The Tales of 2 Indexes
The S&P 500 surged to a record high in Jan erasing the loss incurred from the fastest rate hike in recent history. The strong showing suggests the US economy remains strong and resilient despite the high-interest rate environment and geopolitical tensions.
Another index the CSI 300 made new lows since 2019 as China’s economy continued to stumble due to its real estate crisis. Falling real estate prices are starting to impact asset quality at banks where there is fear of contagion spreading to the financial sector.
Investors invested in the different countries obviously face different fortunes in terms of returns as each market takes its natural course.
The SRS Fund ended Jan down 3.86% as the Singapore market in general receded from its year-end high. Companies related to the China economy continued their downward trend and remained a drag to the SRS Fund performance.
Overall the SRS Fund underperform the STI Index by 2% for Jan. The first month of the year is non-eventful for Singapore-listed companies as the earnings season only kicks into full swing in February.
Keppel REIT and Mapletree PanAsia Commerical Trust reported inline results with DPU falling slightly due to higher interest and operational costs. I continue to see weakness in REITs despite lower interest rate expectations as the Sea Change from the ultra-low interest rate era will continue to impact REITs in the multi-year adjustment to normalise interest rates.
There were no buy or sell activities as I await more earnings reports to digest the quality of companies in the portfolio before deciding to make any changes.
Portfolio Segments
Segments in the SRS Fund remain stable with the finance sector making the bulk of it. I envision the reliance on the finance and property sector will continue to shrink in 2024 as more investments are made to divest into other sectors to make the fund more resilient.
Dividends
No dividend was collected in Jan but the total dividend expected for 2024 will likely continue to exceed the SRS Fund contribution limits as the snowball continues compounding.
SRS Fund Value
The SRS Fund retreated slightly to $366,121.81 in the absence of dividend and market weaknesses.
Cash Levels
The cash level remains low at 3.1% with the likelihood of rising due to dividends from portfolio companies in Q1
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The SRS Fund Sep 2026
Sep brought a modest recovery in the SRS Fund, but it also left me thinking more carefully about how much of Singapore’s current economic and market strength is connected to the AI investment cycle.
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MyNest US Fund Sep 26
The month of Sep brought together two developments that matter to our portfolio: Further progress in the field of AI and a sharp increase in long-term interest rates.
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The SRS Fund Aug 2026
Aug’s economic update provided another reminder of how closely Singapore has become connected to the global investment in AI and semiconductors.
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MyNest US Fund Aug 26
The idea behind the “SaaSpocalypse” was simple: if artificial intelligence could write software, generate content and complete business tasks, what would happen to the software companies charging customers to do those things?
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The SRS Fund Jul 2026
For much of 2026, the market’s attention has been firmly fixed on AI, semiconductors and anything connected to the massive build-out in computing infrastructure.
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MyNest US Fund Jul 26
After spending a long period watching the artificial intelligence infrastructure build-out from the sidelines, we finally decided to join the party—albeit cautiously.
