Thanks to the Fed cutting interest rates by 50 bps and sparking a rally in almost every asset class, our tech-heavy portfolios benefitted greatly. Since the rate cut on 18 Sep 2024, markets have continued to break all-time highs and even continuing to grind higher in the first half of Oct. In addition, the market seems to be optimistic that this would continue at least until year end.
As bonds rally though, bond interest rates fell. Last I checked, Nov24 SSB was offered at 2.56% and 6-month T-bill (last auction 17 Oct 2024) cut-off yield was 2.71%. Both a far cry from their peaks. Likewise, FD and high-yield savings rates should be falling in tandem which makes it less attractive to hold on to cash.
However, there’s a balance to strike between deploying cash with markets at all-time highs and holding cash as interest rates fall. For now, rates are still pretty decent but if SSB rates fall below 2%, I might have to adjust my cash holdings accordingly. Should there be a pullback, I would take the opportunity to deploy more cash.
Check out my Fixed Income Tracker and SSB tracker for the latest updates for fixed income and SSB.
If you’re interested to track your investment portfolio on Portseido, you can sign up with my referral link.
See my Portfolio page for more details on my portfolio value, holdings, and strategy.
| As at 1 Oct 2024 | Value SGD | Sep performance | YTD performance |
| Family Retirement Portfolio | $327K | +5.0% | +24.9% |
| Personal Trading Portfolio | $82K | +17.8% | +15.9% |
| S&P 500 | +4.2% | +21.5% | |
| NASDAQ | +5.8% | +21.3% |
Family Retirement Portfolio (FRP)
FRP performed somewhat as expected, returning somewhere in between S&P 500 and Nasdaq. According to my calculations (which I hope are accurate), YTD performance is slightly better than both indexes.
No change to the usual RSP into ETFs on FSMOne into VWRA, QQQ, ARKK and HST. Besides RSP, I didn’t make any additional transactions in Sep.
Read also: Automating Your Investments With FSMOne
If you’re interested to sign up for a FSMOne account, you can use my referral code P0267058.
In terms of cash allocation, this portfolio is currently sitting at 17.5% cash, right on target. I’ve adjusted cash holdings down slightly due to lower SSB interest rates (which I use as a cash allocation modifier).
Syfe managed portfolios is currently valued at $33.4k (as at 17 Oct 2024), up from $29.9k (as at 5 Sep 2024), mostly due to a $1.4k deposit into REIT+ in addition to the usual RSP S$400/mth, but also partially due to the market rally. No change to regular monthly contributions of $200 into each of the Core Equity100 and REIT+ portfolios.
Read my reviews of Syfe Income+, Syfe REIT+, and Syfe Core Equity100.
Personal Trading Portfolio (PTP)
PTP posted huge gains and outperformance driven by rallies in both Tesla (TSLA) and Palantir (PLTR) of +22.5% and +19.5% respectively for Sep. However, since then both stocks have pulled back especially so for TSLA.
As PLTR continues to rally to dizzying levels, I’ve been trimming along the way. Since PTP is meant for shorter term trades, I have no qualms in taking profits. Good thing I trimmed slowly though, since PLTR continued to defy gravity.
In Sep, I’ve initiated a new position in Google parent Alphabet (GOOG). There was some weakness in GOOG shares as the US DOJ tries to break the company up. I think the weakness might be short-lived. The fact that the DOJ is coming after Alphabet is probably because they are so dominant, which is a great quality to have in an investment.
Besides that, I also bought more Disney (DIS) on further weakness.
In early Oct as you can see in the pie chart (since I didn’t manage to capture the holdings on 1 Oct), I also initiated a starter position in Boeing (BA), which I’ll explain more in next month’s update.
Read my investment thesis on TSLA here.
How did your portfolio perform in September 2024?
Follow me on Facebook, Telegram, Twitter and Youtube.
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.
Download my FREE Ebook: How to Start Investing in Stocks for Beginners
For more investing tips, visit my Guide page.
- Standard Chartered Online Trading: Referral link
- FSMOne: Referral code P0267058
- Tiger Brokers: Referral link | Review
- Futu SG (moomoo app): Referral link | Review
- Webull: Referral link
- Syfe Wealth & Syfe Trade: Referral code FINANCEGNOME | Referral link | Review
- Endowus: Referral code J5HPB | Referral link
- CoinHako: Referral link
- Crypto.com: Referral link
- Portseido: Referral link
For more investing resources, see my Referrals page.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links and I may get a commission when you click on the links or open an account through the links, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products or services that I have personally tried and have found useful.