Dividend Magic

Saving and Investing towards Financial Independence in Malaysia

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A Review of CapBay – P2P Lending in Malaysia

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Filed Under: FI/RE, Investment Portfolio, Other Investments 0

The P2P Lending Scene in Malaysia

I’ve been receiving inquiries on and off on what P2P platform I’m currently in. And if you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you’d know I had some money in Funding Societies. However, due to their increasing defaults, I’ve pulled out most of my capital.

Over the past few months, I’ve been looking to re-invest in the sector. I’m on the lookout for lower risks and default rates, somewhere my money can grow steadily at a reasonable rate of return. Which lead me to CapBay.

Types of Loans – Business Term vs Invoice Financing

During P2P’s infancy days, the loans offered by most platforms consisted of mainly business term loans. Which is, of course, the essence of P2P financing i.e. You lend money directly to businesses for a fixed period, typically between 12 to 36 months.

However, it is when the defaults came in that investors realized just how risky it was to hand out loans willy-nilly. And of course, the importance of really diversifying and not putting your capital into a few loans. Instead, when it comes to P2P financing, diversifying over many loans is advisable.

Fortunately for me, my returns today are still in the positive region. I’ve almost withdrawn 100% of my capital with a net return of 10+% per annum.

Right now, I’m looking to get back into the P2P scene as the industry as a whole matures. And I’m looking to lower my default risk by going for primarily Invoice Financing. There is lower risk here because investors are essentially lending money in the short term to SMEs based on a transaction.

In short, when an SME sells their services to a buyer on credit, they often must wait up to 6 months to get their payment. Invoice Financing allows these SMEs access to upfront payment. With Invoice Financing, the SME has already made the sale and the risk of default is actually transferred to the corporate buyer. Typically, Invoice Financing is for the short term, you’ll normally see a loan term of not more than 6 months.

Why CapBay?

CapBay specializes in providing Invoice Financing to SMEs who supply to blue-chip companies and government-related entities. Among the few P2P players in Malaysia, CapBay currently has had no defaults SO FAR since their launch in February 2020. This is no easy feat and caught my attention right away and got me digging for more info about them.

As reported by Fintech News Malaysia, CapBay is the fastest platform to hit RM100 million in P2P Financing. Typically, fast growth leads to problems with risk. The fact that they’ve managed to achieve this growth while still maintaining a 0% default rate is impressive.

How CapBay Works

CapBay works a little differently from the platforms I’ve used. They’re encouraging ”Auto-investing” whereby you let the platform pick the loans to invest in. As you all know, I’m a big fan of automating investments and so I will be using their Auto Invest feature all the way.

You choose from 3 different Auto Invest Profiles based on their respective risk profiles and potential return – Conservative, Moderate and Aggressive. If however, you want to have better control of your capital, you can choose to customize.

Within these 3 different profiles, you’ll find a further 3 categories of notes:
1. Select: Safer and lower return notes
2. Motor: Dealer financing notes
3. Diversified: Riskier and higher return notes

There’ll be a section for you to read up on these on the platform itself.

Another thing to note: Your uninvested funds will earn an estimated 1.7% per annum. This is a special feature called CapBay Plus that ensures you continue to generate returns on uninvested funds if you utilize their Auto Invest.

Simple Steps to Get Started

CapBay Registration P2P

You’ll need RM10,000 to start

This one here got me thinking a little and I know RM10,000 is a huge amount to start with for many, myself included. But after looking at the 0% default rate for a year, as well as the expected net return of up to 10% per annum on their investment opportunities, I’ve decided to go ahead. I’ll be posting updates on the performance here, probably on a regular basis.

Registration

CapBay Registration

Registration took me about 5 minutes. All the usual KYC are required. I.e. pics of your IC and a 5-sec video upload.

If you don’t have a webcam, make sure you download the app and register there as you’ll need to upload a video during registration as part of their KYC requirements.

And finally, if you’re signing up and registering with CapBay, don’t forget to use my code and link for a free RM100. To qualify, you’ll have to make the RM10K deposit and select one of the Auto Invest profiles (Conservative, Moderate and Aggressive). The full terms and conditions can be found here.

Register hERE.
Use my code: DIVMAGIC

End.

My Portfolio

CapBay Registration P2P

I’ve added in RM10,000 to the Auto-Invest feature and selected the Aggressive profile.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is image.png

The Auto-Invest feature was quick and my funds are 40% invested in a few days. Returns range from 7.3% to 9.7% currently.

Look forward to future updates to my P2P portfolio.

Risks of P2P

Please understand that I consider P2P investing a high-risk venture. Even with CapBay’s focus on Invoice Financing, I still consider this to be a risky investment. But how else can you expect a potential net yield of up to 10% per annum.

This is why I’ve been doing a lot of research and looking around the Malaysian market. I’ll be testing the waters with CapBay and will let everyone know how it goes via my updates.

Dividend Income Update 2021

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Filed Under: Dividends 2

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

April

Freedom Fund as of April 2021
Dividend Income (Apr) –  RM2,460.20
Dividend Income (2021) –  RM6,361.90
Dividend Yield – 1.47%

A total of RM2,460.20 in dividend income for April. That is about a 46% increase in dividends compared to April last year.

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date.

Acquisition and Disposals

Nil.

Tenaga Nasional Berhad

April 2021 Dividends – RM2,320.00
April 2020 Dividends – RM1,400.00
Total 2021 Dividends –  RM2,320.00
Dividend Yield – 4.92%

Sunway Berhad

April 2021 Dividends – RM129.80
April 2020 Dividends – RM389.39
Total 2021 Dividends –  RM129.80
Dividend Yield – 1.11%

In addition to the normal dividends, I also received RM10.40 in preferential dividends from SUNWAY-PA.

March

Freedom Fund as of March 2021
Dividend Income (Mar) –  RM1,582.50
Dividend Income (2021) –  RM3,901.70
Dividend Yield – 0.92%

A total of RM1,582.50 in dividend income for March. That is about a 138% increase in dividends compared to March last year.

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date.

Acquisition and Disposals

Nil.

Axis REIT

March 2021 Dividends – RM221.81
March 2020 Dividends – RM112.59
Total 2021 Dividends –  RM221.81
Dividend Yield – 1.28%

IGB Berhad

March 2021 Dividends – RM227
March 2020 Dividends – RM227
Total 2021 Dividends –  RM227
Dividend Yield – 2.15%

Sunway REIT

March 2021 Dividends – RM223.69
March 2020 Dividends – RM306.82
Total 2021 Dividends –  RM223.69
Dividend Yield – 0.48%

Public Bank Berhad

March 2021 Dividends – RM910
March 2020 Dividends – RM560
Total 2021 Dividends –  RM910
Dividend Yield – 3.74%

February

Freedom Fund as of February 2021
Dividend Income (Feb) –  RM691.51
Dividend Income (2021) –  RM2,319.20
Dividend Yield – 0.92%

A total of RM691.51 in dividend income for February. That is about a 17% increase in dividends compared to February last year.

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date.

Acquisition and Disposals

Bought a little more Scientex. Sold Dsonic and GenM.

IGBREIT

February 2021 Dividends – RM691.50
February 2020 Dividends – RM590.53
Total 2021 Dividends –  RM691.50
Dividend Yield – 1.33%

January

Freedom Fund as of January 2021
Dividend Income (Jan) –  RM1,627.69
Dividend Income (2021) –  RM1,627.69
Dividend Yield – 0.37%

A total of RM1,627.69 in dividend income for January.

Scientex came in higher compared to Jan last year. Maybank’s dividend is all over the place so there’s no comparing to 2020 right now. And Thong Guan gave me a measly 0.35% yield so far.

I’ll be looking at how the rest of the year go but it isn’t too bad of a start.

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date.

Acquisition and Disposals

No transactions made in the month of January.

SCIENTEX BERHAD

January 2021 Dividends – RM1,144
January 2020 Dividends – RM1,030
Total 2021 Dividends –  RM1,144
Dividend Yield – 2.81%

Malayan Banking Berhad

January 2021 Dividends – RM358.69
January 2020 Dividends – RM /-
Total 2021 Dividends –  RM358.69
Dividend Yield – 1.78%

Thong Guan Industries Berhad

January 2021 Dividends – RM125
January 2020 Dividends – RM /-
Total 2021 Dividends –  RM125
Dividend Yield – 0.35%

Dividend Magic’s Yearly Review

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Filed Under: FI/RE, Financial Independence, Investment Portfolio 0

The Year 2020

I’ll be using this anchor page to keep track of my overall investment portfolio. Updated yearly so I’ll be able to track and show a yearly gain/loss.

Moving forward, I’ll aim to keep my recording simple and clear cut. So I’ll be able to track my yearly gain more easily. No more IRR, just simple yearly gain, including fresh capital and dividends reinvested.

What a year it has been. My portfolio tanked in March when Covid hit. It even went into the red, a first for me. I missed the glove boat.

Bet on the recovery and my portfolio managed to sail through 2020 with an almost 10% gain y-o-y. As the portfolio increases in value and diversification, long gone are the days of 15-20% capital gains. I’ll be aiming to rebalance and refocus my portfolio next year. Cutting underperforming stocks and adding more winners.

I’ll also be focusing on my US portfolio moving forward. I’ve also made a decision to keep my US portfolio hidden to maintain some form of privacy. Don’t worry you’ll still be able to view it in percentage (%) form.

My Investments

The Freedom Fund

Market value: RM545,778.21
Cash: RM46,350.83
Dividends: RM15,415.64
Dividend yield: 3.33%

The Freedom Fund (US)

Crypto Portfolio

Gross Investment: RM13,808
Market Value: RM34,424
Capital Gain/Loss: +149.30%

StashAway

Dividend Magic – Risk (36% Risk Index)
Gross Investment – RM14,001.00
Current Value – RM15,378.03
Time-weighted return – 8.01%

Dividend Magic US – Risk (30% Risk Index)
Gross Investment – RM10,000.00
Current Value – RM10,603.19
Time-weighted return – 6.03%

StashAway Simple
Gross Investment – RM12,500.00
Current Value – RM12,559.17

TOTAL
Gross Investment – RM36,501.00
Current Value – RM38,540.39
Gain/Loss: +5.6%

My Overall Investment Portfolio

Freedom Fund: RM607,544.68
Crypto: RM34,424.00
StashAway: RM38,540.39
Total: RM679,125.07

Goals for 2021

The Freedom Fund and StashAway performed solidly for me in 2020. Obviously, I’ll want to see my dividends go up in 2021. It dropped a little this year with a few companies in my portfolio electing to withhold dividends.

I hope to see dividends surpass RM20K per annum barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Also, I want to eventually have my total investments (excluding my US portfolio) reach RM750K in 2021 and RM1 million by 2025. Setting the bar a little low there I know but I’ve learnt that the key to happiness is low expectations. And with RM1 million in investments, I should be able to hit my dividend target of RM36,000 per annum.

On the other hand, I will also be pumping money into my US portfolio (which as mentioned above will be tracked only in %).

Now, to the best performing asset for me in 2020 – Bitcoin and Ethereum. Almost at a 150% return for me at the time of writing and it is increasing. I set out to keep crypto to a maximum of 10% of my portfolio. I’ll continue to hold onto them coins for now.

dividendmagic.com.my

I consider every one of you reading as a stakeholder of Dividend Magic. So an update of the website at the end of 2020 would be apt.

As mentioned on my About page, at the rate the blog is growing, we will definitely be hitting a million (and more) views next year. A big thank you to everyone that has been frequenting the blog and interacting with me on social media. I appreciate every follow, like, comment, and share you’ve been so generous with. I love the community we’ve built and the friends I’ve made along the way. We’re a small but tight-knit bunch in Malaysia.

If you haven’t already, follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube to keep up to date.

To those that have been wondering if I’m making money via ads on the blog, the answer is finally a yes. But it isn’t much, unfortunately.

I’ve opted for the minimum amount of ads as well as the best-optimized placement for readers.

Right now, ad revenue itself is able to cover the running costs of the blog which I’m super grateful for. I don’t see this growing significantly, maybe I’m doing something wrong with the ads. With running expenses covered, Dividend Magic will be here to stay.

End.

Dividend Magic - We can do it!

That is all there is to update. 2020 was scary, thankfully, my investments are doing all right now. As always, it is important to stay invested and to attack when the opportunity presents itself. There will of course be some missed opportunities and lessons to be learned along the way. All my mistakes, all my wins, you’ll be able to see them here on the blog.

I’ll be updating my portfolios on a monthly basis as usual come 2021. Have a happy new year and I’ll see everyone in 2021.

Dividend Income Update 2018

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Filed Under: Dividends 0

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

December

The last month produced RM1,111.65 in dividends for me. A 14.78% dip compared to last year’s RM1,304.48. TENAGA paid out its dividends in October this year.

Also, I received AirAsia’s special dividend of RM5,320 just in time for the New Year.

I’ll refrain from adding that into my dividend yield for 2018 as that may skew and mislead you. 

Sunway REIT

This Month’s Dividends – RM310.35

Total 2018 Dividends – RM1,179.94

Total 2017 Dividends – RM1,204.55

Dividend Yield – 5.95%

A small drop in dividends from Sunway REIT this year. Still a solid 6% yield.

Axis REIT

This Month’s Dividends – RM437.30

Total 2018 Dividends – RM1,359.45

Total 2017 Dividends – RM1,619.51

Dividend Yield – 3.96%

Bad, bad performance from Axis. The price has slightly rebounded but I’ll continue to monitor their dividend payments for the first half of 2019.

Nestle Malaysia Berhad

This Month’s Dividends – RM140

Total 2018 Dividends – RM550

Total 2017 Dividends – RM540

Dividend Yield – 4.11%

A slight increase in dividends from Nestle. We should see stronger yields next year as the share price has shot up to RM147 per unit right now.

Scicom (MSC) Berhad

This Month’s Dividends – RM224

Total 2018 Dividends – RM1,008

Total 2017 Dividends – RM756

Dividend Yield – 4.52%

A surprise coming from Scicom this year. Their share price has tanked.

I believe that it is trading at a huge bargain right now.

End.

2018-  RM18,072.25 (4.92%)
2017 – RM15,705.71 (4.69%)

Gross Investment – RM367,168.13
Market Value – RM443,435.79

A good year in terms of dividends. But with the current situation of the market, the Freedom Fund is actually making a slight paper loss this year.

PS. I decided against adding AirAsia’s special dividend into the fray. But just so you know, the yield would have come up to 6.37% if I had.

Here’s to reaching that 5% mark in 2019. 

Happy New Year everyone! Don’t drink and drive.

The Freedom Fund has been updated as of December 2018. The full list of dividend yields from my shareholdings can be viewed there.

Follow me on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with my dividend income updates.

November

What with the news of the bonus RM0.40 dividend per share announced by AirAsia last night, I am in an upbeat mood as I write this today.

The dividend income for November 2018 came up to RM1,806.62, compared to RM1,438.87 the same month last year. A 25.56% jump in dividends!

And of course, an equal 25% jump in satisfaction on my part.

Contributing partners to the dividend income: Malayan Banking Berhad (better known as Maybank), Aeon Credit Service Berhad and IGB REIT.

Maybank

This Month’s Dividends – RM813

Total 2018 Dividends – RM1,853.64

Total 2017 Dividends – RM1,761.72

Dividend Yield – 6.99%

A 7% dividend yield from Malaysia’s largest bank is no easy feat. This amount materializes firstly from my low buy-in price and also from the bank’s financial performance.

The dividend yield has also increased, with the additional shares from Maybank’s dividend reinvestment plan taken into account.

If and when the share price dips to low levels again, I’d suggest investing here. Instead of the constant, tedious chase for 4% promo rates.

Aeon Credit

This Month’s Dividends – RM378.25

Total 2018 Dividends – RM718.25

Total 2017 Dividends – RM359.21 (comparison with RM378.25 as I bought end of 2017)

Dividend Yield – 3.18%

Give Aeon some time, the growth of their loan portfolio is strong for 2018 and I only see them moving forwards. That said, 3.18% ain’t too shabby.

IGB REIT

This Month’s Dividends – RM615.37

Total 2018 Dividends – RM2,865.43

Dividend Yield – 7.09%

My all-time favorite REIT right now. (Sunreit is a close second)

I’ve always believed that IGB REIT is a no-brainer and investors new to dividend investing should drop some dough into this counter.

Bought at the right price, you’ll get a nice starting yield of maybe 5%? Hold it for a few more and a 7-8% yield is right around the corner.

A tip: Mall REITs like IGB REIT derive their income mainly from 2 sources – Rentals and parking. IGB has a huge waiting list of tenants and their parking bays are always full.

October

October was a relatively volatile month. And I’ve noticed most of you who started investing recently weren’t able to handle the dip in the market. Emotionally.

Reminder: You’re investing for the LONG term. Don’t let temporary dips or so-called financial crises shake you.

Remember to always do your research and have target prices for your stocks. And based off that TP, decide to buy or sell. I know most of you are just looking for re-assurances. And I’m more than happy to remind and reassure everyone again and again.

So, moving on. The tenth month brought in only RM599.64 in dividend income compared to RM1,454.52 last year. A 58.77% dip. The difference? AirAsia declared October last year but not this year. We did have TNB’s contribution this year though.

Sunway Berhad

This Month’s Dividends – RM296.94

Total 2018 Dividends – RM551.46

Dividend Yield – 4.84%

I’ve held Sunway’s shares for years now which is why I get good yields like these from them. Total yield is up from 4.59% last year. I always love it when yields increase y-o-y.

Tenaga Nasional Berhad

This Month’s Dividends – RM302.70

Total 2018 Dividends – RM516.80

Dividend Yield – 3.66%

TNB has been a new addition to the portfolio. Up from 3.12% last year. Increasing yields? Check.

End.

Dividends from both companies are above the 3% mark and have been increasing every year. Keeping both companies for many years to come.

To summarize,

Freedom Fund as at October 2018
Dividend Income (October): RM599.64
Dividend Income (2018): RM15,153.98
Dividend Yield: 4.13%

We’ve almost crossed the 4.28% dividend yield mark for last year and we’ve got 2 more months to go. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it’s a solid year for the Freedom Fund.

Onwards and upwards! And remember, don’t panic during recessions. Save and always stay invested.

September

The 3rd quarter of the year comes to a close this time around with a total of RM1,799.63 in dividends for the month of September.

Compared to last year in September of RM1,136.30, we’ve got a 58.38% increase in dividends.

Freedom Fund has been updated to reflect 3Q numbers.

The handful of companies providing me with this rezeki are as follows:

Axis REIT

This Month’s Dividends – RM373.35

Total 2018 Dividends – RM922.15

Dividend Yield – 2.69%

Sunway REIT

This Month’s Dividends – RM274.18

Total 2018 Dividends – RM869.59

Dividend Yield – 4.38%

Public Bank

This Month’s Dividends – RM192

Total 2018 Dividends – RM396

Dividend Yield – 3.57%

Nestle Malaysia Bhd

This Month’s Dividends – RM140

Total 2018 Dividends – RM410

Dividend Yield – 3.07%

Homeritz Corporation

This Month’s Dividends – RM244.50

Total 2018 Dividends – RM782.40

Dividend Yield – 5.54%

IGB Berhad (formerly Goldis Bhd)

This Month’s Dividends – RM227

Total 2018 Dividends – RM227

Dividend Yield – 2.15%

Scicom Berhad

This Month’s Dividends – RM336

Total 2018 Dividends – RM784

Dividend Yield – 4.68%

End.

Solid performance from the businesses for September. The only exception being Axis REIT which has really been underperforming all year round.

To summarize,

Freedom Fund as at September 2018
Dividend Income (September): RM1,799.63
Dividend Income (2018): RM14,554.34
Dividend Yield: 3.96%

We’re only at the 3rd quarter for 2018 and already recording impressive numbers.

It’s safe to say we will be breaking last year’s record. Not enough to hit the 5% in yields mark. But a 4.5% would be sufficient.

Onwards and upwards! Thank you for reading.

August

The 8th month of 2018 brought me only RM574.55 in dividends compared to RM1,880.64 the same time last year. As mentioned in the previous post, this is due to most companies paying in July instead of June and August.

IGB REIT

This Month’s Dividends – RM574.55

Total 2018 Dividends – RM2,250.06

Dividend Yield – 5.57%

These should be all the dividend income from IGB REIT this year.

Total Dividend (2018) – RM2,250.06

Total Dividend (2017) – RM1,785.70

Dividend Yield (2018) – 5.57%

Dividend Yield (2017) – 5.96%

I purchased additional shares in March 2018, giving me a higher total dividend but a lower yield.

I trust in the assets the management has invested in and foresee growth for IGB REIT in the distant future. As with properties, the growth would be a slow one.

End.

As a comparison to last year’s performance:

August (2018): RM574.55

August (2017): RM1,880.64

A 69.45% dip in dividend income. We should see dividend income normalize come September.

To summarize,

Freedom Fund as at August 2018
Dividend Income (August): RM574.55
Dividend Income (2018): RM12,754.71
Dividend Yield: 3.47%

July and June

This will be a combined Dividend Income Update for the months of June and July.

I decided to combine both because dividends this year have been pretty erratic in terms of ‘when’ they were distributed. You’ll see in a moment.

It’ll still be separated into individual months for easy reading.

June 2018 – RM1,613.94
June 2017 – RM3,750.74

A -56.97% decrease y-o-y.

Worry not, most of the dividends were distributed later in July.

Companies that paid out in June were – Nestle, Axis REIT, Sunway REIT, Cypark and Scicom.

Nestle Malaysia Bhd

This Month’s Dividends – RM270

Total 2018 Dividends – RM270

Dividend Yield – 2.02%

Nestle shares have been on a high this year. I’m up by a 120% in capital gains from my measly 200 units of Nestle shares.

Dividends from Nestle increased by 4% y-o-y. Received RM260 the same time last year.

Axis REIT

This Month’s Dividends – RM362.63

Total 2018 Dividends – RM548.80

Dividend Yield – 2.27%

Axis REIT has been on a disappointing run. Both in share price as well as its dividend payouts.

Sunway REIT

This Month’s Dividends – RM298.11

Total 2018 Dividends – RM595.41

Dividend Yield – 3.00%

A marginal increase in dividends this time around for SunREIT. No complaints there as the dividend yield has been increasing every year.

Cypark Resources Bhd

This Month’s Dividends – RM459.20

Total 2018 Dividends – RM459.20

Dividend Yield – 2.60%

An increase in dividends from Cypark this time around. It’s yield increased from 2.41% in 2017 to 2.60% this year.

Scicom (MSC) Bhd

This Month’s Dividends – RM224

Total 2018 Dividends – RM448

Dividend Yield – 2.01%

Big increase in dividends from Scicom compared to the same months last year. The share price has taken a beating though.

July 2018 – RM4,176.64
July 2017 – RM552.00

A 656.64% increase y-o-y.

So… That’s a 650% increase in dividends for July. However, combining both June and July, we will have a 34.58% increase in dividends. I’ll show you the numbers at the end of this post.

Companies that paid out in July were – Maybank, Scientex, AirAsia, AEON Credit and CBIP.

Malayan Banking Bhd

This Month’s Dividends – RM1,064.64

Total 2018 Dividends – RM1,040.64

Dividend Yield – 3.92%

Huge, huge dividend payout from Maybank. A marginal increase from last year.

The final dividend should be paid out some time in October. We are set to see Maybank’s dividend yield go past the 7% mark this year.

Scientex Bhd

This Month’s Dividends – RM920

Total 2018 Dividends – RM1,840

Dividend Yield – 5.19%

This should be all the dividends from Scientex this year. The increase in dividends compared to 2017? 40%.

Nuf’ said.

AirAsia Bhd

This Month’s Dividends – RM1,596

Total 2018 Dividends – RM1,596

Dividend Yield – 3.85%

AirAsia more than doubled its dividends this year. I received RM780 this time last year.

Although a growth company, AirAsia’s dividends are one of the best in my portfolio.

Aeon Credit Bhd

This Month’s Dividends – RM340

Total 2018 Dividends – RM340

Dividend Yield – 1.51%

CBIP Bhd

This Month’s Dividends – RM280

Total 2018 Dividends – RM700

Dividend Yield – 3.14%

End.

As a comparison to last year’s performance for both June and July:

June & July (2017): RM4,302.74

June & July (2018): RM5,790.58

That’s a big 34.58% increase.

To summarize,

Freedom Fund as at July 2018
Dividend Income (June & July): RM5,790.58
Dividend Income (2018): RM12,180.16
Dividend Yield: 3.31%

The Freedom Fund’s dividend yield has already surpassed the 3% mark. And it is only July. Again, for the people that continuously ask me ‘Why not FD?’ I hope this answers your question. Again.

To recap, last year’s dividends were almost RM16K.

I know I’m aiming high right now, but we are in line to achieve RM18K in dividends this year. In fact, RM20K is entirely possible.

As always, thank you for reading! I’ll be updating the Freedom Fund page within the week or so. 

May

May 2018 – RM667.52
May 2017 – RM393.79

A 69.51% increase y-o-y. The increase is thanks to IGB REIT declaring its dividends in May.

Last year’s sole contribution came from Axis REIT, whose dividends came in June this year.

IGB REIT

This Month’s Dividends – RM667.52

Total 2018 Dividends – RM1,675.51

Dividend Yield – 4.15%

IGB REIT is one of my portfolio’s largest contributor of dividends, consistently providing me with yields of 5% and above.

This year, we ought to see it break the 6% dividend yield threshold.

As I’ve often said, REITs are necessary defensive stocks to have in your portfolio. They act as an anchor during bad market conditions that still provide you with high yields.

End.

April and May has traditionally been slow months for the Freedom Fund. We should hopefully see June give us bigger returns this month in June. Really looking forward to it.

To summarize,

Freedom Fund as at May 2018
Dividend Income (May): RM667.52
Dividend Income (2018): RM6,389.58
Dividend Yield: 1.70%

As always, thank you for reading! Those of you who are heading to AirAsia’s AGM on 20 June, drop me a PM. 

April

April 2018 – RM483.02
April 2017 – RM277.20

A 74.25% increase y-o-y. The increase comes mainly from the addition of Tenaga Nasional Berhad in July last year.

And yes, congratulations to Pakatan Harapan on the GE14 win.

Tenaga Nasional Berhad

Dividend Income April 2018
Tenaga Nasional Berhad April 2018 Dividends

This Month’s Dividends – RM214.10

Total 2018 Dividends – RM214.10

Dividend Yield – 1.52%

TNB has been performing really well since I’ve added it to the Freedom Fund last year. The risks moving forward will be the review of government contracts TNB has signed while under BN’s rule.

Sunway Berhad

This Month’s Dividends – RM254.52

Total 2018 Dividends – RM254.52

Dividend Yield – 2.23%

Sunway Construction Berhad

Dividend Income April 2018
Sunway Construction April 2018 Dividend Income

This Month’s Dividends – RM14.40

Total 2018 Dividends – RM14.40

Dividend Yield – 2.50%

Recent Buys

I’ve made a purchase 3,000 units of AirAsia shares at RM3.52 each. My average price is RM3.1189 currently.

End.

I apologize for the late dividend income update this time around. May’s post will be up soon.

April and May has traditionally been slow months for the Freedom Fund.

To summarize,

Freedom Fund as at April 2018
Dividend Income (April): RM483.02
Dividend Income (2018): RM5,722.06
Dividend Yield: 1.60%

Still waiting on AirAsia’s AGM notice. Anyone know anything about it? Will be interesting to see Tony after his recent debacle.

As always, thank you for reading!

March

March 2018 – RM2,166.98
March 2017 – RM455.37

That big jump in dividends is no April Fool’s joke. As mentioned in the previous post, Public Bank’s dividends came in March this year at RM204 instead of February.

However, the main reason for the increase in dividends is the one-off payment from my Goldis Preference Shares from the takeover offer a couple of months back. I received RM1,441.68.

So, did my dividend income actually increase?

YES! Even without taking into account Public Bank’s and the one-off payment from Goldis, my dividends increased by 14.48% y-o-y. Both SunREIT and Scicom paid out higher dividend amounts.

Sunway REIT

This Month’s Dividends – RM297.30

Total 2018 Dividends – RM297.30

Dividend Yield – 1.50%

Scicom Berhad

This Month’s Dividends – RM224

Total 2018 Dividends – RM224

Dividend Yield – 1.34%

Public Bank Berhad

This Month’s Dividends – RM204

Total 2018 Dividends – RM204

Dividend Yield – 1.84%

Goldis Berhad / IGB Corp

As mentioned earlier, this is a one-off payment from Goldis’ takeover of IGB Corp. I opted to receive Goldis preference shares instead of a full cash payout. You can read more about it hERE.

Recent Buys

I’ve made a purchase of 7,000 units of IGB REIT shares for RM1.49 each last month in light of the cheap prices of REITs.

End.

I’m happy with March’s dividend income. As the 1st Quarter of 2018 comes to a close, I’ve updated the Freedom Fund to reflect my gains accordingly.

How has everyone’s 1st quarter been?

To summarize,

Freedom Fund as at March 2018
Dividend Income (March): RM2,166.98
Dividend Income (2018): RM5,239.04
Dividend Yield: 1.51%

On a side note, I’ve received notices from Maybank and Public Bank on their upcoming AGMs. Anyone attending? Drop me a comment here or on Facebook and maybe we can arrange a small gathering.

As always, thank you for reading!

February

February 2018 – RM1,732.06
February 2017 – RM2,081.80

That’s a 16.8% decrease in dividends for me y-o-y.  This is mainly due to Public Bank declaring its second interim dividend late this year. I’ll be receiving it in March or April.

The RM1,732.06 this February came from IGB REIT, Axis REIT, and Homeritz.

IGB REIT

This Month’s Dividends – RM1,007.99

Total 2017 Dividends – RM1,007.99

Dividend Yield – 3.36%

IGB REIT’s dividends increased from RM733.50 to RM1,007.99 y-o-y.

We should see IGB REIT’s dividend yield pass the 6% yield this year.

Axis REIT

This Month’s Dividends – RM186.17

Total 2017 Dividends – RM186.17

Dividend Yield – 0.54%

Axis REIT’s dividends decreased from RM271.20 to RM186.17 y-o-y.

I’ve had many many queries from concerned readers regarding Axis REIT’s performance.

Axis had been aggressively acquiring new properties lately, as many as 2 in 2017 alone. Coupled with new unit placements in November, this has seen a drop in share price for the REIT.

As a shareholder, I’m of course always happy to see the management acquire solid new properties. However, with new share placements, I expected a share price drop but not a drop in my dividends. Food for thought.

Also, Axis’ AGM is coming up in April. Anyone attending?

Homeritz Bhd

This Month’s Dividends – RM537.90

Total 2017 Dividends – RM537.90

Dividend Yield – 3.81%

Homeritz’s dividends decreased from RM733.50 to RM537.90 y-o-y.

Homeritz was buoyed by the decrease in value of the Ringgit last year and translated to huge gains for its exports.

Still, a 3.81% yield from its first dividends this year is good.

End.

February in 2018 has been disappointing compared to last year’s. Mainly due to underperformance by Axis REIT’s dividend distribution.

March should see some improvement. How has everyone’s February been?

To summarize,

Freedom Fund as at February 2018
Dividend Income (February): RM1,732.06
Dividend Income (2018): RM3,072.06
Dividend Yield: 1.07%

I’d like to apologize for not replying some of your comments and messages on time as I’ve been away on holiday up till today – the 21st of March. Will be replying everyone real soon!! 

As always, thank you for reading!

January

Dividends, dividends, dividends!

January 2018 – RM1,340
January 2017 – RM1,180

An increase of 13.56%.

Same companies – Scientex Berhad and CBIP Berhad.  The increase was contributed by Scientex alone, giving out RM920 compared to the RM760 last year. CBIP’s dividends remained constant at RM420.

Scientex Berhad

This Month’s Dividends – RM920

Total 2017 Dividends – RM760

Dividend Yield – 3.14%

CBIP Berhad

This Month’s Dividends – RM420

Total 2017 Dividends – RM420

Dividend Yield – 1.88%

End.

Pretty straightforward stuff for the first month of 2018. Same two companies, one increasing its dividends while the other’s remained the same.

Scientex is expected to continue to contribute heavily to my portfolio’s dividend income this year.

Last year, with RM1,312 in dividends, Scientex’s dividends made up almost 10% of the Freedom Fund’s total dividend income. The 21% increase in dividends by Scientex came as a surprise as I only expected a small hike in dividends this time around.

To summarize,

Freedom Fund as at January 2018
Dividend Income (January): RM1,340
Dividend Income (2018): RM1,340
Dividend Yield: 0.4%

Last but not least, a Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! Onwards and upwards!

Best Premier/Priority Banking in Malaysia

By
Filed Under: Fixed Deposits, Savings Accounts etc, Other Investments 0

Premier Banking vs Priority Banking

The article is a work in progress and I’ll be updating it as and when new information becomes available. Thank you everyone that messaged and emailed me with your experiences.

First, let me clarify that premier banking and priority banking aren’t the same. They are miles apart. You need to have RM250K and above to be eligible for premier banking. For priority banking, it is at least RM3 million.

In this article, we will be talking about premier banking primarily because I am only eligible for that and have experience with it. Hopefully, in the not too distant future, we can talk about priority banking. I’ve also spoken to some of my friends as well as readers to collate their experiences here for you to make a decision.

If you’re thinking of upgrading from being a mere standard customer to joining the higher ranks in premier banking, let me start by telling you that premier banking isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

Premier Banking in Malaysia Ranked – The Good and the Bad

The reason I’m writing this article is because I myself am looking to switch away from my current bank – Maybank to one that offers better services. And since I’ll be doing my research on premier banking in Malaysia anyway, I might as well jot everything down here and share this with everyone.

The list below is based on my 1-year long experience with Maybank’s Premier Banking as well as the experiences of my friends and colleagues with other banks as well. The general good and bad are listed here and we will go into each bank’s good and bad later in the article.

1. No long queues

Let’s start off with the good first. In the day to day running of my businesses, I require weekly (sometimes daily) cash deposits over the counter or through ATMs.

I get to skip ahead of the queue to conduct my usual banking. Oh, and you also get to park in a designated spot for premier banking customers. But this isn’t great because, at my branch, the parking is always occupied.

2. Better and faster service

With a premier banking card, and at branches where they have premier banking, I’m allowed to head to a specially designated floor to do my banking, deposits, and whatnot there. At some branches, you get coffee and canned drinks while you wait. You get WiFi if you’re lucky.

I’ve also seen some branches where they provide newspaper, a tv that reports on financial news. Some even have PCs for you to do your online banking or stock trading if you choose to.

3. Better mortgage and loan rates

You’re able to procure slightly better rates when applying for mortgages and hire purchases. As a premier banking customer, you’ll also be afforded a less stringent loan approval process.

4. A personal relationship manager

I’ve been a premier banking customer with Maybank for about a year now. As a premier banking customer, you’re assigned a personal banker, also known as a relationship manager (RM) that acts as a liaison and caters to your banking needs. Instead of having to head over to the branch directly, you’re able to make certain transactions over the phone.

Your experience as a premier banking customer is highly dependent on the RM that’s assigned to you. Unfortunately for me, I’ve been assigned one that is very pushy and sales oriented and sees fit to constantly bombard me with product offers every other week. And being the nice person that I am, I have to come up with excuses to politely reject his proposals.

The products offered to me have always been unit trusts, packaged products that consist of unit trusts and more unit trusts.

5. Idle Cash

Now this is the worst part for me. All banks in Malaysia will require you to either have cash/investments or loans with them to be eligible for premier-ship.

Personally, I place my cash in fixed deposits and treat this as my emergency fund. I practice FD Laddering. Yes, you often are able to get slightly better FD rates but still, I don’t like the idea of RM200K or more sitting in the bank generating measly returns.

Maybank Premier Banking Review

  1. Service: Good (Sitting area)
  2. Parking: Designated spot, no sticker was provided to me, had to show my debit card to prove I’m a customer.
  3. Requirement: RM200K AUM
  4. Special Credit Card: Didn’t opt for it.
  5. RM: Pushy
  6. Products and services :
    1. CASA
    2. FD (Mediocre rates)

I’m fortunate enough to be able to be eligible for premier banking. I park the minimum amount in fixed deposits as emergency funds and invest the rest.

The best thing about Maybank’s premier banking for me is actually being able to conduct my banking transactions quickly. What usually takes me 30 mins to an hour can be done in probably 10-15 mins.

Perhaps I got a pretty pushy RM and also it is because I’m well versed in finance and investing that the products offered were of very little interest to me. The only time I put money with my RM is when he offered the bundled ASM product to me where I managed to get some of the coveted fixed priced units. I write about it hERE.

All in all, premier ain’t nothing much to shout about so the next time you see someone walking up the stairs or to the premier banking section, you know that it really isn’t that big of a deal.

Alliance Privilege Banking Review

  1. Service: Good
  2. Parking: Designated spot, able to park no questions asked.
  3. Requirement: RM300K AUM
  4. Special Credit Card: Lifetime fee waiver
  5. Products and services:
    1. CASA (2.25% for deposits more than 350k)
    2. FD Slightly higher compared to standard board rates.
    3. Dual Currency Investment
    4. Foreign currency retail bonds

This one was provided by one of Alliance’s own RM.

AmBank Signature Priority Banking Review

  1. Service: Posh waiting area.
  2. Parking: Designated spot, able to park with car sticker, no questions asked. Usable in all AmBank branches.
  3. Requirement: RM200K AUM
  4. Special Credit Card: No particularly attractive benefits
  5. RM: Standard
  6. Products and services :
    1. CASA
    2. FD (Slightly higher rates)

Special products: Yet to be discovered.

This one was provided by Mr. T, a fellow reader who wishes to remain anonymous.

OCBC Premier Banking Review

  1. Service: Excellent
  2. Parking: Designated spot
  3. Requirement: RM300K AUM
  4. Special Credit Card: Platinum credit cards
  5. RM: Pushy, salesman
  6. Products and services :
    1. CASA
    2. FD (Mediocre rates)
    3. Bundled UT with FD (FD slightly higher rates but high UT fees)
    4. 24hr loan approval status!

This one was provided by my good friend and fellow financial blogger Siva at sivasathish.com.

HSBC Premier Review

  1. Service: Good (Free WIFI, sitting area, financial channel, coffee, tea. Self-service coke, sprite, packet drink.)
  2. Parking: Designated spot, able to park with car sticker, no questions asked. Usable in all HSBC branches, 2-hour limit.
  3. Requirement: RM200K AUM
  4. Special Credit Card: HSBC Premier Master Card (Free access to airport lounge)
  5. RM: Professional
  6. Products and services :
    1. CASA
    2. FD (mediocre rates)
    3. Dual Currency Investment
    4. Unit Trust (Birthday month 1% sales charges)
  • Special products: When you are an HSBC Premier customer, you are automatically a premier customer overseas as well. USA, UK, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, China without having to meet their overseas’ minimum requirements. When you transfer your funds between countries, it is a real-time transaction and does not include service charges. You can get a credit card in that country as well.
  • Oversea banking benefit: If you get an HSBC HK bank account. You can trade shares in the HK market (high fees). However, you can apply for HK IPO using margin. E.g. Ant Financial. You can apply for a 90% margin and pay only a 10% investment fund. This will increase your chances to get the IPO share as HK IPO is base on the size of the application to allocate the IPO. For E.g. If the allocation rate is 10% and 1 lot is 100 shares. If you apply for 100 shares, your chance is 10% to get 100 shares. If you apply for 1000 shares, your chances are 100% to get 100 shares. However, to use margin to apply, your address must be HK address.
  • You can get a credit card in other areas like HK. You get the credit line of HKD 200K. The bank requires no collateral.

This one was also provided by Mr. T, a fellow reader who wishes to remain anonymous.

Standard Chartered Priority Review

  1. Service: Good (Free WIFI, sitting area, financial channel, coffee, tea, hot chocolate
  2. Parking: Designated spot, able to park with car sticker, no questions asked. Usable in all SC branches, 2-hour limit.
  3. Requirement: RM250K AUM
  4. Special Credit Card: Standard Chartered PB Priority VISA Infinite (Free access to airport lounges. Free airport taxi. Hotel dining 50% cashback until 30 Dec 2020. Must maintain AUM of RM250K)
  5. RM: Professional
  6. Products and services
    1. CASA (Privilege account gives the best current account interest rate – 2.6% T&Cs Apply.)
    2. FD (Mediocre rates)
    3. Dual Currency Investment
    4. Discount on safe deposit boxes
  • Special products: When you are an SC Priority customer, you are automatically an SC Priority customer in other countries such as the UK, HK, and Singapore without having to meet their minimum requirements. When you transfer your funds between countries, it is a real-time transaction and with no service charges. You can get a credit card in that country as well.
  • Oversea banking benefit: Same as HSBC HK for IPO. Need to go over to HK to open an account. For SC Singapore, no need to go to Singapore to open an account. Can trade world stock (USA, Germany, France, Japan, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Australia). For priority banking customers, 0.2% with no minimum. No custodian charges and no charges to receive dividends.

This one was also provided by Mr. T, a fellow reader who wishes to remain anonymous.

UOB Privilege Banking Review

  1. Service: Never been to the branch.
  2. Parking: Designated spot, able to park with car sticker, no questions asked. Usable in all UOB branches. Limousine service available to pick up from home to the branch and from the branch to any other place in KL. (Contact RM to apply.)
  3. Requirement: RM500K AUM
  4. Special Credit Card: No particularly attractive benefits
  5. RM: Professional
  6. Products and services :
    1. CASA (InvestPro account which gives 1.7% interest p.a. for deposits over RM50K)
    2. FD (Slightly higher rates)
    3. Dual Currency Investment

Special products: Yet to be discovered

This one was also provided by Mr. T, a fellow reader who wishes to remain anonymous.

The Best Premier Banking Service in Malaysia

These are all personal experiences, from different customers, at different branches, with different RMs. Your own experience will very likely be different.

So I won’t do you the injustice of naming the best in Malaysia. BUT, based on everyone’s experiences, I’ll want to go for UOB if I had RM500K. Right now though, I’ll probably give HSBC a try. Will be updating this page with my experiences with them in the near future.

Final Thoughts.

As a final conclusion, premier banking is a nice thing to have. But treat it as a bonus and an extra. Don’t go pooling all your money into your saving accounts and FDs just to meet the required AUM to be eligible. Build up your assets first, and if your emergency funds come up to RM200K and above, opt for premier banking. At the end of the day, you’re parking a huge amount of money with them, earning very little returns when you can for example invest in stocks or bitcoin. Opportunity costs.

Another thing to note is that the banks themselves won’t always offer you premier banking even if you reach their requirements. So take the initiative and ask your bank for it if you’re eligible.

These are all the banks I’m able to write about from first-hand experience as well as from my friend’s and readers’ experiences. I’ll be looking to finish the list and have all the banks in Malaysia listed. Do drop me a comment or email if you’ve got experiences you’d like to share.

Oh, and if you’re thinking of signing up for premier banking, look out for referral and reward programs with said bank. If they have one, drop me an email or comment and I can hook you up with readers who are already clients and you can both enjoy the rewards.

Lastly, a big thank you to everyone who messaged me and shared your experiences. If you have experience with other banks not mentioned here, do drop me an email!

The 1,000 Bucks Challenge

By
Filed Under: Dividend Magic Show, Investment 0

The shirts are finally up on sale on Shopee hERE.

May 2021 Update – Appreciation Party

We’re having a small online party for everyone that has bought the shirts! We’ve sold half of our stash of T-shirts and we’d like to thank everyone. It isn’t much but seeing that we will be stuck at home for MCO 3.0 anyway, join us!

It’ll be a small group of people and we will be discussing all things personal finance and investing. And! As we consider everyone of you stakeholders in our 1,000 Bucks Challenge as well, we will be giving updates on our progress and try to keep everyone involved.

Send us a DM or email with your details.

The Challenge So Far

We set out with a goal of RM10,000 each, without touching our main income. So far, we’ve sold about half our shirts and RM10K is proving to be tough!

The 1000 Bucks Challenge

Suyin’s 1,000 bucks challenge has genuinely got me excited to invest again. It feels really good to start a whole new portfolio from scratch.

To catch you up on our challenge:

Terms of the Challenge

  1. The first goal – RM10,000
    We are in fact not just going for RM1,000 but 10 x RM1,000 for a grand total of RM10K each. Suyin’s challenge was to raise this money, not from our day/main income but instead, to think of other ways.
  2. The second goal – giving back
    We plan to invest this RM10K each into separate stock portfolios. The giving back part will come from the dividends of the said portfolio. A portion will be reinvested and a portion will be donated. I know that it won’t be much at first but we both agreed that in the long run, this wins hands down.

Raising the Money

So Suyin has actually thought of her way – selling off her second-hand clothes for the first RM1,000. She’s doing it via her Instagram stories and she’s doing really well.

I myself don’t have that any clothes that are in the condition to let go off.

So…

Suyin X DM T-SHIRTS!

We’ve both actually decided to collaborate and come up with some T-shirts!! It has actually always been a plan (and a sort of dream) of mine to have shirts that speak ”investing” and this is going to be it! Instead of coming up with merchandise to sell for profit, we will instead be putting all the profits into the 10k charity portfolio.

As we will both be putting up our own money to get the T-shirts printed, packaged, and shipped, we’d like to first estimate and gauge interest as well as the sizes for this. We will be ordering the first batch soon and the next batch will probably take some time. So please do register your interest.

We’ve tried on the sizes and I fit into an M, Suyin fits into an XS.
We’ve also decided to go for better, more premium shirts. So be assured that you’ll be getting what you pay for – RM50 per tee.

Think of this as you donating a little and we consider all of you stakeholders in the 10k charity portfolio. Although we have yet to decide on the charity to donate to, we are looking for ideas and will of course do our due diligence before deciding.

The shirts are finally up on sale on Shopee hERE.

End.

I’ll be updating this page as we proceed.

Meanwhile, as we accumulate the RM10K, we will be placing the money in a short term interest generating account. Most likely going to use StashAway Simple for this.

I am sincerely hoping for this to work out and be able to do this for a very long time. Thank you again for coming on this journey with us.

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