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Leigh

Investing in Malaysia is Simple – Get Started!

By Leigh
Updated February 18, 2025 Filed Under: Investment, FI/RE, Portfolio - Freedom Fund 26

Investing in Malaysia is Simple - Get Started!

Table of Contents

  • Do you want Financial Freedom? Save, Invest and Start Early.
  • Investing isn’t just for the Rich
  • Investing Analogy
  • Mutual Funds and Their Damned Fees
  • Hacking inflation
  • Going from RM0 to RM1,000,000
  • GET STARTED!

Do you want Financial Freedom? Save, Invest and Start Early.

There are countless ways to get rich here in Malaysia. For the average and majority of Malaysians, I urge you all not to get caught up in the many get-rich-quick shortcuts out there. Instead, opt for the winding but proven path of hard work, savings and consistent diligent investing.

The crucial and key thing is to get started and get started early. It’s best to save and begin investing in Malaysia at an early age. You should even start saving and investing on behalf of your kids the moment they’re born to give them an edge in this dog-eat-dog world. And trust me, saving as little as RM100 a month for your children the day they’re born will help them start off with about RM50K in their accounts on their 18th birthday. If I had RM50K to start with, I’m sure my portfolio would be much much bigger now. Start early!

Yes, saving money isn’t fun. Investing in boring index funds and the stock market for the long term isn’t sexy. And yes, it takes years, decades even, to build wealth this way. But trust me, it’ll all be well worth your while when you realize you have enough passive income to sustain your lifestyle.

One advantage I had was learning about the importance of investing at an early age. I was fascinated with the concept of passive income during my university days and started learning how to value stocks. I read tons of books on investments and decided at an early age to embrace frugality and diligent investment. I devoured and poured through books on investing and personal finance. Every day I checked the share prices of stocks I was watching in the newspaper. I loved it!

Investing isn’t just for the Rich

Because I’ve been asked this a thousand times over, I’d like to emphasize – Investing is simple and you can start with ANY amount. The crucial part is just to GET STARTED!

As of 2018, I’m 28 this year with a portfolio (my Freedom Fund) of RM300,000 in stocks. I started out with just over RM10K saved up from my university days. Too many people around me have put off their finances because they claim not to know a thing about investing. The most important step for you to take is to get started. Save up, pick a stock you can understand and invest in it. It doesn’t matter if you have a million dollars or only RM1,000. Just get started.

In fact my very own portfolio is built on frugality. Make savings a priority, get your emergency fund set up, and then get to investing!

Investing in Malaysia is Simple - Get Started!

Investing Analogy

Here’s an analogy on investing I love.

Let’s say you are a farmer, you buy a little baby calf for RM2,000. It eats a lot of grass and over time grows into this big, beautiful, strong cow that’s now worth RM10,000. On a nice Sunday morning, you walk your cow down to the farmer’s market in town, and you sell it for RM10,000. Boom, an RM8,000 profit (and you didn’t even have to pay for the grass). This is your capital gain. Now, in the period before you sold off your cow, your cow produced milk which you consumed and sold off to your neighbours. This is your dividends.

  1. Your cow – Stocks (Asset)
  2. Your milk – Dividends (Cash flow)

Investing is really that simple, and you can start with any amount of money.

Now, let’s take it to another level. You could’ve kept that RM2,000 you had at the beginning in your savings account. Over 20 years based on the 3% interest rate banks are paying now, your RM2,000 is now worth RM3,612.22.

OR, you can invest RM2,000 in the stock market. The KLSE index rose from 838 to close at 1813 on 29th November 2013 from 4 years ago for a total gain of 116%. On average, the compounded annual growth (CAGR) each year is 11%. Historically the markets around the world earn about 10% per annum, so here’s how much RM2,000 might be worth over 20 years, compounded at 10% per annum – RM13,455.00. (Note, this is the simplest illustration and example I could come up with, of course, many other factors come into play when one invests.)

Now compare investing to saving. Which one of these looks like the option to build wealth? Right, investing.

Mutual Funds and Their Damned Fees

You’ve probably heard of investments like mutual funds, target date funds, or index funds. You might even own some of them. All of these funds have fees (also called the expense ratio), and if you’re smart you can save money on them.

Dividend Magic - Mutual Fund & Unit Trust Fees

Mutual funds are the worst (especially in Malaysia) because they rarely beat the market and usually have the highest fees, the average in Malaysia is a whopping 3%, and I’ve seen some as high as 5%. These might all seem like insignificant numbers, so why does it even matter? It matters. Here, I’ll do some calculations to show you.

Let’s say you invest RM10,000 and earn 7% over 50 years.

0.0% fee: RM10,000 grows to RM294,570
1.0% fee: RM10,000 grows to RM184,202, and you lose RM110,369 in fees
2.0% fee: RM10,000 grows to RM114,674, and you lose RM179,896 in fees
3.0% fee: RM10,000 grows to RM71,066.83, and you lose RM223,503 in fees

I cannot emphasize how fees can kill your investments. I hope the above illustration will get through to my fellow investors out there. With a 2% fee, you’re essentially losing more than 50% of your investment to fees alone. What’s even worse is that the above example assumes you’re earning a 7% return p.a., what if you’re losing money? The funds still collect the fees from you! Isn’t that outrageous?

Investing in your own portfolio of shares means more money for you, and less for the fund houses. Also to note are low-cost Index Funds from companies like Vanguard that serve to mimic the market. The day that they come to Malaysia is the day I’ll dump most if not all of my savings into them.

(I understand some of you may be mutual fund agents and investors here so if you disagree, please do provide me your reasons for it. Don’t just send me hate messages and emails.)

I’ve written an updated article on mutual funds and unit trust here.

Hacking inflation

Dividend Magic - Inflation

People love to get really worked up about inflation. Here’s what I think about it.

The best savings accounts earn about 1-3%. These accounts are great to stash money for an emergency, or to save a down payment for a house. The best Fixed Deposits (which you can only get if you deposit about RM10,000 and above for a few years) usually earn just less than 4%.

With Malaysia’s official inflation rate averaging roughly 3% (we all know it is much higher, I reckon it is close to 4.5%), keeping money in a savings account or FD are bad for building wealth because they don’t even keep up with inflation.

However, I always recommend keeping roughly 6 months of your take-home pay in FDs as your emergency fund. The rest should be invested.

Going from RM0 to RM1,000,000

I want to show you something. Assume you’re 25 right now, and by age 50 you want RM1 million. To accomplish this goal, assisted by a conservative 7% return p.a., you need to save and invest just RM1,235.24 a month. Think about what happens when you increase this amount as you progress in your career. RM1 million isn’t a far-fetched dream, it’s actually very much attainable and we should in fact aim higher.

The key takeaway from all this? If you really want to build wealth, you need to start investing right now. The longer you put it off the harder it becomes. And for you people whose time is not on your side, you should start investing too, it is never too late. More importantly, instil this lesson in your children and future generations.

GET STARTED!

If you find the above makes sense and you’re ready to start investing, I suggest taking a look at – A Guide to Stock Investment in Malaysia. 

If you’re interested in the stocks I invest in, you may find a full list of them in my portfolio – The Freedom Fund.

Again, be sure to read up and understand the company you’re planning to invest in. Keep it simple and consistent, and invest for the long term. Remember, start early and start now.

For the next article of the Investing Series, check out article 008 – DIVIDEND MAGIC Recommends: Stuff I Use.

As always, Facebook and Instagram. Follow, and keep up to date. Keep up to date and help support the blog by following and sharing this article. Thank you!

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” 

I’ll see you in 30 years.

Dividend Magic - Invest - "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now."

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A Review of 2016

By Leigh
Updated January 9, 2017 Filed Under: Dividends 26

The Year 2016

I achieved a huge milestone during the year 2016. For the first time ever, my annual dividends surpassed the RM10,000 mark.

As most already know, I received a total of RM11,429.55 in dividends last year giving me a yield of 3.84%. In 2015, I received RM7,544.14 in dividends. Guess what? That’s a whopping 51% increase in passive income for me!

That being said, I did increase my gross investments by RM43K.

No.StockQuantityGross Investment (RM)Dividends (RM)Div. Yield
1AXREIT1423624,313.661,049.064.31%
2BONIA3370026,990.33421.251.56%
3CBIP1400022,304.801,280.005.74%
4CYPARK820017,681.66410.002.32%
5ECOWLD900012,960.00--
6HOMERIZ2445014,127.211,100.757.79%
7IGB REIT2280029,986.561,673.075.58%
8MAYBANK316825,723.211,070.004.16%
9NESTLE20013,376.00540.004.04%
10PBBANK60011,100.00156.001.41%
11SCICOM840017,472.00168.000.96%
12SCIENTX380022,267.24950.004.27%
13SUNCON360586.8023.404.06%
14SUNREIT1360019,839.681,172.025.91%
15SUNWAY360011,264.04396.003.52%
16TAANN26009,282.00130.001.40%
17TUNEPRO1080018,503.64540.002.92%
18SOLD STOCKS (Air Asia & AFG)350.50
297,778.8311,429.553.84%

Capital Gains & Dividend Payout

Dividend Magic - Capital Gains

Gross Investment: RM297,777.83
Market Value: RM345,955.92
Dividends (2016): RM11,429.55
Total Gain: 14.69%

For 2016, the unrealized gain for my Freedom Fund was RM41,416.19 giving me a 10.85% yield. Couple that with my 3.84% dividend yield, total gains for 2016 totals up to 14.69%. Total market value of my portfolio now is RM345,955.92.

The year 2016 has been pretty awesome if I do say so myself. However, my main focus has and will always be on that 3.84% dividend yield. My main aim is to increase that yield every year.

REITs

Last year in terms of dividend payments, all the REITs did well for me. The top ones would still be Sunway REIT as well as IGB REIT for me. Somewhat of a disappointment would be Axis REIT but their refurbished properties should be bringing in higher income in 2017.

Banks

My purchase of Maybank as well as Public Bank has been fruitful. They’ve each given me a 4.16% and 1.41% yield respectively. (Public Bank’s is low here because I only received 1 dividend payment).

I also disposed of Alliance Bank’s shares in December as the shares have had a lackluster few years and I don’t see any changes being made. I took a painful 16% loss on that. The funds will be put to better use.

My Favourites

Homeriz and Scientax, the two golden eggs in my basket have been providing not only in the form of dividends but in capital gains as well. Scientax has continued to soar in 2016, as of today (8 Jan 2017), I have an unrealized gain of 130%.

Disappointments

Thankfully, last year the only major disappointment came from none other than Bonia Corp. I was previously up by more than 100% but currently making a loss of 22%. I’ll continue to maintain my position with Bonia because they do have sound management and I foresee a big increase in sales in the next few years. It might be time to top up early this year to average down.

Goals for 2017

Moving forward, 2017 will be the year I achieve RM12,000 in dividends. Even without adding to my portfolio, the magic of compounding will see me achieve that target. And I’m sure everyone knows what RM12K a year in dividends mean.

Yes! That’s an average of RM1,000 cash for me. It has always been a long term goal of mine and finally it is within grasp.

With additional funds being reinvested, I hope to achieve RM15,000 in dividends next year while at least maintaining my 3.84% yield. Hopefully increasing it to 4%? A long shot I know.

4% Dividend Yield

That coveted 4% yield. I’ll be focusing more on REITs this year whose high yields will help me achieve this target.

For the readers

For you guys and girls, I’d like those of you that hasn’t started investing to make it a point to do so this year. The first step is always the hardest but let me assure you it will be rewarding. Let 2017 be the year you get your finances in order.

I’m here to assist you. If you have any questions, no matter how trivial you feel they are, please fire away!

End.

So here’s to an awesome 2017 to everyone! Onwards and upwards!

Thanks for reading!

Dividend Magic - We can do it!

 

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Dividend Income Update 2016

By Leigh
Updated December 27, 2020 Filed Under: Dividends 7

Dividend Magic Dividend Income Update

A list of my past dividend income and updates can be found below:

  • Dividend Income Update 2015
  • Dividend Income Update 2014
  • Where it all started – April 2014

December

2016 Dividend Income

First off, the Freedom Fund has been updated as of 31 December 2016. The full list of dividend yields from my share holdings can be viewed there.

Last month, I hit RM10K in dividend income for the year. For the last month of the year, I added another RM1,037.75, bringing the grand total for the year to RM11,429.55. The total has been adjusted slightly due to a slight miscalculation on my part. Would have liked the total to hit RM12K but it fell short. Having RM12K in dividends would’ve meant I was receiving RM1K exactly in passive income every month.

We shall start off with the dividends received in December and then move on to the year 2016 as a whole in my next post. So bear with me.

Nestle Malaysia

December Dividends – RM140.00

Total 2016 Dividends – RM540.00

Dividend Yield – 4.04%

Weight – 4.47% of the Freedom Fund

Scicom Bhd

December Dividends – RM168.00

Total 2016 Dividends – RM168.00

Dividend Yield – 0.96%

Weight – 5.16% of the Freedom Fund

I’ve been looking at Scicom for about a year and I purchased the company’s shares back in October 2016 at RM2.08 per share.  Their dividend yield of 0.96% doesn’t reflect the full year’s as I bought the shares only in October.

Bonia Corp

December Dividends – RM421.25

Total 2016 Dividends – RM421.25

Dividend Yield – 1.56%

Weight – 5.55% of the Freedom Fund

TAANN Holdings

December Dividends – RM130.00

Total 2016 Dividends – RM130.00

Dividend Yield – 1.40%

Weight – 2.88% of the Freedom Fund

As with Scicom, the dividend yield for Ta Ann only takes into account the dividends received this month.

End.

Total dividends received for the year 2016 is RM11,429.55. That’s the final number, the dividend yield – 3.84%.

Some may consider this low but don’t forget I have yet to factor in my capital gains. So come back in a few days for a grand summary of the year 2016.

Thanks for reading! 

November

sticker-anonymous-visage

Remember remember, the 5th of November! The 11th month of the year is usually a quiet occasion for me as a dividend income investor. However, there is cause for celebration this November because it is official – I’ve finally hit RM10K in dividend income for 2016.

RM10,531.80 to be exact.

I received a total of RM547.48 from both Axis REIT and Sunway REIT the past month.

Axis REIT

November Dividends – RM263.65

Total 2016 Dividends – RM1,049.06

Dividend Yield – 4.31%

Weight – 6.78% of the Freedom Fund

Axis REIT netted me RM263.65 in November, bringing the grand total for the year to RM1,049.06.

The dividend yield for Axis REIT for 2016 was a pretty disappointing 4.31% for me. Axis hasn’t been doing too well especially last year as they had to refurbish some of their old properties. Hopefully, the long term benefits start rolling in now.

Sunway REIT

November Dividends – RM283.83

Total 2016 Dividends – RM1,172.02

Dividend Yield – 5.91%

Weight – 6.72% of the Freedom Fund

The next contributor to my November dividends is Sunway REIT, bringing in RM 283.83. The total annual dividends came up to RM1,172.02. SunREIT’s dividend yield is at a much more commendable rate compared to Axis’ at 5.91% for me this year.

The REIT has been acquiring strategic properties the past years and will definitely continue to perform.

My average purchase price of SunREIT is at RM1.46 with my purchases over the years. I’ve been looking at ‘investors’ discussing the share price recently as it increased about how they are making 1-2% gains buying and selling (speculating). What they don’t mention is the time’s they’ve lost with this method. It really cheeses me off when people brag about the good times they’re having but when the share price falls, you don’t hear a thing from them. I’m here to show that long term value investing will pay off in the long run, at RM1.72 now, I’m up by 18%!

End.

Total dividends for the year currently stands at 3.45%. I consider this a little on the low side as our risk free rate is around 4% this year. We shall see what the last month of 2016 brings in and strategize accordingly.

RM10,531.80 everyone! I’m going to relax and let that sink in over the weekend.

Sekian terima kasih. Thanks for reading!

October

Happy Halloween! It might have been fright night with costumes for some of you. Or perhaps like me, you spent your Halloween at a small party at a close friend’s house. Whichever it is, with dividend income investing, your dividends trickle in no matter what. It really feels good to be able to sum up your dividends at the end of the month and watch your hardworking money work for you.

Without further ado, my October dividend update: RM800

The companies that contributed to this RM800 are only two: Malayan Banking Berhad (better known as Maybank) and Sunway Berhad.

Malayan Banking Berhad – Dividend Income

As mentioned in my earlier post, I opted to forego my dividends from Maybank and instead traded it for shares. This is known as a dividend reinvestment plan. Through the DRP, I received 68 units of Maybank shares and the remaining RM127. However for yield calculation, we will just say I received RM620 in dividends.

Since my last post on Maybank, I’ve added quite a bit to more to my portfolio. My average purchase price is now RM8.12, market price is at RM7.81.

Yes I am currently making a loss with Maybank. However, I still believe in the bank and will continue to purchase more shares should it drop further. The total dividends received from Maybank currently stands at RM1,070 giving me a yield of 4.16%. Here’s to a better 4Q and 2017 moving forward.

Sunway Berhad – Dividend Income

From the conglomerate that is Sunway Berhad, I received RM180 for October 2016. The dividends received in 2016 and 2015 stayed the same (not taking into account the one-time special dividend received last year). This is actually good news because Sunway Berhad actually listed their construction arm last year and this would’ve led to some loss in revenue.

Total dividends received for the year is RM396 translating to a 3.52% yield.

End.

I have no plans to dispose of any shares in both Maybank and Sunway. If the opportunity presents itself, I might even find myself adding shares to my portfolio.

As of now, the total dividends received in the year 2016 stands at RM9,844.32. My dividend yield comes in at 3.22%. I am 99% certain that I’ll be able to achieve RM10,000 in dividends this year. Maybe even RM12K, which would give me an average of RM1,000 a month.

As always, thank you for reading and for all your support. Onwards and upwards!

September

First and foremost, I’m delighted to report that I’ve officially achieved my 2016 goal of RM8,500 in dividend income. I’ve raked in a total of RM9,044.32 this year from dividend income alone. In fact, it is entirely possible that I may be able to shatter the RM10,000 mark this year. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

The total dividend income received for the month of September crossed the one thousand ringgit mark at RM1,172.15. The five companies that generously contributed to this amount are: Axis REIT, Sunway REIT, Homeriz, Sunway Construction and Nestle. Their individual amount and yields for the year so far are as below:

Axis REIT – RM263.65 (3.23% yield)

SunREIT – RM270.50 (4.48% yield)

Homeriz – RM489.00 (7.79% yield)

SunCon – RM9.00 (4.61% yield)

Nestle – RM140.00 (2.99% yield)

Unfortunately I’m unable to get to my mail the past few weeks so the relevant pics will be updated in due time. I know some of you can’t wait to see more of my Iron Man collection but please bear with me (Yes there are several more models to be revealed!).

Moving onto the total yield of my Freedom Fund – Total dividend yield for the year stands at 3.14%! Yes we’ve yet again crossed an important milestone – the 3% fixed deposit mark. I know some of you may argue that FDs under promotion offers way higher interest rates, but lets agree to stick to 3% shall we?

How is the Freedom Fund doing so far?

With it being the third quarter and all, I guess I should let everyone know that the Freedom Fund is doing good. For the year so far, unrealized capital gains of the portfolio stand at 9.75%. This preliminary figure is pretty good considering the volatile year we’ve had so far. With the end of 2016 so close, I will hope for a good 4th and final quarter to conclude the year. There will be a more comprehensive summary come December.

Thanks for reading.

P.S. A good number of you have reached out to me on financial planning since my last post. I would like to offer my apologies to some of you whom I’m unable to meet yet due to my schedule. Hope to meet up with you guys soon over the next few weeks!

August & July

First of all, my apologies again for missing the dividend income update for the month of July. Now, on to more important matters.

I received a total of RM1,938.99 in dividend income for both July and August, as detailed below:

July

CBIP – RM420.00 (5.74% yield)

August

Scientex – RM456.00 (8.53% yield)

PBBank – RM156.00 (1.41% yield)

IGB REIT – RM906.99 (5.58% yield)

*Note that at the time of purchase, PBBank shares had already paid out their first trench of dividends.

Final Dividends

This will be the final dividend paid by all the companies mentioned above for 2016. I’m pretty satisfied with the yields from all 4 companies. Hope to see them continue to grow in the coming years and see my yields increase as the share price go up.

Also, I’m currently waiting on more opportunities to add Scientex and more REITs to my Freedom Fund.

Some Short Term Gain

In August, I’ve also been busy making some quick profit from the market. As most of you know, I’m mostly a long term investor and have generally stuck to my principles. However, I’ve been known to dabble in short term investing ie. trading when I’ve done my due diligence and research. I’ve made a RM900 or 13% gain in a short span of 6 days by trading in DESTINI.

I will not encourage average investors to pursue this highly risky branch of investing without first knowing everything about it and then some. So, with this trade, I’ve added an additional RM900 to my war chest which I hope to make use of in the near future.

Conclusion

Total dividends received currently stands at RM7,872.17 with a yield of 2.74%.

As an early comparison between 2016 and 2015’s dividend yields, I’ve already surpassed last year’s dividend yield of 2.7%. Looking forward to a bountiful final 4 months of 2016.

Finally, I hope everyone’s investments have been doing well and continue to. Thanks for reading, Cheers!

PS: I’ve been away from home for a bit and therefore haven’t had the chance to snap the dividend voucher from IGB REIT. Will be adding them when I get back.

June – Half Year Report

June, marking the first half of the year 2016 has come and gone. The year 2016 has seen its ups and downs but overall, it has been good to me. With that, I present to you the dividend update of my Freedom Fund so far. I will be trying my best to update the page every quarter so bookmark that and drop by from time to time to follow my progress.

No.StockQuantityGross Investment (RM)Dividends (RM)Div. Yield
1AXREIT1423624,313.661,049.064.31%
2BONIA3370026,990.33421.251.56%
3CBIP1400022,304.801,280.005.74%
4CYPARK820017,681.66410.002.32%
5ECOWLD900012,960.00--
6HOMERIZ2445014,127.211,100.757.79%
7IGB REIT2280029,986.561,673.075.58%
8MAYBANK316825,723.211,070.004.16%
9NESTLE20013,376.00540.004.04%
10PBBANK60011,100.00156.001.41%
11SCICOM840017,472.00168.000.96%
12SCIENTX380022,267.24950.004.27%
13SUNCON360586.8023.404.06%
14SUNREIT1360019,839.681,172.025.91%
15SUNWAY360011,264.04396.003.52%
16TAANN26009,282.00130.001.40%
17TUNEPRO1080018,503.64540.002.92%
18SOLD STOCKS (Air Asia & AFG)350.50
297,778.8311,429.553.84%

If you would recall, I set myself a goal of RM8,500 in dividends this year. So far, at the half year mark, I’ve received a total of RM5,933.18 in dividends, this represents close to 70% of my target. Now that doesn’t necessarily means I’m certain to achieve my target this year because different companies pay dividends at different times of the year. However, based on historical data, I should be able to surpass my goal and then some.

I invested a total of RM274,340.82, my portfolio is now worth a little over RM321K. Dividends received as at June 2016 stands at RM5,933.18, giving me a yield of 2.16% so far.

Thank you 2016!

I leave you with this: Investing is a long term game and I hope I’ve shown most people out there that it can be a very rewarding venture. Most may say the 16-17% gains I’ve made over the course of 3 years isn’t much, which I will agree, but these gains are not inclusive of the dividends I’ve received over the years as well.

Thanks for reading!

PS: I’ve decided that I will have a consolidated 5-year statement posted here when the time comes which will include all dividends received. So wait for it!

Dividend Update
Vintage image of Rosie the Riveter by J. Howard Miller. Courtesy National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution

June & May

If April was a slow month for dividends,  May is infinitely slower as I did not receive a single dividend. Hence my failure to procure a post for the month – more on that later.

June however, proved to be one of the most bountiful months so far with a total dividend of RM1,852.37.

Sunway REIT

The first company to hand out its dividends in June was Sunway REIT with RM297. This effectively brings SunREIT’s total dividend for the year to RM617.69, its yield currently stands at 3.11%.

I recently paid a visit to the newly refurbished Sunway Putra Mall in Kuala Lumpur and was happy with the new vibrant and colorful look. The mall is surrounded and jam packed with high rise apartment towers all around it, giving it a sort of permanent consumer base already. I look forward to the REIT performing superbly in the future, with shrewd and shareholder oriented decisions by the management.

Nestle Berhad

Nestle Malaysia paid out RM260 in dividends this time around, its first for the year 2016, bringing its yield to 1.94% for the year. The recent rise in consumer product stocks has seen Nestle become a really strong performer in my portfolio.

I’ve held this stock for 2 years now and it has been rising steadily even managing to maneuver itself past certain crippling events such as the implementation of GST. The goody bags given out by the company every year to shareholders is something I look forward to every year. Nestle will be the blue chip dividend producing defense I will continue to rely on in the coming years.

*Note: The dividend vouchers from both SunREIT and Nestle did not arrive by mail unfortunately and I fear it may be lost in transition.

Maybank

Maybank paid me RM450 in dividends, bringing the yield to 3.61%. I missed out on the company’s earlier dividends this year which would’ve brought my yield for the year to 5-6% easily.

Dear readers, this is a great example of why one should be investing in shares of solid companies. I know most of you are placing your funds into fixed deposits which gives you a yield of what? 3%? 3.5%? Maybe topping out at 4.5% for those promo rates (which you don’t get every year and comes with tonnes of T&C). Instead, if you had invested in  company like Maybank when its shares dropped to a low, you’d get a cool 5-6% per annum.

Alright alright, I can already hear some of you muttering ‘but not all of us know when the shares are at a low’. Fine, let’s say you invest when the share prices are high, the yield would still be in the 3% region. And guess what? You get the potential that the stock will increase in price, giving you more gains.

I bought into Maybank earlier this year when the stock declined to RM8.3, it seemed a good decision for the next few months as I saw the stock climb past RM9. The company’s stock then fell to a low of RM8.1 of which I was really tempted to add more to portfolio, I am currently waiting for a bit before deciding. The current dividend yield (if maintained by the management) is very attractive.

Cypark Resources Berhad

Cypark handed me RM410 in dividends so far this year, giving me a yield of 2.32%. The company’s core business is a unique one and I liked its venture into the solar business last year. Will continue to hold onto this stock for the foreseeable future.

Axis REIT

I received RM263.37 from Axis REIT for June bringing the total dividends received this year from Axis to RM521.76 with a current yield of 2.15%. Nothing new with the company so far except its ongoing refurbishment of assets.

AirAsia Berhad

Air Asia, one of the most traded stock in Bursa for the past month has been making headlines for all the right reasons in June. I bought the stock at RM1.67 and its recent surge has made me a lot of money. The dividend paid out was a surprise as Air Asia was a company that retained most of its earnings for growth. The 2.41% yield came as a pleasant surprise for me.

Tune Protect

I received RM540 from Tune Protect this year, giving it a yield of 2.92%. The share has not been doing well an has been on a steady drop, not one of my best buys but I’m still holding on to the stock because of the huge potential it has in the travel insurance industry.

Conclusion

Total dividends for the year stands at RM5,933.18 giving me a 2.16% dividend yield so far. We are now halfway through the year and in my Review of 2015, I set myself a goal of RM8,500 in dividends this year. I hope to surpass that goal in the coming months.

I would like to apologize for the absence recently, as I’ve been busy with a new business venture which I will be posting about soon if all goes well. Thanks for reading!!

On an unrelated note, you may notice the new Celcom sim in my pictures. To answer your question – Yes I’ve made the jump to Celcom because of their awesome phone plans. I’ve also looked hard at Axiata as a company and maybe purchasing the stock soon.

April

April has been a slow month for dividend income compared to the first quarter of the year. I only received a total dividend of RM230.40 from two companies: Sunway Berhad (RM216) and Sunway Construction Group Berhad (RM14.40). The vouchers have yet to arrive by mail, will be updating this post with pictures when I receive them soon.

The same time last year, Sunway Berhad paid out the same amount of dividends, this is somewhat of a disappointment but not totally unexpected as their earnings have not increased significantly. They’ve also listed their construction arm recently, further diluting earnings from the holding company. So I guess I should count my blessings that there hasn’t been a reduction in dividends. With my gross investment of RM11,264.04 in Sunway Berhad, RM216 in dividends translates to a 1.92% return so far.  There will be another round of dividends in October to be declared in October later this year which should bump the return past 3% per annum.

As for Sunway Construction Group Berhad (“SunCon”), if you’ve been following my posts you’d know that I received a special dividend from Sunway Berhad together with 360 shares of SunCon back in July 2015. The company just got its order book replenished with various jobs in the country recently and should be doing very well in the future. I will be considering topping up soon if an opportunity arises.

Total dividends for the year stands at RM3,540.81 giving me a 1.29% dividend yield so far. We are only in April and in my Review of 2015, I set myself a goal of RM8,500 in dividends this year. I seem to be on track and maybe I’ll even surpass it. On that note, thanks for reading!

A side note: RM15,300 was added to my warchest on 13 April 2016. This figure will be reflected in the Freedom Fund when I update it in June.

March

The month of March this year is a bountiful one with a total of RM880.69 in dividend income from two companies – Sunway REIT and CBIP Holding Berhad. The end of March also marks the beginning of the second quarter for 2016, and as I’ve promised to update my portfolio – The Freedom Fund every quarter, I have duly done so. However, dividend growth updates will only come next year as 2016 will be the year where I organize the dividends received into months and its subsequent quarters.

Now, on to them dividends.

Compared to the dividends received in February 2016 which totaled RM1,635.72, March’s bounty doesn’t really come close at RM880.69. Moreover, the dividends received from CBIP Berhad is a special dividend and I cannot expect it to continue every year.

Sunway REIT

Sunway REIT Dividend Income

RM320.69 was paid out in dividends by one of my favorite REITs (the other being IGB REIT) compared to RM145.60 in March 2015. This is more than a two-fold increase in dividends for me this year and I hope to see the next 3 dividends this year double as well.

As I recall from memory, SunREIT has been performing well, with positive contributions from the new Sunway Putra Mall in KL. Their office tower, The Pinnacle however has seen a low vacancy rate which I hope the management is able to overcome this year. Otherwise, I declare myself satisfied with the REIT’s performance, it has given me a yield of 1.62% for 2016.

CBIP Holding Berhad

CBIP Bhd Dividend Income - March 2016

CBIP has been generous this year – RM300 in dividends was paid out to me back in January 2016. And this month, a special dividend of RM560 was declared and paid out, bringing the dividend yield from my investment in CBIP to a sweet 3.86%. The Company’s final dividend will be paid out later in July and I expect it to be higher than the RM300 received last year.

Positives from CBIP include its ever growing and strong order book and the recent regaining of its pioneer tax status which should contribute positively to its future earnings.

Dividend Yield

The total yield of my investment portfolio currently stands at 1.27% for the year 2016.

Do you have an investment portfolio of your own? If so, what is its current yield and what is your targeted yield for 2016?

Thanks for reading.

February

Another month has passed by and it’s time for me to post an article on my favorite subject: Dividend Income. The reason why I love to publish articles updating my dividend income is because it’s pure numbers. It’s hard to argue the success of long-term dividend growth investing when you can slowly and surely see dividend income rise over time, getting closer to covering one’s expenses. So, without further ado – dividends received in February 2016.

For February, I received a grand total of RM1,635.72 in dividends from three different companies – Homeritz Corporation Berhad, IGB REIT, and Axis REIT. The dividend voucher from IGB REIT has yet to arrive by mail, unfortunately. (EDIT: IGB REIT’s voucher has just arrived together with their 2015 Annual Report. Read about IGB REIT’s 2015 financial performance HERE.)

Axis REIT Dividend Income

Homeritz Corporation Berhad

Homeritz has been in my portfolio since the early days. As of this month, the stock has been up by almost 80% and the RM611.25 I received is already translating to a yield of 4.3%. What’s more, this is only the company’s first of two dividends for the year and I still have August’s dividends to look forward to, which should bring the total yield to more than 8% for 2016 (I hope).

The stock currently makes up 9.01% of my total portfolio. With the further weakening of the Malaysian Ringgit in the future, I might be picking up more of this stock, provided the fundamentals are right and in place. For now, I’m happy to just hold onto Homeritz and reap the sweet rewards.

Axis and IGB REIT

Both Axis and IGB REIT make up around 20% of my total investment portfolio, which is a good indicator of how important dividends are in my style of investing. The dividends received are RM258.39 and RM611.25 respectively from Axis and IGB REIT.

Axis REIT focuses mainly on large parcels of industrial and commercial properties which they lease out as opposed to IGB REIT, as most of you will know, manages Mid Valley Megamall and The Gardens Mall which makes it a retail REIT. Axis REIT has been in my portfolio since May 2014 and IGB REIT since March 2015.

Going with my current strategy of chasing those dividends, I will be adding more of both stocks to my portfolio when the price is right.

Dividend Yield

Total yield of my investment portfolio currently stands at 0.97% for the year 2016.

Do you have an investment portfolio of your own? If so, what is its current yield and what is your targeted yield for 2016?

Thanks for reading.

January

The dividend income I received for the first month of 2016 came from two companies: Scientex Berhad and CBIP Berhad. I received a total of RM794 (RM494 and RM300 respectively). The total weight of both companies represent almost 22% of my entire portfolio.

(Note: CBIP’s dividend voucher has yet to arrive by mail.)

The dividends received translates to a yield of 2.22% from Scientex and 1.35% from CBIP based on the initial investment. This is only the first batch of dividends and both companies will pay dividends again in later in July. I expect both companies to do really well in the future as I see only an increase in demand of their products in the years (hopefully decades) to come.

Total yield of my investment portfolio currently stands at 0.32% for the year 2016.

A summary of my investments for the year 2015 can be found HERE for a rough comparison.

Do you have an investment portfolio of your own? If so, what is its current yield and what is your targeted yield for 2016?

Thanks for reading.

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Tosca Trattoria Italiana – Double Tree by Hilton

By Leigh
Updated February 18, 2025 Filed Under: Travel, food and the finer things in life 0

Tosca Trattoria Italiana - Double Tree by Hilton

Table of Contents

  • Tosca Trattoria Italiana
    • How to Get There – Address
    • Contact
  • Appetizers
  • Main
  • Dessert
  • All My Food Reviews

Tosca Trattoria Italiana

How to Get There – Address

Level 5, Finance Avenue,
I-City, 40000 Shah Alam,
Selangor

They’ve since moved to the new address above.

Contact

Phone – 012-223 8453
Reservations – here

Let’s take a break from all the figures and posts on stocks. Over the weekend, a client of mine invited me to tag along with his family for dinner at a posh little restaurant called Tosca at Double Tree by Hilton KL. The place is located at The Intermark in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. We had trouble locating the restaurant but eventually found it by the pool at the hotel.

Tosca Trattoria Italiana - Double Tree by Hilton

Appetizers

The dinner buffet was by invitation only for Hilton Premium Club members and it came with a free flow of alcohol. We got to pick from a selection of Chardonnays, Tiger or Heineken beer and Strongbow apple cider. Dinner started with Caesar salad prepared in front of us, they made a big deal out of it being “prepared right in front of our eyes” but it was just a waiter preparing salad. Nothing to shout about. The Chardonnay that I started with however was well worth it.

Tosca Trattoria Italiana - Double Tree by Hilton

Tosca
Oh and I ordered mushroom soup

Main

For me, the best part of the meal was the roast beef. They cooked it just the way I like my beef – medium rare. I had my beef with really amazing ravioli. Of course, I paired these with red wine. There was also roasted chicken but I only had eyes for B-E-E-F.

Trosca Double Tree Hilton
Roast Beef Station
Trosca Double Tree Hilton
My Non-existent Plating Skills
Trosca Double Tree Hilton
Ravioli

By this time, I’ve quite a bit of wine to drink. I took a break and had some cold cuts together with a pumpkin risotto.

Trosca Double Tree Hilton
Cold Cuts
Trosca Double Tree Hilton
Pumpkin Rissoto

Dessert

And lastly, came dessert. We were all feeling tipsy and really full by this time. I almost decided against getting dessert but fortunately, I didn’t. Dessert was also prepared in front of us and served with Kahlua liquor. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth but the dessert served today was one of the better ones I’ve had.

20161008_204215
Tosca Trattoria Italiana - Double Tree by Hilton

After dinner, we sat by the pool and ended the night with a few more glasses of wine. Of course, financial matters were discussed throughout the dinner but I will not bore you with the details.

img-20161008-wa0019

Trosca Double Tree Hilton
Pool Side

It was a truly enjoyable night for me and I’m really grateful to have a friend and client who has been nothing but generous since we started working together. I was told it cost a little over RM100 per pax here.

Have any of you been to Tosca before? Or tried Hanare (one of the best Japanese buffets I’ve had) here at the Intermark? 

I hope to return to Tosca again. Till then, thank you and thanks for reading.

All My Food Reviews

  • Hanare @ The Intermark
  • Vasco’s at Hilton Kuala Lumpur
  • Oribe Sushi Omakase
  • Tosca @ Double Tree
  • Cilantro Restaurant & Wine Bar
  • PRIME @ Le Meridien

As always, Facebook and Instagram. Follow, and keep up to date. Keep up to date and help support the blog by following and sharing this article. Thank you!

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Financial Planning for a Friend

By Leigh
Updated July 30, 2019 Filed Under: Financial Planning, FI/RE 26

Hey guys, I’ve always been an advocate of savings and sound financial planning. Whether you’re crumbling under substantial amounts of debt or you’re swimming in endless wealth, financial planning can and will have a significant impact. As I’ve mentioned several times before, I’m a certified financial planner (under the Financial Planning Association of Malaysia).

Financial Planning

Today, hopefully with a real life example of my friend, I’ll be able to shed some light on how solid and sound financial planning can help everyone.

Financial Planning for a Friend

At the beginning of February this year, one of my close friend, let’s call him Mr.S approached me for some financial advice, mainly on fixed deposits. You’d be surprised how many Malaysians don’t even know what an FD is. He was expecting a simple answer for a simple question: ‘How do I place an FD?’. As a concerned (and curious) friend, I pried a little about his current financial status and offered to help with his financials (at no charge of course). He basically had RM600 in his savings account, a RM50K car loan and no other assets to his name.

A little more digging and I came up with the following details:

  1. Net Income: RM1,800
  2. Monthly (necessary) expenses: RM900 
  3. Loan repayment: RM640
  4. Savings: RM600
  5. Remaining Car Loan: RM15,000

These are real life details which I won’t be substantiating with any picture of documents or anything like that for his privacy, you guys will just have to trust me on this.

Action Plan

First thing I set about getting him to do was:

  1. Open a M2U savers account which earns him around 2-2.5% if the amount was over RM2K; and
  2. Every time he receives his salary, RM500 MUST first be transferred to his M2U savers account without fail. This amount is not to be touched under any circumstances. (This is part of a pay yourself first plan where he saves first for himself and then forces himself to live on the remainder.)

I basically taught him the magic of compounding interests. Yes I know, 2% on RM2,000 is only RM40 a year, but with regular savings coupled with the compounding, one can build immense wealth in the long term. The RM2K requirement will serve as a short term and very achievable goal for him which at the time would serve to start him on the habit of saving. So for the less financially savvy readers, here’s what I basically showed my friend:

Firstly I asked him if he continued saving RM500 a month for 10 years, how much would he have saved? A simply multiplication of RM500 x 12 months x 10 years would give us RM60,000. Not too shabby right? Now add 2% interest per annum, compounded monthly, that gives us RM67,092. That’s an additional RM7K in interests earned. Next, I’ll put these figures in a table for better comparison. All will be based on RM500 saved monthly, compounded monthly an initial amount of RM600, and for a period of 120 months.

Interest Rate (per annum)Amount at the end of 10 years
0%RM60,000
2% (savings account)RM67,092
3.5% (fixed deposits)RM72,567
5% (conservative stock picks ie. REITs)RM78,629
10% (sound investing)RM104.046

Enough said. As you can see from the table above – the magic of compounding. Of course, a few caveats, the main one being – don’t expect your investments to compound monthly regularly, I did the calculations on that basis for more uniform comparison.

How he’s doing now

8 months later today, Mr.S has amassed RM6K in his savings account and he owes less than RM10K on his car loan. What I am always happy to see in certain individuals like him are that once they start saving and realize they can do it, they eventually take it upon themselves to increase the amount saved. He got a commission bonus for a sale he made recently and what did he do with the money? He saved almost all of it. As a financial planner and his friend, I can’t even begin to tell you how proud I am of him.

So what’s next you may ask? I’ll be getting him to place his RM5K into a one month auto renewal FD which should see him earn around 3%. Rinse and repeat until he saves up around RM10K, then we will see to his investing in the stock market. We will be taking it slow and at his own pace of course.

Conclusion

As a final word, again I stress the power of investing and the power of compounding. If you are complaining that you cannot afford to save RM500 a month, fine, start with RM300, if you still say you can’t do it, I call bullshit. Do what I did with Mr.S, save your RM300 and put it aside first, and find ways to deal with your other expenditures. A good starting point would be to start at 15% of your take home income. Increase that number if you want to be financially free quicker.

Having money saved up in your bank account, you will be able to feel a sense of freedom and security like never before. For the younger generation, time is on your side, start investing now, take care of your investments and reap the awesome rewards in the future. For the older generation, if your finances are not already in order you may need to consult a financial planner.

With all that said, if any of you have questions regarding your financials please do not hesitate to contact me through our FB page or you can leave your questions in the comments section. Don’t worry I will not be charging any of you for such questions.

If however any of you are interested in a comprehensive plan and a long term financial planner, do contact me as well.

I’ve got a FREE basic financial plan for Malaysians for you to get started on. It’s a simple plan but all the essentials are included.

As always, thank you for reading! Have a good weekend.

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Disposal of Shares – AirAsia Berhad

By Leigh
Updated August 2, 2016 Filed Under: Dividends, Portfolio - Freedom Fund, Recent Buy / Sell 4

AirAsia Tony Fernandes

AirAsia

AirAsia

Earlier today I disposed off my holdings in AirAsia Berhad at RM2.95 per share. I had purchased 4,300 units of AirAsia mid June 2015 for an average price of RM1.66 per unit. Factoring in dividends and brokerage fees, I made a gain of RM5,669.75 which is a 79% capital gain.

Why Air Asia?

As most of you know, the Company’s share price took a tumble for the past year and only recently sky-rocketed. Ever since Tony Fernandes and co took over the Company, I’ve always seen AirAsia as very well managed. With the Company’s slump back in 2015, I saw an opportunity to purchase one of the most well known company in Malaysia if not South East Asia.

AirAsia Tony Fernandes
AirAsia CEO – Tony Fernandes (Source: Time Magazine)

So, the big question was and still is – Why Air Asia? A simple approach to investing would be to just take a step back and look around us, what product do we as consumers use every day? As for travel, which airline does the average Malaysian consumer fly every single time they travel? The answer is without the shadow of a doubt – Air Asia.

‘World’s Best Low Cost Airline’ has been on every flight I’ve been on with Air Asia, that got me thinking on one such trip – they must be doing something right. Immediately, I got to looking into the Company’s financials after my holiday.  Despite some heavy debts which was typical of a young growing company, I liked what I saw. I then only had to wait for the opportune time to purchase the stocks of the World’s Best Low Cost Airline.

Dividends or Capital Gain

As Air Asia was a young and rapidly growing company, I in turn as a shareholder did not expect a high dividend to be paid out but instead for the Company to retain those earnings for further expansion.  I received a dividend of RM172 back in June this year, translating to a 2.41% yield for me.

Why Sell?

I would’ve loved to have held on longer to Air Asia but the stock is way overvalued at its current price and I felt it was time for me to take profit. After holding the stock for close to 14 months, I made a 79% profit, a pretty good investment if you ask me.

Conclusion

I will continue keeping tabs on Air Asia further down the road and if the opportunity comes, I will not hesitate to buy more of the airline’s stock provided the fundamentals remain.

A little sidebar here –  I’m currently looking closely at Axiata and Spritzer as potential companies to invest in. With the sale of AirAsia stocks, I am currently sitting on a war chest of close to RM30K.

As always, thank you for reading.

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