Humans are resilient. While Covid-19 continues to impact our life, there are clear signs that we are adapting to the changes and moving forward with the new normal. Based on the quarterly reports of the companies that I have vested interest, some have benefitted from the change that resulted from the pandemic and others have shown improvement in their latest quarter’s numbers. While we do not know when the borders will be fully opened again, the mood definitely feels more positive than a year ago.
Performance
For a moment in February, my portfolio was up by 16.5%. The correction that followed caused it to fluctuate between 10% to 12% and finally it ends the quarter at 11.8%. In terms of absolute values, the profit for Q1 is currently about 60% of that of 2020’s. I am definitely happy with this quarter’s performance.
ES3 has outperformed SPY for the quarter and my portfolios mirror that with a stronger performance in SG market. Largely due to the outlandish performance by iFAST and support from Micro-Mechanics, I have a good lead over ES3. However, due to a heavier weighting in tech counters, my US portfolio is currently lagging SPY.
| SG portfolio | US portfolio | ES3 | SPY |
| 17.5% | 1.6% | 11.4% | 6.4% |
I am not overtly concern about the weaker showing by the US portfolio though. For one, I am confident that most companies I am vested should continue to thrive in the long term. Secondly, if I extend the time period to the beginning of last year, the picture tells a different story.
| SG portfolio | US portfolio | ES3 | SPY |
| 33.9% | 40.7% | 2.4% | 25.9% |
Allocation
More or less I am within range (+/- 5%) of my intended allocation, so I am not going to make any adjustment for the moment.
| Target | On March 2021 | |
| Equity:Cash | 75:25 | 79:21 |
| Income:Growth | 60:40 | 56:44 |
| SG:US | 70:30 | 72:28 |
Dividend
Collected about 3k of dividend for the quarter. Surprisingly, that’s about the same amount as last year despite the absence of dividend from FCT and MCT, and lower payout from AReit and CLCT (earlier payment in last quarter). Decided to take a look and compare the two quarters and realized the above shortfall is made up by higher contribution from AReit (more units), KDC, MicroM and PLife, and new contribution from SGX.
Initial thought is that I will get more dividend next quarter but then I realize that there will be no dividend from Areit and CLCT for the next quarter. The change to half-yearly distribution for some Reits is making it a bit confusing. Looks like I would only have a clearer picture of the amount of dividend by the end of the year.
Top and Bottom Five
iFAST and Micro-Mechanics continue to lead the way both in percentage and absolute values return. Interestingly, the only US counter that made the list is Tractor Supply. A tiny position, hence it did not make it to the top 5 for absolute amount. DBS and OCBC are having a good run this year and the catalyst for them to move even higher would be the removal of dividend cap.
On the red end, 4 out of 5 positions came from my SaaS companies which I recently just merged to my main portfolio. I am reminded of what I wrote in my 2020 review.
“The performance is even more amazing for the two sub-portfolios as both delivered more than 100% return! If only I have invested more? Nope, given the more volatile nature of these two sub-portfolios, I know it could have turned out “luckily I did not invest so much” situation.”
Phew, luckily I did not invest too much. So while they experienced a bigger drop in performance by percentage this quarter, none of them appeared in the absolute amount list.
Coming Up
Another round of Reits reporting is coming up in this month. I am looking forward to a positive report from Frasers Centrepoint Trust and Mapletree Commercial Trust. Hopefully there will be a higher DPU. iFAST should also be reporting its 2021 Q1 in April and I am quietly confident that it will be another big jump from last year’s Q1 result. Over at the US side, there will be a spate of reporting and I will be on the lookout for the numbers from Apple, Starbucks, Microsoft and Mercadolibre.
Towards Financial Independence 