Dividend Magic

Saving and Investing towards Financial Independence in Malaysia

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Dividend Income Update 2023

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Filed Under: Dividends 0

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

April & May

Dividend Income (Apr) –  RM1,925.87
Dividend Income (May) –  RM1,627.53
Dividend Income (2023) –  RM10,356.94
Dividend Yield – 2.61%

Received dividends from Sunway, TNB, TGUAN, FPI, Nestle, IGBREIT and AXIS REIT in April and May.
All dividends have increased or stayed the same, except for Sunway and AXIS REIT.

Nestle interestingly finally upped their dividends after many years. We should see it maintain/increase for the foreseeable future.
We moving up!

Updated my US Portfolio on Rakuten Trade as well:

Started DCA-ing religiously every month when the market was down. This is the result of about 6 months.

We’re up this month as well. USD continued its gain on MYR as well.

If you’re looking to open a trading account, let me direct you to my review on them hERE.

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

March

Freedom Fund Q1 Update – March 2023
Dividend Income (Jan) –  RM2,252.27
Dividend Income (Feb) –  RM2,274.42
Dividend Income (Mar) –  RM2,231.85
Dividend Income (2023) –  RM6,758.54
Dividend Yield – 1.70%

Received dividends from IGB REIT, Sunway REIT and Axis REIT in February.
Public Bank, Maybank and QL Resources in March. All dividends have increased or stayed the same.
We moving up!

Also, added Maybank shares to the portfolio, sold Cypark.

I’d like to share a little update on my US Portfolio on Rakuten Trade as well.

Started DCA-ing religiously every month when the market was down. This is the result of about 6 months. Will be looking to buy only VOO for now via Rakuten Trade and continue with the DCA when the market drops. Sucks to see the value of our MYR..

If you’re looking to open a trading account, let me direct you to my review on them hERE.

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

January

Freedom Fund as of January 2023
Dividend Income (Jan) –  RM2,252.27
Dividend Income (2023) –  RM2,252.27
Dividend Yield – 0.57%

Received dividends from Scientex, Axis REIT and TGUAN for January. Both Scientex and Axis REIT gave higher dividends compared to 2022 and TGUAN stayed the same.

If you’re looking to open a trading account, let me direct you to my review on them hERE.

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date. I use Rakuten Trade as my broker.

Acquisition and Disposals

Nil.

Scientex

January 2023 Dividends – RM1,900
January 2022 Dividends – RM1,500
Total 2023 Dividends –  RM1,900
Dividend Yield – 2.30%

Axis REIT

January 2023 Dividends – RM196.02
January 2022 Dividends – RM195.19
Total 2023 Dividends –  RM196.02
Dividend Yield – 1.13%

TGUAN

January 2023 Dividends – RM156.25
January 2022 Dividends – RM156.25
Total 2023 Dividends –  RM156.25
Dividend Yield – 0.44%

Tiger Brokers Review

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Filed Under: Dividends, FI/RE, Financial Independence, Investment, Investment Portfolio, Sponsored, US Stocks 2

I have had an account with Tiger Brokers since 2020 but have yet to utilise it apart from trying out their interface and depositing a small amount in there.

If you are looking to trade international stocks and have yet to open an account with Tiger Brokers, you will be glad to know that there are huge perks to opening an account now.

Tiger Brokers Account Opening Referral and Promotion

Account Opening Rewards

  • 1 unit of Grab share
  • Unlimited commission-free trades for HK, SG, and China A-Shares for 365 days.
  • Unlimited commission-free trades for US stocks for 180 days. 

Account Funding Reward (Initial Deposit of SGD1,000 or more + execute 5 BUY trades)

  • SGD88 cash

The full T&C can be viewed hERE. The promotion lasts till 12 October 2022.

Why Tiger Brokers?

Fees

First off, as always, fees. Tiger Brokers’ zero-commission trading is huge and beats many other international brokers.

Now, zero commissions do not mean that trading of US shares is totally free because there is, of course, a platform fee of USD0.005 per share or a minimum of USD1 per trade. It is a fee, but it is cheaper in comparison to many other brokers. So, keep that in mind.

As I’ve mentioned many times, fees are important because they eat their way into your investment and you’ll find yourself paying a lot more than 1% at the end of day, say, 20 years.

You may think a 0.1% or a 1% fee is of no significance but with the compounding nature of long-term investing, we, as average investors, are looking at hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in our investments at the end of the day.

Regulation and Protection

Tiger Brokers (Singapore) Pte Ltd is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Elsewhere, they’re also regulated by the SEC in the US, ASIC in Australia and HKSFC in Hong Kong. They’re compliant in all the countries they operate in so they’re safe. Apart from that, customer funds are held in a segregated trust account with DBS Bank Ltd. Custodian of investors’ shares is with the Central Depository (CDP) as well as overseas brokers.

Another important safety factor is that Tiger Brokers is listed on NASDAQ and under the ticker TIGR. This, in my book, adds credibility to Tiger Brokers as a brokerage platform. Their books and reports are easily accessible should you feel the need to refer to them as well.

Rewards

There’s a built-in rewards system for users of Tiger Brokers – Tiger Coins. By completing certain tasks (which aren’t all that hard) you’ll be credited with Tiger Coins which can be used to redeem rewards such as commission-free trades.

Account Opening and Registration

So, you’ve decided to open an account. Two types of accounts are available at Tiger Brokers – Margin and Cash Upfront. I’ll always recommend a cash upfront account to start with. If you’ve been trading and investing for a long time and are confident in your abilities, you can always move up and open a margin account.

Link to register hERE.

Funding Your Tiger Brokers Account

The are many ways to move your funds to Tiger brokers but the best I’ve found and that’ll save you fees in the future is this: You’ll have to open a bank account in Singapore. Basically, you transfer your monies to an SG bank account (you can use services like Transferwise etc to save on fees) and then from there into your Tiger Broker’s account.

Another transfer method to note is to use Wise which is integrated directly into the Tiger Trade APP, as part of a collaboration with Tiger Brokers. This method is fast and easy once it is set up. More info can be found here: https://www.tigerbrokers.com.sg/help/detail/87168024.

What I’ll be Using

Because of Tiger Broker’s low fee structure, I’ll be looking to add a ton of long-term international stocks here. Especially US shares.

Love the rewards I get from trading as well in the form of Tiger Coins.

End.

Account opening rewards are looking good and you get rewards as you trade and invest.

If you’ve yet to sign up and want to, use the registration link hERE. Check out the full details of the promotion hERE.

Disclaimer

This post is sponsored by Tiger Brokers.

T&Cs apply. Please visit our website for other applicable fees: https://www.tigerbrokers.com.sg/commissions/fees.

This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

Carsome Review – My Experience Buying and Selling My Car with Carsome

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Filed Under: FI/RE, Financial Independence, Financial/Life Hacks, Investment, Other, Travel, food and the finer things in life 7

So I bought a car!

I love cars and I’ve never bought a brand new vehicle in my life. The car I just sold off was a 21-year-old BMW e46. I got the car back in 2013 and have been using it as my daily drive.

The reason I had to let go of the car was the cost of maintenance. I had been consistently spending thousands of ringgit a year for part changes and enough was enough. This is why you shouldn’t ever keep an old continental car as your daily drive.

The options available to me were to sell the BMW and get another newer car or sell the BMW and use Grab. I decided on getting another vehicle as I actually like driving and after doing some simple calculations, owning my own car made more sense.

Selling my Car

I had been getting ads on Instagram from both Carsome and myTukar regularly by this time. Went car-browsing on both sites and spent hours sifting through.

Some stuff to take note of, myTukar doesn’t accept cars over 20 years old. Carsome does.

Also, both of them gave me much higher prices compared to the local dealers you can find on Mudah. I predict a swift and timely death to 2nd hand car dealers all over Malaysia soon. They just can’t compete anymore.

So, took the plunge, sold my car to Carsome and got the best possible price (it was still a really shit price) and went browsing for my next car at Carsome.

Buying my Secondhand Car.

For years now, I already knew the brand and car model I wanted (it is a hatchback). And that’s about as much as I’d like to disclose about my vehicle for now.

All I had to do was look out for one that had low mileage and was in good condition. I had already done my research on the car with all the known issues and what to look out for. There were only two real choices for me. The hatchback or the very compact and fuel-efficient Perodua Axia. Also a low mileage and good condition one of course.

I was in no rush to sell the car so I think I spent about a month or two just sifting through and browsing cars on Carsome and myTukar. I had about 6 tabs open on my browser every day on cars. The car I wanted came on sale in January on Carsome. It was the model I wanted and it had done about 50k in mileage. Same models were at 80-100k mileage and priced the same on sites like Mudah.

Made the call, went through the process and paid a refundable deposit of RM1,000 for the car. I had the salesperson bring the car over to KL all the way from Johor for a viewing.

Steps to Buying a Secondhand Car

Now I’m sure there are plenty of resources on buying secondhand cars online you can go through. Heck, some of you here may even be veterans and are better at it than I am. But here is what I did.

1. Inspection

One of the reasons I chose Carsome was for its inspection and checking system. There is a detailed report on the problems found on each car listed on their website.

Despite this, the very first thing I did was bring the car to a friend’s workshop and garage for a full inspection. Did an Onboard diagnostic (OBD) to make sure the car wasn’t tampered with. Paid RM150 for the inspection.

We checked for rust at the bottom and made sure no rust was found on the car’s mainframe. We noticed significant rust on the car’s front right absorber and mounting.

The salesperson from Carsome was a really good one and a friend of a friend. He agreed to have the car sent back to their workshop and to change the parts if there were issues found.

2. Test Driving

After waiting for about a week for the car parts to be fitted, I brought along a very kind friend who was a mechanic for the first viewing and test drive. Let him take the wheel and right off the bat we heard weird sounds coming from the front whenever the car went over a speed bump.

And guess what? It was back to the workshop again! In total, I think I went for 3 test drives because of the sound from the front. Carsome changed: Absorbers, Mounting, Dust Covers, Bearing and even did the alignment for the wheels. At the end of like 4 test drives over the span of a month, there was still some sound coming from the front over speed bumps but it was significantly less, I was already feeling really embarrassed for the back and forth and decided to just go ahead with the purchase. I decided that I will refit the parts on my own time later.

I think only companies like Carsome and myTukar will do this for you. If you’re purchasing from a secondhand car dealer, forget it.

3. Loan Application and Payment

I got the salesperson to submit my hire purchase application to a few different banks, and settled on CIMB as they offered me the lowest rate at 3.1% for a 7-year loan. The loan came with a few conditions.

  1. Open a savings account with CIMB;
  2. Take the first year’s motor insurance with them; and
  3. Snatch Medz for one year.

Snatch Medz is a sort of life insurance where if I were to die or suffer a total disability, the loan would be paid off. This one cost me RM430 for the first year.

Used my credit card for the deposit, had a problem increasing my credit limit with Maybank so I had to delay the purchase for another few days. Managed to get it settled eventually so a tip here is to get a hold of your bank earlier if you’ve already decided on the car. Get your points from the deposit! It is worth it.

Additional Stuff I Asked For

If you’re going to get a vehicle from Carsome or myTukar, don’t forget to ask for additional freebies!

You can check out Carsome hERE.

Change all faulty parts!

Change in parts that were broken. As mentioned earlier, I got a lot of parts replaced. If you’re getting your car from a dealer like Carsome, you should do your inspection and ask for a change in faulty parts. Ask for everything!

Car plate number interchange

I got a discount for the exchange of my car plate number. I bought my own number through JPJ’s auction and had Carsome replace it at a discount. I think it was around RM200 cheaper to do it through their agent.

Promotions

Always remember to check what promos the dealer is having. It so happened Carsome was having a TnG wallet promo and I asked for that.

They were also giving a RM1K discount if you sell your car to them and subsequently buy from them after. I qualified for that and got RM1K off as well.

Petrol vouchers

And after getting everything sorted, I got my guy at Carsome to get me petrol vouchers! I got about RM300 worth of it.

End.

So I’ll most likely be using this car for at least another 10 years. Will be keeping it in good condition. I have still yet to buy a new car for myself. This article has taken a pretty sharp turn away from investing, but hey, buying a car costs money and making a good decision here is vital to investing too.

If you’re looking to sell or buy a car, head over to Carsome’s website. I’ve had a good experience with them. I can even get my salesperson to give you a call so drop me an email or a DM on Instagram.

Aaaaand, if you’ve been following me on Instagram, you would’ve noticed me posting pics of another vehicle occasionally. I invested in an old classic car and I’ll be posting much more about it soon!

Kenanga Digital Investing

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Filed Under: Investment, Robo-Advisor 8

Fully Automated Robo Advisor

Another new addition to the Robo-advisor stratosphere! This time from Kenanga and it is called Kenanga Digital Investing (KDI). The platform is fully A.I.-driven with little to no human involvement. Most of the Robo-advisors we have in Malaysia right now are a mix of A.I. plus fund manager’s decisions. The only other similar one is from MyTheo.

Is Kenanga Digital Investing Safe?

First off, they’re licensed by the Securities Commission (SC). In terms of governance and licensing, that is as safe as it can get.

As for its execution, the algorithm used by Kenanga Digital Investing is fully A.I.-driven with machine learning capabilities. In the online briefing I attended, Kenanga mentioned that they’ve backtested all the portfolios from 2004. The results shown and presented to us were positive.

Kenanga Digital Investing – KDI Save and KDI Invest

KDI Save – Cash Management Fund

KDI offers two main products to clients and investors. The first is their Cash Management Fund (CMF) – KDI Save. They’re offering fixed returns at 3.0% p.a. with zero fees and calculated on a daily basis. This is one of the highest I’ve seen. And, you don’t have to start off with a huge amount, the minimum is RM100. However, it is capped at RM200,000, anything above that, it’ll be a 2.25% return p.a. Still decent.

KDI Invest – A.I. Driven Investing

KDI Invest is further broken down into five different funds based on your risk profile.

  1. Very Conservative
  2. Conservative
  3. Balanced
  4. Growth
  5. Aggressive Growth

From the backtesting results (from 2004 to 2021) I sighted during KDI’s briefing, the annualized return for the five funds ranges from 6% to 14%. The maximum drawdown was in the range of 10% to 16% for all five funds. Which is pretty damn good.

Kenanga Digital Investing – How to Start?

The steps from registration to execution are simple and straightforward. Before that, there is a special promotion for Dividend Magic readers.

Click Here to Sign Up
Referral code: 100108

Using the above link, you’ll receive RM20 for free upon successful activation of your account with a minimum transacted amount of RM100 into KDI Save or RM250 into KDI Invest. This RM20 will be paid out within 30 days.

Do also note that this promotion is only applicable to the first 500 successful referrals and valid up to 31st May 2022.

The next step to registering is to key in your personal details and to take a clear picture of the front and back of your IC.

You then answer a few simple questions regarding your investment goals and horizon. You’ll be recommended with one of the five portfolios based on your answers. However, you’re still free to pick one on your own. As I’ve still got a long time-horizon ie. 20+ years, I went with the KDI Invest – Aggressive Growth portfolio.

Benefits Kenanga Digital Investing (KDI) – What sets it apart?

Their cash management fund – KDI Save is currently one of the best I’ve found. No fees, a 3% return, and one-day withdrawals. It is perfect for my emergency funds now instead of placing them in fixed deposits or a savings account. I plan to move my funds here. Keep in mind that funds over RM200K earn a lower rate of 2.25%. Which is still higher than FDs!

As for KDI Invest, I’m happy with the returns shown from their backtesting. Would love to see them go further back than 2004 though. I’ll be trying this out for a year and then compare it to my returns from my investments in StashAway.

The fully A.I.-driven approach sounds good to me, and the maximum drawdowns, even for their most aggressive portfolio was only 16%.

Lastly, FEES! I know how everyone, myself included is always concerned about fees. KDI Invest employs a tiered system.

The fees are in line with other Robo-advisors, even cheaper at some tiers. They’re also not charging anything for investments RM3,000 and below.

Also to note, the minimum investment amount is RM250.

End.

I’m definitely going for their cash management fund – KDI Save. And I’ll be testing the waters first with RM3,000 in KDI Invest for a few months. If all is good, I’ll be doing DCA via Kenanga Digital Invest for the long term.

Dividend Income Update 2022

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Filed Under: Dividends 0

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

2022 Final Thoughts

This will be the final update for 2022, kinda late I know. I’ve previously updated the Freedom Fund to capture all my dividends, yield and market value of the portfolio. If you haven’t seen it, you can find it hERE.

In 2022 we had a pretty good run, the Freedom Fund wasn’t too badly hit and is almost back to its old self. REITs are back up and my darling Scientex has been performing. Banks which I’ve added to the portfolio as well have been holding the Freedom Fund afloat. Added FPI (thanks to research and recommendation from my good friends) to the portfolio and it has had a pretty good run both in capital gains and dividends.

Major disappointments were – TENAGA (which I’ve sold half of my holdings) and CYPARK (which I’m down 40%).

Still got RM100K+ in the war chest and I’ll be looking to either deploy it in local stocks or to my US portfolios – Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF (VOO) via Rakuten Trade or my eToro portfolio.

And last but not least, happy CNY everyone! Hope the year of the rabbit is good to all of us!

October – December

Freedom Fund as of December 2022
Dividend Income (Oct-Dec) –  RM3,465.79
Dividend Income (2022) –  RM16,011.75
Dividend Yield – 4.03%

September

Freedom Fund as of September 2022
Dividend Income (Sept) –  RM1,910.10
Dividend Income (2022) –  RM12,545.96
Dividend Yield – 2.94%

Four batches of dividends were received for September.

SunREIT came in strong and hit about 4.25% in dividend yield for 2022. Sunway Construction increased its dividends for the year as well compared to 2021.
QL Resources and Public Bank maintained their dividends.

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date. I use Rakuten Trade as my broker.

Acquisition and Disposals

Nil.

Sunway REIT

September 2022 Dividends – RM1,201.05
September 2021 Dividends – RM462.98
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM1,977.68
Dividend Yield – 4.25%

Sunway Construction

September 2022 Dividends – RM10.80
September 2021 Dividends – RM10.40
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM25.20
Dividend Yield – 4.29%

QL Resources

September 2022 Dividends – RM138.25
September 2021 Dividends – RM138.25
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM138.25
Dividend Yield – 0.56%

Public Bank

September 2022 Dividends – RM560
September 2021 Dividends – RM525
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM1,099
Dividend Yield – 4.25%

August

Freedom Fund as of August 2022
Dividend Income (Aug) –  RM1,055.55
Dividend Income (2022) –  RM10,635.86
Dividend Yield – 2.49%

Two dividends were received for August.

IGBREIT has almost doubled their dividends compared to the same month last year, we’re getting back on track it seems. Axis REIT’s dividends has also increased compared to August 2021.

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date. I use Rakuten Trade as my broker.

Acquisition and Disposals

Nil.

IGB REIT

August 2022 Dividends – RM814.39
August 2021 Dividends – RM449.08
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM2,369.36
Dividend Yield – 4.57%

Axis REIT

August 2022 Dividends – RM241.16
August 2021 Dividends – RM226.31
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM704.43
Dividend Yield – 4.06%

July

Freedom Fund as of July 2022
Dividend Income (July) –  RM1,516.25
Dividend Income (2022) –  RM9,580.31
Dividend Yield – 2.40%

Two dividends were received for July. Apologies as I’m a bit late this month. I haven’t even got time to get to updating the Freedom Fund.

Scientex has upped its game once again. 5.18% dividend yield for 2022 compared to 4.25% last year.
Thong Guan on the other hand is slowly catching up as well. Increase in dividends compared to 2021.

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date. I use Rakuten Trade as my broker.

Acquisition and Disposals

Bought more SCIENTEX when it dipped. Sold half of my TENAGA holdings as well. I’m starting to dislike how the company is run. GLCs… Hopefully it’ll change in the future.

Scientex Berhad

July 2022 Dividends – RM1,360
July 2021 Dividends – RM1,200
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM2,860
Dividend Yield – 5.18%

Thong Guan Berhad

July 2022 Dividends – RM156.25
July 2021 Dividends – RM125
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM593.75
Dividend Yield – 1.67%

June

Freedom Fund as of June 2022
Dividend Income (June) –  RM229.18
Dividend Income (2022) –  RM8,064.06
Dividend Yield – 2.02%

Just one dividend in June from Axis REIT. Hope everyone’s portfolio is doing alright. Strangely Malaysian stocks haven’t been hit as hard as the US. For now.

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date. I use Rakuten Trade as my broker.

Acquisition and Disposals

Nil.

Axis REIT

June 2022 Dividends – RM229.18
June 2021 Dividends – RM210.55
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM463.27
Dividend Yield – 2.67%

May

Freedom Fund as of May 2022
Dividend Income (May) –  RM1,037.94
Dividend Income (2022) –  RM7,834.88
Dividend Yield – 1.96%

It looks like profits are back up for both Nestle and IGB REIT, both of whose dividends came in for May.

The dividend yield for 2022 is close to 2% already and hopefully, we can get back to a 4+% yield within the next few years.

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date. I use Rakuten Trade as my broker.

Acquisition and Disposals

Nil.

Nestle (M) Bhd

May 2022 Dividends – RM204
May 2021 Dividends – RM184
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM204
Dividend Yield – 1.53%

IGB REIT

May 2022 Dividends – RM833.94
May 2021 Dividends – RM442.07
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM1,544.97
Dividend Yield – 3.00%

April

Freedom Fund as of April 2022
Dividend Income (Apr) –  RM2,362.94
Dividend Income (2022) –  RM6,796.94
Dividend Yield – 1.70%

The markets are in a downturn right now. I’ve been slowly adding my money to Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF right now through Rakuten Trade. Individual stocks in the US and also locally are currently on hold because I want to try and catch the bottom. DCA will happen through my investments in the ETF.

Stay strong everyone and remember to stay invested, this might be a long dip but it is still an opportunity.

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date. I use Rakuten Trade as my broker.

Acquisition and Disposals

Nil.

Thong Guan Industries Bhd

April 2022 Dividends – RM437.50
April 2021 Dividends – RM437.50
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM437.50
Dividend Yield – 1.23%

TNB Bhd

April 2022 Dividends – RM720
April 2021 Dividends – RM2,320
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM720
Dividend Yield – 1.53%

Malayan Banking Bhd

April 2022 Dividends – RM1,151.88
April 2021 Dividends – RM1,040.65
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM1,151.88
Dividend Yield – 3.96%

Sunway Bhd

April 2022 Dividends – RM195.41
April 2021 Dividends – RM129.80
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM195.41
Dividend Yield – 1.68%

Sunway Construction Bhd

April 2022 Dividends – RM14.40
April 2021 Dividends – RM10.40
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM14.40
Dividend Yield – 2.45%

March

Freedom Fund as of March 2022
Dividend Income (Mar) –  RM766
Dividend Income (2022) –  RM4,434
Dividend Yield – 1.08%

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date. I use Rakuten Trade as my broker.

Acquisition and Disposals

Remember the IGB preference shares I opted for back in 2018? They’ve been redeemed early by IGB at close to their original price, been receiving 4.3% annually for 3 years and I’m a little sad to see it go. =(

I’ll be updating the aforementioned linked article soon to show you guys the calculations.

IGB Berhad -PB

March 2022 Dividends – RM227
March 2021 Dividends – RM227
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM227
Dividend Yield – 2.15%

Public Bank Berhad

March 2022 Dividends – RM539
March 2021 Dividends – RM910
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM539
Dividend Yield – 2.22%

February

Freedom Fund as of February 2022
Dividend Income (Feb) –  RM1,536.56
Dividend Income (2022) –  RM3,668.00
Dividend Yield – 0.89%

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date. I use Rakuten Trade as my broker.

Acquisition and Disposals

Nil.

IGB REIT

February 2022 Dividends – RM721.03
February 2021 Dividends – RM691.51
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM721.03
Dividend Yield – 1.39%

Sunway REIT

February 2022 Dividends – RM776.63
February 2021 Dividends – RM223.69
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM776.63
Dividend Yield – 1.67%

Axis REIT

February 2022 Dividends – RM38.90
February 2021 Dividends – RM-
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM234.09
Dividend Yield – 1.35%

January

Freedom Fund as of January 2022
Dividend Income (Jan) –  RM2,131.44
Dividend Income (2022) –  RM2,131.44
Dividend Yield – 0.52%

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now YouTube! Follow, keep up to date. I use Rakuten Trade as my broker.

Acquisition and Disposals

Nil.

Scientex (M) Bhd

January 2022 Dividends – RM1,500
January 2021 Dividends – RM1,144
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM1,500
Dividend Yield – 2.72%

Axis REIT

January 2022 Dividends – RM195.19
January 2021 Dividends – RM221.81
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM195.19
Dividend Yield – 1.12%

Thong Guan Industries Bhd

January 2022 Dividends – RM156.25
January 2021 Dividends – RM125
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM156.25
Dividend Yield – 0.44%

CBIP Bhd

January 2022 Dividends – RM280
January 2021 Dividends – RM280
Total 2022 Dividends –  RM280
Dividend Yield – 1.26%

MIDF Invest Review

By
Filed Under: Dividends 10

This review of MIDF Invest will cover Malaysia’s first brokerage that gives us access to international stocks at a cheap and competitive rate.

I’ve long been advocating against using local brokerages for international stocks. But with MIDF Invest, I can finally change my stance. No longer will we be charged once locally, and then again internationally, and vice versa when we sell said stock.

I digress, back to our new favorite local broker – MIDF Invest.

MIDF Invest – Registration & Account Opening

To get started, you’ll first have to download the app here:
https://link-to.app/LeighLee

The registration process can be completed in 10 minutes to 24h in most cases according to MIDF.

Mine took less than 24 hours as I did it at night.

You have to:

  1. Submit front and back pictures of your IC;
  2. Record a 20 seconds video;
  3. Receive and submit SMS verification;
  4. Receive and submit email verification;
  5. Create your PW; and
  6. Answer questions.
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT OPTION
Done!

MIDF Invest – Brokerage Fees & Rates

MIDF’s rates are as above, which are pretty self-explanatory. You get 16 free trades if the trade value is <$1,000 per trade for the first 30 days. Thereafter, you move on to the Investor or Trader category depending on how often you trade.

The other fees you’ll need to pay attention to are the Stamp Duty and SEC Clearing Fees.

Stamp Duty is RM1 for every RM1,000 and capped at RM200.
Clearing Fee is 0.00051% of the total sale value, rounded up to the nearest cent.

The rates are pretty competitive when compared to our local brokers. It might be beneficial to make full use of your Explorer status during the first month.

From the calculator from MIDF above, a $1,932 trade will incur a $12.64 total fee. That’s about 0.65% in total fees per trade.

As for dividends, there are no extra charges there. Thank god. There will only be the standard withholding tax based on the country you bought the shares from.

Forex Rate

As I have yet to use MIDF’s platform at the time of this article, I cannot confirm the forex rates. However, the MIDF team has assured me that it is competitive and pretty standard. There are no forex fees charged by MIDF, just a straight-through conversion based on the day’s forex rates.

Interest on Cash Balances

Investors will also be given a small return in the form of interest for unutilized cash held in MYR in your MIDF Invest account. None for balances held in other currencies.

Another feature I confirmed with MIDF was that once your shares are sold, it will not be automatically converted back to MYR. For example, after selling a US stock, the cash will be held in USD. This is a good thing as we won’t be subject to unnecessary forex conversion.

Safety & Legitimacy

As far as I’m concerned, going through a local brokerage is as safe as it gets for us Malaysians. They’re of course regulated by the Securities Commission. MIDF is also wholly owned by our very own Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB).

If you didn’t already know, Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) is one of the largest fund management companies in Malaysia with assets under management (AUM) of RM322.6 billion (as of 31 December 2020).

And the ASNB mutual funds we love so much are handled by PNB.

MIDF Invest – Comparisons

Right now, as a local broker offering access to international stocks, MIDF is in the lead in terms of fees (which matters a lot). Other local brokers ie Maybank, CIMB, Public Bank, HL Bank etc do offer us Malaysians access, however, the fees are way too high for retail investors like us. I cite a previous example where I received a net dividend of ZERO dollars after all the fee deductions for my investment in Vanguard ETF through Hong Leong.

So, vs local brokers, MIDF is top. If we look at online international brokers like eToro, Tiger Brokers TD, and Interactive Brokers, MIDF losses out in terms of fees.

The trade-off? You get a regulated broker and peace of mind as a Malaysian with a local broker. This is especially important if you’re planning a huge investment in international stocks.

Another advantage of using a local brokerage is the ease of transfer of funds. You can easily inject more capital within minutes.

Moving Forward

I have opened an account with MIDF but I have yet to deposit any money. I do plan to hold long-term ETFs and dividend stocks through MIDF.

With MIDF being the first (AFAIK) relatively cheap brokerage, we have with access to international stocks, it will be interesting to see if our other brokers step up their game in offering better rates.

End.

I’ll be giving MIDF a trial run soon. My plan is to purchase and hold ETFs through the platform for now. Vanguard’s S&P 500 ETF will be my first buy. Might even be building up a big portfolio of ETFs and some long-term dividend stocks.

I’ll also be updating and inserting MIDF Invest into my previous comparison post soon. So keep an eye out for that.

Once more, you can download the app here:
https://link-to.app/LeighLee

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