Dividend Report: May 2017

Lots of dividend payouts this month. However, not much difference compared to last year for S$ payouts. The fruits of my IBKR investing are paying off as US$ dividends have increased significantly.



Average dividends per month: Jan- May 2017

S$3278.75     +   [2016: $3144.35]
£168.16        -    [2016: £102.95]
US$500.177   +   [2016: $140.82] 

Average dividends per month: Jan- Apr 2017

S$2,494.69      [2016: $2,449.32]
£210.20           [2016: £128.68]
US$382.56       [2016: $153.04]












Notes:

Average dividend per month = total dividend collected / number of months in the year so far.+ and - are used to indicate whether the average monthly dividend has gone up or gone down.Vanguard quarterly dividends reported on Jan/April/Jul/Oct

Now is the time for Bonds

With the stock market at all-time highs, its time to be contrarian and not simply follow the crowd. While I still buy equities every month, I don't spend all my available cash. Instead the amount of my reserve cash continues to build up. I've already redeemed my car loan in full and fortunately the redemption amount was not as large as I thought it would be.

Rather than keeping large amounts of cash, it would be good to put some into bonds. 


Local Bonds
Despite the promising start, retail bond issues seem to have fizzled out. I already have quite large positions in FCL 3.65% and Perennial 4.65% so I am wary of adding more. I was hoping that there would be other new issues of FCL's quality but so far there hasn't been any. 

Bondexpress from Fundsupermart has a number of interesting bonds on sale for a minimum lot size of $5,000, but only 2 'quality' issuers:

• DBS 3.6% perp  (Ask yield 3.72%)
• Manulife 2026 3.85% (Ask yield 2.9%)

I avoid perps so the DBS is not for me. The yield on the Manulife is low but fair given the issuer's quality, so the only issue is that after FSM subtracts its various charges, there is not that much left for the buyer.

Foreign Bonds
I am vested in a number of bond ETFs listed on LSE (SLXX, IS15, LQDE, SDIG). There is virtually no withholding tax on Irish-domiciled ETFs holding US Corporate bonds so you should definitely go for LSE ETFs and not those listed in the US as those are subject to withholding tax of the full 30%.


Looking at bond ETFs again, I find that Vanguard UK launched a US Corporate Bond ETF (VDCP)with a very competitive 0.12% expense ratio compared to iShares 0.20%. For bonds, every % counts. The slightly odd thing about VDCP is that it distributes dividends every month which must incur more administrative costs but somehow it still has a lower expense ratio.

I will be adding VDCP to my portfolio.

Dividend Report: Jan-Apr 2017

Minimal S$ dividends in April. Only Perennial Bonds paid out its coupon.



Average dividends per month: Jan- Apr 2017

S$2,494.69      [2016: $2,449.32]
£210.20           [2016: £128.68]
US$382.56       [2016: $153.04]


Average dividends per month: Jan- Mar 2017

S$3218.05     -
£128.54        -
US$328.03    -









Notes:

Average dividend per month = total dividend collected / number of months in the year so far.+ and - are used to indicate whether the average monthly dividend has gone up or gone down.Vanguard quarterly dividends reported on Jan/April/Jul/Oct

Strategy Report: Feb-March 2017

Interest Hike Fully Priced in?

The interest rate hike on 15 March did not do anything significant to the market suggesting that it had been fully priced in.

Adding to Existing Positions

With the uncertainty out of the way:

• I used my SRS funds to purchase CCT. 
• Added to my GSK holdings, this time, buying the LSE listed GBP shares instead of the ADRs.
• I also subscribed to the Ascott Residence Trust rights issue. I have a fair amount of ART so I have to come up with a fair amount of cash for the rights.

New positions

In late February, I initiated a position in S&P UK Dividend Aristocrats UKDV. While I like the WisdomTree offering more, the AUM for WUKD is a bit too small and the ETF is in danger of closing.

In March, I initiated a position in Telstra as it continued to drop and I felt that there was a sufficient margin of safety vis-a-viz its dividend yield. Previously I had a small position in Telstra which I bought using SCB at about $4.9x which I had to sell at about $5.05 because SCB was removing its minimum commission (at that time I did not have PB yet).

Of course, IB is a much better place to hold AU shares. Hopefully the withholding is at the treaty rate of 15% and not 30% (My Westpac ADR dividends were withheld at the treaty rate of 15%).

I also initiated a position in the iShares ASX200 ETF IOZ which also has a favourable dividend yield.

Dividend Report: Jan-Feb 2017

Average dividends per month: Jan- Feb 2017

S$4625.47  +
£176.10        -
US$432.80    -

Notes:

Average dividend per month = total dividend collected / number of months in the year so far.+ and - are used to indicate whether the average monthly dividend has gone up or gone down.Vanguard quarterly dividends reported on Jan/April/Jul/Oct

Dividend Report: January 2017

Average dividends per month: Jan 2017

S$408
£352.21
US$627.24


Vanguard quarterly dividends reported on Jan/April/Jul/Oct

Strategy Jan-Feb 2017

As I am receiving about $3,500 dividends per month, this means that even if I feel that the market is on the high side, I should still have the discipline to reinvest my dividends plus a little bit of my savings.

I save most of my income and the rest of my savings go to my investing "warchest." If there are no buying opportunities by March, I will probably use part of the warchest to pay back my car loan in full.

Jan-Feb were  top-ups to my portfolio

• CPXJ (iShares Asia Pacific ETF)
• NORW (GlobalX Norway ETF)
• CapitaCommercial Trust
• Comfort Delgro (the last time I added was 10 years ago) added at $2.39 / $2.43
• Frasers Hospitality Trust
• Vodafone
• British Telecom (yes got hit by Italian accounting scandal, that's why I diversify)

And also initiated 2 small positions

• Telefonica - to diversify my telecoms holdings.
• WisdomTree - because I like their Smart Beta ETFs and the price dropped after earnings miss which seemed like an ok entry point