Banks Q 1 2020 - The Road Is Long

DBS Panadol 0.66 XD on 12 May 20

Take long road with panadols!

About 88,000 to automatically benefit from Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme

Read? About 88,000 to automatically benefit from Self-Employed Person Income Relief Scheme


The Ministry of Manpower will introduce a Self-Employed Person (SEP) Income Relief Scheme (SIRS) to support eligible SEPs with less means, and tide them over this period of economic uncertainty. 

2 Under the scheme, eligible SEPs will receive three quarterly cash payouts of $3,000 each in May, July and October 2020. 

Eligibility Criteria

3 About 50,000 SEPs currently receive Workfare payouts annually, and will be eligible for SIRS. Due to the extraordinary circumstances brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have broadened the eligibility criteria beyond Workfare to enable more SEPs to qualify for SIRS. As a result, SIRS is expected to automatically benefit about 88,000 SEPs.

CW8888: $9K is capital injection of $180K @ 5% dividend yield in this CONVID-19 bear market to get it.

Investors pile in on Reits after Fed rate cut; STI up 0.2% on Wednesday

Read? Investors pile in on Reits after Fed rate cut; STI up 0.2% on Wednesday


INVESTORS piled in on Singapore real estate investment trusts (S-Reits) after the US Federal Reserve's 50-basis-point emergency rate cut to boost confidence in the economy amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

On Wednesday, Reits - often viewed as key beneficiaries of reduced borrowing costs - outperformed the broader market. The iEdge S-REIT Index, which tracks all S-Reits, gained 47.4 points or 3.3 per cent to 1,468.78, its biggest ever single day jump.

Within the asset class, industrial- and retail-related Reits performed best. Heavyweights Ascendas Reit climbed S$0.13 or 4.1 per cent to S$3.33, CapitaLand Commercial Trust jumped S$0.11 or 5.7 per cent to S$2.03 and CapitaLand Mall Trust leapt S$0.12 or 5.1 per cent to finish at S$2.46.

Mapletree Commercial Trust added S$0.11 or 5.2 per cent to S$2.24, and Mapletree Logistics Trust gained S$0.07 or 3.7 per cent to S$1.96. The latter of the two Mapletree Investments sponsored Reits received an upgrade from UOB Kay Hian to "buy" with an increased target price of S$2.08.


With other central banks likely to follow the path of the Fed, Eli Lee, head of investment strategy at Bank of Singapore noted that "the search for yield will continue to be a powerful structural driver of markets".

In a note to clients, Mr Lee recommended they switch "from poorer quality assets into steady dividend-yielding stocks, such as Singapore Reits".

While property plays benefit from looser financial conditions, OCBC Investment Research analysts prefer S-Reits over Singapore developers in the near term due to the former's "more defensive positioning and less impact from the supply chain disruption from Covid-19".

Conversely, the gains made by Reits came at the expense of the local lenders, which were laggards due to the effect that Fed cuts will have on net interest margins.

DBS shares fell S$0.25 or one per cent to S$23.91, OCBC Bank lost S$0.10 or 0.9 per cent to S$10.55 while United Overseas Bank closed at S$24, down S$0.27 or 1.1 per cent.

The performance of the local banks tempered gains on the Straits Times Index (STI), which ended 5.47 points or 0.2 per cent higher at 3,025.03. Eleven of the blue-chip index's 30 components ended in the red.

Singtel was another notable STI laggard, edging down S$0.01 or 0.3 per cent to S$2.97. In a Wednesday report, Citi Research analyst Arthur Pineda noteed that telcos such as Singtel offer a good hedge in the current climate as they offer one of the lowest correlations between gross domestic product and earnings growth.

Mr Pineda also favours fibre network infrastructure plays such as Netlink NBN Trust, which closed S$0.01 or one per cent higher at S$1.01.

Trading volume in Singapore was 1.63 billion securities while total turnover came to S$1.94 billion.

Across the broader market, decliners outpaced advancers 242 to 208.

Elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific, benchmarks were mixed. Australia and Hong Kong finished with losses.

China, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan notched up gains.

Singapore's household wealth rises 2.9% in 2016 to S$1.1 trillion

Read? Singapore will be a land of millionaires by 2020, predicts report


BT, NOV 22, 201612:32 PM

SINGAPORE'S household wealth grew 2.9 per cent in 2016 to reach US$1.1 trillion and this upward trajectory is expected to continue in the next few years, says a global wealth report.

The Credit Suisse Research Institute on Tuesday published its seventh annual global wealth report which projected the Republic's household wealth to rise 3.5 per cent per year in the next five years to reach US$1.4 trillion in 2021.

And even as growth slows, Singapore's wealth per adult rose 1.4 per cent to US$277,000 in 2016, making Singapore seventh top economy in the world with the highest average wealth per adult.

The report said this is expected to rise 2.2 per cent per annum to reach US$309,000 in 2021. This would compare to annual growth rate of 6 per cent from 2000 to 2016, led by high savings, asset price increases, and a favourable rising exchange rate from 2005 to 2012.

Financial assets make up 54 per cent of gross household wealth in Singapore, a ratio similar to that of Switzerland and the United Kingdom, the report said.

Wealth distribution in Singapore is moderately unequal, with 18 per cent of its adult population with wealth below US$10,000, compared with 73 per cent globally.

"Singaporeans have also progressed rapidly up the wealth pyramid, with now 50 per cent of adults having wealth above US$100,000, compared to 21 per cent in 2000, while those with wealth below US$100,000 have declined from 79 per cent to 50 per cent of adult population," said the report.

In 2016, Singapore has 150,000 millionaires, up 2 per cent, with a total of US$541 billion in wealth.

The number of ultra high net worth individuals here grew even faster, at 14.2 per cent to 885.

By 2021, the report said, the number of millionaires is forecast to grow 4.2 per cent per annum to 185,000.

Other trends mentioned in the report include how the overall growth in global wealth remained limited in 2016 and that in the mid term, only moderate acceleration is expected.

Group ToTo for $13.9M

Uncle8888's highest ToTo winning prize money so far is just $50 so he has no choice but to form Fellowship with other known lucky winners in his office who have won big prize before.

The Cai Shen in various office !

HUAT AH!

Singapore will be a land of millionaires by 2020, predicts report

Almost 1 in 30 residents will be ultra-wealthy in five years.

Millionaires, or high net worth individuals (HNWIs), will grow at a faster rate in Singapore than in Hong Kong, according to a study by WealthInsight.

Singapore currently has 154,000 HNWIs that collectively hold US$806.3b in net wealth, reflecting a population growth of 17% from the 130,000 millionaires in the country in 2010. By 2020, Singapore HNWIs are expected to number 188,000- roughly 1 millionaire in 30 people. This reflects an 18.3% hike in the next half-decade, versus the expected 15.6% HNWI growth in Hong Kong.

Read? Singapore will be a land of millionaires by 2020, pr
edicts report

Number of millionaires in S'pore up by 10%

The number of millionaires in Singapore increased 10.3 per cent to reach 101,000 last year, revealed a new wealth report by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management.

        

           

         

SINGAPORE: The number of millionaires in Singapore increased 10.3 per cent to reach 101,000 last year, revealed a new wealth report by Capgemini and RBC Wealth Management.

The survey tracks high-net-worth individuals with investable assets of US$1 million or more.

The collective wealth of the super-rich in Singapore also expanded by over 11 per cent to US$489 billion in 2012, revealed the survey.

Thanks to the global rebound in equity and property markets, North America reclaimed its top position as the region with the most millionaires while Asia-Pacific led overall wealth growth.
However investors in Asia have proven to more risk-averse, focusing more on wealth preservation than creation and preferring to put their money in real estate, cash and deposits.

Barend Janssens, Head of Wealth Management, Emerging Markets at RBC Wealth Management , said: "Asia Pacific is less... influenced by the equity markets and the fixed income markets.

The variety of investments that are made by high net worth individuals in Asia, and also their underpinning wealth in their companies, which are very often first and second generation owned family companies, as well as their real estate portfolios, is making our outlook very much focused on a positive trend for Asia Pacific investors."

- CNA/jc

Most S'pore workers stay late and bring work home with them

By CARINE LEE


Half of Singapore workers spend well over eight hours a day at the office and 50 per cent regularly take work home to finish in the evening, showed a Regus survey released on Friday.

The survey found that Singapore workers worked longer hours than the global average, with 19 per cent regularly working more than 11 hours a day, whereas the global average is 10 per cent.

Fifty per cent of workers take tasks home to finish at the end of the day more than three times a week compared to the 43 per cent global average.

However, 31 per cent of workers in Singapore work between nine and 11 hours a day, compared to an average of 38 per cent elsewhere in the world.

More than 12,000 respondents from 85 countries participated in the survey.

Higher pay for poly grads

SINGAPORE: The starting pay for fresh polytechnic graduates rose 5.3 per cent last year, to an average gross monthly salary of S$1,871.


Post-National Service (NS) diploma holders earned an average gross monthly salary of S$2,183, an increase of about 2.5 per cent from 2009.

During the economic downturn in 2009, post-NS diploma holders' gross average monthly salary fell some four per cent.

According to the latest graduate employment survey, fresh graduates with diplomas in Maritime, Engineering (Mechanical & Manufacturing) and Health Sciences and who are in full-time permanent employment commanded higher gross salaries.

Fresh maritime diploma holders earned an average gross salary of S$1,996 compared to S$1,821 for accountancy or business graduates.

The post-NS poly graduates from the Accountancy, Business, Finance & Law, Maritime and Chemical & Life Sciences course categories commanded higher gross salaries, some as much as S$2,362 a month

The figures were reported in the latest graduate employment survey issued on Tuesday by the five polytechnics.

The survey said the increases were in line with the improved economic outlook for Singapore.

As at October 1, 2010, the overall employment rate reached 91.5 per cent, increasing by three percentage points from 2009.

Almost 70 per cent were in full-time permanent employment, growing from 63 per cent in 2009

Unlike in previous years, a higher proportion of graduates joined the private sector.

Of the fresh graduates with full-time permanent jobs, 86.4 per cent were employed in the private sector while 13.6 per cent worked in the public sector.

-CNA/wk

Are you one of high income earners in 2009 in Singapore?

Read? Compare Your Annual Income 2010 against others in Singapore?

Read? Benchmark Your Monthly Pay By Age & Gender 2010

To compare your “gross monthly income”, divide your total income (including bonus) by 12


Comparing with all age groups, your gross monthly pay of $X places you at the Yth percentile among both genders. You are in the top Z% of your cohort.

At a glance:

So are you happy with your placing for gross monthly income in 2009 in Singapore?

If you are not happy with your placing with earned income from your job, then you may want to follow me e.g. by making more income from the stock market and placing me higher up in the cohort.

Compare Your Annual Income 2010 against others in Singapore?

Try it yourself? Compare Your Annual Income 2010

See how well you rank against all resident taxpayers in Singapore?

(***** Someone's comment: There are 2 segments not included – those who don’t earn enough to be taxed and those who are too rich to work for an income (they are only taxed on their rental and dividend incomes, so it’s not particularly representative).

So are you happy with your ranking?

If you are already rank very high up there, perhaps

you may Want Happiness? Invest in Relationships, Not Just Markets

Median income of Singaporeans rose 4.2% in 2010: MOM

SINGAPORE: The Manpower Ministry (MOM) said the median monthly income of resident Singaporeans in full-time employment rose by 4.2 per cent over the year to S$2,710 in June, boosted by the strong economic recovery.


That is higher than the marginal growth of just half a per cent in 2009.

MOM said even after adjusting for the higher inflation this year, the median income rose by 1.8 per cent, recovering from a slight dip of 0.1 per cent in 2009.

Part-timers also saw a significant increase of 13 per cent in their median income to S$700 this year.

Overall, the nominal median income for all employed residents rose by 3.3 per cent to S$2,500, after falling by 1.2 per cent last year.

MOM said the growth in income this year came earlier and stronger than in the previous recovery, when the median income hardly moved from 2001 to 2006, before rising significantly in 2007.

The Ministry also said that the strong economic recovery has boosted the employment rate.

The increase in employment rate was broad-based across both prime and older age groups, especially among women. A record 71.7 per cent of women in the prime-working ages of 25 to 54 were working this year, up from 69.4 per cent in 2009.

Nevertheless, MOM said their employment rate was still below the 92.4 per cent for prime-working age men, which increased from 91.6 per cent in 2009.

The proportion of residents aged 25 to 64 in employment rebounded to a new high of 77.1 per cent from 75.8 per cent in 2009, after falling by 1.2 percentage-points from the preceding year due to the economic downturn.

The employment rate for older residents aged 55 to 64 rose to a new high of 59.0 per cent in 2010, after holding steady at 57.2 per cent over the past two years.

The rise was largely contributed by a marked increase in proportion of older women in employment from 40.1 per cent in 2009 to 43.4 per cent in 2010.

The employment rate for older men was also at a record high of 75.0 per cent in 2010.

Supported by the economic recovery, the resident unemployment rate and number improved significantly from 4.5 per cent in June 2009 to 3.2 per cent in June 2010.

-CNA/ac

Singaporeans continue to get richer: MAS

By SIOW LI SEN


SINGAPORE - Singaporeans continue to get richer supported by buoyant property prices. Households balance sheets have on the whole remained strong, supported by the continued broad-based recovery of the Singapore economy, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore Financial Stability Review 2010 released on Thursday.

Property holdings have reached an estimated $651 billion in Q3 2010, up 21 per cent from $537 billion in Q3 2009

Household net wealth, defined as household assets less household debt, stood at an estimated $1,156 billion in Q3 2010. This represents a 29 per cent improvement from the trough in Q1 2009.

The gain was largely due to the higher value of property holdings as the property market continued its upward trajectory after bottoming out in Q1 2009.

Property holdings have reached an estimated $651 billion in Q3 2010, up 21 per cent from $537 billion in Q3 2009.

Another contributing factor to rising household net wealth was larger holdings of equity and managed funds, owing to the turnaround in global equity markets in Q3 2010.

92.2% of grads found employment within 6 months

SINGAPORE: 92.2 per cent of students who graduated from the three local universities last year found jobs within six months of graduation, according to figures posted on the Education Ministry's website on Monday.

The employment rate of graduates from the Singapore Management University (SMU) is the highest among the three local varsities.

96.8 per cent of its graduates found jobs within six months of graduation.

In comparison, about 91 per cent of graduates from the National University of Singapore (NUS), and about 89 per cent of graduates from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) found jobs within six months of graduation.

In terms of salary, graduates from SMU's Information Systems Management course earned the highest mean monthly salary of about S$3,450.

Graduates from the Business Administration with Honours course at NUS came close with a mean monthly salary of about S$3,400.

At the other end of the scale are graduates from NUS's Applied Science course. Their mean monthly salary is about S$2,400.

That's slightly lower than graduates from NTU's Art, Design and Media course, who have a mean monthly salary of about S$2,430.