Investing in your human capital

Investing can be very lonely sometimes because it is a never-ending journey that requires you to constantly learn and hone your analytical skills. Time is the most important factor for an investor. You will have a head-start if you start learning how to invest since young. But the fact is, nobody is born to invest. Investment skills and knowledge has to be picked up and learned, either through the hard way or attending courses. Henceforth, it is important that you invest in your human capital throughout your life. Otherwise, you might end up paying expensive tuition fees to Mr Market.

The Shares Investment Conference 2012 will be held on 1st September 2012, at Suntec City Mall. I will be attending this conference to enhance my investment knowledge and obviously I am very excited about it. This is because the legendary investment guru, Jim Rogers, will be one of the keynote speakers.  Jim Rogers is famous for co-founding  the Quantum Fund with George Soros in 1973. During the following 10 years, the portfolio gained 4200% while the S&P advanced about 47%. Currently, Jim Rogers reside in Singapore. I hope to gain valuable insights from this living legend and understand more of his investment thinking and logics. During the conference, the guru will share with the audience the market outlook, his views on the euro and "Investing in Today's Crazy Markets".

Another key-note speaker is Mike Bellafore, author of "One Good Trade: Inside the Highly Competitive World of Proprietary Trading" and co-founder of a USA trading firm. Mike Bellafore will share his investment lessons and teach the audience on "Beat the Market with ONE GOOD TRADE".

This conference is worth one Continuing Education Programme (CEP) non-product credit, accredited by SGX. PhillipCapital clients will receive a Conference Booster Pack worth S$69.15 when they purchase a ticket to this event.

This is an event not to be missed by every self-respecting investors in Singapore. For registration and purchase of tickets, please log into the following:

www.sharesinv.com/sic2012wr (English Conference)
www.sharesinv.com/sic2012cwr (Chinese Conference)

If you have any enquiries, please email me at sgwealthbuilder@gmail.com. I can direct your queries to the event organizer.

Magically yours

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How to become a millionaire in Singapore

Quite some time ago, I wrote a couple of articles on how to become rich in Singapore. A few readers commented that I had touched on the "what" and did not address the "how" aspect. Indeed, there must be a structured and systematic way to become rich in Singapore. The millionaires cannot possibly be rich by chance. To this end, I am pleased to announce that due to popular demand, Robert G. Allen will be holding an event in Singapore, titled "Multiple Streams of Income".

Robert G. Allen has probably helped to create more millionaires in America than any other single person. He is the author of some of the most successful finacial books in history. "Nothing Down" which is the largest selling real estate investment book in history, has sold more than 1,250,000 copies, and his other books - "Creating Wealth", "Multiple Streams of Income", and "Multiple Streams of Internet Income" - have all been major New York Times bestsellers. A popular guest on radio and television shows including "Larry King Live" and "Good Morning America", Robert G. Allen has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Barron"s Parade, People, and Reader's Digest.

The event will be held on 15 September 2012, Saturday Time 1:30pm - 3:30pm at Nexus Auditorium, #05-07 Cuppage Plaza (Somerset MRT, Exit B - 50m behind Centrepoint).

 During the event, you will learn the critical factors which determine your path to creating wealth.- -   -   Understand your vision and dream
-   How to form your "Dream Team"
-   Following a proven system
-   Finding a mentorship programme

Because self development should be viewed as an investment and not a cost, the event organizer is pleased to bring you this event for only S$99.00

In addition, you get a free copy of any of Robert G. Allen's best selling books, valued at S$33.00 retail price. Select any one of the following books and start implementing what you learn to get the desired results.
-   Multiple Streams of Income
-   The One Minute Millionaire
-   Multiple Streams of Internet Income
-   Creating Wealth (Chinese Edition)

And to help you apply the skills, the event organizer is offering the MULTIPLE STREAMS OF INCOME's Application and Implementation Workshop. In this 2-day workshop (valued at S$2,050.00), you will apply the knowledge learn at the event with the help of a local mentor team. This ensures you can convert the knowledge into skills that will produce results - your return on investment. The 2-day workshop is also available in Chinese.

"If you learn something, apply it and get no result - then you have learned nothing!"

So for the one-time Investment of S$99.00 (worth $2140) , you get :

1) Your 15th September 2012 event ticket valued at S$57

2)  Free Book of your choice valued at S$33

3) 2-day Implementation Workshop valued at $2,050

For $178 (worth $4280), you get the above for 2 persons.

So take action and sign up for this life-changing event now!!

To sign up for this event, please email me at sgwealthbuilder@gmail.com with your name and handphone number.

Magically yours

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Stock Investment Insight: k1 Ventures

I have been tracking k1 Ventures for more than 7 years and had invested in the stock over the years. k1 Ventures is an investment holding company invested in diverse sectors such as finance, transportation leasing, education and oil and gas. Those who are vested in this counter would know that this is an excellent stock which had paid out huge dividends over the years. Since FY05, it had consistently paid out dividends amounting to a total of $0.2275 per share. If you had bought the share 7 years ago at $0.33 and hold on to them till now, you would have an incredible yield of 68.9%. Now, how many stocks in SGX are capable of giving this sort of dividends nowadays?

Henceforth, I was pretty upset that GKB recently made a voluntary offer for k1 Ventures at $0.135 per share. For the uninitiated, GKB is an investment vehicle owned by Keppel Corp, CEO of k1 and BV Singapore. The consortium currently owns a combined stake of 62% in k1 and will own 100% on successful takeover. The offer was so low that I didn't even bother to think twice on whether to accept it. After all, if I hold on to the stock, over the next few years, I could potentially receive dividends well in excess of the current stock price, bearing in mind that many of the investments of K1 Ventures are riped for divestment. k1 Ventures' management team, led by Steven Green, has done a great job investing and turning around companies. I believe the total sum of their investment holdings should be around $650 million and therefore each share should be valued at $0.30 instead of $0.135. This valuation was based on the latest research report by OSK DMG.

So far, the offeror has received about 75% of the acceptance shares. As it is still short of the conditional 90% for the deal to go through, the management has extended the deadline for the offer to 29 August 2012. To me, the offer is too unacceptable for the minority shareholders and I will not accept it unless it is revised. The management of k1 has to do justice to the minority shareholders who had supported the company over the years and make a better offer.

Magically yours.

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Philip Capital Investment Conference (Singapore)

Philip Capital is organizing an investment conference called "Shares Investment Conference". Investment guru, Jim Rogers, will be one of the key note speakers. Below is the details

Date - 01 September 2012, Saturday (English Session)

Time - 9am - 1pm (AM Session Pass)
          - 2.30pm - 7pm (PM Session Pass)
          - 9am - 7pm (Fold Full Day/Platinum VVIP Pass)

There is a Chinese session as well.
Please see the below details. - Speakers: Professor Chan Yan Chong and Hu Li Yang

Date - 15 September 2012, Saturday (Chinese)

Time - 9am - 1pm (AM Session Pass)
          - 2.30pm - 7pm (PM Session Pass)
          - 9am - 7pm (Fold Full Day/Platinum VVIP Pass)


For more information, you may visit - www.sharesinv.com/sic2012
                                                       - www.sharesinv.com/sic2012chn

I think that this will do a great help for readers who wish to have a clearer picture and direction for investment. An opportunitiy not to be missed for aspiring investors seeking to formulate investment strategies in this uncertain time. For further queries, please email me at sgwealthbuilder@gmail.com.

Magically yours

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Shares Investment Conference 2012

I just finished my two weeks of in-camp reservist training recently. During this period, I did a lot of catch up with my bunk-mates and had several great conversations with them on topics regarding investments. One of my friends is running a successful hawker stall and has shares investment amounting to more than $100,000. Although he is not as highly educated as me, he shared with me that investing in shares without a personal strategy is like shooting blindly in a dark room. On this aspect, I agreed with him that investing without a strategy is like gambling in the casino without knowing which game you want to play in. Normally in this scenario, you would end up losing most of your capital. Henceforth, there is a need for investors to know his limitations and educate himself continuously on the various aspects of investment so as to mitigate losses and maximize profits. It is a continuous journey that every investor needs to undertake, in order to become a successful investor.

Phillip Capital is organizing the Shares Investment Conference 2012 on 1st September 2012, at Suntec City Mall. I will be attending this conference to enhance my investment knowledge and obviously I am very excited about it. This is because the legendary investment guru, Jim Rogers, will be one of the keynote speakers.  Jim Rogers is famous for co-founding  the Quantum Fund with George Soros in 1973. During the following 10 years, the portfolio gained 4200% while the S&P advanced about 47%. Currently, Jim Rogers reside in Singapore. I hope to gain valuable insights from this living legend and understand more of his investment thinking and logics. During the conference, the guru will share with the audience the market outlook, his views on the euro and "Investing in Today's Crazy Markets".

Another key-note speaker is Mike Bellafore, author of "One Good Trade: Inside the Highly Competitive World of Proprietary Trading" and co-founder of a USA trading firm. Mike Bellafore will share his investment lessons and teach the audience on "Beat the Market with ONE GOOD TRADE".

This conference is worth one Continuing Education Programme (CEP) non-product credit, accredited by SGX. PhillipCapital clients will receive a Conference Booster Pack worth S$69.15 when they purchase a ticket to this event.

This is an event not to be missed by every self-respecting investors in Singapore. For registration and purchase of tickets, please log into the following:

www.sharesinv.com/sic2012wr (English Conference)
www.sharesinv.com/sic2012cwr (Chinese Conference)

If you have any enquiries, please email me at sgwealthbuilder@gmail.com. I can direct your queries to the event organizer.
Magically yours

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IPO: My views on Far East Hospitality Trust

Some time back ago, I received a query from a reader asking for my views on Far East Hospitality Trust IPO. As mentioned in one of my previous posts, normally I refrain from giving advices on IPO, especially business trusts or REITs. I must admit that my knowledge in business trusts and REITs is lacking. But then again, investors needs to understand that business trusts and REITs are very different from shares trading in the stock market. The structure and nature of the business model can be quite complicated for the man in the street to comprehend. For example, investors need to know that unlike shares of a company, REITs are actually managed by external managers and are backed by sponsors, usually major property developers or shipping companies. Sometimes, there may be non-transparency concerning party-related transactions, so there might be cases of poor disclosures to investors. In addition, the assets are financed not only by unit holders, but also through bank loans as well. Borrowers have to top up their loan facilities, should underlying asset values fall below a certain point. So investors need to understand the leveraging risks of business trusts and REITs as well and not just be seduced by the compelling yield.

Buying a IPO can be risky and so far, I have not invested in any IPO. I always believe that there is a need to have three years of track records of profits and positive net operating cash in order to consider a company good to invest. If an investor bought an IPO based on the potential DPU or hope to make a killing from speculation, then I think that is no different from gambling. Investing requires painstaking research and taking calculated risk. This would requires companies to release detailed financial information so that investors can make informed investment decisions. Henceforth, I have always avoided IPO because the track records just isn't there for me to assess the fundamentals of a company.

The recent financial crisis should serve as a reminder to all investors of the financing risks for business trusts and REITs. During that time, virtually all the banks were unwillingly to rollover loans, leaving business trusts and REITS to scramble for alternative sources of funding or even having to let purchase options expire with penalties.

Magically yours

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Higher Starting Salaries for Fresh Graduates

A recent survey released by Hay Group last week revealed that fresh graduates are drawing higher starting salaries compared to 2011. Those without Honors drew S$2, 678 while those with second upper Honors and higher drew S$2, 766 and S$2, 882 respectively. It also revealed that those working in the engineering sector drew the highest average salaries of $2,777 without honors. Jobs in research & development and merchandise operations ranked second and third, with the graduates earning S$2, 764 and S$ 2, 742 a month, respectively.

I am actually quite surprised by the survey as I always assumed that those working in the finance sector are usually paid well and would earn the highest. But the results of the survey showed otherwise. Based on the results, I think engineers are still in demand and would still command respectable starting salaries. I am heartened by this as my degree is engineering and I hold an engineering job. I would like to think that my engineering career can still last for another 10 -15 years, unless I decided to do a career switch or switch to entrepreneurship. Another interesting fact is that the starting salaries for non-honours engineering graduates is quite high (at $2,777). I got an engineering degree with honors in 2005 but my starting salary was $2600. Even if you factor in inflation, the starting salaries seem quite high for a non-honors graduate. So I think this reflect the strong demand in engineering graduates in Singapore.

Yesterday, Minister for National Development cautioned Singaporeans to be prudent in buying properties and not be induced by 50 year housing loan (offered by UOB). He mentioned that fresh graduates should be realistic with their incomes and that for their first properties, they should not buy a 5 room or bigger flats or private properties. On this respect, I totally agreed with the Minister. Fresh graduates, when considering buying a property, should not just only look at the downpayments and monthly instalments. They should also do a thorough financial planning and not be seduced by the 50 year loan. They have to realise that the trade-off for a more affordable monthly instalment is the huge interests accumulated over 50 years. So utlimately, it is important to examine the term and conditions offered in the 50 years housing loan before committing to such loans.

Magically yours.

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Personal Finance Expert, Dennis Ng, passed away

I was shocked to learn that Dennis Ng has died suddenly of heart attack on 26th July. Dennis was well-known in Singapore to be a personal finance guru. He was the author of bestsellers, Mastering Your Personal Finance and What Your School Never Taught You About Money. He was also the co-founder of HousingLoanSG.com, an independent mortgage consultancy portal. This article is dedicated specially to the man who have contributed greatly to personal finance literacy in Singapore.

I read from fellow bloggers in the investment community that he was someone who was willing to share his financial expertise and knowledge to novice investors. There are not many financial gurus, especially in Singapore's context, who are willing to do so.Therefore, his demise is indeed a great loss to the investment community.

He is a role model of whom I aspire to be in the next 10 years. I don;t fancy myself as a guru, but it is my intention to share with my readers, my experience and lessons learned from investment mistakes. I hope that in the long run, I can reach the same level as Dennis.

Thank you so much, Dennis.You shall be missed.

Magically yours

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