Fund Report - StashAway (May 20)

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A post shared by butainvestor (@butainvestor) on Jun 1, 2020 at 7:44pm PDT

Fund Description: 

StashAway is a Malaysian robo-advisor app which allows me to access index funds in the NYSE. I am currently invested in the most aggressive portfolio hence why you see a lot of sector-specific funds.

Comments:

StashAway made a big move to reoptimize its portfolio some time in the middle of May. The previous allocation of 88% US & 12% EU has suddenly turned into 40% US, 40% Asia & 20% Gold, essentially shifting their focus out from USA (more specifically the USD). Reason for this is StashAway foresees that the USD may lose its value as a result of their aggressive Quantitative Easing measures (i.e. money printing). They cited that the USD depreciated 21% against the RM between 2009 & 2011.

   So how does refocusing investments in Asia help us against the potential USD depreciation? Let us take a NYSE-based ETF that deals in RMB (China). Currently, RMB100 can only buy USD10 worth of ETF in NYSE. After the USD has depreciated, the same RMB100 will be able to buy USD15 worth of ETF in NYSE. The 50% in depreciation of USD does indeed decrease the value of the ETF but it is offset by the 50% purchasing power of the RMB. Compare this to a pure NYSE-based ETF investing in US markets, there is no other Asian currencies to help hedge against the USD depreciation.

   I am coming to terms with their decision to move the portfolio from West to East however, I am still in disagreement with the 20% gold holding. There are a few reasons to this: 

1. It does not align to my goals to hold a fully aggressive portfolio
2. As the economy recovers from COVID19, this GLD holding is essentially missing out on the rebound
3. It feels like they are buying GLD at a peak as investors begin to regain confidence in the stock market and divest from safe haven assets.

   It is definitely not helping their case as every fund made month on month gains EXCEPT Gold. Anyway, I am exploring the possibility of opening up a foreign brokerage account and directly investing in ETF from the NYSE. That said though, it is not looking very promising i.e. very complicating because Malaysia does not encourage the use of foreign brokerage.

Fund Report - United Global Quality Equity Fund (Dec 19)

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A post shared by butainvestor (@butainvestor) on May 9, 2020 at 6:32pm PDT

Fund Description:

This fund invests in large cap companies globally with huge holdings in United States.

Comments:

According to the fund report, huge weight has been purposely put into the tech sector and the bet paid off handsomely in 2019. I am hoping they still maintain the same allocation going into 2020 as both the highest % sectors (technology & healthcare) fared the best during this COVID19 + Oil Price crash event.

Fund Report - StashAway (Apr 20)

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A post shared by butainvestor (@butainvestor) on May 7, 2020 at 9:22pm PDT

Fund Description: 

StashAway is a Malaysian robo-advisor app which allows me to access index funds in USA. I am currently invested in the most aggressive portfolio hence why you see a lot of sector-specific funds.

Comments:

The month on month chart shows that all the funds have made huge profits in Apr-20. In the big picture however, this fund basically rebounded almost to pre-COVID19 levels so it is about a net zero gain between Feb-20 to Apr-20. That said, I am not complaining and if anything, quite grateful. It could have been so much worse.

Fund Report - Manulife Investment APAC REIT Fund (Feb 20)

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A post shared by butainvestor (@butainvestor) on May 7, 2020 at 7:00am PDT

Fund Description:

This fund invests in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in Asia Pacific. It is focused in highly developed financial and commercial hubs, namely Singapore & Hong Kong.

Comments:

The lockdown due to COVID-19 has put a serious dampener on the NAV. That said, I'm glad they did not attempt to go defensive by holding more cash (still maintain 5 - 6%). In fact, the following statement by the fund manager brings a lot of relief, "... the sell-off creates opportunities to buy into names with sustainable quality yields."

Fund Report - United ASEAN Discovery Fund (Feb 20)

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A post shared by butainvestor (@butainvestor) on May 7, 2020 at 5:57am PDT

Fund Description:

This fund invests in Small-Medium companies in South East Asia. Basically, a Growth Stock fund. It also tends to be a very volatile fund so it works very well with the DCA method.

Comments:

Due to the current trying times, the fund decided to hold more cash (25%) than usual (10%) by reducing their exposure in Indonesia. It insinuates that they could expertly time the re-entry into the market which we know even the best of the best have problems doing. If it were up to me, I'd keep 100% of the funds invested to ensure I do not miss out on the rebound. Anyway, we will track how they fair from my monthly reports.