Tag: alternative

StashAway Performance – June 2021

On By RistrettzIn Performance, Personal Finance SeriesLeave a comment

The first half of 2021 has passed by and it wasn’t too long before we had resolutions and new ideals. There’s only 6 months left for us to actually do anything to plug the gap. For those who actively review their goals and are on par or exceeding it. Keep on pushing, make it count. At the same time, it does seems like it has also passed rather quickly. StashAway has been rather stagnant but considering the environment, I think it is holding out well. Then again, it is about comparison. If I compare it with my core Robo then it seem to be a tad shy from the performance.

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.

Retirement Portfolio A (risk-14%)

My longest term portfolio for retirement. A little off on the performance level. I 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 +3.87% as on 30 June 2021 (Time-weighted return). Oh well. 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.

 

In USD performance, that’s about +7.26% YTD (Time-weighted return). That’s quite a bit of FX i am losing out here. It dropped about 0.6% from last month. Then again, I wouldn’t sweat on the exchange rates since I am going to stay invested and into these portfolios. They are just a mean of reference as I look back at the performance.

 

Education Portfolio B (risk-16%)

This portfolio B is set out to be on a 15-18 year investment horizon. It is at +9.42% YTD on 30 June 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.

 

In USD, I’m looking at double digits +13.28% (Time-weighted returns). Again on the Forex rate as reference. This has dropped almost 1% month on month.

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 +16.74% YTD (Time-weighted return) since day one as at 5 June 2021 Not much of it has changed or rather it has dropped slightly 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.

 

In USD terms, we are looking at +20.87% (Time-weighted return). Looking great as usual. Although I feel that this isn’t exactly the year to take on higher risk for better returns. This has dropped 1.2% month on month.

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.

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.

SHIB or Shit Coins (Cryptocurrency)

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Income, Alternative Investments, CryptocurrencyLeave a comment

There has been a number of crazy movements in the crypto world. No one can really explain the reason fundamentally but it created a bunch of young millionaires especially from Elon Musk little tweet about Dogecoin.

With only 11 days in the market, Shiba coins seems to be the next trend of meme coins. Woof Paper perhaps of white paper: https://www.shibatoken.com/

Pretty funny comments I would say reading the whitepaper. I hope VB burns or keep SHIB.

Buy or Risk? It really depends on your risk taking level. No pain no gain, no risk no returns.

Currently, it seems like you can use 2 ways to purchase SHIB:

a. Buy via Crypto.com App

b. Buy via metamask [Through the Ethereum (ETH) network]

c. You can buy it through Binance now. That’s pretty huge.

Crypto trading and currency is not for everyone so do your own diligence. Don’t FOMO, invest wisely. Good luck! Now, to the moon.

Disclaimer

If you decide to sign up with Crypto.com to trade any other coins, Use this Crypto.com App to sign up for Crypto.com and we both get $25 USD. Referral Code: im3py887ty

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 SHIB website for reference.

Everest Gold

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Income, Alternative Investments, New Ideas, Wealth & HealthLeave a comment

The sound of Everest Gold is not exactly sound and safe at first notice but they are a new digital trading platform. You can trade gold digitally now, akin to a stock brokerage account. There are a number of articles out there from bloggers and online news that talks about Everest Gold.

Trying it out

To try it out, you do not need to put in any money. All you need is to use my referral code and your will be awarded 200k points which is approximately USD 20. These rewards can be used to subscribe for gold during their events.

  • No need for any transactions. Just make sure your details, bank accounts and everything is verified.
  • Referral is limited. Not sure if they will be bringing this back but in Oct 2020, the fee was 300k points which is approximately USD 40.

Referral

Use this link to find out more if you are interested at Everest Gold or use this referral code when you decide to sign up: TZLLE. Both of us will get more rewards for subscription.

History

A little dig up of the company. Everest Gold is a Singapore-based  fintech gold trading form. The creation of such a service is to digitise gold trading and makes it easy for both beginner and expert investors. It is suitable for anyone who have interest in gold trading. I personally have also tested their customer service team and response is pretty decent.

Everest Gold uses 999.9 pure investment grade gold. 1kg bard are from a refiner in switzerland. You can also download them from an app and investing starts from 1 gram. From what it seems, anyone can trade and liquidate almost immediately. Physical gold assets can also be collected from their depositories by submission of a request in-app.

Disclaimer

I do use this service and by signing up as a referrer, both you and I will get some benefits.

As with all investments, there are risks involved so please do your own diligence.

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 the Everest Gold website for this article.

Crypto.com Exchange (Crypto Trading)

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Investments, Cryptocurrency, Personal Finance SeriesLeave a comment

Crypto Trading has been something that I was looking to go a couple of years ago. However the process and understanding the steps were just complex and seems daunting. The whole idea of buying crypto through a block-chain transaction and also when you transfer ETH through the ERC-20 system and so on and so forth.

I didn’t even know what was gas to begin with! Then came Crypto.com that was my initial foray into crypto currency and it gave me confidence because of how simple the setup was. It was built into 2 segments and eventually developed into a brokerage style (Crypto.com Exchange) at Exchange

Crypto.com App

The app is divided into two sections: The first is the Visa Debit Card and the second the purchasing wallet in the Crypto App. You can sell your crypto into the Visa Card (This is only one way) in the form of BTC to Fiat Currency. You can buy and sell and convert from different coins/tokens within the app itself as long as they list it in the App.

The next development that they built was the earn functions. It works like a fixed deposit. You need to put in a minimum sum, it can be no terms, 1 month or 3 month and they pay you the interest every week. The presumed interest rates are not fixed and are subject to changes. I find that the flexible terms plans allow for such flexibility. I previously talked about Crypto.com here Foray into Cryptocurrency with a Visa Card

Crypto.com Exchange

Recently, Crypto.com built an Exchange platform. This is what most people define traditionally as the brokerage. This exchange platform will allow you to set triggers for all coin pairs that is tradable on the exchange. You can also set limit buy and sell or market orders through the platform. This gives some form of control as the rates are always moving even during weekends. On the App itself, the rates are probably held for 5/10 secs depend on how volatile the trading pairs are but the exchange will provide live and almost instant conversion at the price that one would like to get.

You can also soft stake in the exchange with other coins that is listed on the page. It means that certain coins get some form of interest just by putting it on the exchange. You do not need to do anything but just take note that it may change from time to time.

Above is the referral programme for both referrer and referee for NEW Users.

They also have a referral programme now. You can also read more about it in detail here at Exchange Referral

The sky is the limit for now. Look at the referral bonus paid out in CROs Tokens. The rich gets richer.

Above is the referral programme for both referrer and referee for EXISTING Users

Benefits

  • No referral limits – You can refer as many friends as you want; you and your friends will each be rewarded upon meeting the requirements.
  • Bonus credited instantly – Referrer/Referee will receive their bonuses immediately once all conditions are met.

If you would like to give it a go or just to try it out, do use my referral code. Meanwhile, if you have any questions about funding or what to use to buy and how to buy, just drop me a note anytime.

Referral Link: My Referral Link

Referral Code: im3py887ty

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 https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/ for the services.

Images seen in this article were take off the relevant websites for illustration purposes only.

Singapore Reits or not?

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Investments, Deals, New Ideas, Personal Finance Series, Robo AdvisorsLeave a comment

Singapore Reits is something that many Singaporeans understand and take heart to. Some folks actually build their income/passive income via this source and I can see why.

My take on Reits on SGX

a. First it is based in Singapore – There is this local bias that it can do well given most people like to see for themselves if the malls are working out well in terms of retail quality, crowd, spending and how many shops are still in business.

b. SGD payouts avoids the currency risks. For a retiree or someone drawing on income from dividends, this payouts serve as a source of bill payment.

c. An alternative and cheaper way to enter the real estate market in Singapore is really through the reits/stock exchange. I know that people will argue that it is different but technically in my view, it is the same (And you do not need to pay stamp duties, get a mortgage and pay sales charges)

d. It is more liquid than real estate.

For a long time now, Reits have been growing big and popular within the investing community. Again, all investments comes with risks – Most people have more comfort in dealing with things they can see or get a sense of. For a long time, there have been plenty of wins for reits but as you can also see, the Circuit Breaker period in April through May have affected them in a way or another.

Diversification?

So again diversification is key to investing once more. If you put all your eggs into the Reits for passive income, then with such dividend cuts your bottom line is definitely affected. Currently, it doesn’t seem like this Covid situation is going back down or slow down whatsoever so dividend cuts is going to be prolonged in order to save businesses and jobs. Then again, there are certain sectors who might see a booming business such as Data Centres or even certain suburban reits. Sub-urban malls are definitely crowded but the former shopping aisles in orchard and high end malls are definitely missing the tourist crowd which rakes in the cash and spending. It is no wonder why people are worried about their livelihoods.

It is not all doom and gloom. Sectors will emerge while some will recover. It is definitely time to pick up some if you did not have any. The idea is to really have a long-term goals when you pick a stock and stay disciplined. Once you sell it off, you may never be able to pick back the company at their valuations again.

The Passive or Lazy Choice

If you are lazy, let Robo-advisors do the trick for you. For e.g. Syfe. https://www.syfe.com/ Initially i only took on the Reit+ portfolio some time in April 2020 to test it out so that I do not need to manage the portfolio and incur those trading fees. They have expanded other products such as a Global ARI portfolio (Long term investment into equity,bonds and commodities) and Equity100 portfolio which is 100% into global Equity ETF (US and UK listed ETFs)

Auto-rebalancing

Syfe has invented their ARI (Automated Risk Investing) methodology, which is a risk-based rebalancing strategy, which changes the allocations of your portfolio according to changes in risks in the market in order to limit your losses. In short, once it triggers a certain level, the system will trigger an alert and things start to sell off to re-allocate. It also means that over the longer term, you will naturally see a better performance of the portfolio.

Every rebalancing of course depends on what portfolio you choose from so everyone is different. I personally like the idea of investing into a portfolio of reits instead of picking it on my own. In terms of fees, it depends on your investment amount with them.

In terms of pricing, I think it is cost effective. Do find out more about it here https://www.syfe.com/pricing

a. Management fee per year is at 0.65% p.a. for investment amounts S$0 – S$20k.

b. Management fee per year is at 0.50% p.a. for investment amounts S$20k – S$100k.

c. Management fee per year is at 0.40% p.a. for investment amounts S$100k and above.

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 https://www.syfe.com/magazine/how-can-i-invite-a-friend-to-join-syfe/) :

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 https://atomic-temporary-178675883.wpcomstaging.com/contact/ for the services.

The pictures were taken from Syfe website for this article.

Crypto.com (MCO swap to CRO)

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Investments, Cryptocurrency, Interest RatesLeave a comment

Crypto.com (MCO) has been around for almost 4 years now. I have not seen any utility crypto company who has delivered what they want to deliver to consumers over the last 4 years. They are as similar if not the same as any other company with a physical product that works.

Crypto.com

My first serious foray into crypto was the MCO card introduced by a friend of my. The great deal initially was a referral fee of USD 50 for both referrer and referee. Then comes the Spotify, Netflix and free airport access (via Lounge key – Not so much now but still it is okay) all these comes in at 100% cash-backed to the card via the utility token (Used to be MCO but now it is swapped into the CRO)

For many users, especially the pioneers or even global users who have been approved in their countries to issued MCO Visa cards (Debit card), it is certainly not what was listed in the white paper but hey, it is a pretty good move in my opinion and while the Wirecard Fiasco is still ongoing, I think it is a win-win for all Crypto.com users. Some users think otherwise but I find that this is an option once more to think bigger profits which a 10x margin might be possible. Of course crypto comes with risks. It is a big risk but it should also return big as well.

The community has been negative for such changes. I guess there is no right and wrong answer to it. I still choose to believe that is moving in the right direction for customers as well as sustainability. So in all that, I will still hold and wait on for more good news on their end. The CRO staked amount has also been adjusted lower which means more good news and more CRO released for usage.

The Swap Value

There’s the alert and actionable items: Action is required before 2 Nov 2020 at 23:59 UTC, or you will lose the functionality currently associated with your MCO. We will not perform the MCO swap on your behalf and the swap will not happen automatically.

Crypto.com will use the following formula based on the volume weighted average price as expressed in United States dollars (“VWAP”)to determine the number of CRO allocated to you that reflects each swapped MCO:

1 MCO = (30-day VWAP of MCO / 30-day VWAP of CRO) x 1 CRO

(30 days between 4 Jul 2020 to 2 Aug 2020, both dates inclusive)

So it will be fixed at 1 MCO = 27.4639 CRO

Crypto.com will offer an Early Swap Bonus in CRO if the MCO swap is performed before 2 Sep 2020 23:59 UTC, based on the following formula and criteria: So Swap early for

1 MCO = 33.1726 CRO

The pros is now that the stake and interest has now increased as CRO terms are on better rates. Development of De-fi is on its way. More flexibility in terms of usage and managing the tokens. Benefits are better now for existing customers.

The cons would be the way they initially managed and wrote on the white paper. This definitely lost some points as well as how MCO was originally the golden boy which has turned obsolete now.

All Benefits remains the same and on the same tier. Not bad I supposed, just that the quantity of CRO is now much more than before. I don’t think that’s a big deal. The whole idea is adoption, more utility and more users. It spells 10x to me more. Just be patient.

Disclaimer

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.

Foray into CryptoCurrency – The MCO Card (Crypto.com)

On By RistrettzIn Alternative Investments, CryptocurrencyLeave a comment

Cryptocurrency

Invest in cryptocurrency! The first thing that comes to mind is that it is a scam or it is risky. It is not only after you take some time to find out more.

Getting someone to go into cryptocurrency can be challenging. When I first started, I was late to the game but the fees I paid were way much higher than what it is today. Today, I can see that the adoption crypto is slowing and steadily increasing and solutions are being provided to solve the problems in the real world. There are indeed real world situations that need solutions.

MCO/CRO Card

I have been with crypto.com (CRO) for almost 2 years now. (Updated:  3years now) Though I did not experience that huge dip in prices after it went as high as USD20+ (MCO) but what I have seen from them is absolutely amazing.

CRO coins are what define crypto.com (They were used to be called Monaco and MCO coins) and the fact that they managed to obtain the domain name says something great about them.

I would say the CRO coin is more of a hybrid crypto. You can get a real metal card depending on how much of the coins you buy. A real debit card that pays you instant cashback on anything you can pay with the card.

You can always opt for a “free card” and that gives you a 1% cashback on all transaction and it gets better.

Buying and staking 50 MCO coins will get you the Ruby card – 2% cashback

These staking requirement changes from time to time so do visit https://crypto.com/cards to find out more.

In summary:

Blue card – 1% cashback (No staking required)

Red card – 2% cashback (USD 400 equivalent)

Blue/Green card – 3% cashback (USD4,000 equivalent)

Icy White card – 4% cashback (USD40,000 equivalent)

Black card – 5% cashback (USD400,000 equivalent)

What I really like about this is not just the cash back. However you have to be comfortable to lock in at least 10000 CRO for an initial 6 months.

Pros:

1. I always want to buy cryptocurrency more fuss-free and easier. This platform makes it really easy

2. Funding from SGD does not incur any fees if you use xfers and follow their instructions diligently

3. 100% cashback in CRO coin for subscription to Spotify and Netflix (literally free – capped at the amount for blue and green card)

4. Unlimited access to loungekey (Airport lounge)

5. You can trade other crypto available on the app and their exchange

6. Certain coins have “earn” capabilities, meaning you get interest by staking it on the earn platform on the app.

Cons:

1. The price of CRO is around 0.25 SGD at time of writing. That’s double of what I initially got into but you never know when it will go higher or lower

2. You need to put in an initial investment to get all these benefits

3. You need to fund your debit card with cash first before using it.

Things may get complex from here if I add on more information. If you wish to know more, drop me a note and I can share more with you.

Meanwhile, if you use my link/referral code, you will get USD25 and I will get USD 25 worth of CRO.

All you need is to make a transaction and stake your CRO to get the debit card of your choice. That’s some cool amount of cash to start off with.

https://platinum.crypto.com/r/im3py887ty to sign up for Crypto.com and we both get $25 USD 🙂