The 3 Steps to Become Richer… That Most People Never Follow

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 29, 2015 | Personal Finance |

Photo: Wikipedia If you’ve always wondered what the steps were to becoming rich, it’s actually quite simple. In fact, you might already know them. The trouble is… even though you know them, you might not actually do it. So what are the 3 steps? Earn income Spend less than you earn Invest That’s basically it. I told you that you might already know the three steps. So do you actually practice them? A lot of times people think that the key to getting rich is to simply earn a LOT more money. “If only I had an extra $1,000...

Arrival of Netflix in Singapore May End Up Disappointing

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 28, 2015 | Business |

I know many people who are excited about Netflix’s arrival in Singapore next year. I am not one of them. Don’t get me wrong. The US version of Netflix is a fabulous product, with fantastic range. You will find Hollywood’s blockbusters (think Star Trek: Into Darkness) as well as foreign films (I can recommend Danish film The Hunt). There are both interesting documentaries and risqué movies. Ben Kingsley narrates Winston Churchill: Walking with Destiny while Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution is available in its entirety. Netflix has also produced a couple of award-winning drama serials of its own. Its House...

Raffles Medical & The Hour Glass: 3 Key Metrics to Examine as Interest Rates Rise

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 25, 2015 | Shares & Derivatives |

After years of near-zero interest rates, the US Federal Reserve has positioned itself for a rate hike this year. When the Fed raises interest rates, Singapore’s SOR and SIBOR follow suit. Rising interest rates affect all our investments and investors like us need to consider the implications and select only the best companies that can deal with a rising interest rate environment. So how we know if a company is able to survive or even thrive (as weaker competitors get weeded out) in a rising interest rate environment? For me, there are three criteria: 1. Low Debt Companies with a...

A Simple Guide to How Interest Rates Affect Your Investments

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 23, 2015 | Market Review and Trends |

You may have seen our earlier article on how rising interest rates affect real estate investment trusts (REITs). REITs are highly sensitive to interest rate movements due to the way they’re structured. However, many other assets are affected by interest rates as well. So how do interest rates affect them? In essence, interest rates act like gravity. “Interest rates act like gravity on asset values – The higher the rate, the greater the downward pull. That’s because the rates of return that investors need from any kind of investment are directly tied to the risk-free rate that they can...

SIA Engineering: 3 Things I Learned from its 2015 AGM

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 21, 2015 | Shares & Derivatives |

Photo: SIA Engineering Following up on last year’s SIA Engineering 2014 AGM, I attended this year’s meeting to find out the latest updates on the company and the aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) industry. #1 The MRO industry is facing headwind In January, SIA Engineering welcomed a new CEO, Png Kim Chiang, whose track record boasts three decades of experience in the MRO industry. Png started his speech at the AGM by sharing some of the major challenges faced by SIA Engineering in the MRO industry. The 4 key challenges in the aircraft MRO industry: Technological advancement and the new...

Singapore’s Very Own Investment Legend: Danny Yong of Dymon Asia

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 18, 2015 | Investing |

Dymon Asia was founded by Danny Yong in 2008 with US$113 million in AUM. Today, Dymon Asia has US$4.5 million in assets under management. For context, only 8% of hedge fund survive to their 8th year and only the top 2.3% go past the US$1 billion mark. Dymon Asia was ranked No. 10 globally by Bloomberg for its 17% return in 2014. Temasek Holdings invested $500 million to start a hedge fund platform with Dymon Asia in May 2014. Danny Yong started his career at JP Morgan, then moving to Goldman Sachs and Citadel before founding Dymon Asia. In...

The Battle of the Telcos: 5 Key Metrics to Examine in Singtel, M1 & StarHub

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 16, 2015 | Shares & Derivatives |

This will be the final instalment in the Battle of the Telcos series and I believe you over the last three articles have a clearer grasp of Singtel, M1 and StarHub’s business models and the unique strengths and challenges each company has. For this instalment, we are going to analyze five key financial metrics across Singtel, M1 and StarHub and conclude which telco is best positioned to handle the increased competition that’s going to arise when the forth telco comes online in Singapore soon. So let’s begin: 5 Key Metrics to Examine in Singtel, M1 & StarHub #1 Net...

Activist Investors and How You Can Profit Along With Them

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 14, 2015 | Investing |

Carl Icahn, David Einhorn, Bill Ackman, Nelson Peltz, Boone Pickens… do those names ring a bell? If they do, you probably know what this article is all about, but for the benefit of all readers, these guys (who also happen to be billionaires) are what the financial industry labels as activist investors. A simple but powerful example of activism in action was when Carl Icahn tweeted that he believed Apple was grossly undervalued and the stock instantly jumped US$8 billion in value for all shareholders. Since joining Twitter, Icahn has been using it as a platform to announce his...

Investment Legend Carl Icahn and Why He Thinks Apple is Worth $240 per Share

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 9, 2015 | Investing |

Carl Icahn is one of the richest investors with a net worth of US$21.2 billion. This is entirely self-made as he grew up in a middle class New York family. He started his investment career as a stockbroker before starting his own firm. He made a vast fortune raiding companies with TWA as his highest profile victim. After he made his fortune as a corporate raider, he became a relatively mild hedge fund activist and successfully persuaded Apple to execute share buybacks. He is a hardworking contrarian who argued that Apple is worth $240 a share and the market...

4 Financial Mistakes You Will Regret in the Future

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 8, 2015 | Personal Finance |

If you are 30 years old and not yet serious about finance, you are…like most people. It’s common to ignore serious financial mistakes and money issues until you need your first house, first car, first surgery, etc. And who can blame you? Finance is dull. Just look at those finance experts on the news – we’d rather watch an Orangutan pick nits out of its armpit on Discovery Channel. At least there’d be less maths involved. But never fear: here’s the easy version of what you need to know from lessons distilled from years of poor life choices: #1:...

The Battle of the Telcos: 6 Things You Need to Know about StarHub

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 7, 2015 | Shares & Derivatives |

Despite being a latecomer to the local telco industry, StarHub has overtaken M1 and has the second largest mobile market share in Singapore. This success is mainly due to their “hubbing” strategy. I’ll cover more about StarHub’s hubbing strategy and the six things you need to know about the company in this article but before I dive into that, let’s gave a quick background on StarHub’s business model: The Business StarHub is 55.97% owned by Asia Mobile Holdings whose major shareholders are Singapore Technologies Telemedia, and Otel Investments. StarHub’s revenue generation is derived from five business segments: mobile, cable TV,...

3 Reasons Why the Ringgit Fell Below 3 against the Singapore Dollar

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 4, 2015 | Market Review and Trends |

The Malaysian Ringgit declined sharply in the past month as the 1MDB scandal intensified and Malaysia’s prime minister responded by reshuffling his cabinet. Investor confidence in Malaysia has been eroded; the Ringgit is the worst performing Asian currency over the past 12 months. Weak oil prices also increased fears of higher fiscal deficit for 2015 and concerns over Malaysia’s rising external debt Institutional investors are fleeing the Ringgit due to low Malaysian central bank reserves and fears of capital control being implemented like in 1998 during the Asian Financial Crisis The recent sharp decline of the Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)...

Economists Lower Singapore Growth and Inflation Projections for 2015: MAS Survey

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 3, 2015 | Market Review and Trends |

SINGAPORE: Private-sector economists are less sanguine about the growth outlook for Singapore’s economy this year, and have moderated their expectations for several sectors, a quarterly survey released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore on Wednesday shows. The economists polled in the survey say they expect the economy to grow 2.2% this year, down from their median forecast of 2.7% in the previous survey in June. The economy grew 1.85 in 2Q 2015. The manufacturing sector is expected to see a contraction of 2.7% this year, down from the 0.5% forecast in the previous survey. The finance and insurance industry is expected...

5 Money Myths That Will Leave You Broke

Posted by The Fifth Person | Sep 2, 2015 | Personal Finance |

Not everything we learned in school about money is right. Well, maybe it was true with regard to our allowances, but things are a lot more complex in real life. Here are some money myths you’ll be financially healthier without: Myth #1: Pay Off Your Home Loan as Soon as Possible This is one of the most dangerous and yet common pieces of financial advice around. It is often made by people who don’t understand home loans or who have very limited experience with long-term financial planning. Why is this a bad idea? Consider this: Say you have saved...

The Battle of the Telcos: 5 Things You Need to Know about M1

Posted by The Fifth Person | Aug 31, 2015 | Shares & Derivatives |

Following up on the “Battle of the Telcos” series and my previous Singtel analysis, this week, I’ll be covering M1 and five important things you need to know about the company. But before we dive into that, here’s a background on M1’s business model. The Business M1 has three major shareholders: Axiata Investment (28.42%), Keppel Telecommunication & Transportation (19.15%), and Singapore Press Holding (13.32%). M1’s revenue generation is derived from four business segments which are mobile telecommunication services, international call services, fixed services, and handset sales. Mobile Telecommunication Services The major contributor is mobile telecommunication services which accounts 62% of...

Author: The Fifth Person