Many investors understand what dividends are. However, not many realized that there is another type of invisible dividends that is called the share repurchase. Both shares repurchase and dividends have its advantages and disadvantages. What is share repurchase? When a company decides to purchase its own shares, it is called a share repurchase. Normally this is done by buying shares from the stock exchange and it is exactly how an ordinary investor would buy stocks from the stock exchange. Do … [Read More...]
LATEST ARTICLE (SUBSCRIBE TO MY MAILING LIST TO AVOID MISSING THE LATEST)
SingHealth breach: what does it mean to lose your data
By now everybody would have read in the news that 1.5 million SingHealth’s patients’ information were stolen. Singapore has a population of 5.79 million. So 26% of the population got their personal particulars stolen. Majority of the data stolen from the SingHealth breach were names, NRIC number, date of birth, address, gender and race. A smaller number consisting of 160,000 had their prescription records stolen. Victims included Prime Minister Lee, ESM Goh Chok Tong and other undisclosed … [Read More...]
Featured articles
Why this company’s stock price plunged despite large profit announcement?
Q: Wilfred, Company X5 announced on 8th March 2018 that its full year results for 2017 was US$163 million in earnings. This was significantly larger than that in 2016 of only $6.7 million. However, … [Read More...]
Conservative Account (for existing clients only)
This is an announcement for existing clients. The Conservative Account is an investment that aims to provide a return of 2-4% per annum (inclusive of dividends) with low volatility. The Account … Read more
Human capital and investing in employee stock benefits
Today I would like to introduce the concept of human capital and briefly touch on employee stock purchase program. What is human capital? Human capital is simply the ability to earn money by … [Read More...]
Investors always buy high and sell low regardless of asset classes
February 2018 started with a poor market performance. The S&P 500, Nikkei 225, STI and Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite index is down by -5.82%, -7.03%, -4.79% and -7.94% respectively in SG … [Read More...]
7 real reasons why most investors are not successful
Long time ago, the only way people can invest was by investing in stocks. However, not everybody had the expertise to pick stocks. Moreover, most people were busy working. So, they did not have time … [Read More...]
$300m company’s share price sliding down like a falling knife (not referring to Noble)
By now, everybody is aware that Noble’s share has been on a decline by a large magnitude. In fact, its share price is down by a whopping 98.43% compared to 5 years ago Like Noble, there is another … [Read More...]
Share price plunged despite good cash conversion cycle
is a technology company listed in Hong Kong. It is a highly efficient company in terms of its cash conversion cycle but it has caused shareholders to lose huge amount of money over the past few years. … [Read More...]
Why this company has high profitability but still lose money?
One of my client asked me about a particular company that is listed in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. She wanted to buy this company. is not a small company. It has a market capitalization of HKD 173 … [Read More...]
Paying dividends from borrowings
In 2015, I met a client who engaged me for comprehensive financial planning. But I was quite frustrated with the outcome because the client did not take up most of my recommendations. In particular, I … [Read More...]
Property investment is illogical especially when its > 100% of networth
Update 30/11/2017: See article: MAS flags risks from 'excessive exuberance' in property market For those who has read my blog for some time is well aware that I am against the way many Singaporeans … [Read More...]
When insurance agents jump ship, clients may suffer
For those who does not read newspaper, the Sunday Times has an article today on the potential problems that could occur when insurance agents are being poached (When insurance agents jump ship, … [Read More...]
featured articles
It’s too late to do retirement planning when old, says Citi-SMU
According to Citi-SMU (SingaporeManagement University) symposium on financial Literacy for young adults, it is important to start managing one's finances when young. This is because picking up … [Read More...]
CPF: How to Accumulate $1m in your CPF by 57?
I read from the CPF’s AREYOUREADY facebook about a man named Loo Cheng Chuan who believes he can accumulate $1m in his CPF. Is this really possible? The article did not provide any mathematics. I … [Read More...]
Free advice is going to cost you your entire HDB flat!
Everybody I know is concerned about their salary because they want to save for retirement. Financial advisers are no different from the human being next door. They need to earn a living as well. … [Read More...]
No advice given, few documentation and non-disclosures but earns easy money
Here is an example on how a financial adviser sold a life insurance product. The following is a scanned image of a section of the KYC: In the KYC, the client declared "I do not want any … [Read More...]
How to create your own dividends paying portfolio
Today I want to discuss briefly about the quest for income generating investments. Many investors have the desire to invest in income generating instruments such as dividend paying stocks. Here is … [Read More...]
Millions of dollars of retirees’ money lost in property scam
It was reported that $60 million worth of investors’ money was lost in a property ponzi scam right in Singapore ("Investors caught in $60m ponzi scam", Straits Times 24 May 2015). Ms Leong Lai Yee … [Read More...]
Examples of mis-selling an insurance
In this short article, I will show how insurance products are mis-sold to unsuspecting customers. This article also serves as an education short write-up for existing financial advisers because they … [Read More...]
Widespread financial illiteracy on retirement planning, says CPF Advisory Panel
It was reported that Singaporeans are suffering from the lack of financial literacy. The problem is actually widespread despite Singapore scoring tops in mathematics. “There is a difference between … [Read More...]
Case study to generate passive income for retirement planning
In this article, I would like to give a description on a case I worked on to help my clients monetise their existing assets in order to provide for a retirement income. My clients – husband and … [Read More...]
Tips in selecting a Universal Life
Stroll down to the end of this page if you are looking for the Universal Life Calculator I created. Universal Life products are often marketed to the high networth individuals. It appears to be … [Read More...]
