wise stewards....

been thinking about doing some long-term investment plans...

few factors you want to consider:

• what's your time horizon
• how much initial capital do you have
• your risk appetite
• dividend play vs. price-return

looking through all these factors, the most important to me are that i have a long term horizon, so i am not coming in today and aiming for a quick profit tomorrow, and secondly i have a lower risk profile, so i prefer a dividend play i.e. a good stock that pays a stable dividend regularly.

did a quick search and filtered on 3 factors:

1. total market value/market capitalisation must be greater than S$500 million i.e. that's how much the investing public thinks the company is worth. S$500MM is a medium to large company in Singapore e.g. SIA or Singtel and most of the REITs e.g. CapitaMall
2. high dividend yield of more than 5%..that's much better than any bank will pay!
3. must be an STI stock. these are a list of the 30 largest and most representative stocks of the Singapore market.

factors 1 & 2 filtered the list from more than 700 down t0 34. factor 3 reduced it to a choice of 6 companies:

• SIA
• SGX
• Thai Beverage
• Starhub
• NOL
• Singapore Press Holdings

Warren Buffet, the guru of all investment gurus says "only invest in business you like and understand". and to that i add reading of several research reports on those companies. but basically, i can't afford SIA or SGX. and i don't understand NOL. so that leaves;

1. SPH
2. Starhub
3. Thai Beverage

analyst don't give a good view on Thai Beverage. generally they feel most value is priced in and the consumer model in thailand is changing. so that's out!

so now i add a new investment strategy...i'm going to PRAY!

Deut 8:18 - But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.
Wealth is from God, and we must remember to honour God with what He has and will bless us with!

so SPH or Starhub? or both? hmm.....