Investment Portfolio Review 2020

This year has first begun well for me when I was offered to work in my dreamland, Melbourne. However, when the pandemic struck and travel ban was imposed, my dream disappeared. I still vividly remember the feeling of struggling and stressfulness to seek for a job during this difficult moment.

2020 is definitely an important milestone in my life as I came across this phrase - "financial independence". It simply means a point in time when my passive income is able to support my expenses without pursuing a full time job, or perhaps if I prefer not to retire early but I'm still better prepared (financially) to handle with whatever that comes my way, for example, losing my job. Moving on, here is how I plan for my financial journey by allocating funds into different investment tools.

Where do I invest my money?

· Saving Account: Currently my emergency fund is allocated into a high interest savings account - OCBC 360 Account, which allows me to enjoy an interest rate of 2.15% p.a., provided if I fulfill all the three pillars, and not to mention it is higher than my FD rate of 1.8% p.a..

· FD: Upon maturity, I plan to reallocate half or all of my FD to StashAway Simple™ because of their high projected returns of 2.4% p.a.. StashAway Simple™ is a newly launched cash management fund which invests in money market instrument. Further unlike FD accounts, that require a minimum lock-up period, you can withdraw from StashAway Simple™ at any time.

· EPF & PRS: I’ve volunteered to maintain my employee contribution for EPF at 11%. Hopefully EPF has achieved a higher return this year, especially from its investment in the glove stocks (p.s. thanks to EPF, I just realized I had some shares in glove too, indirectly XD).

· Unit Trust: I’ve invested in unit trust 8 years ago without any financial knowledge. The reason I invested simply because of my parents’ opinion that it could generate good return. Though the amount is small, it was my first investment in my 20s. The CAGR is approximately 2.8%, lower than what I expected. Having the thought to move my money from unit trust to cryptocurrency (still doing some research, any suggestion?)

· REITs: Other than local REITs, I have increased weightage to both China and Hong Kong real estate sector. Will continue to explore Singapore REITs as well.

· Stocks (Bursa & SGX): Currently I favor hand-picking individual stocks than ETF/robo-advisor as I really enjoy seeking for undervalued company with good fundamentals. However, in future I might consider to invest in ETF/robo-advisor if I don't have time to monitor due to work commitment.

Investment performance

Monthly dividend received in 2020

· Dividends are mainly derived from bank stocks and REITs with high dividend yield.

· My target for 2021 is to increase my dividend income to five figure and hopefully one day my dividend is able to support my monthly expenses. #financialindependencegoal

Equity performance

· Overall, my equity portfolio has generated an average return of 20% this year.

· Currently, holding 12 individual stocks in both Malaysia (52%) and Singapore (48%) market. If you are new to the market, it is not encouraged to invest in too many shares as you will need to monitor their news and announcements regularly, for any major changes in their fundamentals.

· Instead of building a US stock portfolio, I have been looking at the China market due to the country’s strong economic growth. Yes, China is risky and there is concern on their accounting transparency, but we can’t deny the potential in their growth prospect.

· Will continue with my regular investment in stock market by dollar cost averaging.

· Perhaps will diversify by adding gold into my portfolio as it is an inflation-proof investment.

Ever since I have started on my financial planning and investment journey, I am kinda addicted to it. I’ve spent a lot of effort and time doing research to improve my financial position, which include budget planning, increase savings, portfolio diversification, emergency fund allocation and stock selection strategy.

2020 has been a roller coaster ride, for myself and everyone. It has its ups and downs, but I consider myself lucky to have my family with me and have managed to utilize this opportunity to grow my retirement funds.

How was your 2020?