The SRS Fund Aug 2024 Update

The Great Market U-Turn

I have experienced several market reversals in my 20 years or so investment journey. Non though in my memories is as fast as what had happened in August of this year.

The worldwide stock market crash in early August started by the unwinding of yen carry trades was all but over by the end of the month. World indexes are already hitting new highs and the same can be said of the SRS Fund.

August was full of actions for the SRS Fund as several positions were disposed, particularly our investment in Keppel Corp. I concluded Keppel’s divest and return to shareholders action will slow going forward.

The SRS Fund welcomes 2 additions namely Aztech Global and Kimly Ltd. Both are high-quality companies with quality free cash flow. The Fund also took the opportunity of the drop in Bank prices to scoop up an additional 300 shares of DBS.

With some luck of having sold before the Aug crash, the SRS Fund is able to put cash to work and invested nearly $30k worth of quality companies. There are now 19 components in our all-weathered diversified SRS Fund.

The SRS Fund is up 11.03% year to date and took a leap over the benchmark STI in Aug with the tailwind of additional dividends received. With this lead, hopefully, the SRS Fund will maintain its momentum and provide alpha over the benchmark come year-end.

Portfolio Segments

The SRS Fund segment remains balanced with a slight increase in manufacturing and services with new additions in Aztech and Kimly. Finance remains heavily overweighted due to the increased capitalisation of banks in the portfolio.

Dividends

Over $5,000 worth of dividends was collected in Q3 so far and will surpass the dividend collection year on year. In fact, for the 2nd year in the running, the dividend will surpass the maximum amount of contribution allowed to the SRS.

SRS Fund Value

The SRS Fund value hits another record high of $422,892. With South East Asia’s economy having a rosy outlook over the next decade, I predict this tailwind will propel the SRS Fund over the million-dollar mark by the next decade.

Cash Levels

With around 4% of cash in the SRS Fund, I am on the lookout for more opportunities. However, with almost 20 companies in the portfolio, additional investment will likely be funnelled toward existing holdings rather than new companies.

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