Investment options

[Musicwhiz]

Hi MW,

Have you applied for this Starsaver account? I wonder do they have EPS function at their atms to purchase shares?

Also do you happen to know whats their daily transfer limit? Is it by default $5k like the other banks?

There are 4 ATMS located in Singapore. Other than the 2 branches, where are there other 2?

Is it also insured maximum of 20k for individuals as well?

Thanks!

Hi MrEngineer,

I just opened my CIMB Starsaver account today, and if you wish to do so then hurry because they have a free gift (box of Royce chocolates) if you open it before December 31, 2010.

I did not ask about the EPS function as I use my DBS account to pay for shares (and IPOs). But they do have an internet banking account which needs to be accessed through an SMS PIN (somehow if token is used you cannot create new payee! Some software issue, oh well).

Daily transfer limit is max $10,000 (I had to choose this myself). The default is $3,000 if you do not change it.

There are 6 ATMs in total. 3 are located @ Raffles Place, and the other 3 @ Knightsbridge! There are no other ATMs in other locations and there are no plans to open other bank outlets in Singapore. But I did confirm that CIMB Bank is a full service licensed bank in Singapore.

Not sure about the insurance part, you'll have to go down and ask them yourself.

[mrEngineer]

Thanks MW and Koh!

[F P Wong]

Hi folks!

I've been reading with interest on the topics in this forum and I must say it's a really good one. Kudos to Musicwhiz for setting this up. I think it's great to have a community of like-minded value investors here to discuss about good companies and businesses.

One thing it has always been bugging me is - where do value investors park their funds when they're not vested in equities? i.e after you have divested from a company after you've decided that it's fully valued esp. in the Singapore context.

We all know that the banks offer pathetic interest rates and FDs are not a good option as sometimes we need to invest the funds into another company once we have spotted a gem - and it can be anytime!

So I guess the criterias we're looking at are

1) reasonable returns - a least a couple of percent for parking the money
2) liquid - you can withdraw the money anytime (without loss of capital) to invest during a downturn
3) relatively low risk

I'm thinking of putting them in safe reits but I'm not sure if that's the best option out there.

What do you think are good options?

I park mine with iFast, so I can buy into funds and sell them for a reasonable profit. Not very conventional but then i think it is safer since the fund prices tend to follow quite closely to that of Dow and S&P.

Currently my portfolio is 70% funds & 30% stocks.

Cheers, FP Wong

[Musicwhiz]

Currently my portfolio is 70% funds & 30% stocks.

Hi FP Wong,

Welcome to Value Buddies! I hope you enjoy your stay here.

Could I find out why you prefer funds to holding direct equities? I notice you lean more heavily towards funds rather than stocks.

May I also find out what kind of funds you purchase? Equity funds, bond funds, commodity funds?

Thanks!

[F P Wong]

Hi Musicwhiz, thanks, stumbled upon this forum and found the sharing here to be helpful.
Best of all its not ego laden, phew! I'm scared off

I'm invested in equity funds - China / India / Vietnam / Thailand / Russia, etc
Zero bond funds as I'm not optimistic of their outlook. Jim Rogers gave a good indication where they're likely to be headed

I prefer to capture the fund price movements rather than buy and hold.
The 3 year chart for DOW / SENSEX / LionGlobal India Fund tells the story
Or even the 1 yr DOW / Thai SET / LionGlobal Thailand could be more exciting to look at
I'm partial towards charts, although I do keep abreast of news

Still lots to learn though . . .

[mikh]

Hi FP Wong,
Am interested in Vietnam but I believe the market there has been badly down since long and continues that way. Would you like to share your thoughts about the country?

[arthur]

Hi FP Wong

You never considered getting thier countries' respective ETFs instead?
Doesn't the annual mgt fees and maintainence fees substract a certain percentage off your returns already?

Cheers

[F P Wong]

Hi FP Wong,
Am interested in Vietnam but I believe the market there has been badly down since long and continues that way. Would you like to share your thoughts about the country?

Hi Mikh,

Govt policies / political stability / interest rates had been their woes.
It didn't seem to recover from the bear run, with the VN Index & the LionGlobal Vietnam hovering slightly above their Feb09's low. very lag . . . but somewhat attractive.

Its on my watchlist, seeing its potential to breakout of this rut in 2011.
What about Vietnam that interests you?

[mikh]

i think i am not different from a lot of ppl who think that Vietnam has a good population with good underlying country assets. It could be a successful Asian tiger. They have good ppl willing to work hard, good skills, and i find relatively realistic folks not prone to cheating and taking short-cuts. On a visit there, I found popular Thai sold products available there, cheaper and better. There is also a strong IT base and lots of cheap internet cafes - i use such personal observations to gain insights to a country.

Am not sure about education opportunities available. Thought politically they have been ok for a while although clearly the continued devaluation of the dong and high inflation points to issues with economic policy. Am contemplating, but unfortunately the points of entry are limited. I would like to consider options other than LionViet (performance dint convince) but there are not many ETFs / other choices. The stock mkt is poorly developed.

Any reason for 2011 optimism? That's only 2 days away

[Zelphon]

Hey,

I also want to invest in Vietnam but I do not know how to go about doing that besides Funds..

Any ideas?