FSMOne RSP / JEPG Active ETF

 

FSMOne is trying to "encourage" increased use of RSP by publishing the  RSP amounts for the median/upper quartile/top decile by age group. As I am a big fan of FSMOne's commission-free RSP with decent exchange rates, it is no surprise that I am in the top 10% of FSMOne customers when it comes to monthly RSP.

On 13 May 2026, I compared the SGD:USD exchange rates:

FSMOne: S$1,277.2 to buy US$1,000
SCB: S$1,277.8 to buy US$1,000 (silver tier)
IBKR: S$1.2729+S$2,55= S$1,275.45 .to buy US$1,000 (added US$2 comms)

FSMOne is still slightly cheaper than SCB's silver tier and way better than SCB's blue tier. Both can't compare to IBKR if larger amounts of US$ are changed, but for RSP amounts below US$1,000, FSMOne is very competitive.

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One of the latest ETFs that I have added to my RSP list is JPM Global Equity Premium Income Active UCITS ETF - USD (dist). It is basically an active covered call ETF that tries to generate income from dividends and option writing and has a reasonable expense ratio of 0.35%. 

It has basically underperformed the market in 2025 and 2026. Currently its negative -3% year to date. As the S&P500 and World indices continue to shoot up, the price of this languishing ETF becomes more attractive to add a little bit of diversification to my portfolio. My hope is for a steady dividend yield and stable price and I will benchmark this against my USD Corporate Bond ETF because JP Morgan's advertising seem to be pitching this as a better alternative to bonds because this strategy is less affected by interest rates.

Experimental Unit Trust Portfolio

While I have been helping my relatives set up Poems accounts to invest in Amundi unit trusts, I have not done so myself because my main UT platform is FSMOne which doesn't sell Amundi funds. Also, my main method of investing in index funds is via LSE-listed ETFs which are technically tax-advantaged because VUSD has 15% US withholding tax and LSPU has 0% WHT (because its synthetic). Amundi USA, being a physical replication unit trust, is subject to 30% WHT at source (it doesn't matter if it is IE domiciled or not - also note that Amundi also has a synthetic USA fund but that is not sold by Poems).

In April, since I had some spare cash to deploy, I decided to put $20k into an experimental Poems portfolio comprising Amundi funds and to see how it goes. As you can see from the screenshot above, its 80% developed markets and 20% EM, which is 'technically' overweighting EM compared to MSCI All World, but I've always felt that EM is under-represented in the All World Index.

 

Dividends Collected: April 2026

 

SG Companies usually don't pay dividends in April so foreign stocks do the heavy lifting this month. year-to-date I am a tiny bit ahead of dividends collected in 2024 which is a good sign.

Portfolio Performance April 2026

 

There was a big 11% rally in the S&P 500 for the month of April (technically started on 31 March). This momentum was so great that it overtook my portfolio which is now trailing the S&P500 by 0.7%. However, I am grateful that my portfolio climbed out of the red and is positive. More importantly, I continued buying while my portfolio was red, because its always good to buy stocks when they are cheap.

This shows that you should never underestimate the S&P500, at least 50% of my fresh purchases are either S&P500 or FTSE World (70%+ USA). I'm glad to check my records to see that I bought S&P500 ETFs VUSD and LSPU on 27, 30, 31 March and 1 April. 

My AUD investments finally paying off?

 

I had posted in 2017 about Australia and Norway markets being possible commodity proxies. As I pointed out, backtesting shows a meaningful correlation between the Australia stock market and DBB which is the Invesco Base Metals fund. I am also a regular visitor to Australia and my visits to Perth show that the mining driven economy is booming with new business parks (logistics etc) being created near the airport. I took the opportunity during my last visit to drive through these new business parks to see whether they were just empty shells or whether there were lorries going to and fro. 

It is therefore no surprise that the AUD hit a 2-year high recently and shows no signs of stopping. This is good news as it also suggests good demand from China for industrial metals and other exports.

Coincidentally, I bought more ASX ETF IOZ on 7 and 8 April, just as the currency was starting to ramp up. So this brought my capital gain from the increase in the ASX200 and the currency appreciation.

I continue to be bullish on Australia (hence my belief in Fraser's Logistics Trust which has significant Oz exposure).

Previous Post on Australia: https://buyaftercrash.blogspot.com/2017/07/norway-and-australia-and-possible.html

Vomero 18 Coffee Bean: S$99

 

NVO and NKE are competing to be my portfolio's "biggest loser." At the same time, I believe in them. Nike keeps to making stuff that I actually want to buy (and actually use for running). The Nike Vomero 18 is a cushioned and comfortable shoe that is ideal for easy runs. Most importantly, it fits my feet well (crucial to try before buying). The Vomero 17 and Invincible 3 (it would be called Vomero Premium 17 under the current Nike naming convention) had heel lock problems.

So when I saw the special edition Vomero 18 "Coffee Bean" (yes it comes in the usual Nike cardboard box plus a metallic coffee bean bag) on sale for S$99, I couldn't resist and grabbed myself a pair. 

Asics, on the other hand, seems to launch shoes with attractive colorways, then later on, makes only the monochromatic and boring colorways available. Take the current colours of the Megablast for example....

FIRE Lifestyle: Food Reviews

Blog Labels

I have decided to better organise my blog by using labels. From work, I know that maintaining and updating metadata is tedious so I am just starting with a couple of simple labels

• FIRE Lifestyle: For my travel, food, and other posts about how someone who is Financially Independent spends his money
• Credit Cards: My own experiences with Credit Cards 
• Health & Fitness: Health is Wealth!
• No Label: Probably everything else pertaining to my investments

Gyukatsu or beef cutlet is just lovely. When in Kyoto, I am more of a fan of Gyukatsu Kyoto Katsugyu because of their wider selection of cuts of meat compared to Gyukatsu Motomura which is more 'mass market'. Do note that not all menu items are Japanese beef. They also use Australian beef. That's why my go-to order is the Wagyu Sirloin which is Kuroge Wagyu beef. 

The beef already comes prepared medium-rare, so you just press it briefly on the hot plate to make it medium and a bit warmer. I have seen so many Westerners just put the cutlets on the hot plate for ages as they seem to only take their beef well done. One American group recently asked the waiter to relight the fire as they had been cooking the beef for so long the fire had gone out!

I have tried the Singapore version at One Holland Village and the beef was strangely not as good. I have eaten at a Kyoto outlet 3 times in the last 9 months so I still have a good "memory" of what is good Gyukatsu.

Tonkatsu on the other hand, is pretty good in Singapore, with Iberico pork options roughly comparable to premium Japanese pork. On the other hand, the traditional high temperature cooking doesn't allow you to taste the subtleties between different types of pork. "White" Tonkatsu  are pork cutlets cooked at a low temperature which makes the meat look "white."  

Because the cutlets are cooked on the spot at low temps, it takes 20minutes so it probably won't be viable in Singapore where high rents mean you really need to move products quickly.  Also, they need to be certified pathogen free (Japan has pathogen free certification).

Hakkinton Pork comes from Iwate Prefecture and has more fine muscle fibres and you can experience the chewy texture. First-timers that want softer meat can go for Hayashi Pork from Chiba prefecture. (I've taken both types and like both).

Price-wise, its still cheaper than Wagyu Gyukatsu. As for regular Tonkatsu, I actually quite like Matsunoya's 800+yen 'fast food' Tonkatsu or if I want ambience, then Katsukura in Kyoto. (not to be confused with local Tonkatsu chain Katsuya).

Finally, Kobe Beef and A5 Wagyu in general. As I want to keep my cholesterol down, I generally avoid eating steak in Singapore and eat steak when I visit Japan (3-4 times a year). Since I eat steak so rarely, I want to make it count and not spend my 'saturated fat' quota on cheap coffeeshop steak but on something good.

A5 Wagyu served Teppanyaki style is great. You get the experience of a chef preparing the meal for you and what is usually pretty good ambience if you choose a nice restaurant. If you eat steak rarely, make it count.

While eating in Mouriya in Kobe was a very nice experience, I don't actually find Kobe beef to be that fantastic (sacrilege?). The meat is softer and more tender, but is it also a question of fat content? I am honestly totally ok with regular high quality A5 Wagyu served in a nice setting (actually Mouriya also serves regular A5, not just Kobe beef, but if one goes to Mouriya, might as well go for the Kobe beef?)