2Q 2023 Investment Strategy Update

Nothing significant changed compared to last quarter. Ukraine war is still going on, interest rate is still sky high, though there are signs that central banks are looking at taking a pause on the rate increase to see if inflation can be tapered to a sustainable rate, without dragging the economy into recession. I must say that things are not looking good. There are already signs that companies are holding back investment and new orders as things start to slow down, though only time will tell if this situation is only temporary, or it is the start of a recession cycle.

DJI ended at 34407, an increase of 1133 points (+3.40%) compared to 1Q 2023. For Singapore, STI ended at 3205, a decrease of 53 points (-1.62%) compared to last quarter. Markets are moving sideways in the recent months as investors waits for a clearer direction. 

For this quarter, not much action from me, except waiting for the official announcement if the Glazers are going to sell off Man Utd. I personally think at the end, they will leave Man Utd, but not before getting the highest bid for their shares. Other than this, I am focus on accumulating US Reits, as their current yield is still too good to be missed.

Transaction 1: Bought 1 batch Grab shares in May. 

GXS has started getting active with now accepting loans. Grab continued with adjusting their customer incentives system to make the business more profitable. Recently, Grab announced slashing 11% of their workforce to be aligned with the current business environment. I think Grab will be on target to turn profitable and has a great potential for share value increase.

Transaction 2: Bought 1 batch Prime US Reit shares in June. 

At least to me, this does not look like a Reit in distress. Tenants are still paying rents, occupancy rate is reasonably good, gearing % is not too bad, but this does not show in the share value, probably due to the high interest rate environment. But with the current yield at 30% for a reit, this is too good to be miss.

Transaction 3: Bought 1 batch Mapletree Industrial Trust shares in June.

Usual stocking up on this good counter, while waiting for interest rate to drop and the Kolam Ayer 2 cluster to start contribution to unlock more share price value.

That is all for now. See you all in Q3 2023 update and thank you for reading thus far.