Monthly Report - May 2021

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My portfolio survived May 2021 and even saw an overall +0.8% gains despite suffering from a massive sell-off in the middle of the month due to growing inflation fears. The Fed was quick to calm down inflation fears and the global market recovered accordingly. As a result, the S&P500 ended up +0.5% in the month. The Hang Seng was the main driver this month as the index ended up +1.5% mainly due to optimism on recovery from the pandemic. The KLCI however, struggled to keep up as ended down -1.1% due to the nation's struggle with the third wave of the pandemic.

   Principal Greater China (+3.2%) did very well versus the Hang Seng (+1.5%) which I believe is mainly due to the overperformance of the recovery stocks in the fund (industrial & manufacturing). Big tech definitely did not help much as they mostly ended flat versus the start of the month. Also following suit is heavily China/HK weighted StashAway (+1.1%). Sure the SPEM, AAXJ, IJR helped to buoy the fund but the main driver was actually the GLD (+7%)! Materials have been making a big comeback this month, however, it does not show much in portfolio because I barely hold any.

   My Company Stock (Industrials in Europe) continued its surge and ended at +1.9% this month. It fits the narrative that investors are continuously flocking to Industrial stocks. On top of that, the company also gave a ~2% dividend this month.

   United Global (+0.2%) expectedly continues to disappoint vs the S&P500 index (+0.5%) as the fund holds quite a bit of big tech stocks which underperformed this month. TA Global Tech was a testament to that fact as it ended -0.9% for the month. Note that XLK also fell -1.4% this month.

   United ASEAN expectedly fell -0.2% in line with the underperformance of the KLCI (-1.1%) and the ASEAN markets due to the resurgence of COVID cases in the region.

   Savings was up this month (RM2529) mainly due to the resurgence of COVID. We went out a lot less and we also had to suspend my child's trip to daycare.

Forward Strategy:

I will continue to Value Cost Average (VCA) into my funds, keeping them at a fixed weightage as follows; United Global Equity (20.0%), StashAway (20.0%), TA Global Tech (20.0%), Principal Greater China (15.0%), United ASEAN (12.5%) and Manulife REITS (12.5%).

Monthly Report - April 2021

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April 2021 saw ALL my funds having a positive month on month growth. The main driver was the growth of the S&P500 (+5.2%) attributed to stabilizing bond yields and optimism for a swift economic rebound. Tracking the S&P500, the Hang Seng (+1.2%) also managed to eek out a bit of gains despite being bogged down by China's clampdown on big tech. The local KLCI also gained +1.8% buoyed by renewed interest in glove counters due to rising COVID cases (India!).

   Big tech in general got a good boost this month after a pullback last month. The TA Global Tech was up +4.2% but did not do as well as XLK which was up +5.2%. The issue here is that TA Global has quite a bit of holdings in China big tech and they have been bogged down lately by China's regulatory clampdown.

   The Principal Greater China (+2.5%) did well to beat the Hang Seng (+1.2%) this month due to its larger weight in tech. StashAway's performance was as one would expect (+2.4%) which puts it right between the S&P500 (+5.2%) and Hang Seng (+1.2%).

   Investors can be seen flocking back into property & industrials from the rise of the Manulife REIT (+1.6%) and my Company Stock (Industrials in Europe +1.8%).

   United ASEAN was the weakest performer this month (+0.0%) and I do expect to see this trend continue on for a while as this fund has done exceptionally well in the past few months. It was definitely due for a bit of a pullback.

   The AmBond finally ended its 2-month slide by gaining +0.9% this month as the global bond yield stabilizes. That said it is still down overall by RM1,000 which is quite horrible considering that this is where I decided to park my emergency fund.

   I did not save much (RM900) as I had a few one-time expense to take care of this month; namely kid's daycare registration / deposit & car insurance renewal. My food expense is also a little on the high side this month as I was guilty of some 'revenge spending' at some nice restaurants.

Forward Strategy:

I will continue to Value Cost Average (VCA) into my funds, keeping them at a fixed weightage as follows; United Global Equity (20.0%), StashAway (20.0%), TA Global Tech (20.0%), Principal Greater China (15.0%), United ASEAN (12.5%) and Manulife REITS (12.5%).

Monthly Report - March 2021

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March 2021 was an overall poor month in terms of fund performance versus the major indices. Sure the Hang Seng (-2.1%) and KLCI (-0.3%) were in the red this month due to (1) the Asian investors selling off fearing that the stocks in this region are overvalued and (2) increase in COVID19 cases casting doubt of economic recovery. However, the S&P 500 did very well, going up +4.2% attributed mainly to the passing of the USD1.9t stimulus bill and improving US economic data. Despite that, my overall portfolio only went up by +0.6% this month signaling that my funds may be holding a bit too much growth stocks.

   My company stock (Europe based industrial) led the charge by gaining 11% in a month as sentiments of economic (and industrial) recovery strengthens. In second place, the Manulife APAC REIT gained a respectable +4.8%. The rise in these funds proves that the there is indeed a sector rotation going on from growth to value stocks.

   The United Global (+0.4%) did poorly compared to its benchmark S&P 500 (+4.2%). This could due to the fact that United Global held comparatively more growth stocks than the S&P 500. Hence, unlike the S&P500, the United Global was not able to greatly benefit from the sector rotation.

   I was pleasantly surprised to see TA Global Tech (2.0%) faring slightly better than the XLK (+1.6%). I thought the China tech holdings in TA Global Tech was going to greatly drag the entire fund down but looks like it held up just fine.

   Of course, we have to talk about the downers. The Hang Seng (-2.1%) had a lot going against it this month. From the sell-off due to overheated stocks to the increase in COVID19 cases and of course, the tightening rules by USA that affected some China-based big tech companies listed in USA. Principal Greater China (-3.3%) fell a bit more than the HSI as it held a greater percentage of tech stocks which were the worst affected by the sell-off. Although StashAway had more weight in the Asian stocks, it still ended up +0.3%. The US ETFs did well to keep the fund afloat.

   The United ASEAN (-2.9%) did not do so well this month compared to the KLCI (-0.3%) but I don't mind it since it has been doing very well for the past few months. A bit of correction is always healthy.

   The AmBond continued its dip this month by another -2.4%. For a bond fund, that is quite a severe drop. Bonds are still continued to be sold (causing rising yields) as investors seem to be optimistic about the economic recovery. Funds are being transferred from bond funds to value stocks. I may be starting to question my decision to park all my emergency cash here but I'm going to keep at it for a few months to see how it goes.

   I got about RM2,800 from my tax return hence I had a bit more saved up this month (RM 5,861). Yay!

Forward Strategy:

I will continue to Value Cost Average (VCA) into my funds, keeping them at a fixed weightage as follows; United Global Equity (20.0%), StashAway (20.0%), TA Global Tech (20.0%), Principal Greater China (15.0%), United ASEAN (12.5%) and Manulife REITS (12.5%).

Monthly Report - February 2021

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February 2021 was literally a rollercoaster for the global market. It went through a steep rally up due to the global vaccine rollout and general optimism for a swift global recovery. At the middle of the month, the markets went through an equally steep decline all the way to the end of month due to a large spike of the US 10 yr treasury yield that got investors worried about inflation in a time of a pandemic. That said, I cannot complain because my funds ended in slightly above positive territory (+0.3%) despite the volatility.

   The United ASEAN fund led the rally at +3.3% as investors are getting out of growth (tech) stocks and into value (property, energy, telco, etc) stocks. All of which this fund are invested in. This rotation is said to be due to the rising bond yields. It is getting more expensive to borrow money so growth stocks (that depend on borrowing money) gets affected. Investor then prefer to be invested in value stocks that do not borrow cash as much.

   The United Global did ok (+2.3%) though it did not fair as well as the S&P 500 (+2.6%) in the month of Feb-21. It could be due to United Global holding a bit more growth than value stocks hence is affected by the rotational play as described above.

   The TA Global Tech (+2.2%) did end up higher than expected despite the rotational play. It even did better than the XLK ETF (+1.37%). Upon closer look, we see that the TA Global Tech actually holds quite a bit of value stocks (semiconductors, IT services, hardware, etc) in its portfolio than XLK ETF. So the rotational play benefited TA Global Tech more.

   Performance of the Principal Greater China (0.0%) and StashAway (+1.4%) were disappointing if we compare them to the Hang Seng Index (+2.5%). This could be due to the funds holding a bit more growth stocks in their portfolio as compared to Hang Seng which has a good spread of growth and value stocks.

   My company stock (Europe based industrial) was the biggest loser this month (-8.0%). It is hard to put a finger on this huge decline. This company is far from popular tech names so there is very few articles or write ups on its stock rise & fall. We will just have to take it that it had a bad month.

   The rise in US Treasury yield is a result of oversold bonds. We can see this also takes effect in the local level as AmBond also dipped -0.9%. I have also reallocated about RM2k from my bond fund into my bank account. I had to urgently withdraw some cash for work expenses this month and realised that I may have set my liquid emergency cash a bit too low. So I decided to up my bank holdings from RM3k to RM5k. Live and learn.

   This was the month I contributed a lump sum of RM3,000 into my PRS fund for the year 2021 to take advantage of the tax benefits. That is why my savings was not much (RM554 only) despite receiving my bonus this month as well.

Forward Strategy:

I will continue to Value Cost Average (VCA) into my funds, keeping them at a fixed weightage as follows; United Global Equity (20.0%), StashAway (20.0%), TA Global Tech (20.0%), Principal Greater China (15.0%), United ASEAN (12.5%) and Manulife REITS (12.5%).

Monthly Report - January 2021

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The gains from 2020 continues on to the month of Jan-21 as my portfolio rallies an overall +1.9%. While the S&P500 fell by -1.1% due to absence of any stimulus plans and the KLCI also fell by -3.7% due to the reintroduction of lockdown in Malaysia, it was the awesome outperformance of the Hang Seng (+3.9%) that pulled my portfolio into positive territory this month.

   The Hang Seng did well mainly due to huge inflow of Mainland China funds into the HK index. The mainland investors felt that the local A shares is in overbought territory as they performed incredibly well in 2020. Hence, they are looking overseas for further gains, namely HK. Both the Principal Greater China (+8.8%) and StashAway (+4.1%) benefited from this Hang Seng rally and even managed to beat the index (+3.9%). 

   The TA Global Tech (+2.1%) managed to beat the XLK (1.2%) and again, this is attributed the Hang Seng rally as the TA Global Tech holds quite a bit of China-based tech stocks.

   United ASEAN was a pleasant surprise because while the KLCI dipped by -3.7%, the United ASEAN fund actually gained +2.1% in the month of Jan-21. Fantastic work by the fund manager.

   Manulife APAC REIT dips a little (-0.5%) as more APAC countries enforce stricter lockdown measures due to rising COVID cases worldwide. This fund is starting to normalise as we can see that lockdown measures no longer severely impacts this fund.

   My savings this month of RM2,865 has nicely overachieved my target of RM2,000/month. The MCO 20.0 lockdown has greatly reduced my spending.

Forward Strategy:

I will continue to Value Cost Average (VCA) into my funds, keeping them at a fixed weightage as follows; United Global Equity (20.0%), StashAway (20.0%), TA Global Tech (20.0%), Principal Greater China (15.0%), United ASEAN (12.5%) and Manulife REITS (12.5%).

Monthly Report - December 2020

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My portfolio rallied by an overall of +2.5% in the month of Dec-2020 to cap off the year 2020 at +19.9%. While the markets were slightly weighed down by the emergence of a new strain of COVID19 and US investigations into China big tech, the vaccine roll out and finalization of the US stimulus deal helped to pull the market up into the green.

   United ASEAN led the charge at a MoM increase of +9.2%. This is WAY above the KLSE benchmark increase of +4.1% signaling good stock selection by the fund manager. This is followed by Principal Greater China at +4.9% versus its Hang Seng Index increase of only +3.4%. TA Global Tech also enjoyed a +4.3% gain but it is not as good as its XLK benchmark increase of +5.3%. United Global (+3.0%) also slightly underperformed the S&500 (+3.7%). The performances of my major funds have been quite mixed this month.

   Although not as major as in Nov-2020, I am glad Manulife REIT continues its crawl up (+2.7%) in Dec-2020. I do believe this fund has the largest upside potential. Unlike all my other holdings, this fund still has not recovered from the March 2020 crash.

   StashAway was the worst performing equity fund of Dec-2020 at only +1.7%. Although the true MoM increase in USD (investing currency) is about +4.5%, it seems that the weakening USD currency has taken its toll on this fund. It has dropped from RM4.08/USD to RM4.02/USD (about -1.5%) in just the month of Dec-2020.

   My savings this month of only RM1,375 has not hit my target of RM2,000/month. Family birthday gift and celebration has taken a bite of it.

Forward Strategy:

I will continue to Value Cost Average (VCA) into my funds, keeping them at a fixed weightage as follows; United Global Equity (20.0%), StashAway (20.0%), TA Global Tech (20.0%), Principal Greater China (15.0%), United ASEAN (12.5%) and Manulife REITS (12.5%). I will be a bit more vigilant in monitoring funds that seem to continuously underperform the benchmark.

Monthly Report - November 2020

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This awesome Nov-2020 month started off with a huge spike in all markets after the US elections on 3rd Nov. All markets viewed the Biden win as a huge boost to future US-Global relations, specifically the US-China relations. After that, the indices continued to crawl upwards on news of successful vaccine trials. My overall fund return rate for the month of Nov-2020 is at +5.3%, recovering back from a 2 month downtrend. My Company Stock (Industrials based in Europe) led the rebound at a +10.4% jump, followed by Manulife APAC REIT (8.6%).

   Now although I am quite happy with the gains from all the funds this month, upon further inspection, it does seem that my funds didn't do so well against their indices; United Global (+7.8%) vs S&P500 (+10.8%), TA Tech (+7.2%) vs XLK ETF (11.3%), StashAway (+6.5%) / Principal Greater China (+2.0%) vs Hang Seng Index (+9.3%). Only the United ASEAN (+6.5%) exactly matched the KLCI Index (+6.5%).

   The biggest clue here is the Principal Greater China (+2.0%) vs Hang Seng Index (+9.3%). All the funds I listed above have quite a lot of holdings in China Big Tech like Alibaba, Tencent & Meituan. Unfortunately, all the shares I have mentioned were in the decline for the month of November 2020 due to sector rotation (big tech to industrials & banks). Because of that, United Global, TA Tech, StashAway & Principal China underperformed their indices.

   My AmBond fund is quite an embarrassing one to talk about. I am taking a risk by holding my emergency fund here and it's painful to see it drop by 0.7% in a month. It is very likely due to investors wanting to take advantage of the market rally and hence aggressively moving out of bonds to invest into equities.

   My savings this month has been quite dismal at only RM1,436 despite not eating out a lot due the COVID19 control movement. My budget was to save about RM2,000/month during these difficult times. The reason for the poor savings was our decision to take advantage of the 11.11 sale. So we loaded up on diapers, milk powder and some new kitchen utilities.

Forward Strategy:

I will continue to Value Cost Average (VCA) into my funds, keeping them at a fixed weightage as follows; United Global Equity (20.0%), StashAway (20.0%), TA Global Tech (20.0%), Principal Greater China (15.0%), United ASEAN (12.5%) and Manulife REITS (12.5%).