“Courage taught me no matter how bad a crisis gets … any sound investment will eventually pay off.” — Carlos Slim Helu
The year 2023 has proven to be among the best years so far for my USD portfolio. Actually I am not happy when the market is up, during wealth accumulating phase, I prefer a prolonged bear market so that I can buy more with less money.
I am on track for my early retirement in 2025, once I hit my retirement number, becoming a sessional consultant in the hospital will be an option for me. Certainly I hope to practise medicine after retirement but the stress of work and never ending deadlines will be over.
The last one year has taught me about being at peace with myself. People told me about finding purpose in life and warned me about dying young if I retire early, but the freedom of time and living at your own terms after retirement are so tempting!
I still have about two years before retirement, my mind might change eventually because we change more than we can imagine! We will see what happens after I hit my number.
Market Performance in 2023
Below are major indices performances in 2023
| Index | Performance |
| S&P 500 | +24.2% |
| Dow Jones | +13.7% |
| Nasdaq | +43.4% |
| STI | -0.3% |
| KLCI | -2.28% |
STI and KLCI have been performing poorly for the last few years. As an index fund investor, I bet on VUSD ( S&P500 ETF) and VWRD ( FTSE world index fund) but never bet on Singapore nor Malaysia stock indexes!
My USD Portfolio Performance in 2023
My USD portfolio ( a combination of VUSD, VWRD and IGLO) has clocked a return of +18.5% in 2023. Although I am lagging behind the performance of S&P500 of 24.2 percent, I am quite happy with the results.
An average market return for me is good enough, I do not set my goal too high because as long I am holding to my ETFs and keep on buying, I am on track to hitting my number in 650 days!
Investing should be simple, complexity does not add value to your portfolio in long run. Market prediction and stock picking are those who are gifted! For me, I am just a simple investor and indexing has proven to be the only way that work for most people.
I am happy that IBKR now has an option for you to invest regularly so I have set up my monthly investment for VUSD and VWRD. I buy intermittently IGLO so that my asset allocation is 85 percent for equities and 15 percent for bonds.
How about my SGD Portfolio Performance?
I don’t look at my SGD portfolio anymore except made a few purchases of REITs and banks stocks in 2023. Their valuations especially for a few REITS are so attractive and I decided to put in some money to buy them.
In 2023, I also chipped in some money into Singapore Saving Bonds ( SSB), I wrote about how can a Malaysian buy SSB HERE.
There are still a few REITS that I am siting on losses, First and Suntec Reits are wo major REITs that put me in the red territory. I have sold all Lippo Mall Retail Reits and got over it.
I am likely to hold on to my Singapore Reits unless circumstances change and I hope to buy more Singapore bank stocks when the valuations are attractive. DBS and UOB have been paying me handsome dividends for years!
What should you do as a Malaysian?
Yes, as I said many times before, as a Malaysian, you have to invest beyond Malaysia. No point of buying just Malaysian stocks and in fact if you optimize your EPF/KWSP, you do not need to buy anymore Malaysian stocks. Investing in EPF is good enough for you to get involved in Malaysian stock market, if you have extra money, invest in a world index fund or Singapore stock market ( REITS and bank stocks).
Looking at the performance of our currency, you have no other choice but to diversify yourself beyond the comfort of our home country.
Conclusion
Yes, ignore the market noise and stay on course, the stock market has no other way to go except upward trend in long run. History has proven to us repeatedly that if you have the courage and patience, you will be rewarded in compounding interests!
And please fellow Malaysians, look beyond Malaysia and diversify your investment! And of course, don’t get cheated by investment scams, remember for you to stay away from these scams, don’t get greedy! You need patience, and persistence to succeed in investment and in fact anything worthwhile pursuing in life.
Good to see you are happy with the 2023 performance of your portfolio. I have also just took stock of my USD portfolio for 2023. It’s been a roller coaster year to say the least. Overall I am happy to say the portfolio outperformed all the major US indexes for 2023, which is comforting considering what a terrible year 2022 has been for tech stocks / portfolios!
Dear Gilbert,
Happy to hear your portfolio outperformed all major indexes last year!
Dear Dr Goh, IGLO shares have dropped for the past 5 years and Max. Why do you still invest in it?
Dear Dr Beni,
I am not worried about short term volatility, I am keeping it for long term- perpetual I mean, so a few years of volatility is OK for me. I also keep it for my asset allocation purposes. I don’t want to invest 100% in equities therefore bonds are important to balance out my risks.
Hi Dr Goh, I bought your book last week and still reading now. I am a newbie to ETFs, may I know which trading platform in Malaysia support the buying of ETF from London Stock Exchange? Thanks!!!
Dear Sharon,
Thanks, I use IBKR because I think it offers the cheapest fee. I believe there are other trading platforms also allow you to buy ETFs from the London Stock Exchange but the fee is higher, therefore if you buy in small amount, it is just not feasible.