Blogs

INVESTMENTS AS A MEANINGFUL GIFT FOR A FRIEND OR A LOVED ONE!

Jul 27, 2021 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Wouldn’t it be good to teach the virtue of sharing or saving instead of spending?
Why not give an investment portfolio to friends and family instead of buying the usual gifts?

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SquirrelSave ONE Dollar Portfolios: +16% & +22% in 13 mths!

Jul 1, 2021 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Over many years of investing experience, I realised that we are after all, human. Instead of really investing, we are mostly speculating and timing the markets.

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SQUIRRELSAVE: +11% to +13% IN FIRST HALF 2021

Jul 1, 2021 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

In our end-May 2021 blog, we talked about being disciplined and quantitative, instead of following traditional investment folklore. Data proves it is better to stay invested instead of timing markets. That’s why we created SquirrelSave AI to track markets 24/7.

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MY SQUIRRELSAVE PORTFOLIO: +35% in 25 months

Jun 26, 2021 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Last night, someone who had read my blog dated 2 April 2021 asked about my SquirrelSave portfolio…

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GLOBAL VACCINATION CHALLENGE & GROWING INTEREST IN CRYPTO ASSETS

Jun 5, 2021 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

As we closed the first week of June, the leading USA exchanges were boosted by better-than-expected jobs data. The flagship Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S&P 500 hovered around recent record highs while the Nasdaq Composite which had experienced a tech selloff recovered.

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SELL IN MAY & GO AWAY?

May 31, 2021 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

There is a popular saying, "Sell in May and go away”! While we investment folks may call it folklore (no pun intended 😊), SquirrelSave’s investment team takes a quantitative approach to make sense of it.

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LATEST! APRIL SQUIRRELSAVE PERFORMANCE: UP +7.3% TO +8.6%

Apr 30, 2021 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Following our first quarter 2021 performance update, SquirrelSave is pleased to see that our Tactical Asset Allocation (TAA) adjustments are delivering good results!

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SQUIRRELSAVE PORTFOLIOS ARE UP +5.7% TO +7.0% IN FIRST QUARTER 2021

Apr 13, 2021 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

At SquirrelSave, we use data-driven Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques to optimize portfolio returns within projected risk parameters.

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MY SQUIRRELSAVE PORTFOLIO: +27% in 22 months (+14% per annum)

Apr 2, 2021 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

As at end-Mar 2021, my SquirrelSave portfolio is up +27% since June 2019 (or 14% p.a)… Here, you can see that my portfolio which started in June 2019 with just SGD 15,000 is now worth almost SGD 19,000.

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Pandemic One Year on with Vaccines, Global Recovery & Rise of Crypto...

Mar 16, 2021 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

All of us still breathing should give pause to mourn those who have perished during this pandemic. Going forward, we must be mindful of the immense and uneven suffering wrought by Covid-19.

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Go Digital & Gift a Squirrelsave Hongbao this “Niu” Year!

Feb 8, 2021 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

As we kick off the “Niu” Year of the Ox, SquirrelSave invites you to go digital and gift a SquirrelSave investment portfolio – instead of a cash Hongbao.

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Stay Invested & Reap Better Returns

Jan 20, 2021 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

After years in investments, I realised that there was a limit to my capability. There is only so much information I can process within a given time. Yet, the world of investing was getting more complex.

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How did My Squirrelsave Portfolios Do in 2020?

Jan 4, 2021 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

As we start investing for 2021, let’s review my SquirrelSave portfolios which I set up along the way since 2019.

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As 2020 closes, what lies ahead for global investment markets?

December 10, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Investment markets are expecting Biden to be sworn in as the next US President on 20 Jan 2020 - assuming Trump does not upset the apple cart. Investment markets do not like uncertainty.

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Blistering November Gains for Stock Markets Even As Covid Rages On

December 1, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Enthusiasm about vaccines drove USA stock markets to record highs in November 2020.

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Risk Management Still Critical - As It Always Has @ SquirrelSave

November 1, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

In the past two weeks, the stock market has become choppy. Headlines scream about the largest fall since whenever. That’s obvious, right?

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The Best Time to Invest?

October 7, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Sorry to burst your bubble. There is no such thing as the best time to invest, unless you are a historian.

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Market Update – 1 Sep 2020

September 1, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

August 2020 has seen a recovery. While DJIA remains around 4% below its pre-Covid high, the S&P500 has finally broken through and setting new record highs.

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Anyone Can Enjoy Smart Investing – Starting From One Dollar

August 31, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

A one dollar global portfolio? Yes! SquirrelSave is designed to help anyone invest with low cost, using the power of AI and global diversification.

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Time to Take Stock of Investing (no pun intended)

August 14, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Since our launch, we had a decent ride managing market risks using our machine learning AI engine. The Covid crash showed that our system is crash-proof.

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Glad that SquirrelSave is Navigating Smartly Amidst this Crisis

July 25, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Two weeks since I wrote about SquirrelSave’s bold allocation to Gold in my portfolio (and yours too, if you are a SquirrelSave client), Gold continues to rise.

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Shhh!!! My SquirrelSave Portfolio Seems to Know Something About Gold

July 10, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

5-Year chart shows that gold is suddenly doing well in June 2019. 10-Year chart shows that gold is now back to its previous peak seen in Aug 2011.

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How My SquirrelSave Portfolio Behaved Through the Covid-19 March 2020 Market Crash

May 19, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

We have trained our investment system to cover the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, it is interesting how it navigates a live market crash and ongoing volatility.

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Sharp Recovery Since the Covid-19 Crash

Apr 14, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

China's Shanghai Composite and Japan's Nikkei 225 closed at their highest since mid March 2020. Is this sharp recovery for real?

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Getting It Right: Realised and Unrealised Gains/Losses

Apr 7, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

In typical gambling behaviour, people are mostly heading for the exits because they have lost everything (including what they won previously).

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Is Covid-19 different from the past crisis?

March 30, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Yes, Covid-19 is different from the causes of previous crises. There is deliberate policy-induced economic contraction – unlike other crises.

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Covid-19: Defining Your Investment Experience

March 30, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

The IMF is forecasting a global recession in 2020. On the bright side, some analysts are forecasting a recovery as early as the third quarter of 2020.

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Covid-19: Has Fear Run Ahead of Markets?

March 9, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Greed and fear are the driving forces behind buying and selling decisions. We buy when there is an excessive greed. We sell when there is an excessive fear.

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Market Update Mar 2020

March 2, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Major benchmark indices such as the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq had the worst week since the Global Financial Crisis of October 2008. The CNN Fear And Greed Index has retraced from extreme greed levels in January to deep fear levels.

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SquirrelSave portfolios are doing fine despite Covid-19

February 25, 2020 | Yi-Chen Chia, CFA CAIA FRM

Despite the world fighting the Covid-19 outbreak, SquirrelSave's portfolios are still showing positive performance. Our investments are well-diversified across global markets; mainly allocated to US REITS, US stocks, and China A-shares.

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How Covid-19
Affects Investment Strategy

January 30, 2020 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^® & Yi-Chen Chia, CFA CAIA FRM

As with any flu outbreak, there will likely be an acceleration in the number of infections before it peaks and slows down. In the meantime, stay away from high-risk areas, practice good personal hygiene and use common sense. But what about our investments?

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Stop Paying
for Bad Performance

November 1, 2019 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

In the investment world, those who have more money pay the lowest fees. Those who have less money to invest - pay much more. It’s painful to see how these small investors are fleeced every day.

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Whitepaper: SquirrelSave’s F.A.M.E
[Factor Analytics Machine Learning Engine]

Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®, Yi-Chen Chia, CFA CAIA FRM

Contents
Section 1: Introduction
Section 2: Pivot’s Factor Modelling with Machine Learning Analytics
Section 3: Portfolio Optimization on Pivot’s Factor Model
Section 4: Personalized Solution – Dynamic Advisory and Rebalancing

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Market Update Aug 2019

Aug 10, 2019 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

The global risk outlook has risen compared to 3 months ago. Concerns over global growth remain high amidst trade war fallout fears. Gold touched fresh multiyear highs while bond yields continue to fall. Negative interest rates threaten wiggle room for policy actions.

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Smart Investing with
Global Diversification at SquirrelSave

Jun 13, 2019 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Internet social media has shifted the way news or facts are delivered and perceived – with profound implications for the way we should invest. I am asked by many these days about the implications for their investments because of the news frenzy about the USA-China trade war. I can understand the anxiety. Yet, I need to remind ourselves about our human short-term memories.

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Why Replace The Human
Investment Manager?

May 21, 2019 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

When investors ask me what I do, I cheekily tell them that I intend to replace their human investment manager. They think I am doing a marketing pitch for them to appoint me as their investment manager. When I clarify that I am not proposing myself in place of their investment manager and add that I am not claiming to be better than their investment manager, they get puzzled and curious.

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The Good Old Days,
and The Fantastic Days Ahead...

May 7, 2019 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Many years ago, when I was a stockbroker, I researched companies listed on various stock exchanges. Based on my research, I would recommend buying or selling the listed shares of specific companies to professional fund managers who typically managed unit trusts or mutual funds[1].

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Applying Serious Gaming
to Improve Risk Profiling Analytics

Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

In this White Paper, we share how SquirrelSave breaks new ground with gamification of risk profiling to restore some order to the muddied world of personal investing.

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What You Should Know About Unit Trusts

April 18, 2019 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

If you are new to investing, it can be very intimidating. Not everyone is schooled in finance or accountancy. Even for first-timers schooled in finance or accountancy, it can be confusing. Not everyone has the same gung-ho risk attitude. Yet there is a fear of losing out when you hear boasts from people who say how much money they made from investing.

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Is Risk Profiling Just Another Questionnaire?

April 11, 2019 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

For too long, investing has lost its way. With so many financial products and hard-selling, we risk paying too much for something unsuitable. It is an uneven playing field. Yet, we are to blame.

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Psst! Are you investing, gambling or speculating?

April 5, 2019 | Victor Lye, CFA CFP^®

Many people say they invest. But they are really gambling or speculating! What aboout you? The difference in investing, gambling and speculating is in the underlying personal behavior which depends on attitudes towards the risks involved.

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