Year 2013 "passive" income from portfolio.

2013 ends with a net passive income of $250,000 (rounded off). My New Year Resolution! To find another few revenue streams of ACTIVE income like a job or a business. I am constantly amazed at how much BUSINESS people (Small business owners) are making PER MONTH. And this post is a reminder of where I am at year 2013 and I hope I can achieve what they earned in a year 2014 end?

Implementing a paperless office and GTD system using EverNote.

I have a lot of bank statements, bills, dividends/coupon advice etc etc and I tend to keep a lot of these stuff because there is always an fear I might need to refer to it some time in the near future(bills) or for my own audit purposes(bank statements, bank advices).

These has resulted in very unnecessary clutter. So, I googled and found this guy's suggestion of paperless office very appealing to me. A bit draggy but In summary, you just buy a scanner to scan all the papers and integrate it to EVERNOTE! Whoopie! This is the solution I was looking for, and why didn't I think of that since I have a perfectly good HP Multi-function printer lying around which I barely used! I'm going to scan and throw away all the unnecessary clutter! 

One of my TO-DO that need to be checked off before the NEW YEAR! :) Speaking of which, I also wanted to try becoming more organised and ACTION-ORIENTED by implementing a GTD-system using Evernote. I have explored a lot of other  GTD apps but none come close to Evernote for it flexibility as well as capability in storing immense amount of information and of course, not needing for me to flip between programs to find information. I read this website http://www.thesecretweapon.org/. I will be just implementing a simple system of 1 Notebook with tags of @GTD-Inbox, @GTD-WIP, @GTD-KIV, @GTD-Reference, @GTD-Done.

When you need to lookup on items, just filter to the relevant tag and all the notes(tasks) related to the tag will be there. So example, if I only wanted to find out tasks that are already WIP and office-related , I will filter for  "@GTD-WIP" & "office" and that's it! If it's a project, you can add another tag for the project. If you need to the task to be assigned to a group of people, just tag the names. Simple and intuitive!

Reminders will be done via the the inbuilt Evernote Reminder. However, I am also exploring integration with Google Calender using EventNoted.com. I use Google Calendars to find out tasks that needs to be done on specific day via the Google Agenda. EventNoted will also compiled a list of tasks in chronological order and put it into your EverNote as a Note for a great summary.

So there you have it, creating a Task with the Who, What, When, Where effortlessly in Evernote.

Let's hope this will make me more ogranized and action-packed! 8)

China's 3rd Plenary Session and its implication to your investment

A summary of China's 3rd plenary Session and any possible investment opportunities. I've been adding to my 2823.HK ETF. Now looking at H-shares and HSI shares linked to China.

Credit Suisse Private Banking 

China: Third Plenary Session

Reform Ideas Comprehensive but Lack Details

The Chinese Communist Party has concluded its third plenary session of the 18th Party Congress on 12 November. In the post-event communique, the leaders in Beijing put out an ambitious plan of reforms, though details of reform initiatives are missing at this moment. This is being seen as probably the most comprehensive and ambitious reform architecture in the history of the People's Republic. It remains to be seen however, the details of the policy design and execution in determining the fate of Xi’s reform.

Market Implications (Our Thoughts)

·         The market will likely react too strongly on the document yet given its vagueness, it is likely to be seen as very mildly positive, but with a lot of details needed to be filled. We expect more details to be available when functioning ministries reveal specific reform packages in the coming months.

·         Fiscal Reform could be positive for Chinese Banks

As momentum gathers on fiscal reform and details to be released over the next few months, it is likely that some expenditure functions such as social security, education, healthcare, will be transferred from local to the central government, and proper local government bonds will be allowed to be issued to replace the LGFV loans.

Currently, local governments receive 52% of fiscal revenue (before extra budgetary revenue, mainly land sales) but account for 85% of expenditure, which creates the need to borrow, especially for infrastructure investments.

Key highlights of the Central Committee Communique worth noting:

1)      establishment of a "super agency" under the Communist Party to co-ordinate reforms, suggesting the importance of the reform agenda to the Xi’s Party

2)      strong emphasis on the role of market in resources allocation; SOE reform implementation by the government will be important

3)      the mentioning of "open-up to promote reform" - the most significant example of such a strategy was China using the chance of joining the WTO in late 1990s.

·         The most radical deviation from China's existing establishment comes from Xi's idea of redefining the role of government and market. The party intends to let the market play a "decisive role" in resource allocation, while the government, the current dominating factor, plays a supportive role in managing the country.

·         The communique took some space addressing the fiscal/tax reform, which probably has the greatest chance of being launched next year. We also expect some, albeit limited, revenue sources to be passed on from Beijing to local governments.

·         Regarding rural reform, the government intends to "grant more right of assets to the farmers", to create a better balance in resource allocations between the urban and rural population. We take this as allowing farming land transaction in market prices and granting farmers the right to access healthcare and education.

·         We have two strong impressions from the communique. 1) Beijing is serious about pushing government reform. 2) Reform plans are very broad-brushed. We expect more details will become available when functioning ministries reveal specific reform packages in the coming months, but the market may feel disappointed as it is hard to dig "trading ideas" from general secretary's speech.

UBS Private Banking

3rd Plenum – Taking China Overweight
The full document from last week's Plenum is full of significant reforms. Our colleagues
Tao Wang, China economist, and H-share strategist, Wenjie Lu are both positively
surprised by the scope and tone of the document. We agree with them that
implementation is going to be the real key in future but for now the stock market is
likely to rerate. We move China to overweight in Asia ex Japan.

Looking for a reform driven re-rating
These proposed reforms, if enacted, will take time to play out fundamentally. We
expect the market to continue re-rating before they become apparent. China has derated
in recent years to 9x forward P/E a 20% discount to the region. There are good
reasons for this. But the prospect of reform we think will narrow the valuation gap to
the region. Just how much re-rating is moot - there is no precedent to compare this to.
However looking at previous (albeit different) examples such as the Thatcher and Singh
major economic reforms in the UK and India, and more recently in Japan (Abenomics)
show that market re-ratings happen before the fundamental benefits necessarily
accrue. Implementation and the speed of this are the key risks.

Taking India back to neutral for now. China likely to be in the spotlight
We think the Plenum reforms will likely cause China to outperform Asia ex Japan for
the next few months, and take it overweight. We take India back to neutral from
overweight. We still like India - our thesis of weak capex = higher return on capital still
holds. But it is a longer-term theme and for now we believe a Chinese re-rating is likely
to steal the limelight.

=======

Some key highlights of the ambitious reform plan but implementation and the sequencing will be crucial.

SOE reform: 
Develop mixed ownership structure by allowing more private participation; transfer a portion of SOE shares to social pension funds, raise dividend paid to public finance to 30pct by 2020 (MOF said SOE had 2.1 trillion in profits in 2012.  However, this likely does not include mixed ownership companies where the State might be the majority shareholder or strategic share holder.)

This is a positive development, though progress may take time.

Land reform:
Farmers will be given more protection of their property rights and enjoy bigger freedom to sell their land. Good for develop modern and scaled agriculture, and also possibly increase land supply for urban construction. This may lead to more property construction in the short term.

Hukou reform:
Fully open hukou for small cities, orderly relaxing for medium-sized cities, strictly control Hukou for mega cities (tier 1 cities). Could lead to more property construction, and through better social benefits for migrants, improvement in consumption.

One child policy: 
Families with one parent as a single child can have two children (seems a bigger step than we had envisaged). Impact on the overall economy may be limited – birth rate may not rise that much, and impact on labor market will come out much later.

Property tax:Accelerate legislation of property tax and proceed at appropriate time (more definite than before, but still hint a slow pace)

Local government debt and finance:
Reduce flow of future local debt by: making local balance sheet and consolidating budget; linking local official performance with debt increase; moving some administrative authority to the central government; reduce local involvement in production, including by divesting some state-share to private sector (mixed ownership); increase local revenue by requiring a higher SOE dividend and marginal increase in tax revenue; address cash flow issue by issuing more bonds.

Asset Allocation is important.

Just found this website while surfing forums.
http://www.peaktotrough.com/hbpp.cgi

I find this is a good way to do a simulation of how a portfolio of different asset classes behave when they are weighted differently and rebalanced differently.

Go ahead and try it and see how it affects your results.


Also, do check out Zvi Bodie's view on Investing. Is it really necessary for people on the verge of retirement.

Not bad. I'm seeing more and more local millionaires investors.

I am seeing more and more millionaire investors blogging their investment rationale and decisions.

Not bad at all :) More people to learn from. 

Do check out his blog. I think there are people who can write pretty well like musicwhiz and this guy. And there are those like me who write what we feel and not really like to get into the details. Probably coz I am not as knowledgeable as them. And there are those like drizzit who likes to take well-written articles from investment gurus and repackage it for his audience. Useful nonetheless. But must credit the original author more often though. :)

So.. I'm adding this guy into my to read blogs.

http://quantitativevalue.org/

On a sidenote, it does seems the world is just getting from very bad to less bad and to normal. I kinda have this gut feel the global market is going on an extended bull market. The corrections are yearly but there is no crash at all.. 

Real People Real Results! 6 figure dividends annually.

If anyone still doubt it is possible to get income from the stock market, look no further..

Here is a REAL LIFE VOICE telling us his journey. Mr AK71.

http://www.millionaireinvestor.com/how-to-make-over-123000-in-12-months-in-dividends-alone/

He sounds different from what I imagine he to be.. So interesting.. next up maybe I want to hear Createwealth888.

Create your own Child Endowment Policy using OCBC Blue Chip Plan

The recently announced OCBC Blue Chip Investment Plan came at the right time. At least for me. I was looking at creating a little endowment fund for my 10months old baby girl and was intending to set aside $1,000 to buy an Index ETF on her birthday yearly. But now with the OCBC Blue Chip Investment Plan, I can choose my favourite Blue-Chips instead of the ETF. My plan is for the endowment plan to be realized(in kind or form) by her 20th Birthday(or when she graduate from Uni) whichever is earlier. She can choose to redeem it or she can choose to continue to invest in it. Up to her. I just hope I have given her enough education till her 20th birthday to make the right and wise decision.

So have you given some thought on your child endowment plan? Do you think you want to give her the security of a GUARANTEED Return(think it's lower than 4% right?) offered by normal insurance companies or do you want to give her the long-run average return of equities?

SINGAPORE - OCBC Bank announced today the launch of the OCBC Blue Chip Investment Plan ("the Plan"), a regular investment plan that allows retail investors to purchase Straits Times Index (STI) stocks for as little as S$100 a month.
Investors can use cash or, funds from Central Provident Fund (CPF) or Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) accounts to invest in one or more stocks from a selection of 19 Mainboard STI stocks and one STI Exchange Traded Fund (ETF).
OCBC Bank also saves first-time investors the hassle of opening securities trading and Central Depository (CDP) accounts by buying the stocks on their behalf on a pre-determined date every month.
The 19 stocks were selected as they are included in the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) from the entire portfolio of 30 blue chip stocks in the STI.
"Blue Chip" is defined1 as common stock of a nationally-known company, with a long record of profit growth and dividend payment. Statistics from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) showed that the STI has returned an average of 9.3 per cent per annum over the last 10 years, excluding dividends; over the past 12 months, the dividend distributions of the current 30 STI stocks has totalled S$14.94 billion, of which S$7.29 billion was paid over the most recent five months. The list of 19 selected STI stocks will change as the composition of the STI changes.
- See more at: http://business.asiaone.com/news/personal-finance/ocbc-offers-access-blue-chips-low-s100mth#sthash.qlLqGA1A.dpuf

J-Gateway -Price Leader or Price Follower?

The only question now is if you buy the Jurong Condo ..How high can the price go?
Go a little higher.. you have a choice of PRIME MARINA BAY DISTRICT CONDO.
Rental no doubt will be damn solid. But take a look at the surrounding HDB..
I can bet the rental also will be very SOLID.
Even the surrounding condos rental will be SOLID.

So why buy the price leader? The price leader can only be profitable if it break it's own high.
Usually in a bull market, there is no lack of new highs. But is it a bull market still?
Also, the price follower (the surround condos) don't have to break the region's high to be profitable.

Of course, you can do a search on the surround plot of tendered residential land (GLS) and do a
projection of whether a developer will be willing to bid at least x psf plus construction costs to match what is the price point of the J-Gateaway.

That said, if the price is before discount and it goes down to $1200 psf, it seems a good buy still.

addon : Just for fun, I think the usual sell-out of the 1 bedders will be a given.

Crazy Car Prices in Singapore but everyone's lapping it up!

This is my 10yr old mitsubishi car in Australia. I bought it for aud$2.5k(yes, it is only $2,500) in 2004 as a student. I sold it for aud$1k($1,000) to a used-car dealer after I graduate. In comparison to Singapore car prices? *GULP* Not an apple to apple comparison... but still it is crazy prices.

Anyway, I am in the market to replace an old car and went to see Audi A4 and Jaguar XF at the showrooms today. Well, I can only say the price has come down but is still higher than when i bought my mercs in 2009. Probably a good $40k higher(as compared to the prices of Audi and XF then).

An interesting thing about everyone's lapping it up. Why? Well, I went to the Audi showroom and there is no fewer than 3 CHINA couple looking at it. I think I was the only singaporean buyer at that time. But can you imagine how much RICH FOREIGN people there are in Singapore. Overheard one of the CHINA husband on the phone talking looking at cluster-landed housing and met him on my way to the carpark and he was driving a brand new Mercs R-class, so he probably was buying for his wife? Overheard another China couple talking and they were telling the salesman they are looking for a WEEKEND CAR! wow.. i've heard of weekend homes, but they are in the market for a weekend car.

Probably will head down to Corals@Keppel to look at the showflat and see how many CHINA couple I can find there. Yes.. my nick name is "顺风耳".. hehe..

I am getting more and more convinced we are truly becoming the Financial Hub of Asia, the Monaco of Asia and the epicenter of ASIA.. where the HOT MONEY FLOWS.... Things will only get more expensive. No doubt about it.  Please don't hope for any major correction in housing prices or car prices if there is no major recession to scare people. But Corrections in Stock Market definitely will happen!


And finally, this is funny as hell . You just looked at the reaction of these multi-millions actor/actresses.

What to look out for in a Company

I always read the Business section in its entirety (note: I read every section in its entirety to be honest). Besides the things I've already mentioned, the obvious things to focus on are revenue breakdown by whatever segmentation they choose, key business relationships, and key business risks. The main things I'm trying to answer in this section are:

1) Where is the crown jewel of this business? I want to identify the cash generator/main earnings driver for the company. Most of the time this isn't going to be the same segment as what I'm looking for in #2, but it's very important to understand what the majority cash generator is for the company. Normally a company can't survive long enough without its bread and butter to develop any high-growth areas, so determining the key risks to it are just as significant as determining the catalysts to the explosion of another segment.

2) What is the major growth generator? Having a cash cow is great, but doesn't make for a compelling investment if it's growing top line at 1% annually. Normally management will make a point to highlight any major growth in a particular segment, but then again sometimes they won't. Always have this question in your mind when you're looking through segment information. If sales as a % of revenue have moved up from something like low teens to mid-thirties over the past few years, all the sudden you may have a good idea of where growth is coming from... or where a segment will have to pick up the slack as a crown jewel business starts to wither away...

3) Where are the key risks for #1 and #2? Section 1A will always list the risks to the business. A certain chunk of business risks seem identical in every company and can probably be skimmed, but firm-specific risks can be very important and disclose some important information. The things you can usually glaze over include the standard "macroeconomic conditions" clauses, litigation risks (unless it's a litigation-heavy business like a medical supplier, car company, airline, etc.), and key man statements. Specific things to look for might be in regards to expansion plans re: the growth engine and market share or other revenue losses re: the crown jewel. Management will usually outline what they think is scary about both of these things, and that will help you build a foundation for what you need to go out and investigate after you're done reading the K.

Go to the link below to read more.

http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/anatomy-of-the-10-k?inf_contact_key=0db8beb810b1e508e6cb53655df9bed5d361edd46520ca8cc8acb01785fd5c2b

Jeff Gundlach on Why own Bonds.

“Let me be clear. This is absolutely wrong. Yields are NOT going to rise any time soon.”

There is one thing about being an asset manager. Timing is everything. The synonym for“early” in the investment business – is “wrong.” If you had bought the Nikkei two years ago you would now be right – after losing about 20%. Now is the right time.

Talking heads on CNBC started talking about a new bull market in stocks.   REALLY? That started 4 years ago folks.   We are likely closer to the end of a bull market cycle than a beginning.

Lastly, why own bonds, because they are negatively correlated to stocks. You may not get rich - but you will survive the long term investment game.

http://www.streettalklive.com/daily-x-change/1689-jeff-gundlach-why-own-bonds-at-all.html

Fun Theory : GuocoLand unveils tallest building in Singapore

Fun theory about how market peak co-incides with tallest buildings.

http://malaysiafinance.blogspot.sg/2008/08/tallest-buildings-as-leading-indicator.html

All three buildings were conceived in the bull market and built through the peak, only to open for business amid the worst office-space market in decades.
As each of these buildings were completed, they opened during down-trodden markets.

The signal to sell appears when the tallest building is conceived or begins construction.

Guess what.. :)

Someone just conceived and will begin construction of the tallest building in Singapore! :) It's due for completion in 2016. Of course.. It is still shorter than most of the tallest building in the world. But it is tallest in Singapore :) How much of a correlation do you think it will be between market peak and tallest buildings? 

Great Singapore Home Loan What-Ifs Calculator

Just found this great Singapore Home Loan What-Ifs Calculator.

http://findahomeloan.sg/what-if-calculator

It allows you to find out how an increase in interest rate will affect you.

Check it out! :)

Interesting.. Did the famous stock guru made more money from stocks or property?

http://www.businessinsider.com/martin-zweig-penthouse-listed-for-125m-2013-3

we now know that late investor Martin Zweig's legendary penthouse apartment atop the Pierre in New York City will be listed for $125 million....He paid $21.5 million for the penthouse back in 1999.

Interesting... It does seems long-term passive investing means putting money into a property(be it residential or investment) is a surefire way to riches. Of course, I never go into how he did it or what's his return on stocks are like. He might even have bought his house with a 80% loan which means the ROI is CRAZY. Just my opinion..

My Favourite Technical Analysis Website

My favourite technical analysis website is Barton's Global Market Trends.

His technical analysis is simple and no nonsense approach and he does not gives wishy-washy statements about pricing going up or down. He has his conviction and will point you to one direction only. 

All the major indices, commodities, currencies of interest to the retail investors are available at a glance with his thoughts. You can see from the chart the major support and resistance, the reversion to the mean and from there make an educated guess of which one is likely to be bottoming and which one is toppish.

For my own use, I like to buy stocks in countries that are in the long-term bottoming range on the rebound up to the reversion to the mean. Those at the resistance end, I think you can consider taking profits and switching to those at the bottoming phase. While those sitting on the reversion to the mean probably indicates the market is fairly valued and waiting for the euphoria phase if it comes. For example, I've been in Australia and Singapore equities in early 2012. Added the China 2823.HK ETF to my portfolio in December last year and thinking whether to add Euro Stoxx50 and Nikkei ETFs this month. Reasons for using ETFs on the 3 markets are I have not much access and knowledge there , so an index ETF allows me to go in and out quickly should the need arises and I do not have to do much research on the individual companies there to be invested in the market. Singapore and Australia are the only two places I've lived in and I can say most companies there ring a bell to me and I've a rudimentary knowledge of the investing environment here and there.

It's not an advertorial for him but I find it useful enough to recommend to all. Of course, I give a little token of appreciation thru' his paypal account.

CM on Penthouses

I believe the open to air roof terrace now are not under your GFA, that's why you cannot have permanent enclosure for it. So, this new measure will mean more likely there will no longer be roof terrace design for EC/PCs. THe developer will most likely substitute the roof terrace with the enclosed balcony since the balcony is currently already under your GFA and developer do pay a certain DC for it. The effect is your duplex penthouses for ECs/PCs will be rarity. And even if it's not, buyers who want to buy your penthouse will have to pay FULL Price for the roof terrace as NEW ECs/PCs with Roof terrace will not be discounted anymore. 

 There are obviously legal ways and approved by URA for Roof terraces without incurring more GFA. So, I believe if you landscape and do up your roof terraces nicely for your own usage and later when you resell, the buyer can see and feel the landscape and ambience(do it at night). Then obviously price will be more expensive. For developers, if they are now going to sell higher price RT, then obviuosly there will be more thoughts into how to landscape and roof it making it very very conducive for the buyers ot pay the asking price. So therefore, if higher asking prices in future(no longer 50% discount), then it will become norm to charge higher for Roof terraces. Existing owners.. Huat ah! :)

Got this from a forum on how to roof it.

Quote:

If I recall my previous projects correctly, the formal process of constructing a roof terrace is as follows. 1. MCST Approval Approval must be sought from MCST to construct as the roof top terrace may impact the external facade or building outlook. 2. URA (http://www.ura.gov.s...yproperty.htm#4) As the strata title locks in the GFA of your unit, any roof terrace should not incur an increase in GFA. There are several ways of avoiding the increase in GFA. a. install a open to sky roof trellis with a retractable awning over it. b. Construct a roof terrace butting against a wall to a maximum of 2m overhang. c. Construct a 4mx4m covered pavillion on the basis that 2m overhang from edge of roof to wall for roof terraces are exempt from GFA. Therefore a 4mx4m covered pavillion is similar. d. cbuy an umbrella. Of course, items (a), (b) or © will require URA submission by the Architect and is subject to approval from the Planner on a case by case basis. Alternative if the Condo development has GFA to spare, (highly unlikely), you can apply to purchase it from MCST and revise your strata title. 3. BCA A roof terrace is defined by BCA as "Building works carried out for or in connection with any single storey trellis, pergola, shelter, gazebo and the like." Thus no submission is required.

Property is really the best investment class for NORMAL ORDINARY FOLKS.

Timing is also important. If you can wait it out and buy when there's a crash or major correction.
Have you all wondered why every rich tom,dick,harry who have seen big money sloshing around stocks and bonds and forex still prefers to invest in properties. They must have seen the real story, not the one you are inundated with.

JANUARY 12, 2013
A passion for real estate
Kishore Buxani, who heads the Buxani Group, has a nose for sniffing out undervalued assets, reports Kalpana Rashiwala

Kishore Buxani had a headstart in the real estate business. When he was 12, he and his elder brother Haresh started ploughing through the classified ads to help their mother find a home for the family.
One apartment in Meyer Road - a 1,250 sq ft unit with 999-year leasehold tenure - caught their eye.
"When we finally bought it in 1986, it was at $165,000. But I remember having looked at it earlier in 1983, when it was $380,000," says the 40-year-old, who heads the Buxani Group.
His early experience and the skills he later gained at Goldman Sachs helped to hone his real estate investing strategy. He concentrates on what he understands best, that is, Singapore commercial real estate, seeking undervalued properties, adding value to them, and holding them for the long term.
Market watchers say making shrewd property investments is a family trait for Mr Buxani. His mother, Indra, is a sister of Royal Brothers founders Raj and Asok Kumar Hiranandani - although Buxani Group is fully owned by Mr Buxani and not linked to his uncles.
Mr Buxani has a nose for sniffing out undervalued assets. "We look for well-located older properties below replacement cost and which are under-performing, under-rented, under-used, and under-appreciated."
Part two of this strategy involves value-addition. "We actively manage the asset post-acquisition through refurbishment, repositioning or tenant remixing."
Founded in 2003, Buxani Group owns Katong Junction, a stake in Finexis Building in Robinson Road, four floors in Samsung Hub, and strata office units in Parkway Centre. Its partner in these four investments is a group of offshore investors advised by Seychelles-based Capital Management Group (CMG).
Apart from these joint investments with CMG, Buxani Group owns more than 10 shophouses in Chinatown and Little India along with strata offices at International Plaza and Malacca Centre, and strata shops in the Orchard Road belt - in Far East Plaza, Lucky Plaza and Orchard Towers.
Outside Buxani Group, Mr Buxani owns a few properties with his brother.
"As of today, I don't own shares, bonds, foreign currencies. I'm not trying to be Warren Buffet, but I really believe you have to focus on what you understand. All my investments are in real estate, all in Singapore."
But things could change in the near future, he tells The Business Times in an interview at his office in Samsung Hub in the CBD.
He points out that good value can be found in some small and mid-sized local listed property developers controlled by families with decades of experience. Some of these counters are trading at low earnings multiples and below book value, despite the recent run-up in share prices.
"We are exploring the possibility of acquiring a strategic non-controlling stake in one of these companies, where the focus is to be complementary and possibly add value to the existing management," he says.
And while Singapore will remain the group's focus, Mr Buxani says he is open to "co-investing in compelling opportunities with trusted partners in locations where they have strong local knowledge".
Mr Buxani, now a Singapore citizen, was born in Johor Baru, where his father was a civil servant. His mother ran her own clothes retail business. After his father died of cancer in 1983, the family moved to Singapore the following year. With insurance money received after his father's death, the family bought the Meyer Road apartment.
During weekends and school holidays, the young Kishore used to help out at relatives' shops in the Orchard Road area, getting his first insights into the retail business in the prime shopping district. "When my mum bought a home in 1986, and my brother and I helped to shop for it through the Classifieds, that started the whole looking at real estate thing. We later saw how property prices went berserk in the 1990s, and in 1997 when prices tumbled during the Asian Financial Crisis, we saw how people lost their pants."
Specialty
In 1995, while pursuing his Bachelor of Business Administration degree at the National University of Singapore, Mr Buxani was picked for an internship with Goldman Sachs in Singapore.
After graduating the following year, he joined the US investment bank as a financial analyst. He later built up an asset management business within the bank's investment management division, advising and managing assets for ultra high-net worth family groups and corporates. Back then, his speciality was spotting undervalued companies.
While still in Goldman's employment, Mr Buxani began investing in Singapore property in 2000, "using every dollar of my income at Goldman Sachs".
Initially he bought freehold strata shops in the Orchard Road area at about $2,500-3,000 psf. "Net property yields were 5.5-6.5 per cent, though interest rates were, of course, much higher than today. Assuming you put down 25 per cent equity, borrowed 75 per cent and if the rental income was enough to cover the monthly loan instalment payments, property tax and maintenance fees, then by the end of your loan period of 15-20 years, you would have paid off your loan, and gained full ownership of the property (without any outstanding loan). Assuming there are no changes in rental and capital values, the initial 25 per cent equity investment will become 100 per cent - which means you would quadruple your equity. And having been at Goldman, managing money, trust me, it's not easy quadrupling your money in such a conservative manner in the global financial markets over the same holding period."
That's not all. "Now the real kicker is: if you buy the property at a good time of the property cycle and capital values do actually appreciate, then the returns could end up being an 8-10 times multiple of your initial equity investment!"
Mr Buxani went on to purchase more strata shops - some on his own and some with his brother.
Next, he ventured into shophouses during the Sars period in 2003, paying about $500 psf on built-up area. "Prices were half the 1996 peak and shophouses were giving you like 7 per cent net yield," he recalls. Later that year, he set up Buxani Group as a holding company for some of his investments.
In April 2005, he resigned from Goldman Sachs, where he had risen to executive director in the investment management division, to focus full-time on his passion for investing and managing real estate.
"When I left Goldman, I was advising on/managing assets of about US$1.1 billion and many people could not believe I was leaving a comfortable position that I had built up to just focus on real estate investments," says Mr Buxani. "I truly believe that if you really enjoy what you do and focus on it, money will follow."
Also in 2005, he began acquiring strata office units at about $600 psf.
Long-term view
In late 2006, Buxani Group and CMG picked up GMG Building (later renamed Finexis Building) in the CBD at $875 psf on strata area after it went though an expression of interest without netting a buyer.
"A lot of people don't want to get involved in old buildings. It's a lot of hard work. But it's fine, I enjoy doing that. It took one year to vacate the building and then 15 months to refurbish it at about $6 million," he recalls. In 2011, he and CMG sold a half stake in the company that owns the asset at $2,043 psf.
In early 2007, the partnership paid a relatively attractive $1,560 psf for six floors in the 999-year leasehold Samsung Hub, dubbed the "tilting building" for developing a 0.1-degree tilt during its construction. Even though the main contractor Samsung had earlier rectified the problem, the stigma persisted when the Buxani-CMG partnership bought their space from OCBC Properties. Since then, the Buxani-CMG tie-up has sold two of the floors at $2,800 psf in 2011 and $3,000 psf last last year, reaping a handsome profit. "Today Samsung Hub may possibly be the strongest building in Singapore because it was massively fortified by the contractor," he quips.
His advice to real estate newbies is: "Take a long-term view on real estate And don't get swayed by short-term hype, herd mentality or emotions."
"Secondly," he says, "do your own research about the specific type of property you intend to purchase, and look at existing secondary prices in the vicinity, rental yields, vacancy, etc."
The self-declared workaholic enjoys travelling, usually with his family. "When I'm travelling, I like to immerse myself in the local culture and way of life. Typically, I hire a car and drive around leisurely, just enjoying the local sights, sounds, food and people."

Took this off a forum and so I have no idea who I can credit this source for.

Food for Thoughts : 2013 is Stock market year.

From Prof. Chan's newsletter..

The aftermath of 2008 global financial tsunami has been far reaching; post crisis impact is
still with us today. US launched QE1, QE2 and QE3 by printing currency notes, but US economy
has yet to recover; unemployment rate remains high, and real estate market is still at its ebb. The
problem of European national debts seems to have resolved, as European Central Bank has decided
to print unlimited amount of currency notes to buy national debts of Euro zone, on condition that
countries receiving the aid must tighten up their public expenditure, an exercise that could lead to
economic recession in Europe. The 3rd large economy, Japan is even worse. They change prime
minister every year. Why? It is beacause nobody can solve the country’s economic problems. Now
that Libeeral Democratic Party is running the country again, it has decided to wantonly print
currency notes to rescue the economy. China was the most prudent country in 2012, not dared to
print currency notes to stimulate the economy due to experiencing high inflation rate in 2011, and
had to squeeze the money supply then. In the last month of 2012 Chinese market however, after
prolonged bearish trend certainly turned around rapidly. Investors are now fancying China might
print curreny notes again to stiumulate the economy.
               
               In short, it seems 2013 is the year in which whole world woud be printing curreny notes.
               In theory, abundant cash will lead to inflation we are concerned with. But the US printed
currency notes consequent to the quantitative easing monetary policy are retained in the financial
circle without benefiting the real economy to create employment. With high unemployment rate,
people will not dare to spend monies, and without spending, there will be no inflation. Inflation
equates to prices of consumable goods for which if no increase in consumption, prices will not go
up. The monies retained in the financial circle thus become hot monies moving the markets.
             
Therefore, the reason Singapore market certainly surged upward in the last momth of
2012 is because QE3 monies became hot monies flowing to Singapore. 
               After prolong negotiations, the US fiscal cliff issue was at last settled on the last day of
2012. We can optimistically look forward to this year’s markets. But rising markets do not mean
the economy is better. The US and European economies do not seem to have recovered yet. 

Making full use of Bloomberg Portfolio Tracker and DIY portfolio tracker

I've not found any portfolio app/software that match my needs perfectly. So the workaround is to use a few portfolio tracker to manage my portfolio.

1) DIY

I've my own portfolio tracker in Excel spreadsheet but it's mainly on the money management aspect.  The key aspects of this spreadsheet is to monitor the individual position sizing, the trailing stop-loss (15% from highest price achieve since purchase), % wrt 50d ma and 200dma(I'm lazy, i do not have to go see which chart individually), the MAX loss from purchase px to the 52wk low(just a theorectical test but of course it can break below 52wk low).  I've also added forex to calculate everything into SGD Value. All these are updated automatically when you go to the spreadsheet. Dividends/Coupons collected are tabulated into monthly schedule in another worksheet.

I've got a separate Cashflow and networth tracker that documents all major monthly expenses(budgeting yearly) and income yearly and the composition of the networth (different bank accounts with liabilities and bonds and shares etc).

For my fundamental analysis(the quantitative side), I have also done up an  Excel spreadsheet that will take in bloomberg/reuters financial data and then compute all the things I am looking for including :-
1) 10 "Buffettology" score sheet - Current Ratio > 2, Total Debt/Equity Ratio < 33%, Total Debt/Avg FCF < 5 etc
2) Fiscal Fitness score sheet -> Dealing with profitability, Debt & Capital, Operating Efficiency and altman Z-score
3) Projected DCF and ROI compared to Treasury bonds(or any sovereign bonds of the country the stock is based in), CARG as an equity/bond, CARG using historical annual EPS growth.

This will then be ranked with scores with the key variables of P/E, P/B, P/S, EV/FCF, EPV using FCF, Buffet's bkvalue, DCF.

Anyway, this is just to make certain you did your homework. Whether it translates into a good pick is anybody's guess. However, I have so far have good results with this method of doing stock selection. Looking back at my portfolio, those that are negatives results are around 1/6. The whole portfolio have returned (including dividends) a compounded annual growth rate of  around 10% since 2009.  Of course, it helps that it was a rising market and stocks i'm interested in are mainly blue-chips and companies that have been around for 10yrs.


2) Major Financial Market Providers

Bloomberg, Reuters, Shareinvestor all have good portfolio tracker. Reuters portfolio will automatically update the dividends received and any stock action(splits) into your account. Shareinvestor is mainly focused on STI and you get very good news on every stocks in your portfolio at a glance with insider trades, P/E, P/B etc etc. Bloomberg has a good watchlist with fundamentals, earnings in it.

Of particular interest to anyone who wants to know instanteous STI index or S&P index P/E ratio and P/B Ratio. You can do the following :-

You have to go to Personal Finance -> Watchlist(portfolio tracker). You can then add in this few stocks.. FSSTI:IND . SPX:IND
for other indexes..just do a search and see what is the code.
Once you add in to your watchlist, click on fundamentals and you will get what you want. 

BTO Galore for Singles.

Infi, it's your life. You have to decide. Opinions given are poorly taken. If you win, you congratulate yourself. If you lose, you curse the person for giving you a stupid advice. No win situation for the one who gives his opinion.

Anyway, I did a little detective work and this is what I think has linked congruently for me that this year there will be BTO Galore for singles.

1st) http://mndsingapore.wordpress.com/2012/09/08/singles-i-hear-you/

Another logical way is to launch a larger number of BTO flats next year.  Question is what should that magical number be.  This requires some study, and market research.  Hence, I need some time. - Khaw Boon Wan Sept 2012

2nd) http://app.mnd.gov.sg/Newsroom/NewsPage.aspx?ID=3853&category=Parliamentary%20Q%20&%20A

2. Between 1992 and 2011, singles bought an average of 4,600 resale flats yearly. There is no rising trend of more singles buying resale flats. In fact, the number of singles buying resale flats has fallen from an average of 5,600 flats a year between 2002 and 2006, to an average of 4,300 flats a year between 2007 and 2011. - MND October 2012

 3rd) http://www.singapolitics.sg/news/more-hdb-flats-cater-singles

He would have started to wind down flat-building but with the Governmen's plan to tweak a policy restricting singles from buying HDB flats, he has "deliberately ramped it up a little bit higher".
"And we're still mulling over it because it's very hard to put a figure on how much should we cater for singles," he added. - Khaw Boon Wan Oct 2012

4th) http://www.todayonline.com/Hotnews/EDC130103-0000028/Resale-flat-prices-continue-to-climb

And as HDB yesterday announced that it will launch at least 23,000 Build-to-Order (BTO) flats this year - or at least 3,000 more than its previous target, Blah blah blah Yesterday, it said: "HDB is finalising its building plans for 2013 and will now target to launch at least 23,000 BTO flats. These projects will have a good geographical spread in various towns or estates. - MND Jan 2013

In summary, in 2012, Khaw Boon Wan hear you singles and intends to launch a larger number of BTO in 2013. He would have wound down the flat building but with Govt's plan to tweak policy restricting singles from buying HDB flats, he deliberately ramp it up a little bit higher.  He needs time to find out what is the MAGICAL number to increase for the singles. He found out there is a falling trend of singles buying HDB Resale from 5,600 to 4,300 by 2011. By 3rd Jan 2013, MND decided the magical number would be 3,000 more BTO than the previous target. 

This is how I linked the news. 

Millionaire Investor

How to become a millionaire investor without paying thru your nose ( I mean >$1,000 course) for a investing course.

Step 1) Watch this.

Step 2) Read this.

The Intelligent Investor - Benjamin Graham

Step 3) Attend SGX Academy courses that have the same content as other commercial courses at a fraction of the price.

http://www.sgxacademy.com/index.php?option=com_sgx&task=listing&category_id=2&Itemid=19

SGX Academy courses are quite comprehensive if you are a beginner and want to know more. I highly recommend going. I've attended some previews and I find it good.

Step 4) Follow some blogs that you think make sense. Createwealth888 and AK71 are the ones that  make sense!

Step 5) Read more books.

Step 6) Setup your investment policy and Take ACTION!

Disclaimer : The millionaire investor was just to entice you to read.. lol.. My circle of friends is small but I have seen more millionaires from property investing and I've seen none from stock investing. Of course, there is a time for everything. Property in Singapore seems limited in capital appreciation for these 5years. Probably Stocks will be taking over.