Portfolio Update for January 2026

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This will be a relatively short post to update on my portfolio and transactions for the month of January.

January started the year with higher volatility, mainly due to geopolitical issues. Tensions in Venezuela and Iran raised concerns about global oil supply, while unexpected comments from the US about Greenland added uncertainty to global politics. Even though these events have not caused any immediate downward response to the local stock market (and if any, it was short-lived due to Trump's TACO), it has definitely caused much unrest and movements in the precious metals.  

Personally, since I had already removed my exposure to US stocks earlier, I experienced this month’s volatility with less stress.  While I may miss out on sudden rallies, clearing debt and improving my cashflow continues to give me peace of mind.  Market movements are unpredictable, but having a stronger financial base is something I can control.  Thankfully with diversification, any impact is controlled, especially when gold and silver prices reached peak volatility and plunged up to 10% and 30% respectively in one day.

Closer to home in Singapore, the market was relatively stable.  Bank stocks remained well supported, helped by strong balance sheets and still-healthy interest margins, even though loan growth has slowed slightly.  Non-REIT dividend stocks once again helped to support my portfolio.  REITs, however, continued to move sideways, as investors are still waiting for clearer signs that interest rates will come down meaningfully.  Even so, I am comfortable holding REITs as part of my long-term income plan, and I am pleased with the performance of my diversified portfolio.

In this month, I made a decision to sell away my Bank of China SDR (BOC SDR) holdings and switch the funds to invest in a new ETF IPO, namely UOBAM Ping An FTSE ASEAN Dividend Index ETF (UPD ETF).  This month, the REITs have started releasing their results as well.  Mapletree Logistics Trust (MLT) has reported a flat distribution per unit (DPU) quarter on quarter, Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT) has reported a slight dip in DPU quarter on quarter, while both Mapletree Pan Asia Commercial Trust and CapitaLand Ascott Trust (CLAST) reported a slight improvement in DPU year on year.  Overall, it seems like more time will be required for REITs to turnaround.

For this month, I injected approximately SGD 350 capital, and used the sales proceeds to buy the following shares:

SGX:    CapitaLand Ascott Trust

             ComfortDelgro

             HRNetGroup

             Kimly

             United Overseas Bank

             UOBAM Ping An FTSE ASEAN Dividend Index ETF

On the other hand, I have sold the following shares:

SGX:    Bank of China HK SDR

             Hong Leong Finance

             Singapore Technologies Engineering

Total Portfolio Value has climbed by approximately 4.4% to around SGD 746K including capital injection to reach another new all time high (SGD 758K including cash, and SGD 772K including cash and precious metals at current resale value).  Moving ahead, I am contented with my current portfolio allocation, and will just hold on for the remainder of the year.  When opportunity arises, I will attempt to reinvest the dividends to compound my portfolio further.  With regards to precious metals, I will be looking forward to a partial liquidation of some silver to partially pay for the last piece of gold I bought recently, after the uptrend hopefully resume from the brutal correction.  Looking forward to more results to be released by various companies in my portfolio, and another round of dividends to flow in.

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