When applying for insurance, the principal of utmost good faith applies. The Latin equivalent of 'utmost good faith' is uberrima fides. The principal of utmost good faith or Uberrima fides means you have to declare all material information – those you know and ought to know. If in doubt, just declare it. You cannot go wrong “over declaring” it but you can go very wrong if you do not declare it. In the event that you did not declare a material information, your insurer can avoid the entire … [Read More...]
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What we can learn from Warren Buffett? Part 4
This is a multi part article. For the previous article, you can read it here: What we can learn from Warren Buffett? Part 3. Do not get emotional Warren Buffett is not perfect. We can learn from his mistakes. Did you know that one of his worse investments turn out to be Berkshire Hathaway? Surprise surprise! Berkshire Hathaway was a textile company that was going downhill. Buffett Partnership first purchased Berkshire Hathaway in 1962 at $7.50 when the working-capital was worth $10.25 and a … [Read More...]
Featured articles
If an insurance company pays claims that are much less than the premium collected, does it mean the product is priced too expensive?
I saw this Facebook post the other day and I felt it is one of the most common misconception about insurance. The Eldershield is meant for old age but the pool is young and so the claims are low. … [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
Dimensional Funds are now available for retail investors
For those who are into index investing will know how frustrating it is to do so. Vanguard has decided only to make its index funds available to Accredited Investors. Those who prefer to invest in MAS … [Read More...]
What we can learn from Warren Buffett? Part 3
This is a multi part article. For the previous article, you can read here: What we can learn from Warren Buffett? Part 2. Treat the investment as a business Unlike many investors, Warren Buffett … [Read More...]
What we can learn from Warren Buffett? Part 2
This is a multiple part article. For the previous article, please refer to this article: What we can learn from Warren Buffett? Part 1 Having a diversified portfolio As at end of 2017, SEC 13F … [Read More...]
What we can learn from Warren Buffett? Part 1
BYD Co Ltd was listed on the Hong Kong exchange in 2002. It was one of China’s biggest rechargeable batteries maker. Berkshire Hathaway - the holding company which Warren Buffett is the largest … [Read More...]
Share Repurchase vs dividends
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 … [Read More...]
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 … [Read More...]
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...]
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...]
Women likely to be financially worst off after retirement
The latest survey conducted by HSBC Future of Retirement (Healthy New Beginnings) Singapore Report reported that: 32% of women say that their actual financial situation got worst after retirement … [Read More...]
6 ways to increase your investment returns
1: Asset allocation is critical The most important part of investment is to get the asset allocation right. This is because large proportion of the percent of return variation of a portfolio is … [Read More...]
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...]
Life Expectancy and the Importance of Retirement Planning
We have heard in the news that life expectancy is rising. But how much is it rising and what is the impact to retirement planning? I downloaded the statistic from Singapore Department of Statistics … [Read More...]
A client who spent $27,000 a year on insurances
There was an article Does it pay to stick to a big name in insurance? (Straits Times 30 Dec 2016) which asked the question whether should consumers buy from larger insurance companies in hope of … [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...]
Rental income may not be enough to service property loans, warns MAS
"In particular, before investing in property, investors should be aware that rising vacancy rates, declining rentals and impending interest rate increases mean that they may not always be able to rely … [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...]
Up to 70% of financial advisers’ recommendations were unsuitable, says MAS mystery shoppers survey
MAS commissioned an external consultant to conduct a mystery shopping exercise in 2012 to determine the quality of advice given out by financial advisers[1]. The MAS mystery shoppers' statistics were … [Read More...]
