Singapore households underinvest in equities

 

By UBS’ calculation, financial assets make up 63.8 per cent of Singapore’s gross household wealth – one of the highest shares in the region. SingStat’s own 2025 fourth-quarter household balance sheet puts the figure at a broadly similar 57.2 per cent. On the surface, this looks like a financially sophisticated population, heavily exposed to markets. Dig one layer deeper, and the picture flips. Equities and securities – the assets actually capable of compounding growth – make up just 11.2 per cent of total household assets, or just over one-fifth of that 57 to 64 per cent financial-assets bucket. The rest is overwhelmingly cash, mandatory CPF savings, and insurance: safe, low-yield instruments, not growth engines. 

Cutting and pasting here for my reference. Based on my conversations with my friends and acquaintances about investing, I am not surprised. Many people seem to think that stocks are risky and property investing is safe. 

On the other hand, holding 20% equities and 80% CPF/cash/insurance policies is not so terrible that it will make you poor.  For reference, the performance of the LionGlobal All Seasons Standard fund, which is a 30% equities/ 70% bond (SGD overweight) fund has a 5.0% CAGR since inception in 2018 while the All Seasons Growth fund (70%/30%) has a 8.1% CAGR.

Bear in mind this is an "average." Some will have more than 20% allocation which is good, some will have less than 20% allocation which is not so good.

My personal target allocation is 90% equities / 10% cash & near-cash.

Springleaf SG61 61 cent prata

I went to Springleaf Prata on a weekday morning to enjoy their SG61 $0.61 plain prata and $0.91 egg prata. It was interesting to people watch and see who else isn't at work and can eat Prata on a weekday. Not surprisingly, it was a mainly female crowd. Not surprising because that is similar to my experience in gyms in weekday mornings - mainly women. I guess it is ironic that most FIRE bloggers seem to be male, but those that are enjoying the FIRE lifestyle are female and don't think it is so unusual that they need to blog about it.

 

Took profit on some Under Armour

 

Sold some Under Armour and a small amount of VOD since there was a recent rally and redeployed some of the cash into McDonalds and VUSD.  

Will continue to sell more if the prices continues to go up. 

Barramundi

 

Barramundi with broccolini, potatoes, and saffron aioli. Lovely meal and fish is relatively healthy (compared to beefsteak 😀). Will be back to regular investing posts soon. If market continues to correct, hope there are bargains to be had...

Eating Healthy vs 'Longevity powder?"

 

After reaching FIRE, many investors are understandably concerned about health and willing to spend on it. I just read that this blogger spent $200 to buy the special longevity powder marketed by the billionaire that wants to live forever.

https://treeofprosperity.blogspot.com/2026/07/personal-update-cheating-death-and.html

Maybe one day there will be such a elixir, but based on the current science, we are not there yet.

I just eat health(ier) and enjoy my food. In order to compensate for my next Wagyu steak meal, I ate a vegetarian Kitsune udon meal with tofu (in the salad and as aburaage) and some mushroom today as the protein source, very tasty. And as always, Matcha Latte.

For information on longevity, its a crowded field with many people pushing their own theories (and maybe marketing products). I strongly recommend the following books as being science-based:

• Out Live by Peter Attia
• Food for Life by Tim Spector

TL:DR?

1. VO2 Max is the no.1 physical metric for longevity
2. Protect your gut health and this will strengthen your immune system
3. There's no magic pill to cheat your way to high VO2Max. You have to put in the work.
4. For gut health you might think you can cheat your way to good gut health by eating probiotic pills but eating health(ier) is the best way to good gut health.

Going on holiday soon

 

I am missing Japanese cuisine so I went to Mashi no Mashi in the CBD area for some A5 Wagyu Tsukumen. It was really good and there was 15% off with Grab Pay. One of Singapore's strengths is that the Ramen brands that they 'import' from Japan tastes 'just as good' as the Japan version, perhaps a little more expensive.  I say that having eaten at two different Afuri Ramens in Tokyo and Yokohama respectively, and fondly remembering Afuri Ramen in Funan before it closed. When I'm next in Tokyo, I will try the Mashi no Mashi there and compare. I suspect SG shops use "Australian Wagyu" rather than Japanese A5.

Its obviously way too hot to go to Japan in July, so I'm off to Australia to enjoy the cool weather. I shall report back on any good food I find, and of course, good coffeeshops for Matcha Lattes.

Unless something exciting happens like a major crash, my blogposts will be on food instead of investing for a week or so.

Managed to catch up with S&P500

 

Finally caught up with the S&P500.

Hopefully can keep up till the end of the year 

Experimental Unit Trust Portfolio: Update 1

 

In May 2026 I decided to start an experimental unit trust portfolio on POEMS focused exclusively on Amundi Unit Trusts with the following target allocation:

• 40% MSCI World
• 20% Prime USA
• 20% Emerging Markets

This is a 2 month update. I have been steadily adding to it. As the market has been going up, the means that the average buying price of these funds has gone up and the percentage return has gone down.

On the bright side, the absolute $ profit has doubled from $1.6k to $3.6k.

This shows that while a high % return looks good, the actual $ profit is also important. Previously, I like to buy after a crash, but when the market started improving, I was reluctant to buy because this meant that I am buying for higher and higher prices. That was the wrong way to think about investing. As long as you are confident that the market is going up, continuing to buy is always good as that maximises your $ return even though your % return looks lower. 

This is subject to the usual portfolio construction rules like asset allocation percentages and concentration limits.

May 2026 post: https://buyaftercrash.blogspot.com/2026/05/experimental-unit-trust-portfolio.html