Annual General Meetings (AGMs)

AGMs for a few of my stocks have been called. I have never attended an AGM partly out of uncertainty, partly out of nonchalance. As a minority shareholder, I feel that I have little influence on the running of the business. If I do attend, it'll be for the gathering of insights about the intricacies of the companies' business.


Currently, I don't know what to expect within an AGM nor the benefits of attending one. I am clueless about etiquette and the questions one should pose to management & the board. It is a known unknown to me. But I plan to make it a known known.


Hence, am targeting to attend AGMs for:

1. CapitaMall - 12 Apr 2012, Raffles City Convention
2. Cache Logistics Trust - 18 Apr 2012, Suntec Convention Hall
3. Starhill Global REITS - 26 Apr 2012, Hilton Hotel

What kind of questions would you ask at an AGM?

Don't know? Research. 


A prepared person rarely appears foolish. This guide by PriceWaterCooperHouse gives hundreds of sample questions to ask:

http://www.pwc.com/en_US/us/corporate-governance/assets/shareholder_questions_2009.pdf

I will identify a few common questions to ask at an AGM. Will be adding to this post again.

While the PWC guide in the link above is scoped for the 2009 economic situation. I feel a good number of questions, if answered well, will yield beneficial understanding of our stock investments.

Stock Portfolio: Starhill Global REIT.

Irrational Decision Making - Confirmatory Bias


Today, Kim Eng published a "Buy" report on Starhill Global REIT

I love to see Buy ratings in brokerage reports for stocks I already own. Don't you?

One, it increases my conviction of holding on to the stock. Two, I hope it entices more to join me in the musical chair game for this stock (so that I can sell you my seat for a higher price - that's the reward for joining the game earlier).

I bought Starhill Global recently for the third time. Here's the overall affair I've had with this stock since 2009:

a) 2009-2010, bought at $0.565, $0.54 & $0.52 and sold at $0.58
b) 2010-2011, bought at $0.565 and sold at $0.62
c) 2011-present, bought at $0.565 and holding.

After listing the 7 trades above for Starhill Global, I feel a little sad. Much more prudent for me to buy and hold the stock instead of buying and selling through the price movements. I would like to do some kind of IRR or XIRR comparison between buying & holding versus trading as I did above from (a) to (c).

Currently standing on a capital gain of ~13%, not counting in the dividends received thus far. It is quite tempting to realize the profit and put more spending money into my wallet. But where would I deploy my funds? Cordlife IPO? Haha..


Starhill Global

Top 3 reasons why I like Starhill Global:

• CEO Mr Ho Sing is the brother of another prominent family member in Singapore (Source: The Edge, can't remember which copy). The spreadsheet factor of this relationship cannot be analyzed but it does lend weight to my decision of buying in to this stock again and to acquire more on weaknesses in price.

• The tussle with Toshin (master lease holder) for Takashimaya property would eventually be ironed out for improved rental income. It would be either done immediately in the courts or eventually when the lease runs out post-renewal. It's an eventuality that the rental rates for this part of the REIT be improved.

• Decent if not good financial ratios for a retail sector REIT. I bought in recently at $0.565, that made the overall numbers like discount to Net Asset Value (NAV), dividend yield etc look attractive enough for me.

Thoughts and Side Notes

Between now and 2014, it is estimated that there'll be about 2 million square feet of retail space coming online. It's a similar scenario for industrial space. As my overall portfolio is relatively heavy on REITs (about 2/3), I'm quite apprehensive if there'll be enough tenants to go around for all this space that's being built.

Distribution Per Unit (DPU) growth is good news for shareholders, I don't think it bodes well for tenants. REITs are like jockeys and their tenants like horses. Ride them too hard and you might find that you are out of a ride. Or worse, thrown off the horse.

With additional industry and retail space coming online with all the hectic building going on - I ought to focus on REITs with some special qualities, e.g., iconic feature of the landscape like Wisma & Takashimaya of Orchard Road, Starhill Gallery of KL.

Funny how we keep building property. If population size declines, would there still be a need for so much urban built up space? With all the push to cloud computing, pay as you use in the business sphere - is it still
logical for me to continue ploughing in to REITs?

(After coming back from Perth, I wish I could have made a quick detour over to Starhill's David Jones Building. I like to see and observe the businesses that I've invested in.  From this thought, I realize I'm the kind of investor who likes to interact with companies in which I hold stock. So what? If I can't interact, would I be less likely to invest? Would I miss out opportunities because of this preference??)


Cheers,

Why I Invest?

My first object of desire was the 8 Bit Nintendo - who could resist computer games in VGA color, of Super Mario and Contra. Such nostalgia. What's the link to my interest in stock investment?

The Nintendo cost a few hundred dollars and I could barely afford a good meal in Primary School. Stickers, erasers and other frivolous stuff beckoned me. Wanting to buy, I dug out my bank account book and studied the balance, it wasn't much. But every few entries, there would be an INT entry (annual bank interest with far and few deposits in between). That sparked a realization - an understanding of compounding interest. Money has an FV - a future value.

Imagine, a small boy motivated by the desire for a Nintendo doing manual calculations via his rudimentary understanding of percentages. Saving 20 cents out of 50 cents a day at an annual interest of 2.5% = too much time for target! Little kid me could not bear that. Instead, I chose to study hard for my exams, for the reward of a Sega Megadrive 16 Bit.

That epiphany was the beginning of my investment journey, it planted a seed in my mind. I want to master personal investment - the art of sowing and replanting financial fruits, specifically in stock investment. Why equity? It pairs well with my other love, which is for entrepreneurship. Stock investment is like a form of self-gratification for an aspiring entrepreneur, you get the pleasure of owning a business without the sweaty hardwork.

My portfolio is puny, like a shrimp lost in the deep blue ocean. My wife asks me to teach her how to invest - I can't seem to articulate my method unlike the many established investment bloggers whom I follow regularly. I'm thankful for their knowledge sharing. My methodology is a strange, shifting mess of fundamental analysis, a tiny bit of technical analysis, lots of secondary brokerage reports and macro trend study. I hope to evolve an articulable investment approach that I can share with my 3 year old kid.

Here in this blog, I'd like to document and share this part of my life journey, particularly for my kid and wife. That's if it can interest them.

I am a tiny stock shrimp in the deep blue.
Research and learn I must.
Sharpen my analysis daily please.
Do comment heartily and let us feast.

Cheers!