A boat in the storm, tossed up and down in the sea.
Stay focus to keep the boat afloat in this choppy sea.
Is that a glimpse of light I see?
Another wave hits and another.
Back into darkness.
It’s alright for I know there is light out there.
It has been a topsy-turvy quarter, especially in the last month where the value of portfolio plummeted. But that is not uncommon. As seen from the above chart, such plunges have occured a few times over the past 9 months. Despite the drop over the past week, the portfolio managed to achieve a 26% return year to date, 3% higher than 3 months ago.
In terms of absolute value, this quarter’s return is the lowest over the past 6 quarters. I am still happy with it as that is almost equivalent to my pay for the same period of time. In short, the portfolio has performed beyond my own expectation and I remain thankful for that.
My SG portfolio is way ahead of ES3, while US portfolio manages to edge out SPY even if I account for the 2% gain in forex exchange for my US portfolio. SPY is a tough monster to beat. I was lagging by a whooping 5% in Q1, caught up by 1H and for the past quarter we are taking turn to be at the front.
Top and Bottom 5 Counters
Top 5
Unless something drastic happens (eg, iFAST drops to below $5) in the last quarter, it is likely that iFAST would emerge as the star player again this year. UMS continues to be in favour due to semiconductor tailwind and its upcoming 1-for-4 bonus. TSCO is surprisingly strong and its performance has already exceeded my expectation. Raffles Medical’s strong result has propel it into the top 5, while ZS got into the list, now that it is in the Silver Tier.
| 2021 9M | Percentage | 2021 1H | Percentage |
| iFAST | 214% | iFAST | 172% |
| UMS | 59% | UMS | 42% |
| TSCO | 50% | SHOP | 35% |
| Raffles Medical | 49% | ANET | 31% |
| ZS | 42% | TSCO | 27% |
Bottom 5
With a strong quarter, MELI and NFLX got out of the bottom five. FVRR was recovering after its weaker quarterly guidance but in recent weeks has been hammered again. Concern for Ventures still lies with its supply chain delay. FCT continues to suffer from uncertainty of Covid-19 outlook in Singapore. KDC remains weak since the change in CEO and announcement of setting up the SPV with M1. Finally, CLCT is probably affected by the negative sentiment towards properties in China. Not going to sell any of them soon as I still believe in their long term potential.
| 2021 9M | Percentage | 2021 1H | Percentage |
| FVRR | -1.0% | Venture | 1% |
| Venture | -3.6% | NFLX | -0.7% |
| FCT | -4.5% | CLCT | -1% |
| KDC | -7.0% | MELI | -5% |
| CLCT | -7.5% | KDC | -10% |
Special Mention
The following counters are in the Unknown Tier (less than 8k value) but have made significant gain or loss year to date. UPST has an amazing run and it is already knocking at the Silver Tier’s door. On the other end, NVCR, LMND, APPN and TDCO continue to struggle. PINS and PTON are relatively new additions, so too early to make any judgement. I will continue to hold all of them as I still like their long term business potential. I am hopeful that some of them will get into the higher tiers in time to come.
| Counter | Percentage |
| UPST | +184% |
| FLGT | +78% |
| INMD | +73% |
| TEAM | +72% |
| HUBS | +53% |
| SE | +48% |
| DOCN | +47% |
| APPN | -27% |
| TDOC | -27% |
| PTON | -27% |
| PINS | -28% |
| LMND | -29% |
| NVCR | -37% |
Last Quarter Here We Come
Stock market continues to stay volatile due to human emotions. I continue to feel the emotion with the market’s movement but experience has prevented the emotion from controlling me. With the drop last week, it’s tempting to open the war chest to make some buys. However, since the drop is still less than 5% from the all-time high of 29.6%, I am just going to wait for a while longer.
In the mean time, I am looking forward to the update of various businesses in the coming two months.
Towards Financial Independence 