TheFinance.sg » Martin Lee

Research Reports on Singapore Listed Companies

Martin Lee — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 04:43:44 +0000

The different brokerage firms will produce their own in-house research reports on selected SGX-listed companies.

You can access the various research reports if you have a trading account with the respective brokerage firms.

Another way is to visit
The Society of Remisiers website, which holds the research reports of all the brokerage firms.

However, it seems that they only store the reports for the last thirty days. Well, at least it is still quite useful to be able to find all the reports at one central location.

The website lists the research reports by the dates on which they …

Getting Medical Insurance Early

Martin Lee — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:19:39 +0000

There was an article in The Sunday Times over the weekend which talked about the important of getting medical insurance early while you are still young and healthy.

This is because if you wait until you have a medical condition before getting insurance, that condition will not be covered.

Or even worse, your entire application can be declined.

Better to Get Medical Insurance While Young and Healthy (Sunday Times)

Please also read the portion in the green column “Think before you switch”.

Suspension of Pertama

Martin Lee — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:56:07 +0000

Pertama is no more.

Ok, I’m exaggerating it a little.

Back in June 2011,
Pertama had proposed a delisting of the shares (at $0.65 a share) as it saw no need to maintain a listing status. The cash flow of the business was good, and it had no plans for any capital raising.

The free float of the shares was also very small with Harvey Norman Singapore Pte. Ltd. (“HNS”) and HNS’s subsidiary, Harvey Norman Ossia (Asia) Pte Ltd (“HNO”) collectively holding approximately 83% of the total number of issued shares. FMR LLC and Edward C. Johnson 3rd hold …

Winning a Live Trading Competition

Martin Lee — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:02:07 +0000

I attended a short session on trading conducted by Ray Barros last week.

There was supposed to be some live trading demonstration involved but I only knew we were the ones who were supposed to do it when I arrived. But the bonus for us was that the person who managed to make the most money using a dummy account at the end of the session would walk away with a new iPad.

Given that there were less than twenty people in the room, I thought that the chances of winning the prize were pretty decent.

We were given half …

Community Health Assist Scheme

Martin Lee — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:38:53 +0000

The Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS), which was previously known as the Primary Care Partnership Scheme (PCPS), has been enhanced to benefit more people from January 2012 this year.

Patients who qualify to be on the CHAS will be able to receive subsidised outpatient medical treatments for acute and chronic conditions as well as basic dental services at General Practitioners (GPs) and dental clinics near their homes.

The subsidies can be up to $18.50 for acute conditions and $80 for chronic conditions.

To qualify for CHAS, you must be either:

A Singapore citizen who is 40 years old or …

SGX My Gateway

Martin Lee — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:24:19 +0000

SGX has recently launched an online portal called My Gateway providing investment education for investors.

My Gateway provides market updates, recorded webcasts, calculation tools and information about the various products on SGX.

You can view historical charts of traded securities on SGX and there is also information about upcoming events and courses.

For now, stand up to win one of 5 iPads if you sign up to be on SGX’s investment updates mailing list.

My Gateway can be accessed here.

Closure of ipac Singapore

Martin Lee — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:16:00 +0000

Financial planning firm ipac has announced the closure of their Singapore and Hong Kong business.

It puts an end to an unique advice-centric business model where advisers are paid a salary rather than commissions. Apparently, this model has not worked well for ipac, who made a loss of $4.5 million in 2010 and a cumulative loss of around $34 million since it started operations here in 2003.

Clients of ipac who invested in their Dublin-domiciled multi-manager fund will also have to unwind their positions as the funds will be shut down. This process will take a few months.

If …

CMA Bonds Result 2012

Martin Lee — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:47:32 +0000

As at the close of the Public Offer at 2.00 p.m. on 9 January 2012, valid applications in respect of approximately S$465 million in aggregate principal amount of CMA bonds, at the issue price of 100 per cent. under the Public Offer, were received.

As the total valid applications in respect of the Placement and the Public Offer have exceeded S$200 million in aggregate principal amount of Bonds, the Issuer has decided to exercise the right, in consultation with the Lead Manager, to upsize the Offer and issue an additional S$200 million in aggregate principal amount of Bonds, …

Closure of NTUC Growth Plan

Martin Lee — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 04:39:40 +0000

The Growth Plan from NTUC is one of the more popular single premium endowment plans in the market for a duration of five years or more.

While the returns are nowhere near what you can get from an equity investment, it does give a conservative and steady returns of 2-4%+ p.a.

The interest rates in Singapore have reduced quite significantly over the past few years. 12-month fixed deposit rates are now hovering around 0.4% p.a. compared to 0.9% p.a. 5 years ago. Similarly, 5-year Singapore government bond yields have declined from 3.2% p.a. …

Fraudulent Credit Card Transactions

Martin Lee — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:57:48 +0000

After the recent
DBS ATM fraud incident, one of my readers wrote in to share his experiences with credit card fraud.

Before I share that with you, here is an interesting piece of news about a highly sophisticated banking fraud.

New PC virus steals your money and then creates fake online bank statements

Apparently, there are computer virus that not only can steal the passwords to your banking account, but they can also create fake online statements so that you do not know that your money has been stolen.

Now, that is something to be worried about!

Anyway, the …

Fraudulent Withdrawals from DBS Accounts

Martin Lee — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 03:25:31 +0000

More than $200,000 were illegally withdrawn from some DBS customers this year from ATMs located in Malaysia.

Apparently, someone has managed to clone the ATM card details (including the passwords) and made the withdrawals from Malaysia using the cloned cards.

Currently, there are about 200 customers affected with an average withdrawal of $1000 per account.

DBS is currently investigating the situation and have reassured the public that any monies that were lost will be rightfully refunded within 24 hrs after notification.

You might want to check your DBS/POSB bank balance to see whether you are one of the affected customers. …

Budget 2012 Quiz

Martin Lee — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 03:47:41 +0000

MOF has launched a Budget Quiz 2012 to promote greater awareness and understanding of the annual budget process.

The quiz comprises a weekly series of 10 multiple-choice questions covering the budget process as well as economic, taxation and social policies. Those who are able to answer all the questions correctly will qualify for a weekly draw. Five vouchers each worth $50 stand to be won.

The contest will run for seven weeks and participants who obtain a perfect score for all sessions will qualify for the grand draw which has a top price of $500.

For more details about the …

CapitaMalls Asia Bonds 2012

Martin Lee — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:24:45 +0000

CapitaMalls Asia, through its wholly-owned subsidiary CapitaMalls Asia Treasury, will be raising $200 million through a bond issue. Half of the CMA bond issue will be for public application while the other half will be for private placement.

The CapitaMalls Asia bonds will have a term of ten years from their date of issue and will mature on 12 January 2022. The bonds will be fully tradeable in the secondary market on the SGX.

For the first 5 years (starting from 12 January 2012), the Bonds will bear interest at the rate of 3.8% per annum. Interest will be …

Cap of CPF Wrap Fee for Fund Investments

Martin Lee — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 04:23:20 +0000

Since 2006, the CPF Board has been undertaking measures to progressively lower the cost of investment and improve the quality of funds under the CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS).

From 1 July 2012, the CPF Board will subject the wrap fee charged for CPF Investment Scheme (CPFIS) investments to a maximum limit of 1% per annum.

A wrap fee is a regular charge paid to financial advisers for providing bundled investment services, such as advisory, brokerage and administrative services. Also known as an ongoing fee, the wrap fee is typically levied quarterly by liquidating a small portion of the investment.

This …

End of 2011

Martin Lee — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 03:10:12 +0000

In a couple of days, we will be entering the new year 2012.

I would like to take the opportunity here to give everyone here my best wishes for the coming year.

I haven’t been writing much for the past couple of weeks, partly because of the holiday season, and partly because I was trying to clear up some year end work…

Top 10 Common Myths of Singapore Healthcare

Martin Lee — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 04:43:08 +0000

As part of MOH’s efforts to help the public understand our health care system, they have published a brochure called the
10 top common myths of Singapore Health Care”. The brochure is available in four languages.

I would just like to add a few of my personal opinion to the myths which should be read in conjunction with the myths brochure.

Myth 1: I am afraid of being hospitalised because hospital bills are unaffordable

While hospital bills should remain affordable to most people in the B2 and C wards, there is now a severe lack of hospital capacity due …

PPF Clause in Insurance Forms

Martin Lee — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 03:20:09 +0000

Many insurers have started to include the Policy Owners Protection Scheme (PPF) clause into the product summary and contract wording of their insurance policies.

Policy Owners’ Protection Scheme

This Policy is protected under the Policy Owners’ Protection Scheme, and is administered by the Singapore Deposit Insurance Corporation (SDIC). Coverage for Your Policy is automatic and no further action is required from You. For more information on the types of benefits that are coveredunder the scheme as well as the limits of coverage, where applicable, please contact Us or visit the LIA or SDIC web-sites (www.lia.org.sg orwww.sdic….

Increase in Medisave Required Amount 2012

Martin Lee — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 04:36:09 +0000

The CPF board announced yesterday that the Medisave Required Amount (MRA) will be raised from the current $27,500 to $32,000 from 1 January 2012 onwards. This is a 16% increase.

Since 1 January 2004, CPF members who turn 55 and are able to meet the CPF Minimum Sum are required to set aside the MRA in their Medisave Account when they make a CPF withdrawal. If such members have less than the MRA in their Medisave Accounts, their Ordinary and/or Special Account balances in excess of the Minimum Sum has to be used to top up the MRA before they …