Rock, who regularly posts in the NextInsight forum, contributed this article to NextInsight
IN THE year from Aug 2014 to July 2015, I did not make any contribution to my SRS account but instead made 2 withdrawals last year and early this year, totalling $110,000.
My SRS balance to date = $176,107 (Share value = $126,835, cash = $49,272 and minus $110,000 withdrawal).
My withdrawals were due to a lot of uncertainties prevailing during the second half of last year and so far this year: end of QE3 and US Federal Reserve signalling its intention to increase interest rates.
Next, the plunge in crude oil prices early this year. Lately, the sell-off in China’s stock markets and the fall in the many currencies against the US dollar.
My profit for the year (Aug 2014-July 2015?) is about $4,500. My performance for the year is 2.6%. This calculation is based on a principal sum of $176,835.
When we look at the CPF Ordinary Account rate of 2.5% p. a., my performance is still a 0.1 percentage point higher than the CPF rate.
The STI for the period fell by 5.1%.(STI @ 31/7/2014 = 3374 and @ 31/7/2015 = 3202).
Thus, inspite of the difficult market conditions my SRS growth for the year of 2.6% is still not too bad.
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Changes In My SRS Portfolio: Bonvests - 30,000 shares Chip Eng Seng - 25,000 shares First Reit - 10,000 shares Stamford Land - 20,000 shares Reasons: Increased my cash holding as bull markets have been running for over 6 years. The others reasons were tapering of QE3, the impending increase in interest rates, slowing growth in China and the fall in crude oil price. Cordlife - Reduced from 25,000 shares to 15,000 shares. Reasons: Short term upside limited as the company needs time to digest its overseas venture. Hai Leck Holding - Bought 35,000 shares in January 2015, and I now own a total of 85,000 shares. Reasons: Company is debt free and offers good dividend yield. The fall in oil price had impacted the share price of this stock. |