Category: Performance

Endowus Performance Review – Nov 2022

On By RistrettzIn Performance, Personal Finance Series, Robo AdvisorsLeave a comment

After a short break and some self-sustained recovery, I think it is time to get back to updating the portfolios. During this period when I was down, I was not really monitoring the markets. In fact, I set my RSP up over these 8 – 9  months that I was missing in action. Partly, it was due to work and also self-discovery wellness. In my last post, I discussed being away and not being able to do anything to your portfolio and again I was away. I find that robots suit my style of investing. In good times and in bad times because I am just not in the right frame of mind to manage my portfolio. Not anyone can just buy in when the market is down. You need to understand your own investment appetite.

Thank you to those who have used my referral code. If you wish to venture out and build your financial goals, please do visit my referral code page thank you in advance.

Portfolio Summary

The whole portfolio has taken a big hit this year in 2022 and there’s nothing much to shout about but I look at it as long-term growth. I am quite positive about US equities. My Ultra cash portfolio isn’t doing too great. In hindsight, I repeat that I do regret my decision because I thought I can take my liquidity out within 3 months but no. Now, I have to do it at a loss. This really sucks because Endowus did a boo-boo by saying that it can be a short-term cash-fund holding. Now, I am becoming a long-term investor and had to find cash for my large purchases that were coming up. I am still miffed about it but I’m not taking it out at a loss. It doesn’t mean that Fixed Income will stay down all the time.

Like any other period, I trust Endowus and I would actually recommend them to anyone I know for the investment concept. (Maybe not the cash solutions) I know that my investments will be safe with them. I’m happy with them for the investment part of things. I also learned that different people/companies have different expertise.

Lower Investment amount

Whatever it is, they have been quite reasonable about everything. Another plus point is that they have also given me a lot of comfort in the way they allow investors to reduce their initial investing sum. A minimum sum should not be the way to invest. Overall, I feel that I take more pride in knowing who is holding my money and how they do it.

Lowering the bar also allows people who are younger to start early in this long-term process. The other point is what many people are talking about which is the fees. They are probably the only ones in the market to rebate trailer fees. I like that bold big move as compared to the other advisors. I will slowly shift my funds over to them. Everyone is different so, you have to try them out first before you decide.

There’s something else which I like about them and that is how they use the power of retail investors to put money into institutional class funds. These funds are accessible only to people with the money and volume to purchase. Yet, they are now available to retail investors.

Total Portfolio

I decided to scrap away all those segmented accounts with different goals and look at the portfolio as a whole instead.

I hope can recover some of the losses but as a function of market-related money market funds, I think it will take longer than i expect.

I hope that I will be able to add more funds to the S&P 500 if it dips over the next few months.

As you can see, the all-time record is that I am now down -4%, which is rather disappointing considering that I have a relatively balanced portfolio. The bulk of the unrealised loss is actually from my cash funds. (Sad to say that FI instruments are still doing that badly) which is why it is true that no one has the crystal ball and we have to diversify. If you look at YTD performance, it is down -6%, which is rather in line with the current markets but I do expect better considering I had a good entry-level during the start of the covid investing when the markets were pushed down in a synthetic way in 2020.

I’m still looking forward to the day when S&P 500 goes up the roof and I see my portfolio doubling.

The reason for Endowus

Like a broken recorder, the pros once more:

  • Endowus is the first and only robo-advisor to be approved by the CPF board.
  • 100% trailer fees back to the consumer, not the fund management fee. This is really one of a kind I’ve seen so far.
  • They do have a decent team who makes sense when introducing their platform in my personal opinion.
  • I believe all retail investors should try them out because of how they are trying to disrupt investing and make investing work for everyone.

Thank you all in advance for using my referral code.

The last point is to do your own diligence. What works for me may not work for you. Investing in traditional portfolios is about risk management. My Cash Funds are bleeding. That was a super bad call by Endowus.

Disclaimer

If you decide to sign up with Endowus, do remember to use my referral code: https://endowus.com/invite?code=EDZ8M

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at Referral and Recommendations

These pictures were taken off the Endowus website for reference.

StashAway Performance – Mar 2022 Performance

On By RistrettzIn Performance, Personal Finance Series, Robo AdvisorsLeave a comment

Here goes for the March 2022 StashAway performance. Nothing much to shout about.

StashAway has been rather stagnant but considering the environment, I think it is holding out well. I continue to question of this robotic/AI system if it is more human driven. Shouldn’t it be systematic driven for a robo advisor instead of attempting to drive better returns. With an ERAA approach, these actions seems rather active. Now, there are more steps taken to actively manage the volatility. I’m not sure if this is the right call.

If Mr Market drops, I’m not sure if I will do this more or do Endowus more. We shall see. I am also not sure of consolidating into one account.

Retirement Portfolio A (risk-14%)

2022 is indeed volatile.  I started out with $1500 and March 2022 ended with me losing -$12.59. Just to put things to perspective,  I made $10 in 2021. Haha….Oh my word. Very Very flat indeed.

Pretty standard outcome and the YTD is definitely down for sure.

Education Portfolio B (risk-16%)

I started out with a base of $3200 and ended Feb 2022 at $3205.30. Haha, no surprises. Every month, I RSP $100 into the portfolio for 6 months until June 2021 so my absolute gain will be $5.30. Okay, this is holding up okay.

YTD wise, small gain.

 

Education Portfolio C (risk-20%)

I started out with a base of $3200 and ended Feb 2022 at $3342.49. That’s a $142.49 gain! The portfolio strategy was to RSP for 6 months until June 2021 so my that makes a +9.48% gain.

Year to date wise, it is also flat. The Russia Ukraine war is not a good thing for the markets and that is ongoing

 

Conclusion

It is now almost 2 years since I started using StashAway. I still think that it has been a great supplement as a robo advisor. After using a few robo-advisors, I find that StashAway will play as a competition to my Endowus Portfolio and true enough that fits exactly into how I plan it to be. Recent months, I’ve been thinking and I did not add on any regular monthly investing amount as I’m beginning to think twice about their strategy and if they have grown to a level where institutional belief is starting to take over instead of that pure robo fintech as compared to what they were in 2020.

StashAway does have their own advantages. They do hedge their portfolios against huge crashes and take a stand on some positions which I do like because a lot asset managers don’t and even though they talk big about macro. The gold move was bold but it protects the portfolio. Again, Rome wasn’t built in a day so I guess you need to safeguard some of your monies to future proof it. No one knows so we have to try to know.

One thing for sure is that the cash funds is doing much better than Endowus and looking at SSB. I’m not sure if their cash funds makes any sense now.

To find out more about the pros and cons of using StashAway, do refer to my previous posts.

To sign up or try out Stash Away, visit the website and use my referral code at Stash Away Referral

We’ll both get up to $10,000 SGD managed for free for 6 months which is a good deal.

Disclaimer

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at Referral and Recommendations

The pictures were taken from the Stash Away website for this article.

Endowus Performance Review – Mar 2022

On By RistrettzIn Performance, Personal Finance Series, Robo AdvisorsLeave a comment

I got a little lazy and probably a little distracted and depress early part of April 2021 – I did other things to distract myself. But overall, no worries. I just had a shorter break this time around but am feeling quite okay now. It is time for March 2022 review now. In my last post, I discussed about being away and not being able to do anything to your portfolio. I did nothing this month since there isn’t much of a dip. Not anyone can just buy in when the market is down. You need to understand your own investment appetite.

Thank you for those who have used my referral code. If you wish to venture out and build your financial goals, please do visit my referral code page and thank you in advance.

Portfolio Summary

The whole portfolio indeed is rocking in 2022 but I look at it as a long term growth. I am quite positive on US equities 1 year down from 2023-2024 for some reason despite the constant word around hyperinflation news. My cash portfolio isn’t doing too great. On hindsight, I repeat that I do regret my decision because I thought I can take my liquidity out within 3 months but no. Now, i have to do it at a loss. This really sucks because Endowus did a boo-boo by saying that it can be a short term cash fund holdings. Now, I am becoming a long-term investor and had to find cash for my large purchases that was coming up. I am pretty pissed with that but I had to move forward.

Like any other month, I trust Endowus and I would actually recommend them to anyone I know for the investment concept. I know that my investments will be safe with them.  I also read in their newsletter that traditional banks and investing firms are starting to put in monies in the company as part of the drive to stay relevant. The paradigm shift is happening faster than expected. Except the fact for cash funds, I’m happy with them for the investment part of things. I also learned that different people/companies have different expertise.

Lower Investment amount

Whatever it is, they have been quite reasonable about everything. Another plus point is that they have also given me a lot of comfort in the way they allow investors to reduce their initial investing sum. Minimum sum should not be the way to investing. Overall, I feel that I take more pride in knowing who is holding my money and how they do it.

Lowering the bar also allows people who are younger to start early in this long-term process. The other point is what many people are talking about which is the fees. They are probably the only one in the market to rebate trailer fees. I like that bold big move as compared to the other advisors. I will slowly shift my funds over to them. Everyone is different so, you have to try them out first before you decide.

There’s something else which I like about them and that is how they use the power of retail investors to put money into institutional class funds. These funds are accessible only to people with the money and volume to purchase. Yet, they are now available to retail investors.

Cash Fund Ultra Portfolio

I started the ultra portfolio since July 2021 which claims to be around 1.9-2.1% (this went downwards) because I can’t find anything that yields more than 1% interests and it is shitty because it is still down close to -3% all time. I really hate how this is going.

I hope can recover some of the losses but as a function of market related money market funds, I think it will take longer than what i expect.

Further, I added another 30k into the portfolio as cash injection to yield higher interests but it has been negative since day one and still in negative territory so let’s wait and see how things pan out. it is negative -$800. sucky at -2.66%. Well well well. It has been months so it better follows the uptrend when markets recover.

ESG Portfolio

I started this ESG Portfolio during March 2021 and I have some high hopes for this fund to do pretty well. This segment would serve me well for a long term portfolio because I do see the value in investing in sustainable companies an practices. After all, we are trying to make a difference for our little ones. Performance has been stellar. It has pulled back and up +2.26% all time. Finally added $2500 when there was a pullback. Nothing done this month and performance has turned positive. Good for the future and your children guys.

 

The allocation is a 80%/20% Equity/Bond portfolio allocation so there will be more movement on the equity side. This is long term so, just leave it in there. You do good and it brings you sustainable returns. It is for the future and the next generation. I can’t explain more. Maybe it is time for more deployment of cash.

SRS Portfolio

Overall, portfolio is still up +19.51% since May 2020 in SGD. As usual, in USD terms, due to no FX impact as the portfolio is USD ETFs, the performance will definitely be better especially when USD becomes stronger. Of course, the reference will be SGD since I use SGD. This is the SRS/Cash portfolio which consists of my favourite Dimension Funds in a 40% bonds/60% equity.

Overall from May 2020 to 12 April 2022, it is a +19.51% increase in absolute terms – quite okay. This is for the long run. I’m just going to keep it simple to report it overall as I have less time on my hand these days. But do try it out and put out your own performance and tell everyone about the experience. Unless, you nitpick aggressively – I think you will be fine. YTD, it is definitely down.

CPF Portfolio

For the CPF portfolio, it is looking at +10.37% since inception in May 2020. That’s a huge drop of almost 9% from its all time high. This portfolio is being beaten down for now.

On the YTD front, it has dropped for sure.

 

Fund Smart Portfolio

I started this semi medium term Fund Smart portfolio this month in May 2021. I tried to build a balance portfolio. I’m not exactly sure but I will go in via RSP monthly as I wasn’t sure but I do want to deploy some of my cash. All time absolute return is -7.77%. haha. This is done monthly on RSP until 2021. It still continues to be underwater so I will continue the DCA for this strategy.

 

Overall: 52% Equity and 48% Fixed Income

a. 15% in Multi Asset Fund (1 Fund)

b. 45% in Equity Funds (2 Funds)

i. Focus into China Play [10%]

ii. Global equity with dividend accumulation (Re-invest) [20%]

iii. Small Cap equity play (For the Alpha) [15%]

c. 40% in Bond Funds (3 Funds)

i. Climate Bond Fund Play [20%]

ii. Core Fixed Income Play [20%]

Retirement Portfolio 1

So last month, I got down into building a portfolio of unallocated funds to the institution Pimco GIS Income Fund. 0.55% will be the fees annually so that’s going to be start of the accumulation of the coupons from the funds. I am down -5.22% for the month of March.

Retirement Portfolio 2

Yet again, I put in 2 tranches of S$5k into the Lion Global Infinity 500. At one point it was close to 6-7% down and this month it is +3.47%. Real volatility, expected and still strong convicted on this one.

 

The reason for Endowus

Like a broken recorder, the pros once more:

  • Endowus is the first and only robo-advisor to be approved by the CPF board.
  • 100% trailer fees back to the consumer, not the fund management fee. This is really one of a kind I’ve seen so far.
  • They do have a decent team who makes sense when introducing their platform in my personal opinion.
  • I believe all retail investor should try them out because of how they are trying to disrupt investing and make investing work for everyone.

Thank you all in advance for using my referral code.

Last point is to do your own diligence. What works for me may not work for you. Investing in traditional portfolios is about risk management. My Cash Funds are bleeding. That was a super bad call by Endowus.

Disclaimer

If you decide to sign up with Endowus, do remember to use my referral code: https://endowus.com/invite?code=EDZ8M

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at Referral and Recommendations

These pictures were taken off Endowus website for reference.

StashAway Performance – Feb 2022 Performance

On By RistrettzIn Performance, Personal Finance Series, Robo AdvisorsLeave a comment

I am one month late for this but I have to post this so that i can compared the upcoming month in April for the performance review. Honestly speaking, my  Crypto portfolio is moving faster than these stonks haha.

StashAway has been rather stagnant but considering the environment, I think it is holding out well. SA seems to try to take a bet around China and their recovery by doing a rebalancing. Now, is that system or human driven I question. Shouldn’t it be systematic driven for a robo advisor instead of attempting to drive better returns. With an ERAA approach, these actions seems rather active. Now, there are more steps taken to actively manage the volatility. I’m not sure if this is the right call.

If Mr Market drops, then I will add on more to the portfolios. If you have not taken the first step, action early so that you can start doing this early and learn from any mistakes along the way.

Retirement Portfolio A (risk-14%)

2022 is indeed volatile.  I started out with $1500 and Feb 2022 ended with me losing -$11. Just to put things to perspective,  I made $10 in 2021. Haha….Oh my word. Talk about paltry. Talk about flat.

 

Pretty standard outcome and the YTD is definitely down for sure.

Education Portfolio B (risk-16%)

I started out with a base of $3200 and ended Feb 2022 at $3201.15. Haha, no surprises. Every month, I RSP $100 into the portfolio for 6 months until June 2021 so my absolute gain will be $1.15. damn it. Can’t beat inflation.

YTD wise, small gain.

Education Portfolio C (risk-20%)

I started out with a base of $3200 and ended Feb 2022 at $3300.95. That’s a $100.95 gain! The portfolio strategy was to RSP for 6 months until June 2021 so my that makes a +8.48% gain.

 

Year to date wise, it is also flat. Nothing exciting. On China’s end, it must have been exciting. In terms of risk, probably Stashaway is dropping much slower than other portfolios since they are designed as such.

Conclusion

It is now almost 2 years since I started using StashAway. I still think that it has been a great supplement as a robo advisor. After using a few robo-advisors, I find that SA will play as a competition to my Endowus Portfolio and true enough that fits exactly into how I plan it to be. Recent months, I’ve been thinking and I did not add on any regular monthly investing amount as I’m beginning to think twice about their strategy and if they have grown to a level where institutional belief is starting to take over instead of that pure robo fintech as compared to what they were in 2020.

StashAway does have their own advantages. They do hedge their portfolios against huge crashes and take a stand on some positions which I do like because a lot asset managers don’t and even though they talk big about macro. The gold move was bold but it protects the portfolio. Again, Rome wasn’t built in a day so I guess you need to safeguard some of your monies to future proof it. No one knows so we have to try to know. Now, they are taking China out of the equation all together. I don’t really like my returns. When do I exactly buy it at a crash level given all these active management.

To find out more about the pros and cons of using StashAway, do refer to my previous posts.

To sign up or try out Stash Away, visit the website and use my referral code at Stash Away Referral

We’ll both get up to $10,000 SGD managed for free for 6 months which is a good deal.

Disclaimer

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at Referral and Recommendations

The pictures were taken from the Stash Away website for this article.

Endowus Performance Review – Feb 2022

On By RistrettzIn Performance, Personal Finance Series, Robo AdvisorsLeave a comment

A very late review of February 2021 – I took some time out. About three months just to make things a bit better for myself. It is time for the monthly review again. In my last post, I discussed about being away and not being able to do anything to your portfolio. While taking care of my own well-being, I didn’t do much nor did I monitor my portfolio. The only additional thing that I did was that when the Ukraine Russia War started and markets dropped. I added some funds to the Lion Fund that tracks the S&P 500. Again, it is not for everyone. Not anyone can just buy in when the market is down. It all bow down to how you invest.

Portfolio Summary

The whole portfolio seem to rock in 2022 but I look at it as a long term growth. I am quite positive on US equities throughout the rest of 2023-2024 for some reason despite the constant word around hyperinflation news. My cash portfolio isn’t doing too great. On hindsight, I repeat that I do regret my decision because I thought I can take my liquidity out within 3 months but no. Now, i have to do it at a loss instead of waiting it out but then again, the cash fund is now losing $1000 in totality. Oh well, we have to take charge of our own decisions. I was greedy for yields and yet not willing to hold for a longer period.

Like any other month, I trust Endowus and I would actually recommend them to anyone I know. I know that my investments will be safe with them.  I also read in their newsletter that traditional banks and investing firms are starting to put in monies in the company as part of the drive to stay relevant. The paradigm shift is happening faster than expected. Except the fact for cash funds, I’m still quite happy with them.

Lower Investment amount

Whatever it is, they have been quite reasonable about everything. Another plus point is that they have also given me a lot of comfort in the way they allow investors to reduce their initial investing sum. Minimum sum should not be the way to investing. Overall, I feel that I take more pride in knowing who is holding my money and how they do it.

Lowering the bar also allows people who are younger to start early in this long-term process. The other point is what many people are talking about which is the fees. They are probably the only one in the market to rebate trailer fees. I like that bold big move as compared to the other advisors. I will slowly shift my funds over to them. Everyone is different so, you have to try them out first before you decide.

There’s something else which I like about them and that is how they use the power of retail investors to put money into institutional class funds. These funds are accessible only to people with the money and volume to purchase. Yet, they are now available to retail investors.

Cash Fund Ultra Portfolio

I started the ultra portfolio since July 2021 which claims to be around 1.9-2.1% (this went downwards) because I can’t find anything that yields more than 1% interests.

I hope can recover some of the losses but as a function of market related money market funds, I think it will take some time.

Further, I added another 30k into the portfolio as cash injection to yield higher interests but it has been negative since day one and still in negative territory so let’s wait and see how things pan out. Negative $1000++. What the heck! For Cash funds!

 

ESG Portfolio

I started this ESG Portfolio during March 2021 and I have some high hopes for this fund to do pretty well. This segment would serve me well for a long term portfolio because I do see the value in investing in sustainable companies an practices. After all, we are trying to make a difference for our little ones. Performance has been stellar. It has pulled back and dropped 0.92% Finally added $2500 when there was a pullback. This screenshot was taken early part of March, showing the volatility.

The allocation is a 80%/20% Equity/Bond portfolio allocation so there will be more movement on the equity side. This is long term so, just leave it in there. You do good and it brings you sustainable returns. It is for the future and the next generation. I can’t explain more. Maybe it is time for more deployment of cash.

SRS Portfolio

Overall, portfolio is still up +17% since May 2020 in SGD. As usual, in USD terms, due to no FX impact as the portfolio is USD ETFs, the performance will definitely be better especially when USD becomes stronger. Of course, the reference will be SGD since I use SGD. This is the SRS/Cash portfolio which consists of my favourite Dimension Funds in a 40% bonds/60% equity.

Overall from May 2020 to 15 March 2022, it is a +17.05% increase in absolute terms – quite okay. This is for the long run. I’m just going to keep it simple to report it overall as I have less time on my hand these days. But do try it out and put out your own performance and tell everyone about the experience. Unless, you nitpick aggressively – I think you will be fine. All time performance it has dropped 10%, that’s quite significant but everything just dipped.

On the YTD front, I’m looking at down $500+ haha.

 

CPF Portfolio

For the CPF portfolio, it is looking at +9.72% since inception in May 2020. That’s a huge drop of almost 10%. This portfolio is being beaten down now. But not for long.

 

On the YTD front, it has dropped to -$480+++ haha

Fund Smart Portfolio

I started this semi medium term Fund Smart portfolio this month in May 2021. I tried to build a balance portfolio. I’m not exactly sure but I will go in via RSP monthly as I wasn’t sure but I do want to deploy some of my cash. All time absolute return is -8.62%. haha. This is done monthly on RSP until 2021. It still continues to be underwater so I have reviewed and will continue to DCA in when markets have dipped.

Overall: 52% Equity and 48% Fixed Income

a. 15% in Multi Asset Fund (1 Fund)

b. 45% in Equity Funds (2 Funds)

i. Focus into China Play [10%]

ii. Global equity with dividend accumulation (Re-invest) [20%]

iii. Small Cap equity play (For the Alpha) [15%]

c. 40% in Bond Funds (3 Funds)

i. Climate Bond Fund Play [20%]

ii. Core Fixed Income Play [20%]

Retirement Portfolio 1

So last month, I got down into building a portfolio of unallocated funds to the institution Pimco GIS Income Fund. 0.55% will be the fees annually so that’s going to be start of the accumulation of the coupons from the funds. We are down 5.40% haha.

I deployed some cash on some portfolios as I can’t get good yields.

Retirement Portfolio 2

Yet again, I put in 2 tranches of S$5k into the Lion Global Infinity 500. At one point it was close to 6-7% down and today is is up 3%. Real volatility guys. Be prepared.

The reason for Endowus

Like a broken recorder, the pros once more:

  • Endowus is the first and only robo-advisor to be approved by the CPF board.
  • 100% trailer fees back to the consumer, not the fund management fee. This is really one of a kind I’ve seen so far.
  • They do have a decent team who makes sense when introducing their platform in my personal opinion.
  • I believe all retail investor should try them out because of how they are trying to disrupt investing and make investing work for everyone.

Thank you all in advance for using my referral code.

Last point is to do your own diligence. What works for me may not work for you. Investing in traditional portfolios is about risk management. My Cash Funds are bleeding. That was a super bad call by Endowus.

Disclaimer

If you decide to sign up with Endowus, do remember to use my referral code: https://endowus.com/invite?code=EDZ8M

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at Referral and Recommendations

These pictures were taken off Endowus website for reference.

StashAway Performance – Year in review 2021

On By RistrettzIn Performance, Personal Finance Series, Robo AdvisorsLeave a comment

2022 has arrived! The festive season is coming but for some it might be a stressful period. The pandemic situation has not taken a turn or twist. It’s not going to be any better going forward. Things will change too for the better. Stay positive.

StashAway has been rather stagnant but considering the environment, I think it is holding out well. SA seems to try to take a bet around China and their recovery by doing a rebalancing. Now, is that system or human driven I question. Shouldn’t it be systematic driven for a robo advisor instead of attempting to drive better returns. With an ERAA approach, these actions seems rather active.

If Mr Market drops, then I will add on more to the portfolios. If you have not taken the first step, action early so that you can start doing this early and learn from any mistakes along the way.

Retirement Portfolio A (risk-14%)

I expected a flat outlook in 2021 and it remains to be.  I started out on $1538 and ended the year at $1548, so I made $10 in 2021. Haha….Oh my word. That’s just a 0.65% gain. Talk about flat.

 

Pretty standard outcome.

Education Portfolio B (risk-16%)

I started out the year for $2705 and ended the year at $3352. Surprisingly, I’m seeing at 23.92% performance in 2021. Every month, I RSP $100 into the portfolio for 6 months until June 2021 so my absolute gain will be $3352-$2705-$600 = $47, that makes a +1.7% gain.

 

In Year 2021, it’s just a small incremental gain.

Education Portfolio C (risk-20%)

I started out the year for $2793 and ended the year at $3511. Surprisingly, I’m seeing at 23.92% performance in 2021. Every month, I RSP $100 into the portfolio for 6 months until June 2021 so my absolute gain will be $3511-$2793-$600 = $47, that makes a +4.2% gain.

 

Year to date wise, it is also flat. Nothing exciting. On China’s end, it must have been exciting. In terms of risk, probably SA is dropping much slower than other portfolios since they are designed as such.

Conclusion

It is now almost 2 years since I started using StashAway. I still think that it has been a great supplement as a robo advisor. After using a few robo-advisors, I find that SA will play as a competition to my Endowus Portfolio and true enough that fits exactly into how I plan it to be. Recent months, I’ve been thinking and I did not add on any regular monthly investing amount as I’m beginning to think twice about their strategy and if they have grown to a level where institutional belief is starting to take over instead of that pure robo fintech as compared to what they were in 2020.

StashAway does have their own advantages. They do hedge their portfolios against huge crashes and take a stand on some positions which I do like because a lot asset managers don’t and even though they talk big about macro. The gold move was bold but it protects the portfolio. Again, Rome wasn’t built in a day so I guess you need to safeguard some of your monies to future proof it. No one knows so we have to try to know.

To find out more about the pros and cons of using StashAway, do refer to my previous posts.

To sign up or try out Stash Away, visit the website and use my referral code at Stash Away Referral

We’ll both get up to $10,000 SGD managed for free for 6 months which is a good deal.

Disclaimer

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at Referral and Recommendations

The pictures were taken from the Stash Away website for this article.

Endowus Performance Review – Year in Review 2021

On By RistrettzIn Performance, Personal Finance Series, Robo AdvisorsLeave a comment

So, I missed out as time did not permit some form of blogging to report December results. It has been a tough tough month so far in terms of work, family and portfolio. It is time for the yearly review since I missed last month’s performance review. For performance 2021, I’m seeing that it will be yet another challenging year again with Covid variants running into the whole scheme of things. Economically, there will be impact regardless of the measures every country attempts.

Belated Happy New Year Everyone.

Portfolio Summary

The whole portfolio seem to be steady and going on a good long term growth. I am quite positive on US equities throughout the rest of 2022 for some reason despite the constant word around hyper inflation news. My cash portfolio isn’t doing too great. On hindsight, I do regret my decision because I thought I can take my liquidity out within 3 months. Now, i have to do it at a loss instead of waiting it out but then again, a $100-$200 loss is peanuts. Oh well, we have to take charge of our own decisions. I was greedy for yields and yet not willing to hold for a longer period.

Like any other month, I trust Endowus and I would actually recommend them to anyone I know. I know that my investments will be safe with them.  I also read in their newsletter that traditional banks and investing firms are starting to put in monies in the company as part of the drive to stay relevant. The paradigm shift is happening faster than expected. If you do feel like I am doing the right thing, please use my referral code. It is win-win for both of us.

Lower Investment amount

Whatever it is, they have been quite reasonable about everything. Another plus point is that they have also given me a lot of comfort in the way they allow investors to reduce their initial investing sum. Minimum sum should not be the way to investing. Overall, I feel that I take more pride in knowing who is holding my money and how they do it. So, S$1000 is the way to begin.

Lowering the bar also allows people who are younger to start early in this long-term process. The other point is what many people are talking about which is the fees. They are probably the only one in the market to rebate trailer fees. I like that bold big move as compared to the other advisors. I will slowly shift my funds over to them. Everyone is different so, you have to try them out first before you decide.

There’s something else which I like about them and that is how they use the power of retail investors to put money into institutional class funds. These funds are accessible only to people with the money and volume to purchase. Yet, they are now available to retail investors.

Cash Fund Ultra Portfolio

I started the ultra portfolio since July 2021 which claims to be around 1.9-2.1% (this went downwards) because I can’t find anything that yields more than 1% interests.

Not sure how this might work out but over the long run, it should be fine. I hope can recover some of the losses but as a function of market related money market funds, I think it will take some time.

I also added another 25k into the portfolio as cash injection to yield higher interests but it has been negative since day one and still in negative territory so let’s wait and see how things pan out. Negative $163.14 and I’ve withdrawn $12K from this disappointing cash portfolio.

 

ESG Portfolio

I started this ESG Portfolio during March 2021 and I have some high hopes for this fund to do pretty well. This segment would serve me well for a long term portfolio because I do see the value in investing in sustainable companies an practices. After all, we are trying to make a difference for our little ones. Performance has been stellar. In year 2021, it has performed +13.25%. Sustainable investing has been pretty popular of late.

 

The allocation is a 80%/20% Equity/Bond portfolio allocation so there will be more movement on the equity side. This is long term so, just leave it in there. You do good and it brings you sustainable returns. It is for the future and the next generation. I can’t explain more. Maybe it is time for more deployment of cash.

SRS Portfolio

Overall, portfolio is up +26.59% since May 2020 in SGD. As usual, in USD terms, due to no FX impact as the portfolio is USD ETFs, the performance will definitely be better especially when USD becomes stronger. Of course, the reference will be SGD since I use SGD. This is the SRS/Cash portfolio which consists of my favourite Dimension Funds in a 40% bonds/60% equity. in 2021, simple return is 13.45% increase in absolute terms – Fantastic once more. This is for the long run. I’m just going to keep it simple to report it overall as I have less time on my hand these days. But do try it out and put out your own performance and tell everyone about the experience. Unless, you nitpick aggressively – I think you will be fine. This has been double digit returns since 2020 (which is almost 2 years)

 

CPF Portfolio

For the CPF portfolio, it is looking at +16.42%% since inception in May 2020. This portfolio is beating my CPF returns every month.

 

In 2021, Simple returns is at 6.69%. Not as great as in 2020 but still good enough to cushion any dips.

Fund Smart Portfolio

I started this semi medium term Fund Smart portfolio this month in May 2021. I tried to build a balance portfolio. I’m not exactly sure but I will go in via RSP monthly as I wasn’t sure but I do want to deploy some of my cash. I have put in just a little during the correction and it is at -0.55% in 2021. This is done monthly on RSP until end of the year. I tried to run a mini thematic fund around this fund and diversification is key. Of course, if I had just dumped these into the ESG portfolio from the start, performance would have been much better now.

Some details of my so called diversified portfolio:

Overall: 52% Equity and 48% Fixed Income

a. 15% in Multi Asset Fund (1 Fund)

b. 45% in Equity Funds (2 Funds)

i. Focus into China Play [10%]

ii. Global equity with dividend accumulation (Re-invest) [20%]

iii. Small Cap equity play (For the Alpha) [15%]

c. 40% in Bond Funds (3 Funds)

i. Climate Bond Fund Play [20%]

ii. Core Fixed Income Play [20%]

Retirement Portfolio

I got down into building a portfolio of unallocated funds to the institution Pimco GIS Income Fund in 2021. 0.55% will be the fees annually so that’s going to be start of the accumulation of the coupons from the funds. I will add on 2 or 3 tranches of the same should the time allows. Otherwise I would look at the Lion Global fund that matches the S&P 500 Index for a long-term portfolio. Since inception, it is up +0.18% (reinvest) in 2021. We shall see where we are heading towards. I put in another S$10k into the fund in July 2021 and the accumulation is slowly taking place.

I really do need to deploy some cash as I can’t get 2% on cash solutions. It has been 6 months since I did any additional cash injection.

The reason for Endowus

Like a broken recorder, the pros once more:

  • Endowus is the first and only robo-advisor to be approved by the CPF board.
  • 100% trailer fees back to the consumer, not the fund management fee. This is really one of a kind I’ve seen so far.
  • They do have a decent team who makes sense when introducing their platform in my personal opinion.
  • I believe all retail investor should try them out because of how they are trying to disrupt investing and make investing work for everyone.

Thank you all in advance for using my referral code.

Last point is to do your own diligence. What works for me may not work for you. Investing in traditional portfolios is about risk management.

Disclaimer

If you decide to sign up with Endowus, do remember to use my referral code: https://endowus.com/invite?code=EDZ8M

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at Referral and Recommendations

These pictures were taken off Endowus website for reference.

Endowus Performance Review – Nov 2021

On By RistrettzIn Performance, Personal Finance Series, Robo AdvisorsLeave a comment

A very late review of November 2021 – It has been a tough tough month so far in terms of work, family and portfolio. It is time for the monthly review again. Last month was flat as usual but this is very little impact on the portfolio as performance has been stellar since inception. For performance in Nov 2021, I’m seeing some market pull back closer to the end of the month and it is finally showing how it is going to be for current markets until the end of 2021.

Portfolio Summary

The whole portfolio seem to be steady and going on a good long term growth. I am quite positive on US equities throughout the rest of 2021 for some reason despite the constant word around hyper inflation news. My cash portfolio isn’t doing too great. On hindsight, I do regret my decision because I thought I can take my liquidity out within 3 months. Now, i have to do it at a loss instead of waiting it out but then again, a $100 loss is peanuts. Oh well, we have to take charge of our own decisions. I was greedy for yields and yet not willing to hold for a longer period.

Like any other month, I trust Endowus and I would actually recommend them to anyone I know. I know that my investments will be safe with them.  I also read in their newsletter that traditional banks and investing firms are starting to put in monies in the company as part of the drive to stay relevant. The paradigm shift is happening faster than expected. In December, the referral fees have doubled from $20 to $40 so do check them out for some perks for yourself.

Lower Investment amount

Whatever it is, they have been quite reasonable about everything. Another plus point is that they have also given me a lot of comfort in the way they allow investors to reduce their initial investing sum. Minimum sum should not be the way to investing. Overall, I feel that I take more pride in knowing who is holding my money and how they do it.

Lowering the bar also allows people who are younger to start early in this long-term process. The other point is what many people are talking about which is the fees. They are probably the only one in the market to rebate trailer fees. I like that bold big move as compared to the other advisors. I will slowly shift my funds over to them. Everyone is different so, you have to try them out first before you decide.

There’s something else which I like about them and that is how they use the power of retail investors to put money into institutional class funds. These funds are accessible only to people with the money and volume to purchase. Yet, they are now available to retail investors.

Cash Fund Ultra Portfolio

I started the ultra portfolio since July 2021 which claims to be around 1.9-2.1% (this went downwards) because I can’t find anything that yields more than 1% interests.

 

Not sure how this might work out but over the long run, it should be fine. I hope can recover some of the losses but as a function of market related money market funds, I think it will take some time.

I also added another 30k into the portfolio as cash injection to yield higher interests but it has been negative since day one and still in negative territory so let’s wait and see how things pan out. Negative $177.62

 

ESG Portfolio

I started this ESG Portfolio during March 2021 and I have some high hopes for this fund to do pretty well. This segment would serve me well for a long term portfolio because I do see the value in investing in sustainable companies an practices. After all, we are trying to make a difference for our little ones. Performance has been stellar. It has pulled back and recovered to +13.37% into the positive territory at +15% during the year. Might consider adding on to this.

 

The allocation is a 80%/20% Equity/Bond portfolio allocation so there will be more movement on the equity side. This is long term so, just leave it in there. You do good and it brings you sustainable returns. It is for the future and the next generation. I can’t explain more. Maybe it is time for more deployment of cash.

SRS Portfolio

Overall, portfolio is up +27.71% since May 2020 in SGD. As usual, in USD terms, due to no FX impact as the portfolio is USD ETFs, the performance will definitely be better especially when USD becomes stronger. Of course, the reference will be SGD since I use SGD. This is the SRS/Cash portfolio which consists of my favourite Dimension Funds in a 40% bonds/60% equity. Overall from May 2020 to 13 Dec 2021, it is a +27.71% increase in absolute terms – Fantastic once more. This is for the long run. I’m just going to keep it simple to report it overall as I have less time on my hand these days. But do try it out and put out your own performance and tell everyone about the experience. Unless, you nitpick aggressively – I think you will be fine. This has increased +1.5+% points for the month of Nov.

 

On the YTD front, I’m looking at +13.40% in 2021. More great news.

CPF Portfolio

For the CPF portfolio, it is looking at +18.08% since inception in May 2020. That’s approximately +1.7% from the previous month in Oct 2021. This portfolio is beating my CPF returns every month.

On the YTD front, it is yielding +7.08% in 2021. Nice recovery.

Fund Smart Portfolio

I started this semi medium term Fund Smart portfolio this month in May 2021. I tried to build a balance portfolio. I’m not exactly sure but I will go in via RSP monthly as I wasn’t sure but I do want to deploy some of my cash. I have put in just a little during the correction and it is at +0.31% to date. This is done monthly on RSP until end of the year. As compared to Oct 2021, the portfolio is flat. I tried to run a mini thematic fund around this fund and diversification is key. Of course, if I had just dumped these into the ESG portfolio from the start, performance would have been much better now.

 

Overall: 52% Equity and 48% Fixed Income

a. 15% in Multi Asset Fund (1 Fund)

b. 45% in Equity Funds (2 Funds)

i. Focus into China Play [10%]

ii. Global equity with dividend accumulation (Re-invest) [20%]

iii. Small Cap equity play (For the Alpha) [15%]

c. 40% in Bond Funds (3 Funds)

i. Climate Bond Fund Play [20%]

ii. Core Fixed Income Play [20%]

Retirement Portfolio

So last month, I got down into building a portfolio of unallocated funds to the institution Pimco GIS Income Fund. 0.55% will be the fees annually so that’s going to be start of the accumulation of the coupons from the funds. I will add on 2 or 3 tranches of the same should the time allows. Otherwise I would look at the Lion Global fund that matches the S&P 500 Index for a long-term portfolio. Since inception, it is up +0.09% (reinvest) on 13 Dec 2021. We shall see where we are heading towards. I put in another S$10k into the fund in July 2021 and the accumulation is slowly taking place.

I really do need to deploy some cash as I can’t get 2% on cash solutions.

 

The reason for Endowus

Like a broken recorder, the pros once more:

  • Endowus is the first and only robo-advisor to be approved by the CPF board.
  • 100% trailer fees back to the consumer, not the fund management fee. This is really one of a kind I’ve seen so far.
  • They do have a decent team who makes sense when introducing their platform in my personal opinion.
  • I believe all retail investor should try them out because of how they are trying to disrupt investing and make investing work for everyone.

Thank you all in advance for using my referral code.

Last point is to do your own diligence. What works for me may not work for you. Investing in traditional portfolios is about risk management.

Disclaimer

If you decide to sign up with Endowus, do remember to use my referral code: https://endowus.com/invite?code=EDZ8M

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at Referral and Recommendations

These pictures were taken off Endowus website for reference.