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SGX StockWhiz 2015 Champion - Joshua Tan
TradeHero would like to congratulate our SGX StockWhiz 2015 champion, Joshua Tan! After we presented him the award, we sat down and interviewed him about his experience with TradeHero.Tell us about yourself, Joshua.
I am currently 28 years old and working as an auditor in one of the local Big 4 accounting firm. I graduated from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) with a Bachelor of Accountancy degree in 2011. My passion for investing started from a very young age and I first come into contact with the Singapore equity market when I am only 10 years old through my dad. At that time, the internet was not common and I can only rely on the Teletext to get information on the stock prices. I started participating in various online stock competitions to gain valuable experience as it enable me to try out different strategies without having to worry about losing any capital and also the fact that I do not have any capital to begin with at that time. During my undergraduate days, I also joined the NTU Investment Interactive Club (NTU-IIC) as an Executive Committee Member where the club is responsible for organising investment seminars and workshops to get more undergraduates exposed to investing.
What motivated you to join SGX StockWhiz Competition?
The SGX StockWhiz Competition provides a platform for me to pit my investing strategies against other investors.
Name us your 3 favourite companies to invest in and why?
- Keppel Corp – The Company is the global leader in the offshore rig market and has very good corporate governance and strong management. Despite the recent sharp decline in oil prices, the long-term outlook for the Company is still positive as the current sluggish oil prices will result in declining oil supplies as producers cut back on their productions and oil prices will eventually rebound back to a more sustainable level which will have a positive effect especially on the offshore rig market.
- SingTel – The Company has been paying regular dividends in the range of 4% to 5% over the years and is good to have in one’s portfolio especially in the current economic uncertainties. However, the entrance of the 4th telco into the already saturated Singapore telco market could have a negative impact on the Company’s bottomline.
- AIMS Property – The Fund (previously known as MacarthurCook Property Securities Fund) has shown a remarkable turnaround since the last financial crisis in 2008 where it almost went bankrupt due to over borrowing by the previous management. The Fund is now debt free under the new management and pays a reasonable dividend of over 4%.
Do you trade in other stocks?
While the above are my favourite companies, I have no actual position/transaction in them due to my current job restrictions. I currently own a portfolio of stock which consists of mainly small and medium capitalisation companies as they provide better growth opportunities in the long run despite the higher risk being taken.
Tell us about your experience with TradeHero (how did you discover and how long have you been using it)
I started using the TradeHero app during the 2014 edition of the SGX StockWhiz Competition. Initially the app is difficult to navigate and I also have difficulty selecting the exact number of shares that I would like to buy/sell using the sliding bar which resulted in having to give up the whole competition altogether. However the app has shown improvement over the past 1 year and it is now easier to navigate and to key in the trades. The contents such as investors education and news available in the app also make it a good one-stop platform for the new investors.
This is the first year the winners’ virtual earnings were converted into commission credit by OCBC Securities. Did this influence your investment strategy in any way?
The commission credit has no influence on my investment strategy.
How much will the OCBC Securities commission credit benefit you moving forward? For instance, how long do you think the commission credit will last you given the number of trades you typically do? The commission credit is only allowed to offset against 30% of the brokerage fee instead of the full amount. Hence, it is still very much higher than brokerages which offer no minimum brokerage fees. However I will make use it when it helps to reduce my overall brokerage fees especially for larger trade or IPO.