Markets have been taking a bit of a breather last month, ending April relatively flat. The S&P 500 outperformed the Nasdaq 100 though. The Family Portfolio performed in line with Nasdaq, since it’s overweight tech, but the Personal Portfolio suffered because of Tesla (TSLA) shares tanking.
The banking crisis reared its ugly head again with the collapse of First Republic Bank (FRC). Fortunately, JPMorgan (JPM) came to the rescue. Hopefully, that would help sentiment and give some assurance to investors in the event that more bank failures happen in the near future.
I covered briefly about the banking crisis and possible investment ideas in a previous post: Where To Invest Amidst The Banking Crisis.
With the outlook still cloudy and fears of recession persisting, I’ve not been buying much besides the RSP into ETFs and to move some funds back into SC Online Trading platform. Last night, the Fed raised another 25 bps to 5.00-5.25% range, and anticipate to pause on rates for now.
SSB yields have also fallen, so I probably won’t be applying this round. I’ve moved the bulk of my cash into MoneyOwl WiseSaver (cash fund), to earn some yield while waiting for better opportunities.
Read also my post on Why I think you should consider locking in fixed deposit and SSB rates and my Fixed Income Tracker.
See also my SSB tracker for more info on SSBs.
Last month, I’ve also been looking into robo-advisors’ offerings. Endowus launched new Amundi and BlackRock iShares funds (along with multiple webinars) which they claim are more efficient than the existing LionGlobal ones. Syfe launched new Income+ portfolios which consists of PIMCO active bond funds. StashAway launched new Simple Guaranteed portfolio which consists of Citibank fixed deposits.
Read: Syfe Income+ Review: New High-Yield Fixed Income Portfolios Powered by PIMCO
Watch: Endowus webinar
See my Portfolio page for more details on my portfolio value, holdings, and strategy.
Family Portfolio
- Value as at end April: S$166K
- April performance: +0.3% vs SPX +1.4% vs NDX +0.4%
- YTD performance: +15.9% vs SPX +8.6% vs NDX +21.0%
- All-time performance (since Aug 2016): -1.6% (+0.6% including dividends)
- April dividends: S$0.52 (n.m.)
- Bought: VT, QQQ, ARKK, SGX:HST, VWRD
- Sold: None
After selling off VT and QQQ from Tiger Brokers to move to SC Online Trading, I’ve only managed to buy back into QQQ. After studying VT vs VWRD, I’ve decided to shift to buying VWRD instead as the ETF of choice for global stocks coverage. Since QQQ doesn’t pay much dividends, I didn’t think it necessary to switch to the UCITS ETF equivalent CNDX.
Read: VT vs VWRD – Vanguard World ETF Comparison
RSP into the 4 ETFs through FSMOne running on auto as usual. No change here. Just plain boring DCA regardless of what the market is doing amidst this banking crisis.
Read my previous post on Automating Your Investments With FSMOne.
Syfe managed portfolios is currently valued at $6,185 with total returns of -$18 (as at 3rd May 2023). No change to regular monthly contributions of $200 into each of the Core Equity100 and REIT+ portfolios. Both Syfe Core Equity100 and REIT+ portfolios are now up after a recovery in REITs last month.
Read my reviews of Syfe REIT+ and Syfe Core Equity100.
Recently, Syfe has also introduced new Income+ portfolios composing of PIMCO bond funds. I’ve done some initial research, and will be looking deeper into bond funds since I intend to gain some bond exposure.
Read: Syfe Income+ Review: New High-Yield Fixed Income Portfolios Powered by PIMCO
Personal Portfolio
- Value as at end April: S$36.5K
- April performance: -17.7%
- YTD performance: +12.1%
- All-time performance (since July 2020): -22.8%
- Bought: TSLA, PLTR, SQQQ
- Sold: None
Both Tesla (TSLA) and Palantir (PLTR) were down for the month, so this portfolio took a beating. TSLA was down -22% and PLTR was down -8% in April. To add to the pain, SQQQ was also down -1% for the month.
TSLA stock has been selling off due to demand and margin concerns especially after its earnings release showing sales growth slowing despite price cuts, which have also hit margins. Tesla had also sparked EV price wars in China and the U.S.
Sentiment is PLTR stock is still terribly weak, despite Palantir launching its new Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP). Despite Palantir reporting its first quarter of GAAP profit in Q4 2022, ongoing concerns around government revenue growth and stock-based compensation (SBC) still remain.
I’ve yet to cut SQQQ off yet despite the rally in major indexes. However, I’m still thinking the market might turn lower again soon so I’m still hedged for that potential outcome.
Meantime, I’m nibbling into TSLA and PLTR since their valuations are undemanding IMO and they are both trading below their 200 day MA. Hopefully even if we go into a recession, their shares won’t be hit as hard as the rest of Big Tech.
Read my investment thesis on TSLA here.
How did your portfolio perform in April and what are your plans for May?
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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. I am not professional financial advisor nor do I work in the finance industry. Anything I write here is purely my personal opinion. Please do your own research and due diligence before investing into anything. All investments come with associated risks. Best to consult a financial advisor if you’re still unsure.
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