Panzer is no Warren Buffet, as some Channelnewsasia Market Talk forummer commented, there are a lot of Warren Bluffets around, people who make predictions about equity prices going up or down depending on whether they are taking a long or short view of the market.

What Panzer realises from investing his own monies since 2003 till date is that the returns on cash have been quite poor especially in the last 2 years or so.

Interest rates are so low that local banks are giving 0.1% or so for savings deposits. What this means is that your money when left in the bank is actually depreciating in purchasing power when inflation is minimally 1-2% annually. It was as high as 5-6% last year prior to the global financial crisis that wiped out much of equity values as well as destroyed economic activity throughout the entire world.

What Now Panzer?

So Panzer realises he must stay invested in the stock market but focus more on dividend yields rather than capital appreciation or quick punts for true growth in his investible portfolio.

Let’s examine Panzer’s holdings and why he is holding onto the stock as Panzer will be tempted to take profits but must keep focused on the long-term i.e. 20 years when the dividends and (potential) capital gains would be available for use for his daughter’s university fund.

Panzer’s Holdings (in no order of merit)

Long-term holdings – mainly for dividends and longer term capital appreciation

1. Singpost

2. Singapore Press Holdings

3. DBS

4. FSL

5. Starhub

6. F&N

7. Singtel

Short-term Trading

8. Keppel Corporation

If you realise from Panzer’s holdings, most of the companies are GLCs and blue-chips. So far, Panzer’s portfolio unrealised loss is around $4.6k level which is a vast improvement of -$70k at one stage.

So far, the main clunker has been FSL bought when prices and valuations were high but we know now how the shipping industry has also been hit by the financial crisis.

A number of his buys are recent (i.e. within the last 3-6 months or so).

Panzer feels that this portfolio should not be too actively traded and can be earmarked for Panzer’s daughter college fund to mature sometime in 18-20 years.

In the meantime, Panzer knows that still the bulk of his savings will have to be derived from earned income not spent and he will continue to practice his professional arts in internal auditing.

How do you review your own portfolio and how do you decide to sell/hold/buy more?

Share with Panzer in the comments section.

Be well and prosper.

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