Category: Performance

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.

StashAway Performance – Oct 2021

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

The end of 2021 is coming but there is still time. It’s November! Summer is over and fall is coming once more. 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.  This portfolio is my longest term portfolio for retirement. I felt that it could have done a lot better but I shall not look back and will pop in a little more when i contribute to my SRS account. The SRS account since first day deposit is currently at +4.35% as at 2 Nov 2021 (Time-weighted return). Performance wise, I think i is okay and also this is a super long term portfolio – I would say close to 25 years horizon so I’ll just leave it there.

 

The YTD performance is just flat. Pretty standard outcome.

 

Education Portfolio B (risk-16%)

This portfolio B is set out to be on a 15-18 year investment horizon. It is at +9.37% since day 1 as at 2 Nov 2021 and It’s steady. I have been averaging in whenever there are market dips. The risk index is at 16% and I will adjust those risk levels as and when I feel that there is a risk on or off. For just a 2% risk increase, I see a better performance already. This month versus the last was -3%%. Nothing to shout about really other than a poor month.

 

In Year to Date context, it’s just a small incremental gain.

 

Education Portfolio C (risk-20%)

For this portfolio, I look at this at shorter horizon of 12-15 years so I feel that I need to take on some risk to achieve my goals. This SA risk index is currently at 20% and will take on to be one of my riskiest portfolio. Return is at +16.82% YTD (Time-weighted return) since day one as at 2 Nov 2021. As compared to the last month, it is up but this is just a note to self and measure the monthly performance. Over time, more funds will be added to achieve the targeted invested goals. Two consecutive drop in performance for this portfolio In June and July while it is up for August. In September, it has dropped more than 3%, October it is up by 3%.

 

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 – Oct 2021

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

October 2021 is finally over – 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 Oct 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.

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.

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.

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. Portfolio is now flat at 0% after a week of negative. This should be fine pretty decent going forward but funds being funds, they will all move on a downtrend.

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.

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 +13.98% 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 +25.76% 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 02 Nov 2021, it is a +25.76% 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 +2+% points for the month of Oct.

On the YTD front, I’m looking at +13.14% in 2021. Great news.

CPF Portfolio

For the CPF portfolio, it is looking at +16.77% since inception in May 2020. That’s approximately +1.1% from the previous month in Sep 2021. This portfolio is beating my CPF returns every month.

 

Similar to the previous months, interest rates for cash has been dropping like crazy. That’s pretty expected and the trend is to follow.

 

On the YTD front, it is yielding +6.50% 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 +0.01% to date. This is done monthly on RSP until end of the year. As compared to Sep 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 +0.46% (reinvest) on 2 Nov 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.

Endowus Performance Review – Sep 2021

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

Wake me up when September ends. 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 Sep 2021, I’m seeing some market pull back and it is finally showing how it is going to be for current markets. 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. As it seems, it is not quite a good month due to all the bad news coming out from China.

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.

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% (Changed upwards of 0.1% for now) 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. Portfolio is now flat at 0% after a week of negative. This should be fine pretty decent going forward but funds being funds, they will all move on a downtrend.

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

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. So, a little step goes a long way. It has pulled back this month going +9.81% into the positive territory at +15% during the year. Might consider adding on to this.

 

This is at +9.81% since inception some time in Mid March 2021. (and -3.0 plus % since Aug 2021) This is probably a healthy pullback. 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 +23.93% 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 02 Sep 2021, it is a +23.93% 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 dropped 2+% points for the month of Sep.

 

On the YTD front, I’m looking at +10.00% in 2021. Great news for me but it dropped -3 plus % points in Sep.

CPF Portfolio

For the CPF portfolio, it is looking at +15.62% since inception in May 2020. That’s approximately 1.5% drop from the previous month in Aug 2021. This portfolio is beating my CPF returns every month.

Similar to the previous months, interest rates for cash has been dropping like crazy. That’s pretty expected and the trend is to follow.

 

On the YTD front, it is yielding +4.85% in 2021. Nice but it has dropped 3+% points for Sep.

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 -0.40% to date. This is done monthly on RSP until end of the year. As compared to Aug 2021, the portfolio is down by 2 plus %. 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 +0.64% (reinvest) on 1 Oct 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. This has dropped 0.4% for the month of Sep

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.

StashAway Performance – September 2021

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

October is here. Wake us all up when September ends. October is the month where everything happens. Summer is over and fall is coming once more. 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.

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. Only time will tell but the portfolio seems to be more cushioned by these sharp drop in the market. We should see more volatility in the coming month.

Repeating to myself that if Mr Market decides to go either way, it would matter that much to me. Why is that so? 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. By now, I would have decide on the main Robo to stake my money with. SA is not quite the one but let’s see how it goes. The competition remains strong.

Retirement Portfolio A (risk-14%)

I expected a flat outlook in 2021.  This portfolio is my longest term portfolio for retirement. I felt that it could have done a lot better but I shall not look back and will pop in a little more when i contribute to my SRS account. The SRS account since first day deposit is currently at +2.37% as on 1 Oct 2021 (Time-weighted return). Oh and it drops -2% from Aug 2021. Performance wise, I think i is okay and also this is a super long term portfolio – I would say close to 25 years horizon so I’ll just leave it there.

The YTD performance is just flat. Pretty standard outcome.

Education Portfolio B (risk-16%)

This portfolio B is set out to be on a 15-18 year investment horizon. It is at +6.87% YTD on 1 Oct 2021 and It’s steady. It’s the same as the last time i measured during Dec 2020. I have been averaging in whenever there are market dips. The risk index is at 16% and I will adjust those risk levels as and when I feel that there is a risk on or off. For just a 2% risk increase, I see a better performance already. This month versus the last was -3%%. Nothing to shout about really other than a poor month.

 

In Year to Date context, it’s just a small incremental gain. Month on Month, it is still a drop.

 

Education Portfolio C (risk-20%)

For this portfolio, I look at this at shorter horizon of 12-15 years so I feel that I need to take on some risk to achieve my goals. This SA risk index is currently at 20% and will take on to be one of my riskiest portfolio. Return is at +13.51% YTD (Time-weighted return) since day one as at 1 Oct 2021. As compared to the last month, it is down my 3.2% but this is just a note to self and measure the monthly performance. Over time, more funds will be added to achieve the targeted invested goals. Two consecutive drop in performance for this portfolio In June and July while it is up for August. In September, it has dropped more than 3%.

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 more than one year 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 second fiddle 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.

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.

Series 1: Starting your Cryptocurrency journey with Crypto.com

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Income, Cryptocurrency, Interest Rates, New Ideas, Performance, Personal Finance SeriesLeave a comment

Crypto.com (CRO mainnet & https://crypto.com) has been around for some time now. I have not seen any utility crypto company who has delivered what they want to deliver to consumers over the last few years. They are as similar if not the same as any other company with a physical product that works. While I have my concerns, I do feel that they offer a little bit of everything which new users can learn about and existing users can complement with their existing knowledge.

Cryptocurrency

To a certain extent, sometimes just jumping on the bandwagon allows one to commit and understand how the crypto world works. Once you have committed some money, one will take the effort to find out more and discover the traits of the crypto world and what it entails. Crypto is a highly aggressive alternative investment and everyone should be careful. This article just talks more about what I feel so do your own diligence before jumping onto something.

Meanwhile, given that Binance International is going through some regulatory and compliance issues in Singapore. Crypto.com is a good way to explore your options. To explain further about the perks on opening a crypto.com account:

Sign-up promo (SGD100 + NFT) & USD25 Referral promo

 
By signing up, you will get SGD 100 and an exclusive NFT. Of course, you would need to be the first 100,o00 users to do so. To find out more read here: Mid-Autumn Crypto.com Promotion
 
Plus, I’d get my very first NFT “Lion Mooncake”. Curious to know how it looks like!
 
To maximise your rewards, you can choose to stake SGD $500 CRO so that I can unlock the referral bonus of US$25 (Referral Bonus)
 
To redeem NFT, you will need to sign up the NFT account that Crypto.com has at Crypto.com NFT Account
How to connect your Crypto.com/NFT and Crypto.com App accounts (Taken from their website):
    1. Sign in or create an account on Crypto.com/NFT.
    2. Go to Account Activity and select Connect to App.
    3. Enter the email address that’s associated with your Crypto.com App account and send a connection request to your inbox.
    4. Open the authorisation email, click Connect, enter your Crypto.com App passcode, and click Authorise & launch NFT.
If you would like to give Crypto.com a try do remember to use my referral code: 1JIC-91CM

Crypto.com Eco-system

 

I understand that by now, most would be a little confused with so many accounts. What Crypto.com can do is a lot of stuff. Listing it down and in summary:
 
a. https://crypto.com – This is their main app which allows you to swap cryptocurrency and also to setup your Metal VISA card. The Visa Card gives you the perks of cashback and using CRO to pay for specific vouchers (Special cashback discounts as well) – [APP only]
 
b. https://crypto.com/exchange – This is the trading account which allow you to set limits and trade with other pairs that they allow on the exchange (You can treat this as a brokerage account. The perks of opening the exchange account can be found here: Exchange Perks [Website & APP]
 
c. https://crypto.com/NFT – This is the marketplace for NFTs and also known as non-fungible Token. This is also what many know as digital art. [Website & APP]
 
d. https://crypto.com/defi-wallet – With the Crypto.com DeFi Wallet (a non-custodial wallet), you can send crypto to anyone around the world at your preferred confirmation speed and the network fee. With this you can also store and earn interest Crypto.com DeFi Wallet is a decentralized wallet, which means you own your private keys. During wallet creation, you will have to write down your recovery phrase which when needed, you will be able to restore your funds. (This is very important)
 
From here you can have the option to choose among the whitelisted validators for staking and redelegation (change delegation from existing validator to another validator). This will give you additional interest. Read more about it here: Defi-Wallet Earn

Some simple benefits for sign up

1. Supercharger

Other than putting approved coins to earn interest on the APP. You can also join in the syndication on the Exchange or the Supercharger event on the Crypto.com APP itself. You can stake your CRO and treat it as a way to farm for other coins that crypto.com has a promotion or link with. More information can be found here: Supercharger Event.

2. Metal Card Cashback

 
The Metal Card Cashback works like a credit card cashback account. The only thing that functions differently is that it is a debit card. You will need to pre-load it with cash before transacting with spends. Like any other card, they have to abide by MAS PSA. The card also credits cashback based on the MCC spends. More details can be found here: Cashback eligibility under their CRO cashback rewards program
 
Not to mention that if you take on the higher tier cards, you can get rebates for Spotify, Netflix and ever prime plus other perks which can be found here at https://crypto.com/sg/cards

3. Additional Promotion and Discounts

More perks and discount will be added over time and the updated ones until 30 Sep 2021 can be found here at User Exclusives and Promotions. If you have any queries, drop me a note and I will try my best to answer your questions. It can be daunting at first but eventually, you will get a hang of it.

Disclaimer

This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion after using their service and/or products. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence. There is no one size fits all investment strategy. If you would like to give Crypto.com a try do remember to use my referral code: 1JIC-91CM

Now, if what I am sharing does resonates with you, do use my referral codes here at Referral and Recommendations

If you like what I am sharing or if it resonates with you, do use my referral codes for other services at https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/

The pictures were taken from Crypto.com website for this article.

 

Syfe – Performance Aug 2021

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

Here is yet another robo advisor that I get on my portfolio since the start of 2020. It has been okay I feel. Ever since 2020, it has been a year and till today – I’m not exactly convinced though.

I am caught in both minds. I like reits but yet I don’t quite like Singapore equities in general. Dividend paying equities are definitely good but yet I have more appetite for a growth company. It is just not that sustainable over the long term I feel. Where are the money coming from to build more creativity and expand their business.

Why Syfe?

When the markets were down during March 2020, it was quite exciting times because those were the kind of period which I actually will put money into investments. To a certain extent, I have also put money into other robo advisors such as Endowus and StashAway. While those are more of a “global diversification”, Syfe is more of a local bias for it’s Reits+ Portfolio and truth be told I then took the plunge for a small amount just to try it out a non-DIY approach to Reits investing.

Next, what I struggled with then over the period is that there were quite a discount off many equity tickers and I didn’t really know what to buy or what to expect since the market was in a downtrend. As with every investment, making a rational or emotional decision can only be determined after the event has passed. Reits has since risen, dropped and risen yet again. Frankly, I’ve been busy to keep looking into my own portfolio.

I haven’t got around to increase the investment funds so it is only a very small initial amount. Partly, my mind tells me to do dollar cost averaging for my other investments so we still have to see how things go.

Performance (August 2021)

 

12 months has gone by and +28.65% is pretty insane in my opinion. The last time I looked at this was 6 months ago in March 2021 and it has increased by slightly more than 5%. Then again, the base that I started out with is quite a fantastic benchmark so maybe that isn’t too fair. From here, there isn’t fresh funds invested as I am think more about my overall portfolio. I do think I have enough of the local investments and typically Singapore equities are rather slow and neutral in performance. Even the STI isn’t that exciting in my opinion. If you really look at a 50 year and beyond horizon for S&P 500, it is an amazing uptrend with good returns.

Do use my referral code to get some benefits when you sign up a new account with Syfe. Referral Code: SRPTSMQ5J

You will get (Find our more about their referral scheme here Syfe Signup) :

a. S$10 bonus if you invest S$500

b. S$50 bonus if you invest S$10,000

c. S$100 bonus if you invest S$20,000

Disclaimer

This is not a sponsored post. This is purely my own opinion after using their service and/or products. If you like what you are seeing, do remember to check they out and do your diligence. There is no one size fits all investment strategy.

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

The pictures were taken from Syfe website for this article.