitaland Commercial Trust	34.74	34.74

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of February 2020

January 2020 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2020-02-10T03:00:00.000-08:00

I received a sad news from a close family friend in January, two weeks before Chinese New Year. Our dear friends lost their beloved and only son due to sickness. While I believe wholeheartedly that their son is in a better place now with the loving Lord, I knew it wouldn't be easy to both parents. It'd been a roller coaster for the family as their son went through a few cycle of getting better and worse during the treatment. As friends, my wife and I could only offer our sincere prayer and support during their difficult time. We prayed that our dear friends would continue to receive strength to keep their faith.

In January, I sold Telstra Corporation Limited, making a little profit of 1.57% (CAGR 0.73%) inclusive of dividends after holding for 2 years and 2 months. The reason for selling was to rebalance my portfolio to the telecommunication sector. I also made 2 purchases below.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
13-Jan-2020	Ace Hardware Indonesia Tbk	Buy	IDR	62,000.0000	1,465.0000	90,830,000.00
24-Jan-2020	SATS	Buy	SGD	2,000.0000	4.8400	9,680.00

I contributed a fresh fund of $5,000 and ended up the month with a total portfolio of $885,804.47. Return YTD was 0.05%, XIRR YTD was 0.6%, and XIRR since inception was 4.51%. Equity allocation was 54.65%, and I received total dividends of $1,142 from Singtel.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
10-Jan-2020	Singtel	1,142.40	1,142.40

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of January 2020

December 2019 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2020-01-03T18:30:00.004-08:00

Honestly, I wasn't expecting 2019 to be a good year when it started. But hey, the rally in December seemed to lift everything up. My portfolio ended the year with a rather decent result. YTD return of 5.04%, XIRR YTD of 5.97% and XIRR since inception of 4.63%. I received $13,464 in dividends and made $42,266.89 in profits. Total portfolio at the end of 2019 was $880,357.44, about $120,000 shy of the $1M mark.

I made no transaction in December and was receiving $1,776.97 in dividends. Equity allocation stood at 54.13% and the remaining 45.87% in short term bond and money market.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
3-Dec-2019	Takeda Pharmaceutical	52,781.00	658.87
17-Dec-2019	First REIT	887.95	887.95
20-Dec-2019	Royal Dutch Shell PLC-B	130.79	230.15

While if feels good growing our investment assets, there are still people around us that are not so fortunate and may require our help. Friends, if you come across them, please do lend a helping hand. Last, but not least, I wish everyone a Happy New Year and a great 2020.

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of December 2019

November 2019 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2019-12-22T05:43:00.004-08:00

Portfolio return YTD dipped to 3.52% at the end of November, likewise XIRR YTD dipped to 4.74% and XIRR since inception dipped to 4.22%. Total portfolio increased to $862,421.64, after an additional cash contribution of $10,000.

I did a couple of purchase in November, increasing my holdings in Indonesian tobacco companies and ComfortDelgro. I also sold all my Daimler AG holdings at EUR 52.85, above my average purchase price of EUR 47.0155. It gave me a total profit of $2,404.02 (CAGR 11.24%), including dividends received over the years. I sold because I'm rather concerned about the level of debt that Daimler had and it's worsening cash flow, which raised the question if it's future dividend would be sustainable. It also had a new CEO after the previous CEO, Dieter Zetche, retired in May. I was just not too sure yet if the new CEO had what it took to make Daimler a healthier company.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
1-Nov-2019	Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna	Buy	IDR	47,000.0000	2,130.0000	100,110,000.00
7-Nov-2019	Gudang Garam	Buy	IDR	1,900.0000	53,000.0000	100,700,000.00
14-Nov-2019	ComfortDelgro	Buy	SGD	7,800.0000	2.3250	18,135.00

In November, I received total dividends of $128.52 from Capitaland Mall Trust. This brought up total dividends YTD to $11,687.21 or about $973.93 per month.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
29-Nov-2019	Capitaland Mall Trust	128.52	128.52

Time flew fast and we're at the end of 2019. It felt like it's just started. While we may enjoy investing and see our portfolio grow, I think our life is too short for not spending our time with our love ones. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." - John 6:13 NKJV and His beloved Son's Name is Jesus, the Christ.

I wish all of my blogosphere friends, a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2020! God loves you and bless you, my friends ...

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of November 2019

October 2019 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2019-11-17T00:38:00.002-08:00

I started with my new employer in October. I met new colleagues and was trying to settle in the new place. There were many things to learn about the new company and I needed to make a few adjustments like going to the office earlier than usual.

In regards to my portfolio, I made some changes. I sold off BT Group PLC, taking a loss of 18.46% after dividends. I also sold SIA Engineering, making a profit of 7.16% after dividends. I added 8300 ComfortDelgro, increasing my total holding to 10500 shares at average purchase price of $2.3890.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
25-Oct-2019	ComfortDelgro	Buy	SGD	8,300.0000	2.4100	20,003.00

I received dividends of $484.53 in October, bringing total dividends to $11,558.69 YTD

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
1-Oct-2019	Tassal Group Ltd	260.77	242.57
31-Oct-2019	Heineken Malaysia Bhd	747.04	241.97

Portfolio value was $856,279.43 at the end of October. Return YTD was 4.03%, XIRR YTD was 5.86%, and XIRR since inception was 4.52%.

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of October 2019

September 2019 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2019-10-19T05:06:00.001-07:00

It's finally the time I bid my farewell to my colleagues and team members. I brought them out for drinks and we enjoyed the night. Then I spent the last week of September with my wife, exploring Singapore and hunting good meals. It's a good break before I started in the new workplace.

There was a sell-off on tobacco company in Indonesia due to plan by the government to increase excise by 23% early next year. I bought some Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna and Gudang Garam during the sell-off. I didn't smoke, so the decision to buy the shares was purely an investment decision.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
17-Sep-2019	Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna	Buy	IDR	90,000.0000	2,283.0000	205,470,000.00
17-Sep-2019	Gudang Garam	Buy	IDR	2,000.0000	55,110.0000	110,220,000.00

Total portfolio was $850,221.73 as of end September and I injected $20,000 fresh fund. Equity allocation was at 53.28%, with the remaining in short term bond and cash. Return YTD was 3.3%, XIRR YTD was 5.52%, and XIRR since inception was 4.39%. I received total dividends of $3,455.27 in September, with largest contributors came from China Mobile and First REIT.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
9-Sep-2019	BT Group PLC	189.83	322.43
17-Sep-2019	First REIT	887.95	887.95
25-Sep-2019	Royal Dutch Shell PLC-B	33.59	57.45
26-Sep-2019	China Mobile	11,502.45	2,014.08
27-Sep-2019	Telstra Corporation Limited	186.40	173.37

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of September 2019

August 2019 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2019-09-27T18:29:00.000-07:00

A very late update from me on my portfolio in August, when we're almost at the end of September. I was busy with work as many changes happened in the company I worked for, and it had become a less enjoyable place to work for. There was changes in the company's top management and I felt very difficult to stay motivated when you hardly saw integrity in what they did. I felt like dragging my feet just to come to the office every day.

So I told myself enough was enough and after 7+ years, I decided it's time to move on. With the grace of God, one thing led to another. One recruiter had been trying to persuade me without success for sometime, but he persisted and called me just before I went for vacation in June. A call for an interesting role at the right time. I promised him I'd explore more after I was back from vacation.

News spread fast that I was opened to explore new opportunities. I received 2 more calls from other head hunters while I was on vacation. One of them was very frustrated, because I didn't tell him first about me planning to explore new opportunities. For a few years I had politely rejected his offer for greener pastures.

Long story short, I got the role I wanted from the first recruiter and tendered my resignation in July. Throughout the process, I prayed for God to close the door if an opportunity was not for me. I asked Him to lead me for what He had destined for me, because only Him could see far into my future. I had a little break with my wife in September to have a little taste on being "free", before I started with my new employer in October. Geez, my wife and I enjoyed our time together so much!

With the market weakness in August, I continued to make a little purchases to increase my equity holdings. Return YTD was 3.08%, XIRR YTD was 5.78%, and XIRR since inception was 4.42%.
Equity allocation was at 51.09% with the remaining in cash and short term bonds.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
6-Aug-2019	SATS	Buy	SGD	2,000.0000	4.6700	9,340.00
12-Aug-2019	Daimler AG	Buy	EUR	207.0000	42.5500	8,807.85
14-Aug-2019	Heineken Malaysia Bhd	Buy	MYR	600.0000	22.5000	13,500.00
15-Aug-2019	Royal Dutch Shell PLC-B	Buy	GBP	280.0000	22.4550	6,287.40

In turned out August was quite a bumper month for dividends. I received a total dividends of $2,864.42.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
8-Aug-2019	SIA Engineering	800.00	800.00
15-Aug-2019	Singtel	1,797.60	1,797.60
28-Aug-2019	ComfortDelgro	99.00	99.00
29-Aug-2019	Capitaland Commercial Trust	45.18	45.18
29-Aug-2019	Capitaland Mall Trust	122.64	122.64

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of August 2019

July 2019 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2019-08-18T06:14:00.002-07:00

With continuing market volatility due to worry of recession, and the fallout from trade war between US and China, I made some purchase in July to increase my equity allocation. I was aiming to increase my equity allocation to around 50% to avoid cash/bond dragging down my overall portfolio return. I didn't know when a major correction would happen, however what I could do was to have my war chest ready.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
12-Jul-2019	Heineken Malaysia Bhd	Buy	MYR	600.0000	22.6800	13,608.00
15-Jul-2019	Tassal Group Ltd	Buy	AUD	2,100.0000	4.7655	10,007.55
29-Jul-2019	SATS	Buy	SGD	2,000.0000	4.8100	9,620.00
31-Jul-2019	Heineken Malaysia Bhd	Buy	MYR	600.0000	22.7800	13,668.00

Total portfolio was $827,876.07 as of end July with equity allocation at 46.99%, about 3% shy from my targetted allocation. Return YTD was 3.6%, XIRR YTD was 7.67% and XIRR since inception was 4.76%. I injected $4,000 fresh fund to the portfolio and received dividends of $142.83.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
5-Jul-2019	Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur Tbk	1,496,385.54	142.83

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of July 2019

June 2019 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2019-07-20T20:41:00.002-07:00

I continued my purchase in June to increase my equity holdings. My portfolio equity allocation increased from 37.72% at end May to 44.73% at end June. Earlier this year, I was reducing my equity allocation as I feel valuation was too high, ahead of fundamental. Alas, FED succumbed to the political pressure from the US President, Donald Trump, and indicated they "might" cut interest rate to support the economy. Since I couldn't predict the future on when a deeper correction would happen, I decided to reposition my portfolio to a more neutral allocation.

Date	Securities	Action	Currency	Quantity	Price	Total
3-Jun-2019	SIA Engineering	Buy	SGD	5,000.0000	2.4200	12,100.00
3-Jun-2019	Takeda Pharmaceutical	Buy	JPY	400.0000	3,582.0000	1,432,800.00
11-Jun-2019	China Mobile	Buy	HKD	1,500.0000	69.6500	104,475.00

I received total dividends of $2,041.52, mostly from China Mobile. Total dividends YTD was $4,611.64. Total portfolio value reached $825,558.31 with additional $4,000 of fresh fund injected. Return YTD was 3.83%, XIRR YTD was 9.62%, XIRR since inception was back above 5% to 5.01%.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
26-Jun-2019	Royal Dutch Shell PLC-B	32.65	55.97
27-Jun-2019	China Mobile	8,611.59	1,486.36
28-Jun-2019	Telekomunikasi Indonesia	5,238,090.24	499.19

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of June 2019

May 2019 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2019-06-08T07:06:00.003-07:00

I did a few purchases in May, which increased my equity holdings from 33.65% to 37.72%.

Date	Securities	Action	Quantity	Currency	Price	Total
6-May-2019	Singtel	Buy	3,200.0000	SGD	3.1000	9,920.00
8-May-2019	China Mobile	Buy	1,500.0000	HKD	72.6500	108,975.00
9-May-2019	Bayer AG	Buy	150.0000	EUR	57.8800	8,682.00

Because of trade war, global market started to sell off. My total portfolio value dropped to $801,728.52 despite additional fund of $4,000 injected. Excluding the fresh fund from monthly contribution, the portfolio held up rather well as the value only dropped -0.94% compared to the peak in April. In comparison, major indexes lost around 9-10% of their value. STI lost some 300 points from 3400 to around 3100, Hang Seng 3000 points from 30000 to 26900, Nasdaq 800 points from 8100 to 7300, etc.

Portfolio return YTD as of 31 May 2019 was 1.34%, XIRR YTD 5.25%, and XIRR since inception dropped to a low 4.18%. I received total dividends of $1,423.76 in May.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
8-May-2019	Bayer AG	265.12	403.09
14-May-2019	ComfortDelgro	135.30	135.30
30-May-2019	Daimler AG	208.31	319.36
30-May-2019	First REIT	445.05	445.05
30-May-2019	Capitaland Mall Trust	120.96	120.96

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of May 2019

April 2019 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2019-05-01T01:56:00.000-07:00

I contributed $85,000 of fresh fund to my portfolio in April. With market continuing to move up, my total portfolio value reached $805,298.18 at the end of April. I made a number of purchases in April, which increased my equity holdings from 17.75% in March to 33.65%. Return YTD was 2.31%, XIRR YTD was 7.93%, and XIRR since inception was 4.71%.

Date	Securities	Action	Quantity	Currency	Price	Total
12-Apr-2019	Telekomunikasi Indonesia	Buy	25,000.0000	IDR	3,840.0000	96,000,000.00
12-Apr-2019	China Mobile	Buy	2,000.0000	HKD	77.2500	154,500.00
15-Apr-2019	First REIT	Buy	9,200.0000	SGD	0.9850	9,062.00
16-Apr-2019	SIA Engineering	Buy	3,800.0000	SGD	2.4700	9,386.00
16-Apr-2019	Takeda Pharmaceutical	Buy	300.0000	JPY	4,250.0000	1,275,000.00
23-Apr-2019	China Mobile	Buy	2,500.0000	HKD	75.0500	187,625.00
23-Apr-2019	First REIT	Buy	20,600.0000	SGD	0.9725	20,033.00
25-Apr-2019	Singtel	Buy	3,200.0000	SGD	3.1300	10,016.00
26-Apr-2019	Singtel	Buy	3,200.0000	SGD	3.1300	10,016.00

I received total dividends of $269.98

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
1-Apr-2019	Telstra Corporation Limited	186.78	179.12
1-Apr-2019	Tassal Group Ltd	94.74	90.86

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of April 2019

March 2019 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2019-04-07T01:58:00.000-07:00

I contributed $4,000 fresh fund and did a few transactions in March.

12 March 2019 - bought 130 shares of Bayer AG @ EUR 67.39
16 March 2019 - sold 5500 shares of Dali Food Groups @ HKD 5.63
22 March 2019 - added 7600 shares of Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur @ IDR 9,375, bringing my total holding to 13800 shares with average purchase price of IDR 9,071.74
22 March 2019 - added 3100 shares of Singtel @ $2.94, bringing my total holding to 7200 shares with average purchase price of $3.2

As of end March, my equity holding increased slightly to 17.75%, while cash and short term bond was at 82.25%. Return YTD was 2.24%, XIRR YTD was 9.51%, and XIRR since inception was 4.74%. I received total dividends of $56.57 from Royal Dutch Shell PLC-B.

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of March 2019

Recent Sale - Dali Food Groups

2019-03-21T17:28:00.003-07:00

Sold 5500 shares of Dali Food Group Co Ltd @HKD 5.63 on 16 March 2019. Total profit 0.45% including dividend with CAGR of 0.88% for a holding period of 6 months.

Equity allocation was at 15.83%, while cash & bond allocation was at 84.17%.

Recent Buy - Bayer AG

2019-03-13T06:29:00.004-07:00

Bought 130 shares of Bayer AG @ EUR 67.39.

Equity allocation increased to 16.63%, while cash/bond allocation decreased to 83.37%.

February 2019 - Yaruzi's Portfolio Update

2019-03-02T23:36:00.003-08:00

Chinese New Year was just passed, and we're now at the end of February. Total portfolio value increased to $714,766.89 with $4,000 fresh contribution. Return YTD was 2.39%, XIRR YTD was 15.85%, and XIRR since inception was 4.96%. Equity allocation was at 14.85%, with the remaining 85.15% in cash and bond.

Though market continued to rise in February, but it seemed the rise has slowed down compared to January. Will March be the start of the inflexion point? My guess is as good as yours. If the next few months provide the opportunity to get good companies at better valuation, I'm ready to increase my equity allocation.

I sold Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd & Heineken Malaysia Bhd and received total dividends of $541.01.

Date	Securities Name	FCY	SGD
7-Feb-2019	Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Bhd (MYR)	140.30	46.21
7-Feb-2019	BT Group PLC (GBP)	81.36	142.24
28-Feb-2019	First REIT	247.25	247.25
28-Feb-2019	Capitaland Commercial Trust	39.78	39.78
28-Feb-2019	Capitaland Mall Trust	65.52	65.52

Link to Yaruzi's low cost portfolio as of February 2019