Portfolio - April 2021

Baby Ong fell sick for the first time last month :'( We woke up and realized she was having difficulty breathing through the nose and was taking big breath using her mouth instead. We applied for half day leave and took her down to the nearest PD and fortunately, it was nothing too serious. She was just having a blocked nose due to too much mucus/phlegm. We are hoping that it wouldn't happen to her again but we know it is just wishful thinking considering she's being placed in infant care. Oh well, fingers crossed.

On a side note, CZM raised an audit finding on how I am tracking our portfolio, particularly on how I am under-reporting our crypto investment. lol. In my defence, I told her that the US$30k I borrowed from the bank and deposited into Celsius Network are considered as cash management and I don't track cash over here. Needless to say, I lost the argument after all stablecoins are still considered as crypto. Anyway, you can read more about it here - Earning High Interest Using BlockFi and Celsius Network Part 2.

With that audit finding, our portfolio hit the next milestone and reaches another new high! It increased by 9.26% to $946,521 - $52,247.60 of capital injection (mostly came from the US$30k leverage which is ~SG$40k) and $27,964.68 of capital gain. This includes $154,471 of leverage/debt (gearing ~19.50%).

If you prefer to look at numbers, this is the raw data used to generate the above bar graph. These numbers are as of the last day of the month.

"Cash Flow" is the amount of money being injected/withdrawn from the portfolio (buying stocks = +ve cash flow while selling stocks and collecting dividends = -ve cash flow)

SOLD
- Soilbuild Business Space REIT (30,000 units) @ $0.538

It was privatized and has been delisted. This was one of the first few stocks that I owned since 2014 due to its high dividend yield. In hindsight, it was definitely a mistake to chase after the high dividend yield but I guess a leopard never changes its spots - I am still chasing yield just at a different place. lol. Look at my first purchase price, it was trading at $0.79 back then!

Considering that I held it for so many years and was losing money (excluding dividends), I am glad that I could finally get rid of it at a profit of 21.81% and an annualized return of 7.27%. 

BOUGHT
- Mapletree Logistic Trust (8,000 units) @ $1.96

It was simply to redeploy the cash I got from the privatization of Soilbuild Business Space REIT. Regular reader will know I dislike holding cash. My shopping list is simple now, we are only looking at the premium/atas blue chips/REITs because these shares have an LTV of 70% for my leverage play. Buy, pledge, borrow and repeat, soon I will have a debt/leverage as big as my HDB. lol. Mapletree Logistic Trust was the lesser evil/relatively "cheaper" as compared to the other REITs then.

Anyway, the idea of using leverage is simple, borrow the money, buy a good/excellent REIT/stock, use the dividends to pay the interests, and keep the difference while ensuring that we will never get a margin call/trigger. Once again, leverage has its risk and is definitely not for everyone. We see it as our way of buying a second property without incurring any of those taxes (ABSD, rental income tax, etc.). You can take a look at this - Leverage Performance 2020. Unfortunately, we did not buy IWDA because it is at an all-time high. Yes, I am timing the market but I just couldn't help it and it just keeps going higher @_@"

Given that it is a brand new year, I have adjusted my SRS contribution to $1,276 per month with the intention of maxing it by year-end. We have also decided to open another StashAway portfolio for Baby Ong. You can read about Our Insurance and Investment Plan for Baby Ong.

Our Monthly DCA for March - $3,876
$1,500 Cash for Ourselves - StashAway Risk Index 22%

$100 Cash for Baby Ong - StashAway Risk Index 36%

$638  KPO's SRS - StashAway Risk Index 36%

$638 KPO's SRS - Endowus Loss Tolerance -60%
$1,000 Cash - Syfe REIT+ (100% REIT)

Dividends
The total dividends collected this month is $0 :(

Total dividends collected for 2021: $6,262.72
Average dividends per month for 2021: $1,565.68

StashAway

KPO

CZM

Capital: $55,364.00
Current: $‭‭‭‭67,210.63

If you are interested in StashAway, do use our referral link. You get $10,000 free management fees for 6 months and we will get $16!

If you want to extract those transactions information from StashAway, do take a look at this article - StashAway Transactions Parser.

Endowus

Capital: $13,700.00
Current: $16,597.64

If you are interested in Endowus, do use our referral link for our readers! You will get S$10,000 managed free for 6 months ($20 equivalent) and we will get $20 too! This access fee has no expiry date.

Syfe

Capital: $16,553.28
Current: $‭‭‭18,485.73

New Syfe customers will have their first $30,000 managed free for 6 months when they use our new referral code (KPOCZM). We will be receiving a $10 cash incentive for our portfolio if you invest $500 or more.

If you want to extract those transactions information from Syfe, do take a look at this article - Syfe Transactions Parser.

Crypto

Capital: $18,568.56 + US$30,000 ~ $58,568.56
Current: $‭‭‭33,398.20 + US$30,000 ~ $73,398.20

If you prefer a pie chart. Anyway, I did not include the 30k GUSD in Celcius Network because that's using leverage and net-net it is US$0. lol. However, I will include the interests earned in CEL. The screenshots were taken around 30th Apr or 1st May so the price might have moved up/down since then.

BlockFi recently announced the reduction of their interest. BTC in BlockFi is earning about 5% interest now.

Celsius Network also reduced their interest. GUSD and CEL are earning 10% and 4.86% respectively. I was given some DAI (10%) and BTC (3.51%) from referrals. Thanks for using our link! Meanwhile, I am also preparing part 3, probably the final part where I complete the loop by transferring GUSD back to fiat/our bank account. Keep a lookout for it!

If you read my previous month update, you would have known that I moved my CRO to the DeFi wallet to stake at 30-40% interest. Wrong move man. The yield has now fallen to 13+% and when I wanted to remove it, I can't -.- I'm locked/bonded for 28 days without any interest. Anyway, I am definitely going to convert my CRO to ADA or ETH and move the fund out of Crypto.com. The current plan is to move it to the real DeFi at BSC (Binance Smart Chain) because it is a lot more fun/happening over there.

These are my remaining coins with Crypto.com. The plan is to move away from the platform for higher yield. I will be converting the stablecoins (DAI and USDT) to either ADA or ETH because it is not cost-effective to be moving so many different kinds of coins. Will take about another week or so as some of the coins are still "locked" from the staking.

All of my ADA (~US$5.8k) have been moved to Binance and staked for a 7.79% yield as compared to 2% back at Crypto.com.

The money in CakeDeFi has grown to SG$5.4k. If you have read my previous article on it, you would have seen how I started with a capital loss of 10% due to my laziness with a capital of SG$5k but it is now in profit because the yields are simply too high.

Another thing I wanted to point out is the increase in yield for staking DFI. In my last article, it was only about 30+% but after they did some burning of DFI, it has now shot up to 90%+. Not going to complain if it is higher.

Similarly, I started with a capital of SG$5k and it has grown to US$7,490.62 (~SG$10k). I essentially doubled my capital in slightly less than a month. Pretty crazy right? You can track my crypto portfolio live through farm.army. Alpaca Finance is not being tracked by almost all the DeFi portfolio/yield tracker, hence the separate screenshot.

Anyway, I have blogged about different ways to leverage crypto to build wealth for people with different risk appetites:

The safer approach using stablecoins

- Earning High Interest Using BlockFi and Celsius Network

- Earning High Interest Using BlockFi and Celsius Network Part 2

Risky approach but more hassle-free

- CakeDeFi - The Easy Way to DeFi

Highest risk and you are on your own

- DeFi apps on Binance Smart Chain (BSC) such as PancakeSwap and PancakeBunny

- DeFIRE with DeFi

If you are interested in the platform I am using, do sign up using our referral links for some bonus :)
BlockFi: Deposits US$100 or more into your BlockFi Interest Account (BIA), you will earn US$10 in BTC and we will earn US$10 in BTC too.

Celsius Network: Earn US$40 in BTC with your first transfer of US$400 or more and we will earn US$40 in BTC too.

CakeDeFi - Deposits US$50 or more into your CakeDeFi account, you will earn US$30 in DFI and we will earn US$10 in DFI too.

Gemini: We will both receive US$10 of bitcoin after you buy or sell US$100.

Crypto.com: Sign up using our link, stake SG$500 worth of CRO and we both get US$25 in CRO

On a side note, Futu's moomoo app attractive sign-up bonus (one free Apple Share besides other benefits) has been extended to 31st May 2021 (1500hr SGT)! Take a look at the latest benefits here.

You might be interested in these blog posts too:
- 2020 Net Worth

- Leverage Performance 2020

- 1% Net Worth to Crypto

- Portfolio - December 2020 - $669,630

- Portfolio - January 2021 - $712,898

- Portfolio - February 2021 - $742,364

- Portfolio - March 2021 - $866,309 

- Portfolio - April 2021 - $946,521

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)

Futu's moomoo Attractive Sign-Up Bonus Has Been Extended!

I blogged about this previously - Futu's moomoo Attractive Sign-Up Bonus - One Free Apple Share! and I am glad to share that Futu SG has decided to extend the promotion with a more generous offer! Fun fact - Futu is the pronunciation of the Chinese characters 富途 which means the path to wealth. How apt. In my opinion, that 1-2% interest from a savings account is not going to make one rich, one got to invest to grow their wealth.

Anyway, from 1st May 2021 to 31st May 2021, 1500hr SGT, sign up using our referral link here and deposit SGD 2,700, USD 2,000, or HKD 16,000 for the following benefits:

1. One free AAPL share (S$2,700 deposit must be made within 30 days from account opening)
2. Unlimited Commission-free trading in the US, HK, and SG markets for 180 days
3. Free level 2 Market Data for US market 

4. Free SGX Securities Level 1 real-time market data
5. Refer your friends to get up to 20 TWTR shares

Similarly, there is no cap/limit to the number of sign up. As long as the account is open before 31st May 2021, 1500hr SGT through our referral link and the deposit is made within 30 days from your account opening, you will be eligible for all the bonus above including the Apple share which is trading at around USD 130 (at the time of writing). After you have an account, refer your friends to get those Twitter shares (they would need to make the same deposit within 30 days from their account opening too).

In addition, unlimited commission-free trading in the 3 markets (US, HK, and SG) has been increased from 90 days to 180 days! That's half a year of trading without having to pay commission regardless of the number of trades made! That also means a longer period of time to evaluate the trading platform. I do not believe there is any other broker providing such a promotion. Although Futu SG has removed the SG$30 cash coupon, I feel that the free SGX Securities Lvl 1 real-time market data provides a lot more value because most of the existing/traditional brokers are providing delayed data of ~15 minutes by default and one will have to pay/subscribe for real-time data (recurring cost).

Let's try to address some of the common questions I get:

How reliable is moomoo powered by Futu?

Futu Holding Limited has 35 licenses globally in key financial hubs such as the United States, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore and others. In Singapore, capital markets products and services on moomoo are offered by Futu SG and it is licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) (License No. CM101000). In addition, Futu Holding Limited are backed by world-class strategic investors including venture capital affiliates of Tencent, Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners. 

CDP vs Custodian

Shares purchase through moomoo powered by Futu will be held in a custodian. If you really want your shares to be in CDP, then you will have to go through the traditional banks/brokers with a minimum commission of ~$20 and above. Those less than $20 are also custodian account.

In my opinion, unless you are retired and have the time to attend AGM and vote, then go for CDP. Otherwise, investing through a custodian account is good enough as long as you look out for the hidden fees. Some charges custodian fees (e.g. Saxo is charging 0.12% annual custody fee, charged monthly) and corporate actions fees (e.g. POEMS SGD 10.70 for corporate action) which moomoo powered by Futu doesn't so it is really cost-effective.

It is showing margin accounts, should I be concerned?

According to the help center (https://support.futusg.com/en-us/topic50?from_platform=3), as long as your account is funded with sufficient cash/deposit, the stock you are going to purchase will be through your cash/deposit.

Do I need to complete x number of trades to get the sign-up bonus?

Nope, it will be as per what I have shared in my article - As long as the account is open before 31st May 2021, 1500hr SGT through our link and the deposit is made within 30 days from the account opening, you will be eligible for all the bonus above including the Apple share.

Why is platform fee being charged?

As explained on their site with regards to the fee breakdown - Thank you for using moomoo. Platform fees are charged to enable Futu to continue investing in better technologies to improve our platform to serve our users better.

I would rather pay the platform fee than a high minimum commission. Think about it, at the end of the day, they are a listed company that has to generate profit for their shareholders too. Alternatively, buy their share and you can think of paying yourself indirectly. lol. Regardless, the platform fee they are charging is also one of the lowest in the industry - 0.03% * transaction amount, minimum SGD 1.50. Some examples, FSMOne is charging 0.0875% per quarter for AUM < SGD 300k (recurring) and Tiger is charging 0.04% of trade value. 

In my opinion, this is a very attractive promotion you should not miss. No other banks/brokerages are going to be giving you free share for signing up with them. Besides, moomoo is also charging the lowest commission in Singapore and is definitely worth taking a look at.

If you are interested in Futu's moomoo app, do use our referral link for our readers to get the above benefits!

For more information, please contact the customer service team directly at clientservice@futusg.com or you can also call them at +65-6439 1100.

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)

DeFIRE - FIRE using DeFi

Traditionally, in order to retire, one will need a relatively large investment where one can either live off the dividends or sell the investment based on an x% withdrawal rate. For example, if I need SG$5k per month for retirement, I will need SG$60k per year and depending on whether I lived off a 5% dividend portfolio or a 4% withdrawal rate, I would need SG$1.2 million or SG$1.5 million. That's a lot of money and most people would rather not think about it, YOLO and enjoy life.

What if I tell you now that there is a much faster way to generate the same amount of money with a much smaller capital/investment? Yes, it is in the crypto space and I am mindblown by it. The world we lived in currently is different from the world our parents/grandparents lived in. 

Screenshot taken from macrotrends

Back then bond yield was much higher so there will be a place for it in everyone's portfolio. Now bonds can barely keep up with inflation and I personally don't see any value in owning it. Back then there was no ABSD and our parents' generation could invest in multiple properties. If you ever wonder why didn't your parents buy multiple properties when they could, in the future, your children will probably wonder why didn't you invest in crypto when you could too. lol. 

This word DeFIRE came from this YouTuber - The Defiant (I am not so creative) and it simply means using DeFi to FIRE. Disclaimer, I am still pretty noob and new to this space but I do see the potential/feasibility of generating passive income through DeFi. Before I dived into the details/strategy, let me share explain the difference between APR and APY which is very important! Annual Percentage Rate (APR) is what we are all familiar with e.g. bank interest (1% APR), REITs dividends (5% APR). Annual Percentage Yield (APY) will always be higher than APR because it includes the effect of compounding. We have been trained/conditioned in such a manner that the default compounding period is monthly but in the world of crypto, the default compounding period is daily which makes thing even crazier!

Let's just discuss this strategy using the safest coins in the crypto world - the stablecoins. 

Screenshot taken from https://app.beefy.finance/

If I put my money in this liquidity pool, the APY would be 75.99%. 

Using a simple converter, we can see that the APR is 56.57%. If we take 56.57% divide by 365 days, we will arrive at the daily yield of 0.15%. Assuming I need SG$5k or US$3.7k (but let's use US$4k to simplify the maths), I will need just ~US$89k of capital (US$4,000 / (0.15% x 30 days)) to do that. Compare this to the million-dollar investment/portfolio required in the traditional world in order to achieve the same objective, this is so much less daunting!

Screenshot taken from https://app.alpacafinance.org/farm

If one is willing to take on even more risk by using leverage, the APY can go as high as 144.99% or an APR of 89.71% for stablecoins pair. This will further lower the capital required to ~US$54k (US$4,000 / (89.71% / 365 x 30 days)). You might be thinking that the yield is crazy high but I can assure you it is not. If I were to look at non-stablecoins, the APR can go even higher!

Screenshot taken from https://pancakebunny.finance/pool

This is my personal favourite - CAKE and where most of my money is currently in. The CAKE pool has an APY of 248.38% or 125% APR. The capital required would be ~US$39k (US$4,000 / (125% / 365 x 30 days)). It is a lot more complicated because the price of CAKE plays a part too unlike in stablecoins pair/pool where each coin is around US$1. All these are not without their risks and you should read up and research more on your own if you are planning to invest/throw your money into the crypto world.

I tried explaining to CZM how interesting it is to farm CAKE and with a capital of SG$5k, I am able to generate around US$20+ daily. Guess what's her response? She asked me to give her SG$5k and every day, she will give me SG$50 written down on a piece of note and said my CAKE is similar to that piece of note - worthless until I am able to encash them to buy a real cake to eat -.-" 

There is this saying in the crypto world to people not in crypto - have fun staying poor. Personally, I find that pretty rude and I will not use it in my article when I share about crypto. After all, we all have a very different risk appetite and of course, you are free to be as sceptical as CZM :)

Anyway, I have blogged about different ways to leverage crypto to build wealth for people with different risk appetites:

The safer approach using stablecoins

- Earning High Interest Using BlockFi and Celsius Network

- Earning High Interest Using BlockFi and Celsius Network Part 2

Risky approach but more hassle-free

- CakeDeFi - The Easy Way to DeFi

Highest risk and you are on your own

- DeFi apps such as PancakeSwap and PancakeBunny

- DeFIRE with DeFi

Huat ah!

On a side note, Futu's moomoo app attractive sign-up bonus (one free Apple Share besides other benefits) has been extended to 31st May 2021 (1500hr SGT)! Find out what has changed here.

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)

Endowus - March 2021

Endowus has recently raised S$23 million in Series A funding which is a piece of big news! So much information was actually revealed in the article. Some of the key points are as follows:

- This is one of the largest amounts raised in Series A funding for a Singapore-based fintech firm
- Endowus has plans to expand in Asia, starting with Hong Kong
- It is on track to hit S$1 billion in assets under advice by the second quarter in Singapore

In comparison, StashAway raised USD $5.3 million in Series A, USD $12 million in Series B, and USD $16 million in Series C. Having said that, we do not have visibility into the shares/equity that were traded for the funding. Besides that, they have also launched Cash Smart Ultra (1.8%-2%) and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) portfolios. Judging by all these, Endowus is doing pretty well and we do not have to worry about it closing down like Smartly.

ESG portfolios are interesting but unfortunately only available for cash investment. Although Cash Smart Ultra is probably offering one of the higher interest in the market currently, it still feels meh to me. If you are considering/looking at cash management account. You might want to consider my way of cash management. US$53.78 was my interest for just 1 week with a deposit of US$30k. 

- Earning High Interest Using BlockFi and Celsius Network

- Earning High Interest Using BlockFi and Celsius Network Part 2

Most importantly, Endowus has finally decided to lower the minimum investment amount to $1,000, making investing more "affordable" to everyone!

Risk Profile
Goal type: General wealth accumulation
Risk tolerance: Maximise returns (loss tolerance -60%)
Monthly investment using SRS: $638

I have modified my monthly investment in order to max out my SRS contribution for the year.

Account Summary

Capital: $13,064.00
Current: $15,484.29 (18.57%)

There are quite a few differences as compared to StashAway. Firstly, all the cash has been invested while StashAway keeps 1% of the portfolio in cash. Secondly, the fees are not deducted on a monthly basis. The Access Fee charged by Endowus will be deducted at the end of each quarter as stated in their FAQ.

As of 20 April 2021, the portfolio value is $16,001.19 (+22.55%).

For the last few weeks, Endowus portfolio was like on steroids. This is the first time it overtook my SRS investment with StashAway given that both portfolios had the same capital/deposit.

Asset Allocation

This shows that the number of shares for each fund that I owned:
- Dimensional Global Core Equity Fund (201.0180)
- Infinity US 500 Stock Index Fund (2,404.0200)
- Dimensional Emerging Markets Large Cap Core Equity Fund (80.7250)
- Dimensional Pacific Basin Small Companies Fund (74.5680)

It will be great if they actually showed my average price vs the current market price. Anyway, the Feb SRS investment was not captured in the same month, hence the above looks identical to last month and you will see that there are no transactions below.

Transactions

Given that Feb was a shorter month, the investment made in Feb spilled over to Mar.

That's all! Overall, I think the statement is pretty straightforward and easy to read. On a side note, StocksCafe does not has the ability to track funds, hence unable to do any form of comparison/benchmark.

Speaking of which, Endowus has finally launched a mobile app:

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/endowus-invest-cpf-srs-cash/id1531067679

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.endowus.mobileapp

If you are interested in Endowus, do use our referral link for our readers! You will get S$10,000 managed free for 6 months ($20 equivalent) and we will get $20 too! 

On a side note, Futu's moomoo app attractive sign-up bonus (one free Apple Share besides other benefits) has been extended to 30th April 2021 (1500hr SGT)! Take a look at our review here.

You might be interested in the previous monthly update too:

- Endowus CPF/SRS Review

- Endowus - December 2020 - $12,466.20

- Endowus - January 2021 - $13,080.35

- Endowus - February 2021 - $13,549.30

- Endowus - March 2021 - $15,484.29

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)

PancakeSwap and PancakeBunny - Our Experience with DeFi

After trying out CakeDeFi, I had a better idea of what I was getting into and decided to take the plunge and try out the real deal. There are hundreds or even thousands of DeFi platforms/applications so why PancakeSwap?

It is one of the top DeFi platforms based on TLV (Total Locked Value) and the number 1 platform on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) according to DefiLlama. Putting your money/crypto on these top platforms will reduce the risk of an exit scam/rug pull. As mentioned previously, the issue with those platforms that are on the Ethereum network is that the gas fees are too high now which makes it hard for new crypto users to participate. Every single transaction/action requires some gas fees because we will be using/performing some computation on the blockchain. For example, it might cost US$50 on Ethereum vs US$1 on BSC to perform a similar kind of transaction. 

Having said that, does being the number 1 platform means no risk? Of course not! We merely reduce the risk/possibility of an exit scam/rug pull. There will still be smart contract risk and impermanent loss. I have shown an example of impermanent loss in my previous article where I tried CakeDeFi. Smart contract risk is more abstract and probably harder to visualize/understand but guess what? It has actually happened on PancakeSwap before. Take a look at this articles for more information:

- Disclosing PancakeSwap, the first scam and cover up on Binance Smart Chain

- Sorry for exploiting the SYRUP bug

- Update on the SYRUP Incident

Now that we know some of the risks associated, let's get started. Firstly, you will need to configure/set up your personal wallet first. I am using MetaMask and you can follow the instructions here - Connecting MetaMask to Binance Smart Chain. I would like to emphasize that the seed phrase is extremely important and makes sure you do not lose it or share it with strangers or "tech support" because you will not be able to access your wallet without it or anyone with the seed phrase can get access to your wallet.

Next, we will need some BNB (Binance Coin) so I got them through Binance SG and paid through Xfers. Similarly, my initial capital was SG$5k. After that, I realized I cannot transfer from Binance SG to my wallet because the BNB is on another network (ERC20). Please share if you have a more efficient way of doing this!

So I had to transfer from Binance SG to Binance Global before transferring out to my Metamask wallet on the BEP20 (BSC) network. Binance has also put in place some tests to ensure that one knows what they are doing before the transfer because all these transfers are irreversible, once it is sent wrongly (wrong address or wrong network), everything will be lost. Note that there will be no customer support in the decentralized world.

As usual, I am also afraid of doing it wrongly so I transferred the minimum amount then (0.01 BNB with a fee of 0.0008 BNB) to test the water first. lol.

Once the test is successful, I went on to send the remaining ~SG$5k worth of BNB to my Metamask wallet. Once you reach this stage, I would say half the battle is won already. The remaining steps are just to connect your wallet to any of the DeFi app (PancakeSwap in this case) that you are interested in and click here and there. Nothing too complicated.

There are currently 2 ways to earn/get those crazy high yields. Syrup Pool which provides ~100% APR through staking of CAKE and Farms which provides ~9%-600% APR through staking of Liquidity Pool (LP) tokens. Generally, the higher the APR, the higher the risk. For those that prefer the safer approach is to farm the stablecoins (USDC-BUSD or USDT-BUSD) where there will be no/minimum impermanent loss. 

Another thing to note is the difference between the yields that are shown (APR vs APY). In short, APY includes the effect of compounding, hence it will be higher. This is where you got to decide your strategy and game plan. lol. I decided to just go with the most popular option which was the CAKE-BNB pair.

Similarly, to get the LP token, I will need an equal value for both coins, so I swap slightly less than half of my BNB for CAKE. Do take note and remember to keep some BNB to pay for gas fees!

Now that I have some CAKE, I can exchange both my CAKE and BNB for the CAKE-BNB LP token.

With the LP token, let's head over to the Farms section, "enable" that particular farm, and supply/stake the LP token to start "farming" more CAKE. I did not take a screenshot of the active farm then but you can take a look at my current farm. You will be able to see the amount of CAKE earned and an estimation of how much it is worth. 

After farming using CAKE-BNB for a few days, I decided to move most of them to PancakeBunny because it is providing a higher yield for the same LP token and has an auto-compounding feature. However, I also realized it has much higher gas fees when I tried harvesting it. For CakeDeFi, the liquidity rewards are automatically harvested every 12 hours and the DFI are automatically staked for more returns without the need to pay any fees. This is not the case in PancakeSwap. I will have to manually harvest the CAKE and stake them while paying gas fees for every single transaction which I didn't really like/wasn't very used to.

This is my current farming portfolio. I am tracking it using yieldwatch.net. It has grown from SG$5k to US$5.3k (~SG$7.1k) which can be mostly attributed to the increase in BNB and CAKE price. For those that are interested in the real-time view, you can track it by entering my wallet address - 0x91484822b5c0ec385380588425af5ad4afa7bf05.

The question is how are they able to provide such a high yield? Unlike BlockFi and Celsius Network which I have also blogged about previously, there is actually no actual business generating any revenue where part of it is shared with us. The high yields are coming from these governance tokens (CAKE and BUNNY) which are created out of thin air and given to us for providing liquidity to the DEX (Decentralized Exchange). Hence, they can easily lose their value very fast once they lose their popularity and people stop using these platforms. Eventually, the plan should be to convert/swap these governance tokens to stablecoins such as USDC or BUSD to realize the yield/profit.

Currently, I am getting an estimated US$30+ a day with a capital of SG$5k, that's about (30 * 1.33) / 5,000 * 365 ~ 291% annualized return! The plan is to just keep compounding and let the farm gets larger first before I start converting these governance tokens to stablecoins. Of course, there is also a high possibility that things might not go according to plan and I might just lose everything too. High risk high return? lol.

In my opinion, I do think the DeFi space is going to continue to grow. The current TLV is just US$121 billion which is actually very small compared to the existing finance space. To put it into context, it is similar to an AUM for just 1 bank in Singapore. Hence, I do believe that I am still not too late for the game as more and more people (especially youngsters) will probably start to join.

Anyway, I have blogged about different ways to leverage crypto to build wealth for people with different risk appetites:

The safer approach using stablecoins

- Earning High Interest Using BlockFi and Celsius Network

- Earning High Interest Using BlockFi and Celsius Network Part 2

Risky approach but more hassle-free

- CakeDeFi - The Easy Way to DeFi

Highest risk and you are on your own

- DeFi apps such as PancakeSwap and PancakeBunny

The most important thing is to manage your risk - how much are you willing to lose without it affecting your daily life. Why bother wasting time trying to optimize your saving account which is just giving you 1%? lol.

On a side note, Futu's moomoo app attractive sign-up bonus (one free Apple Share besides other benefits) has been extended to 30th April 2021 (1500hr SGT)! Take a look at our review here.

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)

Syfe - March 2021

Syfe announced a reduction in interest from 1.75% to 1.5% for their Cash+ portfolio/account recently and it wasn't a surprise for me. It was just a matter of time because they had to "top up" the interest in order to provide higher interest and they just can't do it indefinitely. Personally, I am not a fan of cash management account but if you are risk-averse and relatively older then do sign up for Syfe Cash+. It is definitely much better than those fixed deposits from banks/insurance companies as your cash is not locked up. If you are relatively younger, please do not put most of your money in a cash management account unless you have huge expenses in the near future such as a wedding/renovation, either learn to invest yourself or let the robos do it for you through the more risky growth portfolio!

Alternatively, you can consider my way of cash management. US$53.78 was my interest for just 1 week with a deposit of US$30k. 

- Earning High Interest Using BlockFi and Celsius Network

- Earning High Interest Using BlockFi and Celsius Network Part 2

Our Syfe Portfolio
Composition: 100% REITs
Dividend: Reinvest
Monthly Investment: $1,000

Account Statement (Lifetime)

Our current tier is Blue (<$20,000). This is determined by the size of the portfolio (currently $16,600.89) which in turn determines the fees to be charged. The statement lifetime return is $1,547.61 which includes a $1,290 referral bonus. The actual lifetime return would be $257.61. Thanks to our readers for using our code!

Account Statement (March 2021)

The return for the month is $569.64 which includes a $10 referral bonus. 

As of 13 April 2021, this is our portfolio performance:

Capital: $15,553.28 ($11,000.00 + $4,553.28 from Equity100)

Current: $17,464.07 (25.57% - return is skewed due to referrals)

Capital: $3,700.00
Current: $4,553.28 (52.44% - return is skewed due to referrals)

Transaction Breakdown

There are too many so I will just share a snippet. Anyway, if you want to extract the transaction information from Syfe, do take a look at this article - Syfe Transactions Parser. Anyway, the parser will not work accurately for the Syfe Core, Equity100, and Global ARI portfolios when there are small transactions (<0.01) which I have set them to 0.00 instead. You can refer to this for more information - Syfe - July 2020. The parser will work better/more accurately if Syfe is willing to change its UI and display more decimal places...

REIT+

Equity100

After parsing them into a csv file, I pivoted the data to get the following view.

Management Fee

The management fee can be obtained by $15,993.70 x 0.65% / 365 * 31 ~ $8.82.

StocksCafe
In my opinion, the return captured by StocksCafe will be a more accurate representation of our portfolio return as the referral bonuses are treated as capital. Having said that, I can also understand why Syfe treats them as a return instead of a deposit too. Just a different perspective. 

Anyway, looking at the time-weighted return (20.31%), we can see that Syfe REIT+ 100% is underperforming the indexes/benchmarks. The annualized return/XIRR is 14.24%. Using the Rule of 72, it means that the Syfe portfolio will double our money in 72 / 14.24 ~ 5.05 years. In comparison, the same money if left in the bank account at 2% interest rate will take 72 / 2 ~ 36 years to double. 

If we were to look at the projected dividends till the end of the year based on the existing investment, we can expect $556.02 of dividends or $46.33 per month. Since the dividends >> fees, this is a pretty sustainable portfolio assuming if there's no capital loss.

New Syfe customers will have their first $30,000 managed free for 6 months when they use our new referral code (KPOCZM). We will be receiving a $10 cash incentive for our portfolio if you invest $500 or more on your first deposit.

If you are interested in the smart portfolio tracker (StocksCafe) which I am using as shown above, sign up using my link for a longer trial period :) Refer to our Referrals page for more information.

On a side note, Futu's moomoo attractive sign-up bonus (one free Apple Share besides other benefits) has been extended to 30th April 2021 (1500hr SGT)! Take a look at our review here.

You might be interested in previous months update too:
- Syfe REIT+ (100%) Review

- Syfe - December 2020 - $13,129.55

- Syfe - January 2021 - $14,748.08

- Syfe - February 2021 - $15,531.26

- Syfe - March 2021 - $16,600.89

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)