Good to know we were still able to make investment purchases for May 2017 despite being away from Singapore half of the month.

Automated Investing

Maybank Kim Eng Monthly Investment Plan (Maybank KE MIP)

• Buy 29 units of SPDR STI ETF (ES3 on SGX) at S$3.28 per unit on 8 May 2017
• Buy 92 units of Nikko AM REIT ETF (CFA on SGX) at S$1.04 per unit on 8 May 2017
• Transaction cost of S$2

POSB Invest-Saver

• Buy 29 units of Nikko AM STI ETF (G3B on SGX) at S$3.37 per unit on 15 May 2017
• Transaction cost of S$1

OCBC Blue Chip Investment Plan

• Buy 448 units of Nikko AM STI ETF (G3B on SGX) at S$3.33 per unit on 22 May 2017
• Transaction cost of S$5

POSB Invest-Saver

• Buy 85 units of ABF SG Bond ETF (A35 on SGX) at S$1.16 per unit on 25 May 2017
• Transaction cost of S$0.50

Total invested amount in ETFs of about S$1,900 using Automated Investing for May 2017 with transaction costs of S$8.50.

Manual Investing

Nil for May 2017.

The new S$100 monthly investment into the Nikko AM REIT ETF (CFA on SGX) using the Maybank KE MIP has kicked in from this month onwards. Hence, our monthly automated investing amount has increased to S$1,900 with transaction costs of S$8.50.

Major divisional restructuring at both our jobs

Both our banks have just announced that there will be major restructures at the divisional level that will impact our jobs. We knew the risks of retrenchment have been increasing since last year and it was a matter of time before we had to deal with them. Over the next few months, there will be significant changes to both of our teams that should result in us having to reapply for our current jobs or apply for new roles within the divisions. Time to see whether we survive this!

It’s time for the monthly post on our investment purchases for the month of Apr 2017.

Automated Investing

Maybank Kim Eng Monthly Investment Plan (Maybank KE MIP)

• Buy 30 units of SPDR STI ETF (ES3 on SGX) at S$3.19 per unit on 10 Apr 2017
• Transaction cost of S$1

POSB Invest-Saver

• Buy 30 units of Nikko AM STI ETF (G3B on SGX) at S$3.24 per unit on 13 Apr 2017
• Transaction cost of S$1

OCBC Blue Chip Investment Plan

• Buy 466 units of Nikko AM STI ETF (G3B on SGX) at S$3.21 per unit on 24 Apr 2017
• Transaction cost of S$5

POSB Invest-Saver

• Buy 86 units of ABF SG Bond ETF (A35 on SGX) at S$1.16 per unit on 25 Apr 2017
• Transaction cost of S$0.50

Total invested amount in ETFs of about S$1,800 using Automated Investing for Apr 2017 with transaction costs of S$7.50.

Manual Investing

Nil for Apr 2017.

Once the new S$100 monthly investment into the Nikko AM REIT ETF (CFA on SGX) using the Maybank KE MIP starts from May 2017 onwards, our monthly automated investing amount increases to S$1,900 with transaction costs of S$8.50.

By the way, have you read the news articles about the 843-unit Seaside Residences condominium at Siglap Link launching over the weekend and selling about 392 units of the 560 released units (70% sold)? Apparently, more than 50% of these buyers live in the East and there were quite a number of visitors to the project’s show suite. The average sale price was said to be about S$1,700 psf. Might have something to do with the project being walking distance from the upcoming Siglap MRT station and the East Coast Park.

New residential property launches in the East Coast region of Singapore, especially around the Siglap/Marine Parade/Amber area, tend to interest us a lot more. If we are planning to have a family in the next few years, we should be looking to move to a bigger apartment. Maybe a 3-bedroom one with more space. It would be more convenient to continue to stay near my parents-in-law as well if we have kids.

The main problem with trying to find an apartment in the Siglap/Marine Parade/Amber area is the high prices. We drive past the location designated for Seaside Residences almost every weekend since we take the Siglap exit on ECP to get home. It’s beside Victoria School, near Victoria Junior College but the Siglap MRT station will still take a number of years to come up. We were expecting an average sale price of S$1,500 psf but the property market seem to be pricing all current and future benefits in for the average sale price to hit S$1,700 psf.

This goes to show how much liquidity Singaporeans have. If you are looking to blame the foreigners for the high property prices, don’t bother because the Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (ABSD) really filtered a lot of them out already. It’s us Singaporeans keeping the property price levels at where they are at now. Which is not surprising considering how we have been in a low unemployment rate and low interest rate environment in Singapore for a while now. We are not in any rush to buy a new property but there are many people like us playing the waiting game too. The same applies to the developers and sellers as well, whom can continue to hold even in a weakening rental market and stagnating job market. Our concern is that we can exist in this state for a long time and we might be forced by circumstances to pull the trigger too early. Let’s wait and see what happens.

Significant sale event happened today due to our ongoing efforts to restructure and simplify our portfolios. This time round, we are selling most of the overlapping Foreign Equity and Bond ETFs and getting rid of our exposure to GBP and EUR. Which means that going forward, we will only be purchasing 2 Foreign Equity ETFs – Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF (VWRD on LSE) and Vanguard FTSE All-World High Dividend Yield UCITS ETF (VHYD on LSE). The holdings of these 2 Foreign Equity ETFs still overlap quite a bit but my wife is purchasing the former while I’m buying the latter in our respective portfolios. And our only foreign currency exposure is to the USD. Clean, neat and easy to track & monitor the growth progress.

These are the Foreign Equity and Bond ETFs we sold today:

1. Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VUSD on LSE)
2. Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe UCITS ETF (VEUR on LSE)
3. Vanguard FTSE 100 UCITS ETF (VUKE on LSE)
4. Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets UCITS ETF (VDEM on LSE)
5. Vanguard FTSE Japan UCITS ETF (VDJP on LSE)
6. Vanguard FTSE Developed Asia Pacific ex Japan UCITS ETF (VDPX on LSE)
7. Vanguard UK Government Bond UCITS ETF (VGOV on LSE)
8. Vanguard EUR Eurozone Government Bond UCITS ETF (VETY on LSE)
9. Vanguard USD Treasury Bond UCITS ETF (VDTY on LSE)

Sale proceeds after transaction costs: S$22,848

Realised profit/(loss) excluding dividends collected: S$914 or 4%

Realised profit/(loss) including dividends collected: S$1,371 or 6%

Results are not great due to the foreign currency losses incurred from the GBP Foreign Equity and Bond ETFs due to the impact of Brexit. Let’s hope the more streamlined approach to our ETF investing will yield a better outcome going forward!