As mentioned in an earlier post, I have routinely bought ES3 with CPF-OA since 2014. And I added more during the March sell-down. I have intended to hold this until 55 since I could not buy more individual counters due the 35% stock limit. However, since I re-started investing in unit trusts with my CPF-OA in April, I started to have second thought.
With already 70% invested in local companies and REITs, it makes more sense to me to allocate this fund to have an exposure of other markets through unit trusts. Moreover, there is some overlap between my portfolio with the index. Since last year, I have added AReit, DBS, OCBC, Venture, and SGX. And with the recent inclusion of MCT and MINT into the index, I already have 7 out of the 30 counters in the index.
With the above in mind, I have been waiting for a chance to offload ES3 such that I will still be getting a better return than the interest earned from CPF-OA. I was prepared to wait for another year or two but with the recent rally, I decided to take this opportunity to divest.
Together with an earlier order at $2.71 and dividend collected over the 6 years, the return is 18% more than the total interest that I would have received if left untouched. Not a fantastic return, given that CPF interest is almost risk-free. However, with the intention of diversifying into other markets, this is good enough for me.
With the above done, I computed the geographical breakdown of all my investment (cash/CPF, stocks/unit trusts). As seen below, Singapore and US markets took up more than 90% of the market.
The rough plan now is to take the next 4 years to increase the allocation to other markets to at least 25%, with China/Asian being the main contributor. Current thinking is to continue to invest in my existing unit trust holdings with similar allocation.
The timeline is likely to be quarterly but as per usual the plan might deviate, depending on the markets condition or any unforeseen circumstances.
Towards Financial Independence 