Archive for the ‘General’ Category
CPF-linked funds post 6.6% loss in Q2: Lipper
Posted by: admin in General, Unit Trust on August 26th, 2010
Performance mainly dragged down by losses of global equities-linked funds
By JAMIE LEE
(SINGAPORE) Funds registered under the Central Provident Fund investment scheme (CPFIS) suffered an overall loss in the second quarter of this year, reversing from slight gains in Q1, as uncertainty over the eurozone debt crisis and the US economy took hold.
The overall performance of the 334 funds - 156 unit trusts and 178 investment-linked insurance products - licensed to tap CPF savings fell 6.55 per cent on average in the three months ended June, data from fund research firm Lipper shows.
Their performance was mainly dragged down by losses sustained by funds linked to global equities.
By comparison, in Q1 the funds posted a marginal overall gain of 1.53 per cent, with unit trusts gaining 1.9 per cent on average and investment-linked insurance products (ILPs) gaining 1.19 per cent on average.
But unit trusts posted an average loss of 7.27 per cent in Q2. Of these mutual funds, those linked to equities posted the biggest loss, higher than those linked to mixed assets - a mix of equities and fixed-income securities - and bonds.
Equity-linked trusts lost 8.63 per cent on average, while mixed-asset funds were down 5.09 per cent on average.
Funds linked to bonds posted a modest overall gain of 0.9 per cent.
Despite the poor showing by equity-linked unit trusts overall, CPFIS mutual funds linked to equities in Thailand, Malaysia and India took the first three spots among the top-performing asset classes in the first half of the year.
Unit trusts linked to Thailand shrugged off the political crisis there in May to post a 9.63 per cent return.
Insurance-linked products (ILPs) lost 5.89 per cent broadly in Q2. Those linked to equities posted an average loss of 8.23 per cent, while those exposed to mixed assets had a negative average return of 4.2 per cent.
ILPs linked to bonds fared best, gaining 1.42 per cent in Q2, while those linked to the money market - which refers to fixed-income markets with an average residual life to maturity of under a year - returned just 0.08 per cent.
For the first half of 2010, CPFIS funds linked to bonds were the clear winners, posting an average gain of about 2 per cent.
Funds tied to the money market followed with an overall gain of less than one per cent.
In the six months ended June, equity-linked funds posted a loss of about 8 per cent, while mixed asset-linked funds saw a negative return of about 6 per cent in the same period.
Some 3,000 Singapore-based funds posted a 6 per cent drop in total net assets in the first half, taking the fund size tally to just over $4 billion, data from Lipper for Investment Management shows.
Source: Business Times
The choice is yours: CPF
Posted by: admin in General, Insurance, Unit Trust on March 29th, 2010
SINGAPORE : Should the CPF Investment Scheme be stopped so that members will not risk losing their retirement nest egg?
Yes, thinks a resident who claimed that he had lost some $350,000 in his CPF account after investing in shares under CPFIS.
The Lengkong Tiga resident, who identified himself as Mr Goh, said during the ministerial dialogue on Sunday that he only got back $35,000 eventually but did not say if these were the gains from the investments or the amount he could withdraw from his Ordinary Account (OA) on top of the Minimum Sum.
He also did not say how he lost the sum and whether the investments spanned a few years.
MediaCorp understands that members can only invest up to 35 per cent of their money in their OA in shares.
Mr Goh said he had suggested to the CPF Board to stop allowing members to invest in shares but staff had replied that it was his personal choice to make the investments.
Second Minister for Finance Lim Hwee Hua said she agreed with the CPF Board’s stance, adding that there had been “a lot of demand” for the Government to allow members to invest their CPF money before the CPFIS was introduced.
She quipped: “I’ll convey your feedback to the CPF Board but I’m not quite sure the rest will agree that we should stop the scheme.”
The latest performance numbers of funds under the CPFIS released earlier this month pointed to a solid year.
According to Lipper, the funds tracking company under the CPF Board’s guidelines, the average return of CPFIS—included funds, unit trusts and investment—linked insurance products (ILPs) rose 38.62 per cent last year compared with the same period a year ago. — TODAY
HDB new set of rules in short..
Posted by: admin in General, Real Estate on March 8th, 2010
These 2 months we will see a lot of new rules implementing to reduce excessive speculation and exuberance in the property scene.
In a nutshell the changes are:
- HDB allow buyers to take a 2nd concessionary loan from HDB even if they downsize to a smaller flat or move to a flat of the same size. Previously, only upgraders qualified for a second concessionary loan. However the sales proceeds from the sale of a flat, seller can only keep the greater of $25,000 or half of the cash proceeds. The remaining cash and CPF balance has to be used to finance the purchase of the next flat if they take up a HDB concessionary loan.
- MOP increased to three years for all flats bought in the resale market. Currently, the MOP is 2.5 years for buyers who choose to take up an HDB concessionary loan and just 1 year for buyers who either take a commercial bank loan or do not take any loan.
- 3,800 more elderly lessees will now benefit from its lease buyback scheme which has been revised. The scheme allows the elderly to monetise their flats by selling the tail end of the flat’s lease back to HDB.
- HDB will withhold $10,000 of the subsidies for a household made up of 1 Singapore Citizen + 1 PR when they buy a HDB flat. Once the PR converts to citizenship, or when the couple has a Singapore citizen child, the Board will return the withheld subsidy.
- A quota cap for PR households of 8 per cent in each block and 5 per cent within each neighbourhood.
- It will be applied on top of the ethnic integration policy (EIP) but will not apply to Malaysian PRs.
- EIP for Indian/Others limit was raised from 10 per cent and 13 per cent at the neighbourhood and block levels to 12 per cent and 15 per cent respectively.
CPF warns: Stiff fines for rebate scams
Posted by: admin in General, Unit Trust on January 2nd, 2010
By Lorna Tan, Senior Correspondent
CENTRAL Provident Fund members have been warned they face fines of up to $10,000 if they take part in a scam that has just come to light.
The CPF Board issued the stern warning after a report in The Straits Times yesterday exposing a practice adopted by unscrupulous financial advisers who plunder members’ CPF investment funds.
Some CPF members who are desperate for fast cash have agreed to take part in the scam, which involves the rapid buying and selling - or ‘churning’ - of investment products using CPF money.
The members dip into their retirement savings to buy and sell investment products under the CPF Investment Scheme - and in doing so they become eligible for cash rebates used as a carrot by errant financial advisers.
The advisers get to pocket healthy commissions.
CPF rules prohibit members from pocketing such cash rebates. All gains or rebates from CPF investments must be put back into members’ CPF accounts, to ensure they have enough for their golden years.
A CPF Board spokesman said: ‘CPF members found guilty of working with errant financial advisers to pocket cash rebates which amount to premature withdrawals of CPF monies may be fined up to $2,500. For second or subsequent convictions, the fine may be up to $10,000.’
The scam typically involves frequent buying and selling of unit trusts and investment-linked insurance policies for no good reason. In the process, the customer gets hit with charges while the financial adviser pockets extra commissions. Over an extended period of churning activity, the customer suffers as the savings in his CPF account - used for the transactions - inevitably dwindle, particularly in a falling or flat market.
Advisers typically entice CPF members to ‘churn’ by investing their retirement funds in return for monthly cash rebates. In most cases, CPF members are given blank forms to sign, authorising the advisers to transact these products on their behalf.
The cash rebates come from the sales charges tied to each transaction. The sales charge works out to 2 per cent to 3 per cent of the sum invested, of which the customer receives a cut. The balance is pocketed by the adviser, a person who may have introduced the member to the adviser, and the investment firm.
Singapore Insurance Institute council member, Mr Stanley Jeremiah, urged CPF members to be more careful about safeguarding their retirement funds.
‘People should be aware that by participating in churning they are cheating themselves because they are dissipating their retirement funds and committing a criminal offence,’ he said.
Mr Jeremiah said that even if a CPF member wants to take a chance, he would be making a big mistake because if he is caught, the penalties would be bigger than most of the cash rebates. With continued churning, the fines can be very substantial.
This article was first published in The Straits Times.
Source: AsiaOne Business
Fools rush in, or the early birds catches the worm?
Posted by: admin in General, Unit Trust on May 12th, 2009
To quote an article by IFast in Fundsupermart.com,
“However, we have recently seen a change in sentiment and increasing investor risk appetite, and this has benefited most equity funds and even higher-risk fixed income funds.”
There’s certainly a hint of optimism among the investors out there. Being a forward looking individual like myself, the storm will eventually subside as they always do. Unless you’re talking about the end of the world that is..
How will the H1N1 virus affect the global market
Posted by: admin in General, Unit Trust on May 4th, 2009
Just when the world market looking set to recover, the H1N1 crisis is causing concern around the world. It is still early to say how it would turn out, but a good indicator of how it would affect the market is to look back at how the world deals with SARS and other past pandemics, as highlighted in the report by the author of AMP Capital Investors. Click on the image to see the report.
SARS in 2003
Here’s the short of it:
- There might be short term volatility
- Unlikely to be a major impact on the share market
- SARS didn’t really eventuate, economic impact was modest although it caused some volatity in the market
What should you do now?
MohdKhair.com feels that it may not be a good idea to get aggressive on your investment now, but being 100% in conservative funds may cause you to lose out on strong gains when global market eventually recovers. It usually comes quicker than we can react.
Why do we see stocks picking up while RECESSION is still all over the news?
Posted by: admin in General, Unit Trust on April 27th, 2009
Why does the stocks sky-dived when the economy was going strong, and why lately does it seems to defy gravity when it’s still doom and gloom in the economy?
An Insider understands that stocks movement is the first indicator of the direction of economy. In the process, it also dictates the fall of the property market as we are experiencing right now.
Stocks trend first indicator of the economy (source).
Unit trust investors have seen an average spike of 30% return back then when the world recovers from the Asian Financial crisis. Though no-one truly knows when will be the start of the recovery until it is too late, we have seen a sustained growth over 6-8 months after the Asian Financial Crisis was over.
Question is, will you be one of them who will catch the wave?
Rooms for rent (immediate!)
I have a business deal with CityHomes, putting this up for a client:
Type of Property : Terraced House
No. of Room : 1 Master Bedroom, 1 Common Room
Property Location : Bedok
Property Address : 6 Wiltshire Road
Rental Asking : SGD$950 Master, SGD$750 Common
Co-broke : OK
View the images here (opens in new window).
Future CPF-SA Investors, this may affect you..
Posted by: admin in General, Unit Trust on February 18th, 2009
This is just in!
Abstracted from CPF Website - New Changes in 2009:
CPF Investment Scheme
To lower cost and improve quality of the funds included under CPFIS, the following changes will take place:
- From 1 May 2009, CPF members must first set aside $30,000 in their Special Account (SA) before they can invest their SA monies under CPFIS.
- From 1 January 2011, all funds in the CPFIS must meet all admission criteria applicable since 1 February 2006.
As it currently stands, you must set aside $20,000 before they can invest their SA monies under CPFIS. Meaning that currently, to be able to invest $10,000 from you CPF Special Account (CPF-SA) into a unit trust fund, you’ll need to have $30,000.
From 1st May 2009 onwards, you should have $40,000 in your CPF-SA to be able to invest $10,000.
If you’ve already invested your CPF-SA, this will not affect your current investment, but you may not be able to make a further investment i.e. top-up unless you meet the above guidelines.
I don’t believe in Unit Trust until I found this..
Posted by: admin in General, Unit Trust on February 17th, 2009
Performance of stocks from year 1925 to 2000
Some of the top reasons I’ve encountered by the people who don’t invest (or re-invest) is that it’s too risky, or it’s not a good time to buy in. There are another group of people who consistently see no “luck” in their investments, always losing the moment they go into that new fund/s.
These people usually have one thing in common - they usually see Unit Trust and its counterparts as a short term investment instrument.
Stretch it to a 10-years period or more and you’ll begin to see the opportunity right up there in the chart, almost regardless of when you come in. This is the most ideal period for accumulating funds for children education funds or retirement/old age funds.
Can’t manage your own investment? Working with a competent adviser with a cool head would be a good idea. Though the volatility nature of this investment can be a roller-coaster issue, one will eventually come out a winner with time on his/her side and sound investment fundamentals. I will discuss more about unit trust investing tactics and strategies in the near future.
View the full chart here (this will appear in a new window).
Have a burning question? Let it out here.