Portfolio Update - 31 July 2015

Market has been very volatile in the month of July. STI started negative, swing back to positive territory, than dived into negative territory in a free fall fashion on the last few days of trading. Index was still up 1% on 24/7, but the last week completely wiped out this gain. As at 31 July 2015 STI closed at 3202.50, down 3.46% compared to last month.

My portfolio also also swung from positive to negative with the index. As at month end, its value declined  2.93%. 

This month, I bought into Nam Lee, Tai Sin, KepCorp and Metro. I sold all my shares in China Flex Pack, Koda, Courage Marine and FSL.

Total passive income amounts to S$14,007.00 and is mainly from unit trusts. Only S$460 is from shares.

Below are my top 30 holdings as at 31 July 2015. The changes in relative positions shows the volatility of the market. Nam Lee Metal is a new member in the list. together with CWT, they replace Lippo Mall Trust and FCT.

        1.       ComfortDelGro
        2.       SPH
        3.       DBS
        4.       OCBC Bank
        5.       Kep Inf Tr fKa CIT
        6.       Ausnet Services
        7.       Metro
        8.       Sembcorp Ind
        9.       Frasers Comm Tr
       10.   SGX
       11.   ST Engineering
       12.   Starhub
       13.   CapitaLand
       14.   AIMSAMP Cap Reit
       15.   Keppel Corp
       16.   OUE
       17.   United Engineers
       18.   SATS
       19.   Nikko AM STI ETF 100
       20.   YZJ Shipbldg SGD
       21.   CapitaComm Tr
       22.   Ascendas Reit
       23.   Global Inv
       24.   SingShipping
       25.   SingTel
       26.   Mapletree Log Tr
       27.   Sing Inv & Fin
       28.   CWT
       29.   Nam Lee Metal
       30.   SIA

SRS Withdrawals - No Longer Need to Cash Out and Reinvest

According to the MOF website, SRS members no longer need to liquidate their investments when they withdraw their savings from SRS account. Instead they can have their investment "transfer" out. Please read:

From MOF website: http://www.mof.gov.sg/MOF-For/Individuals/Supplementary-Retirement-Scheme-SRS

SRS Withdrawals in the form of investments

Previously, all SRS withdrawals must be made in cash. Where savings in an SRS account have been used to acquire investments, the investments must be liquidated before the sales proceeds can be withdrawn in cash from the SRS account.

 

From July 2015, SRS members will be able to apply to their SRS operators to withdraw investments from their Supplementary Retirement Scheme (SRS) accounts without having to liquidate their investments. This is applicable for the following types of withdrawals, which qualify for the 50% tax concession:

a. withdrawal on or after the statutory retirement age prevailing at the time of an SRS member’s first contribution (prescribed retirement age);

b. withdrawal on medical grounds;

c. withdrawal in full by a foreigner who has maintained his SRS account for at least 10 years from the date of his first contribution; and

d. actual withdrawal made by an SRS member or his legal personal representative (if he is deceased) from his SRS account, after the SRS investment that is to be withdrawn had earlier been deemed withdrawn upon death or after the expiry of the 10-year withdrawal period.¹

 

For a withdrawal of type a, b or c above, an SRS investment that is withdrawn will be valued by the SRS operator or the financial product provider (where applicable) and its value will be brought to tax. This is similar to the treatment for cash withdrawn from an SRS account. For a withdrawal of type d above, the earlier deemed withdrawal would have already been subject to tax.

 

This change allows SRS members to hold their SRS investments outside of the SRS scheme without having to incur the transaction costs to first liquidate their SRS investments (so as to withdraw cash from their SRS accounts) and thereafter re-purchase the same investments outside of the SRS scheme. More information can be found in Q25 to Q48 of the SRS booklet.