This is a long overdue post. To those of you whom I have not kept in touch with the last 3 months, here's a little update on my humble self. Yup, as the title says it, I have taken a big leap (of faith) in my career exactly 3 months ago. I'm no longer in the IT industry (after 7 LONG years with the same company).
I am now full time, working permanently in the financial line. Which logically means that I should have more ammunition/bullets/substance to talk about on my blog right? Well that's the logical ideal world. However I have only recently settled into the new job, hence this new post for the new year!
Monday, February 18, 2008
The big leap!
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Happiness is everywhere
So Digi launched the Happy brand/prepaid mobile plan on Wednesday. Somehow I have seen this somewhere before.
The Digi Happy logo:
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And here's the campaign logo used by a Thai mobile operator (DTAC) in 2006-2007:
Friday, December 07, 2007
Waja is in DEMAND??!!!
Yeah, some of you already know. My Waja, it seems is a product, a car that still appeals to drivers, still in demand. Don't believe me?
I didn't believe it either. It was just 2 months ago that I mentioned to my colleague "why would anyone wanna steal a Waja??" when he related his brother's experience. How was I to know that it would happen to my car as well!!!!
Yup, I now have an excuse to get a new car ..... as all my frens are saying.... :P I prefer a different excuse.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
The best brand name ever!
Close vs open
I have talked about unit trust in Let's DUIT!! Open Ended Close ended Funds are raised during initial sales period for the initial capital. Thereafter funds are raised or reduced depending on whether investors are buying or selling their units. Hence the liquidity requirements here are more restrictive (from a fund manager perspective) Similar to company going public, this fund will have a IPO to raise the funds for the manager to invest. You only deal with the fund manager (via agents/UTC/IUTA). It is traded on a stock exchange like other company shares. You can buy and sell it similarly like other shares via your broker. The price paid is always equal the NAV, as price is determined by the fund manager (apart from sales charges). The price paid may be at a premium or discount to NAV. This is because price is based on 2 factors a) supply and demand just like shares traded on exhange. b) NAV of the underlying shares Fees are usually higher as there are costs for creating, redeeming units, cost for engaging trustee(s) to oversee the fund. Fees are usually lower as there is less administrative work as stated on the left.
I have also briefly alluded to the closed ended counterpart. In referring to unit trust funds in the Malaysian market, we are usually referring to the open ended. So what's the difference between the open and close versions? And why do I prefer the closed version even though there are much less choices available? Click read more ... for more :)
UTC - Unit Trust Consultant
IUTA - Institutional Unit Trust Advisors (eg. Banks)
Close end fund fees are typically lower (since they don't have to deal with the expense of creating and redeeming shares),and they are flexible in terms of the level of cash they need to keep in their portfolio, since there is no buffer required for units redemption. As such they also have less worries about market fluctuations.
When there is a market panic, investors usually sell en masse (think of the lemmings :). In these situations the manager of an open-ended fund usually encounter a wave of redemptions (selling of units back to the fund). So to raise the cash required for redemptions, the manager may be forced to sell stocks at precisely the best time to buy (and conversely the manager may be forced to keep stocks he'd rather sell to prevent further downward pressure on those stocks). As mentioned in the table above, this is all down to the need for liquidity.
On the other hand if you pull out of a closed-end fund you need to look for another buyer in the market (hence the demand-supply comes into equation) and not sell it back to the fund manager. Consequently the fund manager need not sell any of the underlying stock the fund is invested in.
The Close End Fund's price will likely drop more than the market does (punishing those who sell during panic sessions), but conversely it is also likely to make a recovery if its portfolio consists of fundamentally good stocks. Additionally whenever a stock drops below its fundamental value for no rational reason, the close end fund is able to hunt for these bargains and buy them as long as it has the cash surplus in its portfolio.
These are the reasons why I prefer close end funds. One example is iCapital.biz as mentioned in the previous post. For disclosure purpose, I do need to mention that I am invested in iCapital.biz. And again this is not a recommendation for you to buy it :)
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Exchange Traded Funds
Wanna buy unit trust? But all the filling in of forms seems too cumbersome? There is another option, the exchange traded funds. These are funds which are traded on the Bursa Malaysia, as such you can buy or sell like any regular share that is traded there. This means just a phone call to your remisier will do it.
There are many types of ETFs, eg. index tracking funds (which has lower management fees due to the need to only track an index), actively managed closed ended funds (similar to open-ended unit trust but without the liquidity constraints)
Here are some of the ETFs in the market:
FTSE Bursa Malaysia Large 30 Index Fund
Stock name in Bursa: FB30ETF
Stock code: 0820EA
Started trading on: 19 July 2007
Summary - buys shares in the 30 largest companies (in terms of market cap) on the FTSE Bursa Malaysia EMAS index
ABF Malaysia Bond Index Fund
Stock name in Bursa: ABFMY1
Stock code: 0800EA
Started trading on: 18 July 2005
Summary - buys portfolio of RM denominated Government and quasi-Government debt securities ---- translated simply, you are buying the IOUs (debts) of the Kerajaan BN Malaysia dan semi-Kerajaan (government and semi-government in case you can't read BM).
iCapital.Biz Berhad
Stock name in Bursa: ICAP
Stock code : 5108
Started trading on: 19 October 2005
Summary - invests in undervalued companies which are listed on the Main and Second Boards of Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad (Bursa Securities) and the MESDAQ Market of Bursa Securities. It can also invest up to 10% of its asset value in unlisted companies.
Note this is not a recommendation to buy any of the funds above. :)
(BTW, this was one of the query from the private seminar Let's DUIT!! Will be addressing the others soon. Will also outline the difference, pros and cons of ETFs vs unit trust. If not you can also read on your own here)
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Let's DUIT!! I have done it!
First of all a big THANK YOU to all those who attended the talk/private seminar yesterday. It was a really great experience for me. Although I was totally exhausted after that (credit goes to last minute preparations, a habit from the days of studying for exams and lack of sleep the past 2 nights :) ... the sense of satisfaction was well worth it.
I have just gone through the comments and feedback from the participants and I will definitely incorporate that in future postings. Of course there was plenty of areas I can improve upon as correctly noted in your feedback.
Also I would like to again thank my friend who helped me with the whole setup from morning till evening. You know who you are.
And to the other 2 friends who came up with the idea of conducting a talk ..... who would ever thought this was actually become a reality. Thanks for the suggestion :)
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Go to the nearest Toto / Magnum / Da Ma Cai
Investment Betting tip of the day!
Lucky day for me. Tire puncture just before I left apartment to go to office.
Buy 4D now - if you know my car number plate. :)
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