StashAway Performance – Mar 2022 Performance

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.

StashAway Performance – Feb 2022 Performance

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.

StashAway Performance – Year in review 2021

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.

StashAway Performance – Oct 2021

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.

StashAway Performance – September 2021

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.

A New Singlife Grow & Referral Scheme

Singlife is offering up to $35 when you sign up for Singlife Account and their Singlife Grow. I’ve been following them for a while now and I realised that they have been promoting their GROW ILP account. I’m not sure if it took off well but given how there is marketing dollars to promote seems like it is encouraging a higher take up rate.  To get the $30 from grow, it takes very little effort. If you are an existing Singlife Account, you will still qualify for the Singlife Grow reward as long as you have never applied for Grow portfolio before. Just take note to use the code to get your credits – “ki02dAhi

The new scheme and promotion

There isn’t a lock-in period for your funds, and you can withdraw without penalty but it seems like there is a cap at S$20,000 per account per day so do take note.

The interest mechanic

On top of the sign-up gift, you also get 0.5% p.a. additional returns for your Singlife Account when you set up your Grow portfolio which is a nice cherry on top of the sign-up bonus. This gives you 1.5% p.a. on your Singlife Account for the first $10,000.

Not to mention that if you complete the $500 spending per month, you get an additional 0.5% p.a. and that makes it 2.0% p.a. on your Singlife Account for the first $10,000.

The Additional Perks

As all promotion goes, do some form of diligence and check out the Terms and Conditions to understand what you are putting your money into. Read it here: Terms and Conditions

The Cash Mechanic goes like this.

a. If you are not an account holder, sign up using this code ki02dAhi + order and activate the Singlife debit card to get a S$5 sign up bonus

b. If you are an existing customer then check GROW out.

  • Sign and apply for your first GROW policy using this code ki02dAhi + Fund your first GROW policy with a minimum of S$1000 to get a $30 sign up bonus.

In short, if you are a new customer, your max benefits will be S$35 and if you are an existing customer, your max benefits will be S$30.

The Real Deal, GROW ILP (Investment Linked Plan-ILP)

Without doubt, I scrutinise at the term ILP. Personally, I have terminated 2 ILPs that I bought some time back without knowing what I was going into.

Singlife Grow is primarily an investment ILP with very minimal insurance. You don’t have to pay high upfront commissions nor high assurance charges, and no lock-in period for your funds. However, I’m not quite sure if there is a fund switch function and what the bid-offer spreads are like.

Singlife Grow is more of a hybrid robo-insurtech /advisor perhaps and I can’t really classify them under any sorts but for sure they are in the Insurance industry so hence the term ILPs. They are not the typical ILP which loads the consumer even before the investing starts so that’s a plus.

However, do take note of the investment risks so it can go both ways and there’s no guaranteed returns.

  • I understand that the fund managers who will be managing your funds will be from Aberdeen Standard investments
  • There will be three different class of investing, namely (Conservative, Balanced and Dynamic). Allocations can be found here: Grow Factsheet and the investment breakdown
  • They are also under ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) which is a big thing these days as people approach sustainable investing.
  • Coverage will be 101% of Net premium or Account value (In the event it has gone up much higher)
  • Fees will be 0.25% per quarter of the account value. (Management Charge)
  • No Cost of Insurance (Excellent)

Some important information to note:

Singlife Launches Member Get Member Programme, Rewarding New and Existing Customers S$35 for Every Referral

Benefit

  • All referrers and referees receive S$30 when the referee signs up for Grow, and S$5 when the referee creates a Singlife Account and activates their Singlife Visa Debit Card. With no limits to the number of referrals, customers can continue to refer and receive more rewards.

The Grow ILP – Investment Linked Plan

  • Singlife’s Grow is an Investment-Linked Policy (ILP) with portfolios managed by Aberdeen Standard Investments. Accessed through the Singlife App, customers can manage, save and invest simply through a single interconnected platform with absolutely no lock-ins. For more information on Grow, visit https://singlife.com/grow/.

The Flexibility

  • The Singlife Account continues offering the same flexibility customers desire with no lock-ins or withdrawal fees, and better peace of mind. For more information about the Singlife Account, visit https://singlife.com/manage/.  However last I tried, there is a cap of S$20,000 limit of transfer out per account per day so do take note.

The physical card

  • The Singlife Account is Singlife’s flagship everyday insurance savings plan that comes with a free Visa Debit Card, carrying no FX fees for foreign currency transactions.

The protection by SDIC

  • The Singlife Account and Grow are protected up to specified limits by Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation (SDIC).

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. Just take note to use this code to get your credits – “ki02dAhi

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 Singlife website for this article.

Series 3: Starting your journey on Crypto on Defi with Cake DFI tokens

I was lured by the high yields of CakeDefi which is roughly around 80% or at point of writing. This is accounted for in APY (Annual Percentage Yield) by staking. I signed up about 3 months ago but failed to take any action on this. Given how cash interest rates is just no longer interesting, I’ve been looking to invest my cash.

You can find out more here: CakeDeli Link

The crypto space is really intriguing. I’ve been reading trying my best to keep up with the crypto world but it is extremely dynamic but I do see use and real world cases which we can tap on and try to make a deal out of these new coins/system.

I decided to put in SGD$100 into Cakedefi as an experiment to see what rewards I’ll get in the next three months or so as a regular monthly updates similar to what I have been doing for my own robo advisors accounts.

If you are keen to join Cakedefi, here’s how to do it online:

Registration

  • Head to my referral link below (QR code or referral code) to set up your Cakedefi account. 
    • Rewards: Get a total of US$30 worth of DFI ($20 worth of DFI when you sign up and make a deposit of $50 or more + $10 referral reward)
  • KYC applies – you’d need to standby a pic of you with your IC (and writing date and the stuff that you are applying for – their website will guide you), and upload proof of your addresses through your banking statement or utilities bill.
  • KYC approval time is fast so you can do this rather quickly.
I’m only trying out the staking on DFI and not farming for other stuff. I have yet to be convinced by CakeDefi so I will only play small money here.
 
 
How do we begin? To make the CAKE, you’d need the main ingredient: DeFi coin.
  1. First, transfer BTC from Gemini to your Cake wallet at here 
    • I chose Gemini because of their 10 free withdrawal per month
    • I chose BTC because there’s no deposit fee 
    • There are also many ways to do it. However take note that buying BTC with cash on Gemini is a $4 charge per transaction.
  2. Transfer from Gemini to Cake is pretty fast as well:
    • Email from Gemini: Your Bitcoin withdrawal has been confirmed
    • Email from Cake: Your deposit is being processed. You will receive another email when your deposit is successful.
  3. Once you have BTC in your Cake wallet, click on “Swap” at DeFi column
  4. OR, head to staking page  where you can swap + stake in one page.
I received 11.4 ish DeFi coins which works out to be around USD$2.63 per coin.

Referral Reward

Upon deposit of US$50 coins and above, I received notification of the bonus DFI:

The bonus DFI that is worth USD 30 is frozen for the next 180 days and is already working for you. Currently you get paid the base APY plus a little bonus %.

 
Free money to take but take note that the bonus will be locked for 180 days.
 
As most would caution, maybe these will turn into ZERO so only do it if you are comfortable.
 
If you already intend to stake with CakeDefi, pls use my referral link here where you’d get a total of US$30 worth of DFI ($20 worth of DFI when you sign up and make a deposit of $50 or more + $10 referral reward)
 

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. Please use my referral code if you would like to try CakeDefi:  786793

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 CakeDefi website for this article.