I Started Dating with Singapore Retail REITs

The business headlines in Malaysia has been quite negative in recent months, we have weak Ringgit, slow economic growth, corruption news and more.

We are unlikely to progress much if we focus on events that are out of our control. What we could do is to adopt the chess method as highlighted by Geoff Colvin in his book called– Talent is Overrated.

When we read news, do ask ourselves:-

What is my next move after reading this news? What can I do to benefit from events surrounding me? 

What can I do to better myself after reading the news?

Weak ringgit and rising cost of living might dent our morale, but let’s focus on the circle of influence as there are many things that are within our control. If we think SGD may strengthen in the next decades against MYR and we intend to send our kids to Singapore for tertiary education..we could start planning now..

For example, I have started to learn more on Singapore Retail REITs with the aim to accumulate some SGD assets and keep it invested for the next 15-20 years’ time. The SGD funds could be used as child education fund or retirement fund in the future. There is no hard and fast rule.

Learning on certain asset class will also keep us occupied and hence, less attention on noises or events beyond our control.

Singapore REITs seem to be more attractive compared to Malaysia REITs due to tax exemption for distribution received for individual investors, ample choices of REITs in Singapore and better distribution yield compared to Malaysia REITs.

Nonetheless, I am also cognisant of the risk involved by investing into say, Singapore Retail REITs in view of the slowdown in retail spending and economic trajectory in Singapore amidst challenging global economic environment especially for a country that relies heavily on trades.

I will also explore the rental trend of urban and sub-urban malls in Singapore, how innovative is the REIT manager in navigating the challenging retail landscape and how proactive is the REIT manager in reducing the potential impact to the Trust given the backdrop of potential increase in US interest rates. 

An increase in US interest rates will impact funding cost for Singapore REIT since US interest rates will influence rates in Singapore i.e. Singapore Interbank Offer Rate (SIBOR).

To conclude, there are so many things that we could explore, hence, let’s occupy ourselves on things that are within our control to improve our well being.