Lastest Update: 7 August 2016
From 1 August 2016, Standard Chartered Bank Singapore will require a minimum brokerage fee of SGD$10; which also means that it is now more expensive to buy and sell stocks; hence, only buy or sell when you have decided that it is profitable to do so. Although I will continue to use Standard Chartered Bank for its brokerage services, I will only invest when I have SGD$1,500 to SGD$2,500. The other alternative brokerages are SAXO Capital Markets and Interactive Brokers (which I may consider opening up an account with).
I was introduced to the world of trading many years ago and I failed very miserably; to the extent that I lost quite a princely sum of money to the market. Since that painful lesson, I decided that trading was not going to be a profitable option for me (though I am currently still trading; albeit on a smaller scale) and I started to invest in the ABF SG Bond Index Fund and the NIKKO STI ETF.
As a Retail Investor, I do not have a large capital to begin with and if I were to buy stocks through DBS Vickers, Lim and Tan Securities and etc., my minimum sum of investment would be the equivalent of between SGD$3,000 to SGD$5,000. If you do not have such a large sum of money, I would recommend that you buy stocks through Standard Chartered’s Online Equities Trading as they do not charge any commission except for low brokerage fee of 0.2%. The only downside is that although the stocks are owned by you, it is held by the bank and if the bank goes bust [which is not likely as it has a strong backing], there goes your investments.
Image Credits to Turtle Investor
Even though both of my investments grew bit by bit [about 9% returns on investment every year], I was not satisfied and I went online to search for alternatives. I chanced upon a few investment articles written by Alvin Chow, Founder of Big Fat Purse; and I was extremely intrigued by the strategy he uses to pick stocks.
Thanks to Xeo Lye, the Founder of Wongamania, I had the honour and privilege of meeting Alvin in person and I had the opportunity to attend the Value Investing Mastery Course conducted by Alvin Chow and Louis Koay [Co-Founder of Big Fat Purse].
Our Personal Opinion/Review of the Value Investing Mastery Course
The Value Investing Mastery Course [VIMC] is a one-day course that last for about 9 hours and it is divided into 4 different parts.
Part 1 – Stock Selection Criteria
Overview of the CNAV strategy. Evaluate stocks based on proprietary CNAV1 and CNAV2, and POF score criteria.
Part 2 – CNAV1 CNAV2 POF Calculation
Learn the differences and calculate CNAV1 and CNAV2 values. Learn how to apply POF score to increase the chances of success. Classify assets into four main categories.
Part 3 – Buying, Monitoring and Selling CNAV Stocks
How to select CNAV stocks to buy? What are the additional qualitative considerations?
How to calculate Portfolio Returns?
When to sell? What are the warning signs?
Part 4 – Investment Game
Practical, fun and great learning for players. Apply the CNAV strategy on real stocks and see the performance!
Having attended the VIMC, it has empowered me with the ability to calculate the Conservative Net Asset Value [CNVA] for any kind of stocks and if you give me any stock, I am able to tell you in 15 minutes if a stock is worth investing.
Just so you know, the CNAV Strategy is very much based on Fundamental Analysis and there is no Technical Analysis involved. However, for Fundamental Analysis to be effective, there is a need to derive some important data that can be found in the Annual Reports and the VIMC teaches participants how to analyse income statements, balance sheet, and cashflow statements.
Image Credits to Big Fat Purse
We will definitely recommend VIMC to retail investors like us because the VIMC is a very easy course to follow and all that is required is a pen and calculator. Trust me, the course is unlike any other kind of previews you perhaps have attended before; the VIMC is the real deal where you literally get access to the entire content with no additional gimmicks. However, do note that all investment strategies have its pros and cons and the CNAV Strategy may not be suitable for all investors.
Both Jacqueline and I strongly believe in raising the financial literacy in Singapore and only education can achieve that. As we share similar values and sentiments with the team at Big Fat Purse, we are very happy to partner with them and every reader of A Winsome Life will be given a 10% discount for the VIMC.
The VIMC cost only SGD$98 [which by the way, is extremely undervalued] and when you key in the coupon code: awinsomelife upon signing up; you can attend the VIMC for just SGD$88.20. The class size is comfortable for effective instruction and seats are limited.
If you are interested to find out more about the VIMC, you can check out Big Fat Purse Official Website and if you have decided to sign up for the VIMC, don’t forget to key in the coupon code: awinsomelife to get a 10% discount.
