5 things to think - foreign properties

I plan to start a new series on property, aiming to give key pointers of the property landscape, local and overseas.

There are many benefits on property investment such as:

(a) Hedge against inflation
(b) Let money work harder for you
(c) Preovides a pssive income (hopefully for our retirement years!)
(d) Earn profit from capital gains when we sell our properties
(e) Leaves a legacy for our loved ones

Information is based on my personal research. Please do consult your agent for further details as each individual profile is vastly different.

Before I get started, I will like to update my portfolio status first. I sold the following and locked in marginal capital gains weeks ago:

- Sold ARA
- Sold SIA Engineering
- Sold Ho Bee

I will be on the look out for market opportunities.

Today, I will touch on
"5 key points to think when buying foreign properties"

If we read our local papers, to name a few, we will notice overseas real project launches from Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand, India and the United States. In my opinion, we can't find a property that matches our expectations 100% but we hope to be aware of the factors that will shape our decisions. In other words, to be well informed before taking the plunge.


1) Stability

We need to assess the political climate and economic stability of the country. Constant infighting within government bodies, civil unrest, riots and strikes will affect rental and capital value of real estate as foreign companies will shun away and not be attracted to invest and set up their bases and offices.

Worse, your properties will be affected when the buildings are bombed and damaged - probably insurance covers to a certain extent only.

2) Government and economy

- Rules governing foreign ownership
- Government "friendly" support for foreigners (we hope for rebates!)
- Taxes (income tax / property tax / capital gains tax (some countries exempted)
- Stamp duties
- Currency fluctuation (it's better to buy overseas properties in the country currency as you will not be exposed to the currency rate changes)

Examples (as of current):

A. Malaysia
State government imposes restriction on the minimum price - ranging from RM250,000 ($103,000) to RM500,000 at which foreigners can make a purchase.

B. Australia
Foreign investors are only allowed to purchase new residential properties and resell them to Australia citizens or permanent residents (PRs)

C. India
Only non-resident Indians (NRIs) are allowed to invest in properties

On a broader perspective, consider the economic indicators:

- 5 years GDP growth (for benchmarking purposes only)
- Inflation (runaway inflation such as Vietnam - check the past records)
- Total trade import and export vs. focus on domestic consumption such as China

3) Other Costs

Think about:

- Mortgage interest cost / interest rate
- Legal fees
- Maintenance fee (usually in strata-titled units development where there are facilities)
- Conservancy charges by the local council
- Ground rent (applicable for most leasehold properties)
- Management fee
- Insurance
- Repair and replacement costs

Excluding mortgage interest cost and income tax, the annual outgoing expenses can be between 2 per cent and 3 per cent of the property's value.

4) Property cycle

The cycle goes through booms and bust. One needs to gather data from government sources or property research companies, attend seminars and exhibition (to gauge buying interest in foreign properties and collect information), on-the-ground observation (of people's spending power or if not, refer back to figures on consumer expenditure on luxury products - the more money people spend on luxuries, the more disposable income they have which translate to positive economic sentiment) and regular transacted prices. Timing of the cycle is essential to enter at the right time and anticipate the trough before it really happens.

A scenario in our local backyard - HDB is meant for public housing and thus should be affordable to all household; the type of flats depends on the income level and profile of the flat owners and co-applicants. Recently, Toa Payoh HDB resale flat was sold for record SGD$894,000. This means buyers are feeling bullish which makes sense because interest rate is low. Sentiment is high and therefore the property cycle for the mass market is near to peak when demand and prices shoot up. If you own a HDB and plan to sell, this can be the right timing in the next 6 months.

5) Niche, high-end or others

Know the different splits for various types of overseas properties before zooming down into your choice. It could be niche-based such as ski resorts in Japan to high-end residential homes or others such as commercial and industrial properties. It boils down to your objective - are you going for yield or capital gains?

Usually, it is rare to find a property that provides strong rent and yields solid capital gains. For instance, apartments generally provide higher rental yield when compared with landed homes. Landed homes generally appreciate in value faster than apartments. Thus, it's important to know our target.

We have to do our due diligence. Research is important, providing you the relevant property intelligence. After all, there is no "get-rich-quick schemes in properties". If you are busy, seek out a reputable and licensed agent or get a Mentor to guide you. And don't forget to talk to seasoned investors who may have great experiences to share regarding their foreign properties exposure.

My portfolio addition - Dec 2011 - Jan 2012

I will like to sincerely wish all my faithful readers a "Happy & Prosperous Lunar New Year".

~~~~~~~~~ GONG XI FA CAI !!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Late last year and into early 2012, I bought and sold the following shares:

1) Sold Noble Group
2) Sold AIMS AMP REIT
3) Bought SIA Engineering
4) Bought Keppel Telecommunications & Transport

On my objective to grow my dividend portfolio, I have decided to reduce my exposure to REITS, recycled my capital and divested to SIA Engineering - the possibility of the local manufacturing sector to slow this year, the weak rental climate of industrial properties and the current uncertainty of Singapore economic situation.

The positive results of AIMS AMP REIT drove the price up, helped me made a decision to sell AIMS AMP REIT and forgo the quarterly dividend of 2.6 cents per share.

After selling, I still managed to acquire considerable dividends earned in the past few years. Net-net amount is profitable.

Should the price of AIMS AMP REIT falls after ex-dividend and remains attractively priced, I may consider acquiring the shares again. For now, I am looking forward to the dividend payout of SIA Engineering this year.

SIA Engineering is in the net cash position, has a regular and stable MRO business, offers more than 80% payout for the last 2 years and provides an average of 5.1% yield over the past 5 years with double digit ROE.

For Keppel Telecommunications & Transport (T&T), to make it brief, one of the main primary reasons for my purchase is the attention towards data centres while reducing their exposure to non-core investments. Logistics has always been a revenue pillar, especially the upcoming Tianjin Eco-city and the Nanhai Distribution Centre (NHDC).


Keppel T&T is keen to grow their revenue from renting out collocation serices in the data centre to end clients (banks, government organizations, corporates and other blue chips). The data centre offers Tier III, Tier IV - hosting mission-critical data computer systems. At the moment, Keppel Digihub and Keppel datahub contributes to higher revenue while the data centre in Dublin Ireland, through 50% owned by Citadel, provides another source of income to Keppel T&T data centre division.

There is potential to expand the divisional revenue; is in the infancy stage (data centre registers about 11% revenue). Plus, the demand for robust infrastructure, larger bandwidth and data stroage space - arising from the need for cloud computing, integrated apps via a central platform and the hunger to connect globally through MS Outlook, Skype, Linked-in etc. In other words, social connectivity, enhanced efficiency and digitial revolution.

If you recall, one of my past blogposts talk about the top 5 trends in Asia and one of them, in my opinion, is cloud computing.

I am also looking forward to the expansion of the data fund. The Securus Data Fund, a 50% JV with AEP Capital (owned by Saudi Arabia Al Rajhl), fuels the growth - the fund recorded US$100million in fund size and aimed to reach US$500 million in the longer term. Recently, the purchase of the DC (data centre) asset in Gore Hill, Sydney through the fund signified a strategic acquisition for Keppel T&T (Australia is one of the largest markets in Asia Pacific). On the other hand, Keppel T&T has mitigated the costs and risks involved via the 50-50 involvement in the fund with AEP (Alpine Equity Partners) Capital.

Keppel T&T would be my long term growth story in my investment portfolio based on my qualitative and quantitative findings.

Reflections in 2011-2012

Merry Xmas to all my readers!

It's the end of 2011 and a new 2012 awaits us. Looking back, I must say it has been a fruitful investment journey for me, primarily of 2 main reasons:

Passive income from dividends
I have reached my intended objective in regards to my monthly dividend. The rewards of buying into income-producing assets and earn extra money in bearish times. Build my dividend portfolio early via accumulation of shares, getting into a mix of companies & Reits that pay you quarterly, semi-annually and once per year.

Cycle forecast
I learnt that the planned cycle forecast may not be what I expect, in fact far off the mark. There should be a buffer in between based on historic data, discounted off the high and low over the past 3-5 years. Obviously, there will be some assumption involved when comes to hypothesis but the target price to sell could be adjusted when signs of trouble are brewing - one needs to be sensitive, talk to more people in the industries apart from being commercially aware.

An example is the shipping cycle - I mistook my calculation after viewing the Shanghai containerized freight index that shown an increase in 2010 and that was it! Frieght rates tumble, bunkering costs went up (US$685/tonne, not too far off from mid 2008 peak of US$800/tonne), supply exceeds demand due to overcapacity when carriers prefer to chase market shares (buying more vessels to squeeze out lower-end shippers from the already congested trade lines - new shipbuilding orders in 2011). The container shipment market took a turn especially the sharp declines in Asia-Europe and Asia-US rates due to eurozone crisis and America fiscal policy respectively. On the other hand, spot rates in Intra-Asia (between China, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia) are stable or rising in Q4 2011.


Instead of selling NOL (Neptune Orient Lines) in 2010 for a profit, I kept it to await for further upside in the broader sector, thinking that the dip was marginal. To simply put, I under-estimated the impact. Cycles are getting shorter and the double % drop in frieght rates are pointing to a possible crisis. Plus, stock market was forward looking. I understand, on historic terms, it's usually 2 good years followed by 1 bad year. Have to wait for next cycle.

Therefore, I have to hold on till the data indicators shown improvement in 2012 - expecting 2013 to bump up after the volatility in 2011 since larger carriers like Mitsui and Nippon Yusen have realized the cost implication and took corrective actions to cut container capacity and exercise discipline.

Furthermore, the world largest container shipping line Maersk has increased the rates across trades gradually at $200/TEU on the southbound Europe-Oceania, followed by the rest of the other trade lines in mid to end 2011. This could be an improvement, considering the total idled fleet could reach 500k TEUs by end of 2011(3.3% of global fleet - source by Alphaliner). However, I have to bear in mind that the aggresive competition between carriers may lead to a possible decline in average frieght rates that could dampen sector growth in 2012-2013.

In other words, I have to hold on to my paper losses for now and hopefully realized my gains in 2013 forecasted (upon revision should circumstances change) when the shipping sector rebounds after demand creeps up and frieght rates increase. A lesson for me in "cycles". I must be readily prepared and adaptable for heightened shocks and quick turnaround trends.

Moving forward to 2012....

5 things in my mind:

1) Think Contrarian
2) If I have excess funds, I would average down my property stocks to maximize the next up cycle trends after the latest government measures (ABSD)
3) Increase my dividend stocks/Reits in current holdings to reach my new 2012 target
4) Acquire new dividend paying companies (maybe overseas) to facilitate my div goal
5) Sell of Noble Group to lock in marginal gains during short term market rally

Good luck!

Ho Bee earnings potential

I have added on shares of Noble Group & Ho Bee to my portfolio.

Acquired Noble Group when share price was battered down heavily due to the resignation of CEO Ricardo Leiman and the company first quarterly loss in 14 years. Buy when there is fear and sell when there is greed!

Altough we are facing the eurozone crisis and China risk of default in loans, I am not sure how markets will react to Noble Group in the short-mid term. But I am prepared to average down when Noble Group is priced near to $1 per share. After all, commodities is cyclical and there will be a time the cycle moves upwards. We can review past historic movement from the available commodity indices.

On the other hand, I purchased shares of Ho Bee due to 3 key reasons:


1. Attractive Valuation

P/E is 2.87x using today's last done price of 1.25. P/B is 0.56x @ NAV 2.22 per share. NAV was increasing in the past 5 years but Mr. Market is not rewarding the business. Comparing peers and past historic P/E plus the fact that private home sales are falling, in my opinion, the valuation is attractive. I am thinking of buying in batches when chances arise

2. Earnings Visibility

Regarding property development, in accordance with intepretation of Financial Reporting Standards (INT FRS 115), the revenue for the sale of units in One Pemimpin industrial project will be realized by middle of next year 2012 upon completion of construction. To-date 94% of the 115 strata units are sold.

The iconic One-north commercial property (the Metropolis located at North Buona Vista Drive) is expected to complete in second half of 2013. It houses the region finest research facilities and business parks. Expect MNCs (multi-national corporations) to be the tenants.

One-north is well connected by major expressways, roads and Buona Vista MRT station. Thus, revenue should be progressively recognized when leased out (personally, I expect more than 90%). By then, office rental is forecasted to command higher psf based on historic figures. Together with the future launch of Pinnacle Collection, I remain optimistic when macro conditions and property climate improve - driven by the influx of wealthy Asia buyers such as Indonesians and the Chinese.

3. Joint Venture project with Yanlord

It's good to hear that Ho Bee is sniffing out opportunities in new overseas markets. To enter into JV with Yanlord, it helps to mitgate country risks since credit controls are tightening with current falling property prices in mainland China.

Yes, there are investment risks. However, China is driven largely by local consumption with the inner tiers yet to be fully exploited for growth. Houses of higher standard could be in demand with the middle classes whom might have been yearning the luxurious lives. Therefore, I will view it as a strategic move by Ho Bee to buy up parcels of land with Yanlord and Shanghai YOUYOU to buy 2 prime residential sites in Zhuhai. Developing it further may unlock the potential, leveraging upon the expertise of her partners.

If we talk about the financials, gearing has been significantly reduced in FY2010 - with reference to ShareInvestor, debt to equity ratio is 0.58x. Others like total shareholders return, net margins to ROE paint a positive picture compared to the rest of the high end Developers.

Due to the sluggish sales of Seascape and Turquoise, am not expecting fantastic financial results in the short term. My horizon is 2013 with One North fully built and leased out - perhaps Ho Bee may have undertaken new exciting projects. I have faith in the management helmed by Mr. Chua Tian Poh, the Group CEO of Ho Bee.

Top 5 trends in Asia

Year end is approaching. In a blink of an eye, we will welcome 2012. New resolutions with new targets. The question is, which sector/s should I concentrate next?

Hence, I decide to consolidate the top 5 trends in Asia (as a snapshot) based on my personal opinion and forecasts.

* All investments contain a level of uncertainty and carry specific risks. Please seek your licensed Financial Consultant first before making your decisions.

1. Healthcare

As we know, in the past months, we have seen several acquisitions such as Thomson Medical Centre bought over by Mr. Peter Lim and Khazanah Nasional Bhd took Parkway Holdings private. In addition, Fortis Healthcare plans to be a dominant player in Asia. Companies are expanding and capturing market shares in the region.

Indeed, with better living standards and rising life expectancy across Asia, there is a demand for higher quality healthcare - a possibility where the need outstrips supply. The wealth of the Chinese & Indonesians are fast increasing and they can contribute to the growth of private healthcare services such as specialist services, diagnostics and radiology - "who does not want the best treatment if you have money?" According to data estimates, spending on healthcare in 2010-2011 has increased by 17% year-on-year.

Thus, there are ample opportunities for larger healthcare players to evolve in Asia and this makes retail investors like you and me to watch out for global firms with larger resources, contacts and scalability to shift into Asia.

2. Luxury Goods

Apart from branded handbags, watches and jewellery, luxury products refer to fine wines and champagne, stationery, instruments, tea, travel etc. The total market for luxury goods in Asia Pacific is worth billions with consumers from emerging economies (including locals and tourists as their wealth expands) account for 44% of global sales - up from just 25% in 2005. The Chinese makes up a third of it, especially they can afford to travel abroad (I flew to Europe, saw them in almost every branded shop - one of them bought 20-30 Longchamp bags, Paris in one single receipt and that dude paid in Euro dollars straight up!).


About 56% of Chinese consumers' total luxury purchases were made outside the country. Some forecasts points out that Chinese consumers could grow at a rate of 15%to 20% over the next 10 years, contributing 40% to the luxury market growth during the period. In general, Asians tend to self-indulge and showcase successes in comparison to European consumers.

Companies such as LVMH has bought up 20% stake in local firms such as Charles & Keith and the recent interest to buy 41% of stake in Heng Long. LVMH investment holdings arm has set up their Asia Pacific quarters in Hong Kong, closer to mainland China - position themselves to capitalize on the growth opportunities.

Probably, as a retail investor, I will be keen on high-end companies & retailers that are directly/indirectly exposed to the luxury goods sector.

3. Cloud Computing

I am not an expert in this topic but foresee a growing trend. Wikipedia defines cloud computing as a service, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network (typically the internet).


Techology and telecommunication companies are recognizing this trend and are looking into ways to collaborate effectively. For example, China Huawei Technologies sells the network equipment that telcos use to operate their mobile networks. The firm also sells wireless and networking equipment. A synergy between a leading telecommunication firm could reap in mutual benefits. In fact, China Huawei Technologies has reorganized its corporate business structure into three main divisions that focuses on three main elements: the cloud, the pipe and the device.

Not to forget the likes of Microsoft and Intel. Should a company streamlines their resources and study into the patterns of cloud computing or to work closely with specialist vendors, we may see higher earnings prediction by analysts - driving the positive sentiment amongst the investment community.

4. Health & Wellness

In Asia, especially China, the rate of Obesity is shooting up due to their indulgence in online gaming and social networking. This was derived from China's high internet penetration rate (China has the world's largest online community stemming from their vast population). As a result, sports and related healthy activities do not form the agenda for the younger generatiion. When they are hungry, they prefer to order their quick fast food fixes online.

It's not just America's problem but that of the Chinese.

Apart from Obesity, we could see other related illnesses such as heart diseases are fast rising. This can be a worrying trend of Cardiac diseases in China. As of now, I do not have the statistics of other countries in Asian but I will not be surprised if there is a large market of vitamins and dietary supplements (by retail sales in off-trade channels) in the region, comparing from the last and next 5 years.

Henceforth, companies like Cerebos or consumer pharmaceutical firms are able to fill in the demand by consumers to remain healthy with their range of products. Government intervention and encouragement on a national level is of primary importance.

Health & wellness can relate to beverages, tonic and other functional drinks & food. Will this be a potential chance for retail investors to ride on the future trend?


5. Robots, media & animation

Do we always have a kid in us? I think we may, judging from our early childhood days or realms of experiences. Well, I may be wrong but I may be right too. The little kid in us can connect us to the new media which we enjoy through joy and laughter. I am referring to the future blossoming of 4D & 5D - at the moment, 3D is the norm.

Look at Kinect and arcade games using sensor. Adults and children love it. Maybe your facial expression can activate realtime gaming experience in the future.

In Asia, Japan and Korea are the top 2 countries for consumers spening a huge chunk of their disposable income on gaming.

On the other hand, robots can diversified into several prototypes - lifetime partner, pets, househould chores, hobbymate etc.(goodness me! if the robot runs amok and chase after me with a chopper in hand!).

Our world has changed dramatically from Industial Age to Information Age. For myself, I will be happy to anticipate the trend and buy into a potential growth story - at the moment, the likes of luxury goods sector is something interesting.

ARA Asset Management

Last Friday, I divested GRP (I may buy in again) and bought shares of ARA Asset Management with a longer time horizon. At the moment, ARA Asset Management is trading to new one year low with P/E 15x. For me, I am planning to buy in batches and average down should the price of ARA Asset Management becomes more attractive.

About ARA
ARA Asset Management is an Asian real estate fund management company focusing mainly on the management of REITS and private real estate funds. ARA currently manages REITS listed in Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong with a diversified portfolio of retail, office, industrial and logistics; private funds investing in real estate and real estate securities in Asia.

Here are quick 5 pointers why I chose ARA Asset Management:


1) Growth of Asian REITS
According to industry chamber Assocham, Asian REITS currently accounts for 10.6% of global REITS and expected to grow to US$500 billion in 8-10 years time, a projected figure of USS$100m billion from 2010. Majority of revenue (FY2010 reports 41%) of ARA is from REITS management fees, thus ARA is well positioned to maximize opportunities mid to long term. Indirectly, ARA could benefit from Singapore's aim of being the world's leading wealth management hub, overtaking Switzerland & London. This in turn attract rich private investors to park their monies in funds - one of which is properties. Already, Europe and America are facing troubled times, especially Greece debt situation.

2) Unique Business Model
ARA is asset light and does not own any properties but earn recurring income from managing it, appointing REITS Manager to take care of day-to-day operations. As long as Asian REITS exist or ARA wishes to create a new REIT in Asia to capitalize opportunities in rental income (e.g. buying distressed properties during economic slowdown), a portion will be made payable as "management fees" to ARA. In addition, ARA is not subjected to redemption issues - no matter what happens, someone will have to own the REITS and the Manager can't dump the assets. ARA also earns the fees from private real estate funds such as Harmony and Dragon. As of June 2011, AUM (assets under management) reaches S$18.8 billion.

3) Clean balance sheet, consistent earnings and high ROE
Using the data from Share Investor and my primary calculation, the average net earnings margin and ROE from 2007-2010 inclusive is 54.9% and 39.2% respectively. Debt-free with a cash of S$40 million with double digit FCF (free cash flow).

4) Strong Sponsor
Cheung Kong Holdings owned by Li-Ka Shing has a 15.7% stake in ARA as of now. ARA is a joint collaboration between John Lim and Cheung Kong Holdings.

5) People
This will be a little subjective - to each and every individual point of view. From my opinion, I view the management astute to some extent. Under the stewardship of John Lim, AUM rose to S$18.8billion and ARA was chosen by Forbes Asia 2010: "Asia's best 200 companies under a billion market capitalization". John Lim emphasizes strong values in ARA. There are other compelling reasons but I shall leave them for you to decide - please feel free to put in your comments.

Of course, there are risks and disadvantages of investing in ARA Asset Management. Which company does not? We can think of 101 reasons of good and bad - the most important question is "does ARA fits into your overall investment objective and profile".

Now, I will look forward to the future growth of ARA, having it as part of my portfolio that focuses on capital appreciation.

The "buy & hold" mentality

I used to have this thinking that if one adopts the "buy and hold" strategy, our returns are superior due to the compounding effect.

While this is true, however, due to the complex world that we are living now, things can be unpredictable at times when the bear market comes. Your gains are wiped out completely or if not, in great drastic effect - for instance S&P downgrade of America AAA status causes worldwide markets to panic, the fear of a double dip recession, just 3 years after 2008.

When this happens, your equity (i.e. stock) can be way under your average/last purchased price when the indices fall. Unless your pockets are deep to average down, otherwise the emotional and mental aspect can impact you to a certain degree, no matter how much you try to convince yourself (hey, humans have feelings eh?). You start to see paper losses. You tell yourself it's temporary - after all market will shoot up. You start to seek advises from Professionals or re-affirm yourself that you are right in keeping that stock.

After all, your time horizon is long term and such temporary effects are secondary. The problem is, how long are you able to last?

Usually, cyclical based companies are affected greatly.

For example, NOL (Neptune Orient Lines) posted positive earnings during their quarterly reporting season. Previously, the company faced huge losses. In this short span of time, the market sentiment turned positive and thus causing the price to go up more than SGD$2.00 per share. Now, due to the situation of overcapacity and high bunkering cost with dropping freight rates, NOL share price is trading about SGD$1.10- $1.13 per share (last week prices). NOL management warns that they will incur FY losses should the environment remains bleak. In a sudden turn of event, analysts paint a negative picture, reminding retail investors about the danger lurking ahead.

I did not sell NOL based on the psychological aspect when sentiment could have overrided my rationale but I place a "hold" call as I forecasted the shipping business would improve in the next few years - 2013-2014. On hindsight, I could have sold and bought back lower at a cheaper valuation against my last purchased price.

Which is better?


I missed the market euphoria of NOL completely and have to wait for the next up cycle, which I think could be in 2013 onwards.

Thus, I ask myself this question - "I think I should have sold earlier when the price went up, instead of waiting for my TP (target price) on my forecasted period. I can buy back at a much cheaper price. Now the tide turns over me!"

It was lucky that my last average price of NOL is SGD$1.56 per share. My "buy and hold" in this instance can't possibly work out this far or perhaps I may be wrong.

The objective of the money game is to earn a profit and move on to other projects. So, I have to painfully bite the bullet, steer forward and anticipate the turnaround of the industry. In any case, I am prepared to average down NOL if needed, that is the price falls below $1. When the good time comes, I will sell all my NOL shares.

How about short term liquidity? Will it be possible to earn some amount of cash in passive terms while riding on the market volatility?

Yes, asset allocation is necessary. But do you wait till the dark clouds loom, your Advisor rings you and you start to manage the circumstances?

I am not sure about you but for me, my "mixture of antidotes" shall consist of:

(a) Dividends - to earn passive income when times are bad. It's doing great now!
(b) Capital gains - appreciates over time, taking a contrarian view at times
(c) Short term trading if there is a opportunity (money in pocket!)

Hence, I have separated my mixture to include 2 types of shares:

(i) Dividend paying
(ii) Growth - for example, property

I learn to be flexible and maximize opportunities in the stock market. We can stick to our investment principles, know our risk horizon and plan the time period. However, no one will compensate you when unexpected events occur.

Worse, you have to fork out more monies if the company issues rights to raise cash, that is if you do not want your holdings to be diluted.

My flexibility here is to try my hands in short term trading and in this instance, I have traded Noble Group for some short-term profits. At the same time, I have my Keppel Land shares for the longer term investment - will sell when the next property cycle goes up the trend, historically a 7 years peak and 7 years trough.