Dividend Magic

Saving and Investing towards Financial Independence in Malaysia

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Dividend Income (Malaysia) Update 2024

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Filed Under: Dividends 2

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

Dividend Magic Dividend Income

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Dividend Income (Malaysia) Update – November 2024

Dividend Income (November) –  RM1,001.87
Dividend Income (2024) –  RM20,735.99
Dividend Yield – 5.50%

RM1,001.87 in dividend income (Malaysia) for November. This is an increase compared to the previous year as we added Apollo to our portfolio. Also, IGB REIT’s dividends have increased as well y-o-y. RM891.87 compared to RM865.31.

We will have passed the RM20,000 mark in dividends this year with a yield of 5.50% currently. I’ll continue to add more money into stocks and be less conservative moving forward. The goal is still RM1,000,000 in Malaysian stocks.

Previously, I’ve also moved most of the stocks from my Hong Leong trading account to moomoo (I took advantage of their promo and will be getting an Apple share for transferring in) and will be investing from Moomoo. You can find my latest review on moomoo MY hERE.

Moomoo referral link: http://j.moomoo.com/00KiPh

I’ll also be leaving my previous section on asset allocation here (down below) and updating it again towards the end of the year.

All my assets can be categorised into two main categories – Safe and Growth

Safe Assets (54%)
FD and savings – 13%
ASM, EPF & PRS – 24%
Bonds – 17%

Growth Assets (46%)
US stocks, MY stocks, crypto, P2P

For a little privacy and to avoid disclosing my exact numbers, I’ve lumped my growth assets into one. 😉
And so, the above is what my allocation looks like. It is very conservative considering my age. I’m still (relatively) young. Ideally, I would like to have about 60% in growing assets, maybe even 70%.

Financial Independence but not Retirement

Relating to FI/RE, I realise that I may be reaching my goal soon. And maybe it is time to update the FI/RE guide as well.
As this wasn’t an overnight achievement, there isn’t much excitement on my part. Perhaps more of a gradual anticipation.
I am, however, a little disillusioned. So I have a few questions for everyone:
1. What is your FI/RE number?
2. What do you plan to do with said amount?
I’m considering dumping into EPF (reaching the RM1M mark to enable withdrawals) and leaving the rest in stocks. OR leaving >50% in stocks and the rest in Safe Assets.
3. What jobs have you considered taking once you are financially independent?
I don’t like to be idle and I’m considering so many different jobs.
a. Work and travel
b. Working a simple job nearby with whoever is hiring
c. Becoming a personal trainer as I enjoy working out
d. Go into the financial planning field and utilise my CFP
e. Live off-grid and farm

For stock investing, I use Rakuten and moomoo MY. Don’t forget to use my referral link for extra rewards.

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

Dividend Income Update – October 2024

Dividend Income (October) –  RM740.68
Dividend Income (2024) –  RM19,734.12
Dividend Yield – 5.24%

RM740.68 in dividends for October. It’s an increase compared to the previous year as we’ve added Matrix and cut Nestle. Sunway’s dividends have increased as well y-o-y.

We will pass the RM20,000 mark in dividends this year but we’re unlikely to get to a 6% yield. I’ll continue to add more money into stocks and be less conservative moving forward. The goal is still RM1,000,000 in Malaysian stocks.

Dividend Income Update – September 2024

Dividend Income (September) –  RM6,813.80
Dividend Income (2024) –  RM18,993.44
Dividend Yield – 5.05%

Nothing in August but we got a big bump in September this year. Mainly thanks to a bigger Maybank holding. Received a total of RM3,338.48 in dividends from Malaysia’s largest bank. Yield is around the 6% region. A little tough to calculate as I’ve got them in two different brokerage accounts. Next year’s figures will be easier to calculate.

Also received RM852.02 from IGB REIT. An increase compared to RM788.56 last year. Yield is at 5.27% currently (one more dividend to go).

RM700 from Public Bank compared to RM630 last year. Yield increased significantly from 4.03% to 5.76% this year. Still can’t believe I’m seeing yields like this from PBB. Regret not buying more..

SunREIT paid out RM1,910.70 this time around compared to RM1,308.46 last year. Yield went up from 4.10% to 5.62% this year/ Finally looking like a proper REIT.

Dividend Income Update – July 2024

Dividend Income (July) –  RM2,780
Dividend Income (2024) –  RM12,179.64
Dividend Yield – 3.24%

Received RM2,780 in dividends for July 2024.
One from Scientex, which gave me RM2,280 this year, compared to RM1,900 last year. It may not seem like it’s a lot but that’s a 20% increase. 5.06% yield for me.

Another was from Matrix – RM500. First year holding this stock so no comparison yet. 4.69% yield so far.

Dividend Income Update – May 2024

Dividend Income (May) –  RM984.87
Dividend Income (2024) –  RM9,399.64
Dividend Yield – 2.44%

Received RM984.87 in dividend income for May 2024.
All of them are from IGB REIT, compared to RM930.99 same time last year. That’s a 5.7% increase.

We may be skipping June’s update as typically we don’t receive dividends in June. We will have an update on how the Freedom Fund is doing though.

Dividend Income Update – April 2024

Dividend Income (Apr) –  RM617.47
Dividend Income (2024) –  RM8,414.77
Dividend Yield – 2.18%

Received RM617.47 in dividends for April 2024.
RM500 from Matrix.
RM51.85 from Sunway.
RM65.62 from Sunway – Preference shares.

Relatively quiet month.
RM500 from Matrix, bought it last year so nothing to compare it to for the time being. The rest were from Sunway. Company is at an all-time high right now (finally).

I’ve also been contemplating moving more money out from my safe assets for awhile now. Will probably go all in on one stock soon – Maybank? =)

Dividend Income Update – March 2024

Dividend Income (Mar) –  RM2,620.22
Dividend Income (2024) –  RM7,797.30
Dividend Yield – 2.02%

Received RM2,620.22 in dividends for the third month of 2024.
RM700 from Public Bank.
RM1,801.72 from Maybank.
RM118.50 from QL Resources.

Both Public Bank and Maybank have increased their dividend amount compared to last year.
QL’s remained the same. And as the price has increased this month, I’ve subsequently sold all of my QL shares in line with my consolidation plans. Will be moving it to moomoo account to reinvest in either Matrix, Maybank or Scientex.

Dividend Income Update – February 2024

Dividend Income (Feb) –  RM2,777.08
Dividend Income (2024) –  RM5,177.08
Dividend Yield – 1.26%

Received RM2,777.08 in dividends for the second month of 2024. RM898.52 from IGB REIT and RM1,878.56 from SunREIT. My only two REIT holdings at the moment.
SunREIT and IGB REIT are both doing good and both had an increase in dividend payout this year compared to 2023.

Dividend Income Update – January 2024

Dividend Income (Jan) –  RM2,400
Dividend Income (2024) –  RM2,400
Dividend Yield – 0.59%

Had RM2,400 in dividends for the first month of 2024. RM1,900 from Scientex and RM500 from Matrix. My two darlings.
Scientex maintained the same dividend payout as 2023. Matrix is a new one for me and RM500 will be the first I receive from them.

Dividend Income Update 2023

By
Filed Under: Dividends 0

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

December & Review of 2023

Dividend Income (Dec) –  RM343.79
Dividend Income (2023) –  RM18,757.11
Dividend Yield – 4.58%

2023 was good for me. I ended the year with RM18.7K in dividends, giving me a 4.58% yield.

Made some adjustments to my MY stock portfolio and will continue to do so in 2024. The main focus will be on building up that dividend income.

Besides my MY portfolio, things have also been going well on the US side.

Total Y-O-Y growth for all my assets is around 30%.

I would like to touch a little on my total portfolio and would like to show everyone my asset allocation.

All my assets can be categorised into two main categories – Safe and Growth

Safe Assets (54%)
FD and savings – 13%
ASM, EPF & PRS – 24%
Bonds – 17%

Growth Assets (46%)
US stocks, MY stocks, crypto, P2P

For a little privacy and to avoid disclosing my exact numbers, I’ve lumped my growth assets into one. 😉
And so, the above is what my allocation looks like. It is very conservative considering my age. I’m still (relatively) young. Ideally, I would like to have about 60% in growing assets, maybe even 70%.

Financial Independence but not Retirement

Relating to FI/RE, I realise that I may be reaching my goal soon. And maybe it is time to update the FI/RE guide as well.
As this wasn’t an overnight achievement, there isn’t much excitement on my part. Perhaps more of a gradual anticipation.
I am, however, a little disillusioned. So I have a few questions for everyone:
1. What is your FI/RE number?
2. What do you plan to do with said amount?
I’m considering dumping into EPF (reaching the RM1M mark to enable withdrawals) and leaving the rest in stocks. OR leaving >50% in stocks and the rest in Safe Assets.
3. What jobs have you considered taking once you are financially independent?
I don’t like to be idle and I’m considering so many different jobs.
a. Work and travel
b. Working a simple job nearby with whoever is hiring
c. Becoming a personal trainer as I enjoy working out
d. Go into the financial planning field and utilise my CFP
e. Live off-grid and farm

Feel free to leave your thoughts via comments on this page. I’d love to hear from everyone and get some suggestions.

I posed question No. 3 on my socials a few days ago and we had some nice comments and discussions from everyone on Facebook and Instagram. Feel free to have a look!

For stock investing, I use Rakuten. If you want to open a trading account with Rakuten Trade, let me direct you to my review on them hERE. Don’t forget to use my referral link for extra rewards.

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

October & November

Dividend Income (Oct) –  RM378.68
Dividend Income (Nov) –  RM865.31
Dividend Income (2023) –  RM18,413.32
Dividend Yield – 4.45%

Note: A slight mistake was made whereby October’s numbers were included in the last update’s Total. Rectified now.

The dividend yield of the portfolio is at 4.45%. We’ve surpassed last year’s RM16K in dividends last month.

Made some big changes to the portfolio.
Sold: Axis REIT, Nestle and TGUAN.
Bought: Matrix, SunREIT

Finally going to say goodbye to my beloved Nestle.
Reasons for selling is to re-optimise the portfolio. We’re sitting on RM75K in cash right now. I’ll be updating the portfolio’s holdings at the end of the year.

Looking to add more Matrix for the dividends and capital appreciation. And more into Maybank and Scientex soon if and when a drop occurs. We’ll bring dividend yield into the 5-6% territory.

No major updates on the US front, still about the same for VOO. eToro’s portfolio has gone up by a bit though.

August & September

Dividend Income (Aug) –  RM983.15
Dividend Income (Sept) –  RM3,772.99
Dividend Income (2023) –  RM17,548.01
Dividend Yield – 4.43%

The dividend yield of the portfolio is at 4.43%. We’ve surpassed last year’s RM16K in dividends already. Don’t think we’ll get to RM20K this year but we’re getting there! If you’ve noticed, I’ve not been adding capital to my portfolio here for the past year, instead, I’ve just re-optimised the portfolio and it seems to be working.

The extra money has been dumped into my VOO on Rakuten Trade and most recently to ASM. You can find out more about my ASNB and ASM hERE.

I use Rakuten. If you want to open a trading account with Rakuten Trade, let me direct you to my review on them hERE. Don’t forget to use my referral link for extra rewards.

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

June & July

Dividend Income (June) –  Nil
Dividend Income (July) –  RM2,056.25
Dividend Income (2023) –  RM12,413.19
Dividend Yield – 3.13%

Received dividends from Scientex and TGUAN in July. The dividend yield of the portfolio is at 3.13%.

Scientex’s dividends have increased to a 4.6% yield from 3.46% last year.
TGUAN is maintaining its yield but the share price has underperformed.

VOO on Rakuten Trade is doing good as well:

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, 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.

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, and 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 want to open a trading account, let me direct you to my review on them hERE.

As always, Facebook, Instagram, and now ! Follow, and 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 ! 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: Platform, Fees & Features

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

As of 2025, I am now using only MooMoo Malaysia and Rakuten Trade for my stock trading needs.

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

  • 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

As of 2025, I am now using only MooMoo Malaysia and Rakuten Trade for my stock trading needs.

As always, my Facebook, Instagram. Follow, keep up to date.

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 9

This is my Carsome Review and my full experience of buying and subsequently selling my car with Carsome. 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.

Carsome Review - Buying and selling BMW E46

The reason I had to let go of the car was the extremely high 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.

Carsome Review – Selling my Car to Carsome

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

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.

Carsome Review – Buying a Used Car from Carsome.

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. The 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 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 would 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, but 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 ahold of your bank earlier if you’ve already decided on the car. Get your points from the deposit! It is worth it.

Also, you may be interested to read about how long of a loan period you should go for, and what is a good way to look at car loans through a personal finance lens here.

Additional Stuff I Asked For

If you’re going to get a vehicle from Carsome or Carro (formerly 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 that Carsome was having a TnG wallet promo and I asked for that.

They were also giving an RM1K discount if you sold your car to them and subsequently bought from them afterwards. 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 (KDI) – An Review of KDI Save and KDI Invest

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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 (KDI) 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 Register?

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

Promo and Referral Code

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.

How will I use Kenanga Digital Investing (KDI)

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 ! 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 ! 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 ! 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 ! 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 ! 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 ! 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 ! 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 ! 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 ! 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%