Goal no. 8 - A great way to fly . . . met
At the start of the year, i set a new goal no. 8, to earn 200,000 miles from work or credit card spending . . . , well i have to say that i have more success on that front 😆 than investing my SRS portfolio.
My crazy travel schedule resumed in June and July, coupled with my credit card spending, allowed me to hit the goal quite easily. A bigger challenge is finding the time to spend the miles as i don't see any "down time" coming up. In fact, i am going to get busier from Sep to Dec (so you are going to "see less" of me? 😅
One of my biggest "complaint" about DBS Treasures is that "if you don't ask you don't get". There had been several instances where they didn't offer me the best forex rates until i "make noise" about the wide spreads. They also tried to charge a high commission for stock trading (0.5%) until i just tell them plainly that it will be difficult for me to park my stocks with them. I also learnt that the bigger clients hardly pay fees, hence it is always the "middle class" or the "sandwiched" class that needs to bear all the fees.
In addition, I have to keep "banging the table" until they finally put me on the email list for bonds and stocks! I didn't participate as i have enough USD exposure and not too comfortable with the credit of the Chinese issuers.
I also skipped the private placement of Capitaland Commercial Trust as i felt the forward yield of 4.3-4.4% is a tad too low.
SRS Portfolio - 20 July 2019
Not much to add about the SRS portfolio as there haven't been any transactions. The proceeds from the sale of Suntec REIT now mean the capital for deployment is at $113,000. I am cautious about deploying right now as most counters i want to invest are at a high. I will wait for a better entry point.
ETFs
I am also exploring the US ETFs market. I want to explore a more passive way of investing in the US market as i don't have time nor the desire to monitor the US market closely. A regular sum set aside over a long period of time may suit me better. If readers have experience investing in ETFs over the last few years, do share your experiences with me.
Hi, I've a few questions about DBS Treasures.
ReplyDelete- How much money to qualify?
- What does parking shares with them mean? Do you have to transfer the shares from CDP to their custodian account?
- What benefits do you enjoy as a Treasures client?
- What is the forex % spread?
Thanks!
Minimum $350k, next tier is $1.5m, next tier is $5m. So depends on which tier you are going after. Mine is the second tier.
DeletePark shares - I meant buying a portfolio of shares with them. Either through the app or calling in to the RM. You can also transfer the shares into them from CDP.
Benefits - perks such as lounge at airport / CNY new notes / deal flows (haven’t really tested the deal flow yet as I only realised I wasn’t on their list when Thomson Medical issued the 3Y bonds at 4.8%.
- usually it is 50 pips. So you have to tell them to give you a better 30-40 pips.