With the first half of the year behind us now, the second quarter is nothing short of eventful.
On May 10, Trump has raised tariff on US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10% to 25% which was met with retaliation from China with tariff hikes on US$60 billion worth of American goods exported to China on 1 June.
It evidently does not help that US has accused Huawei of espionage and stealing of intellectual property which led to the addition of Huawei to an export blacklist that bans entities from conducting business with US companies without US government approval. Even though the ban was subsequently delayed, it has undoubtedly exacerbated the tensions and antagonism between Beijing and Washington.
Just when it was difficult to envision a path out of the quagmire on trade issues, Xi and Trump have reignited trade talks ahead of the meeting at G20 summit in Osaka this weekend.
On 19 June, FOMC has held the line on the interest rate in the target range of 2.25% to 2.5%. However, the FOMC vote was divided with Powell seeing his first dissent of his tenure as Fed Chairman. This could possibly pave the way for a rate cut in July.
Back at home, Singapore has seen dismal export data in the last 3 months on the back of lingering uncertainties from the US-China trade spat and the fading of electronics cycle. To compound the problem, Singapore was branded as a currency manipulator by the US.
On the other hand, the SGX S-REIT 20 Index has been on a stable ascend from 1353.741 in April to 1442.120 in June, recording a gain of 6.53% in the short span of 3 months.
Action in Q2
In the second quarter of the year, I have initiated positions in Eagle HTrust and Astrea V Bond.
Eagle HTrust
I have subscribed to this pure-play US hospitality trust during its IPO. I like that it has a master lease structure with 66% of the base rental on fixed rates which helps to provide some form of stability in the inherently cyclical hospitality industry. Majority of the hotel properties in the portfolio have completed their renovations in 2018 and first quarter of 2019 prior to the IPO. The past financial data and operational statistics seems to suggest a generally consistent uptrend performance.
However, with the volatile market condition, the weakness among recent REIT listing debuts appears to have cast a pall over the IPO market.
Needless to say, Eagle HTrust was not spared. On hindsight, it could have been an impetuous decision as the counter has shed 6.4% from its IPO price on its first day of trading. Will all that said, I will continue to monitor this counter.
Astrea V Bond
Following the successful launch of Astrea IV Bond last year, there was another issue of the PE Bond this year which was 4.5 times oversubscribed.
Although I would have wished that the yield to maturity can be higher than 3.85%, I guess the change in the recent interest rate environment has called for a lower yield for Astrea V Bond as compared to the previous issue.
Nevertheless, I have initiated a small position in the bond.
Following the successful launch of Astrea IV Bond last year, there was another issue of the PE Bond this year which was 4.5 times oversubscribed.
Although I would have wished that the yield to maturity can be higher than 3.85%, I guess the change in the recent interest rate environment has called for a lower yield for Astrea V Bond as compared to the previous issue.
Nevertheless, I have initiated a small position in the bond.
Portfolio
(Click to enlarge)
The capital injection to the portfolio in May and June have been represented by the green portion which helps to provide a better picture of the change in portfolio value.
Overall, the market value of my portfolio has increased by 11.93% to $114,633.18 in the second quarter, to a large extent due to the injection of funds.
Overall, the market value of my portfolio has increased by 11.93% to $114,633.18 in the second quarter, to a large extent due to the injection of funds.
Dividend
(Click to enlarge)
The second quarter is comparatively unexciting for me. The dividends collected in this quarter is 21.18% less than that of 1Q2019. However, compared to 2Q2018, the dividend collected has increased by 172% to $973.59, chiefly due to a significant capital injection into the portfolio last year.
The dividend collected from this quarter is contributed by the following securities:
Total Dividend Collected : $2,208.80
Average Dividend/Month : $368.13 (over 6-months period)
The dividend collected from this quarter is contributed by the following securities:
Month
|
Payment Date
|
Security
|
Dividend
|
April
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
May
|
7
May
|
Capitaland
|
$120.00
|
24
May
|
Hyphens
Pharma
|
$16.50
|
|
30
May
|
Starhill
Global REIT
|
$187.00
|
|
June
|
3
Jun
|
Netlink
Trust NBN
|
$390.40
|
3
Jun
|
SSB
Dec 2018
|
$46.73
|
|
12
Jun
|
Far
East HTrust
|
$109.20
|
|
14
Jun
|
Astrea
IV Bond
|
$86.76
|
|
27
Jun
|
Raffles
Medical
|
$17.00
|
Average Dividend/Month : $368.13 (over 6-months period)
* Exchange Rate
1 EUR : 1.5383 SGD
1 USD : 1.3528 SGD
1 EUR : 1.5383 SGD
1 USD : 1.3528 SGD
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