Dividend Warrior's 1H2025 Portfolio Update - My Biggest Buying Spree Since 2020 Covid Year!

Equities Portfolio Cost: S$667, 635

Equities Portfolio Market Value: S$875, 420

Equities Portfolio Unrealised Profit: +S$207, 785 (+31.1%)

Portfolio XIRR (1H2025): +4.8% (inclusive of dividends)

Dividends Collected (1H2025): S$24, 830 (+14.1% yoy)

Total Cumulative Dividends (2010 - 1H2025): S$349, 755

Current Cash & Cash Equivalents: S$3, 000

(*All figures are accurate as of 30 Jun 2025)

Portfolio Actions in 2Q 2025:

• Accumulated UOB at S$30.70
• Accumulated Sheng Siong at S$1.70 and S$1.83
• Accumulated PropNex at S$1.03
• Accumulated NetLink Trust at S$0.875
• Accumulated ParkwayLife REIT at S$4.02
• Subscribed to FCT's preferential offering at S$2.05

• Accumulated batches of Amazon between US$170 and US$180
• Accumulated batches of Alphabet between US$150 and US$160
• Accumulated batches of Microsoft between US$360 and US$370
• Accumulated batches of Nvidia between US$100 and US$120

TACO Man Is My God of Fortune

In April, Trump's Liberation Day tariffs threw the global markets into chaos. Doom and gloom headlines dominated the media. Youtubers were churning out daily videos with their mouth wide-opened and hands-on-forehead thumbnail images. As a battle-hardened investor, I knew this was the moment to unleash my cash warchest and dividends. My strategy of 'Sheng Siong + US tech' went into overdrive. More than S$50k deployed into the markets in Q2. I am so glad to have bought the dip aggressively because it is starting to pay off by the end of June as the US market made an incredible V-shaped recovery! My Microsoft and Nvidia positions hit all-time-high. Not even the short-lived conflict between Israel and Iran could derail the market rally despite the media touting the possibility of World War 3. 

Some of my better quality REITs like AREIT, FCT, KDC and PLife have also risen YTD. Share prices of the 3 local banks remain elevated. PropNex is also riding high due to its special dividend payout and more new private property launches this year. Homebuyers have been snapping up Executive Condos (EC) like hotcakes in Q1- Q2. Sheng Siong opened 8 new outlets in 1H2025 as its share price hits an all-time-high of $1.90. More importantly in Singapore's context, the results of GE 2025 gave the incumbent party a clear and strong mandate to guide Singapore through uncertain times. Over the years, I have realised that complaining about the government policies is a waste of time. Instead, we should think of ways to gain from the system. I believe Sheng Siong, PropNex and the local banks would stand to benefit from government policies. This is a system that 65% of voters agreed upon. Let's face it, $1m resale flats is the new norm now. And judging from the URA Masterplan 2025 (Property agents already posting videos on how to become Huat Kueh), I won't be surprised to witness the first S$2m resale flat transaction in my lifetime. So just position ourselves accordingly and let the government work hard to boost our property values.

All of the above-mentioned factors combined to push my portfolio value to a new record-high of S$875k. Hefty special dividend payouts from DBS, UOB, OCBC and PropNex is set to lift my projected 2025 total dividends above S$45k. Unfortunately, on the flip side, I am expecting to run out of targets to accumulate in 2H2025 unless a new major crisis emerges. Hopefully, President Trump can cook up some crazy executive orders again. Or perhaps China can conduct some military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. 

Spending My Dividends In Thailand

Visited Bangkok back in February. Enjoy good food and relaxing massage :)

My next trip would be Osaka in November!

~ Collect Dividends, Travel Far ~

Dividend Warrior's Q1 2025 Portfolio Update - S$800k Record-High Portfolio Value Achieved!

 

Equity Portfolio Cost: S$625, 630

Equity Portfolio Market Value: S$800, 263

Equity Portfolio Unrealised Profit: +S$174, 633 (+27.9%)

Portfolio XIRR (1Q2025): +4.7% (inclusive of dividends)

Dividends Collected (1Q2025): S$6, 059 (-18.6% yoy)

Total Cumulative Dividends (2010 - 1Q2025): S$330, 984

Current Cash & Cash Equivalents (SSB/T-bills): S$26, 000

(*All figures are accurate as of 31 Mar 2025)

Portfolio Actions in 1Q 2025:

• Accumulated DBS at S$44.80

• Accumulated Amazon at S$183
• Accumulated Alphabet at US$151
• Accumulated Microsoft at US$377

In times of market turmoil, allow me to point all of you to my 'old but gold' blog post on staying unbreakable. Cultivate your inner Warrior spirit and never let a crisis go to waste!

How Dividend Warrior Stays Unshakeable In Market Turmoil

Spending My Dividends in Tokyo! ^^

Dividend Warrior FY2024 Portfolio Update - S$43k Record High Annual Dividends!

 

Equity Portfolio Cost: S$616, 070

Equity Portfolio Market Value: S$761, 930

Equity Portfolio Unrealised Profit: +S$145, 860 (+23.7%)

Portfolio XIRR (FY2024): -2.1% (inclusive of dividends)

Dividends Collected (FY2024): S$43, 280 (+7.8% yoy)

Total Cumulative Dividends (2010 - 2024): S$324, 925

Current Cash & Cash Equivalents (SSB/T-bills): S$46, 000

(*All figures are accurate as of 31 Dec 2024)

Portfolio Actions in 4Q 2024:

• Accumulated DBS at S$42
• Accumulated OCBC at S$16.50

• Accumulated Propnex at S$0.91

• Accumulated Sheng Siong at S$1.63
• Accumulated MINT at S$2.19
• Accumulated Alphabet at US$188
• Accumulated Nvidia at US$137
• Partial divestment of KDC at S$2.23
• Partial divestment of FLCT at S$0.91

A Quarter of Heavy Rebalancing - Singapore for dividends & US for growth

In 2024, REITs had been a drag on my portfolio performance, Fortunately, my positions in banks and US tech helped to mitigate some of the damage. Higher dividends from the banks was much welcomed too. In fact, the banks have rallied so much that DBS and OCBC have become my top two positions. The rebalancing of my portfolio continued with greater pace in the last quarter of 2024. The US Fed signals a slower pace of rate cuts in 2025. US core inflation remains sticky above 2% and the labour market seems resilient with the US economy booming. The era of near-zero interest rate is probably not returning anytime soon. In a normalised interest rate environment, it is better to divert my funds towards non-REIT dividend-paying counters in Singapore. Particularly, Sheng Siong for its defensiveness, Propnex and the banks for their stable growth. In an increasingly turbulent world, Singapore is a safe haven where the super rich (in Asia especially) prefer to park their wealth at. This trend should benefit the private wealth management sector and the residential property sector. 

Furthermore, for the benefit of my non-local readers, you need to understand that Singaporeans (like most Asians) are obsessed with home-ownership. The idea of owning a home is deeply-ingrained into our nation's psyche, passed down through the generations. The 'Singapore Dream'. The holy grail of the middle-class. Over the past decade, home-ownership rate in Singapore has hovered around 90%, which is one of the highest in the world! Around 70% of residents live in public housing. This is why, in my opinion, the government would not launch any drastic property cooling measures as this could risk incurring the wrath of homeowners. Nobody likes to watch their property value stagnate or decline. So the government has to try to strike a fine balance between price appreciation and affordability. I guess the bottom line is, property values would be allowed to trend up in order to keep the majority of the voters happy. Over the long term, banks and Propnex should benefit from this mandate. Lastly, over the next decade, the entire Millennial generation would enter their prime home-buying and property-upgrading age. During Chinese New Year gathering last year, all my married cousins were discussing about resale HDB and condominiums launches. It was a hot topic. They are in their mid-30s to early-40s. I remember one of them was interested in a 9th-floor 5-room resale DBSS in Hougang, with an asking price of $950k. We are looking at a future where $1m HDB flats are no longer a shocker.

There was some volatility in the US market just before the US presidential election in November and I took the opportunity to buy the dip on Alphabet and Nvidia. In 2025, I am also looking to increase my allocation in Amazon and Microsoft. Most of the dividends collected from my Singapore holdings would be re-invested back into these US Big Tech. Hopefully, Mr Market can give me more buying opportunities. As for my current REIT positions, I am comfortable holding onto the more resilient ones like FCT, PLife, MINT and AREIT. But I do not plan on adding anymore. If there is a market crash, my S$40k parked in SSB would be deployed.

Preparations For FIRE Lifestyle

Going from being employed at a full-time job to a FIRE lifestyle is not as simple as flipping a switch overnight. There is a transitional period. I think we actually need time to plan and get prepared for this transition. Some people in the FIRE community are struggling at this. Throwing the resignation letter at your boss's face is the easy part. Entering a new stage of your life can be challenging. Some people start to get bored or lose their purpose in life. This is why I started my preparations a couple of years back. I started my YouTube channel as one of the ways to keep myself occupied when I retire in the future. Dipping my toes into content creation, getting my feet wet. Ah, some of you might be thinking that my channel is all about investing and personal finance. No! The last thing I ever want to talk about in my retirement years is investing. That phase of my life is over. Sure, I will be monitoring my finances in private, but I am not going to be talking about it on a regular basis, much less make videos about it. Seriously, how many videos can one make about CPF! I want to focus on activities that can be sustained throughout my retirement. Secondly, the topics must not be controversial. I decided on food and traveling. Everyone got to eat right? And I am planning to travel more during my retirement, so might as well create some content while I am at it. Besides, once your portfolio, passive income and CPF reach a certain astronomical amount, it gets kinda pointless talking about it. I would rather spend my time enjoying the fruits of my labour and accumulating more 'Memory Dividends'.

My first ever trip to Tokyo in November was like a practice run and it was amazing. Planning to visit Osaka in 2025! ^^ 

~ Collecting memories, one destination at a time ~