In the last post, I wrote about 2000 – 2004 and 2005 – 2009 periods. I would continue with 2010 – 2014 and 2015 – 2019 periods in this post.
2010 – 2014 Concentration risk
In terms of strategy in selection of stock, there wasn’t much changes as compared to the previous 5-year period. However, with my portfolio growing larger and having a concentrated portfolio of only 5 to 10 counters then, I experienced a larger loss when I made a mistake in my decision. It was probably due to this that I decided to overhaul my portfolio during 2014.
Again, I was lucky that my gain was larger than my loss and end the period with a 72% gain.
Notable Gains and Losses during the period
The largest gain during that period was the delisting of Thomson Medical. A two bagger and made $35k. This was followed by $26k (58%) gain in Kingsmen Creatives.
However, as stated in the previous paragraph, loss was larger too. The top 3 realised losses during the period were Raffles Education (-$17k, -54%), Best World (-$11k, -40%), Fibrechem Tech (-$11k, -100%).
Takeaways
There is a need to constantly review my strategy due to the change in portfolio size and personal circumstances. It was natural for me to move from a concentrated portfolio to a diversified one due to my limited knowledge I have of each business. So any misstep would not result in a critical blow to my overall return.
2014 – 2019 Growth and Dividend. Venturing overseas.
In the past, my key focus was always to look out for stocks with low PE and PEG and dividend was never a criteria. However, that has changed during the past 5 years as my priority has changed and am now am looking to build a portfolio that will generate a stream of passive income in the future. But investing for income ONLY is currently still not satisfying enough for me, so my current allocation for Growth and Dividend counters is 50:50.
This period also mark my entry to overseas market (primarily US) where there were so many more bigger growth companies to invest in. Diversification is here to stay and I am now more comfortable to invest in companies with higher PE but with strong management and/or growth potential.
The past 5 years also seen a proliferation of investment portals in Singapore. Personally, I am in a few of them but the one that I have stay the longest is Motley Fools Stock Advisor Gold. Definitely the most expensive one out in the market. Worth it or not really depends on individual.
Unless there is major stock crisis in the second half of the year, I should be able to hit my 8% CAGR goal and 12% CAGR stretched goal for this period.
Notable Gains and Losses during the period
The largest realised gain during this period was Best World ($140k, 290%). Followed by Micromechanics ($9.9k, 55%) and Food Empire ($7k, 38%). Also notable unrealised gain with at least $8k gain include IFAST, Valuetronics, Frasers Centrepoint Trust, and Parkwaylife REIT.
Most losses made during this period were small with the exception of UMS (-$14k, -35%). For unrealised loss, the two biggest loss are Raffles Medical Group (-$6k, -24%) and Food Empire (-$4k, -7%).
Takeaways
The exposure to the thinking of many other seasoned and good investors is probably my best experience over the past 5 years. With a diversified portfolio, I sense that I am more willing to hold on to a company that I perceived to be good even when it is going through some setback.
The final part of this series is a summary of what was written and putting the periods together. Hopefully, I can get it out by end of this week.
Towards Financial Independence 