*Official* Shiny Things club - Part 2

[paythel]

Thanks for the response.

Oh my god, no, you're thinking way too hard about this. This is a thing you can do, but just don't, it's too much hassle and you're gonna end up paying spread cross on the options as well. You haven't even explained why a Singapore investor would want to own USD-denominated bonds in the first place, unless I missed it?

...and run up a truckload of transaction costs, slippage, etc etc etc...

Just save yourself a whole lot of trouble and find a UK-listed equivalent.

You're right about spreads being higher and more of a potential issue with options. They do however have the advantage of relatively cheap leverage. Still, their time-limited nature and the need to roll it out adds more moving parts and more transaction costs / potential for execution error... so I think I probably won't be doing this.

Anyway, I was considering this generally for US-listed shares (I choose to overweight a few specific companies (power law and all...), and I recognize that it is my personal preference - and therefore deviating from your general recommendation), and BND was just an example. And under those circumstances, trying to figure out how best to minimize fees/taxes/etc.



To your question however, I do actually believe a Singapore investor should consider bonds beyond MBH, A35 and the CPF "bond-like" allocation.

CPF SA is amazing of course, but doesn't actually serve as a counterweight for the volatility of your stock allocation, and in any case has a maximum contribution.

As for MBH and A35, these are both tiny slices of the bond universe. Both from Singaporean entities, denominated in SGD, and limited to corporations and "government-linked institutions" or the Singapore government respectively. I'm not convinced that diversification is irrelevant for bonds (also personally I'm not sure my future expenditure will necessarily be in SGD).

As such, I hold AGGU (iShares Core Global Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF) in London instead. Given the higher volume, AUM, and lower expense ratio, I was wondering if some combination of BND and BNDX in the US might be the better choice. Certainly, my understanding is that the withholding tax of BND (not BNDX) is actually handled in such a way to make it equivalent to an Irish-domiciled fund for non-resident aliens.

^ RE: BND, I realise I actually overlooked that previously, such that perhaps my marginal benefit from dividend-avoidance might be even lower.


Wondering what anyone thinks!

 

[peipei1]

Here to share that DBS Invest Saver allows you to buy Nikko AM Corporate Bond ETF (MBH) and Nikko AM Reit ETF (CFA) now. It is not official yet, but it is available on the list of ETFs available for RSP. You all might want to take a look.

Hey shiny what are your thoughts on cfa reits?

Asian ex jp reits or sti index if given a choice?

Good progress by dbs! I do wonder why do anyone else need to trade sti shares with this in place!

If dbs roll out iwda rsp, they would displace most insurers plans! Haha

 

[shazed]

Vanguard cuts fees across 13 ETFs

VWRD/VWRA ter lowered from 0.25% to 0.22%. Now just slightly more than IWDA at 0.20%.

List of changes

Equity
Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF ($3.7bn AUM) down 3 basis points to OCF 0.22%
Vanguard FTSE Developed Asia Pacific ex Japan UCITS ETF ($380m) down 7 basis points to 0.15%
Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe ex UK UCITS ETF ($1.5bn) down 2 basis points to 0.10%
Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe UCITS ETF ($2.1bn) down 2 basis points to 0.10%
Vanguard FTSE Developed World UCITS ETF ($350m) down 6 basis points to 0.12%
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets UCITS ETF ($1.9bn) down 3 basis points to 0.22%
Vanguard FTSE Japan UCITS ETF ($1.9bn) down 4 basis points to 0.15%

Fixed income
Vanguard EUR Corporate Bond UCITS ETF ($270m) down 3 basis points to 0.09%
Vanguard EUR Eurozone Government Bond UCITS ETF ($240m) down 5 basis points to 0.07%
Vanguard UK Gilt UCITS ETF ($200m) down 5 basis points to 0.07%
Vanguard USD Corporate 1-3 Year Bond UCITS ETF ($190m) down 6 basis points to 0.09%
Vanguard USD Corporate Bond UCITS ETF ($280m) down 3 basis points to 0.09%
Vanguard USD Treasury Bond UCITS ETF ($220m) down 5 basis points to 0.07%

https://www.etfstrategy.com/vanguard-cuts-fees-across-13-etfs-in-europe-94578/

 

[BBCWatcher]

Hi BBCWatcher, i was comparing the dividend yield between the MBH (0.47%) and A35 (2.20%) for the year of 2019 and was wondering if buying and holding onto A35 would be better in the long term if I intend to live off the dividends?

No. MBH will assuredly end up with a slightly higher long-term average yield unless the bond markets are broken for years, and I don't think they'll be broken for years. Moreover, you can replicate A35 quite well and without the fund management expense via direct bond purchases from the government. Singapore Savings Bonds are particularly convenient.

I'm glad A35 exists, but I'm not a fan of it for long-term investors.

By the way, if you going to try to run the ex-dividend recycling plays with something like BND, it'd be better if you can find a low cost fund that distributes dividends quarterly rather than monthly.

CPF SA is amazing of course, but doesn't actually serve as a counterweight for the volatility of your stock allocation, and in any case has a maximum contribution.

Sure it acts as a volatility counterweight. A portfolio with S$100,000 more stuffed into CPF SA and the rest in stocks is less volatile in Singapore dollar terms than a portfolio with that same S$100,000 alternatively invested in stocks.

What I think you meant is that you cannot use SA dollars for portfolio rebalancing. True, but rebalancing is optional, and you don't typically need very many dollars to do it.

....I'm not convinced that diversification is irrelevant for bonds (also personally I'm not sure my future expenditure will necessarily be in SGD).

As such, I hold AGGU (iShares Core Global Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF) in London instead.

For such investors I like CRPA a little better, but that's a minor point.

Certainly, my understanding is that the withholding tax of BND (not BNDX) is actually handled in such a way to make it equivalent to an Irish-domiciled fund for non-resident aliens.

Where are you seeing that? Yes, the U.S. government legally allows "passthrough" treatment of the portfolio interest exemption, but then when you go looking for U.S. fund managers who actually do the proper reporting to accommodate foreign investors, they're hard to find. And that has nothing to do with the U.S. estate tax, if you care about that.

 

[paythel]

By the way, if you going to try to run the ex-dividend recycling plays with something like BND, it'd be better if you can find a low cost fund that distributes dividends quarterly rather than monthly.

Absolutely, recycling 12 times a year would mean it took place almost 5% of trading days. I think tracking error would really become an issue at that point.

For such investors I like CRPA a little better, but that's a minor point.

I'm actually curious on this point. It seems people here seem to recommend corporate bonds as a substitute for sovereign bonds, just with higher returns. I'd think the return is a premium paid for additional default risk? Why are corporate bonds the usual recommendation?

Where are you seeing that? Yes, the U.S. government legally allows "passthrough" treatment of the portfolio interest exemption, but then when you go looking for U.S. fund managers who actually do the proper reporting to accommodate foreign investors, they're hard to find. And that has nothing to do with the U.S. estate tax, if you care about that.

Yes, nothing do with with US estate tax, just withholding tax on interest received from US-source bonds.

My sources are variously

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=281682

^Discussion of the US Bond ETFs and NRAs specifically

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Nonresident_alien_taxation

^Overview

http://www.klgates.com/permanent-us...s--a-new-distribution-opportunity-01-12-2016/

^Investor Note from some company on rule change

https://advisors.vanguard.com/VGApp/iip/advisor/csa/investments/taxcenter/vgifunds?page=iciFiles

^ If you check "2018 Nonresident alien (NRA) layout spreadsheet excel", BND and other funds with US bonds have distributions listed in the "NRA Exempt Income Div" column, while those with international bonds or equities do not.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/871

^Legal documentation on this. I think the relevant parts are 871 (h), or is it (k)?

 

[BBCWatcher]

It seems people here seem to recommend corporate bonds as a substitute for sovereign bonds, just with higher returns.

No, that's not quite right. Sovereign bonds have a role to play. For example, I happen to think Singapore Savings Bonds are fabulous in the role of emergency reserve -- except for the first 5 weeks or so of the emergency. (SSB redemptions are on a monthly cycle.)

For long-term investors, for the bond portion of a long-term investment portfolio, the investment grade corporate bonds are a better fit.

I'd think the return is a premium paid for additional default risk? Why are corporate bonds the usual recommendation?

That's right, which is desirable, prudent risk (and associated premium) within a long-term portfolio and with reasonable or better issuer diversity. The bond ratings (investment grade) provide some basic quality screening so that you don't have too many turds in the mix. These aren't "high yield" (i.e. junk) bonds.

Yes, nothing do with with US estate tax, just withholding tax on interest received from US-source bonds....

So let's consider Vanguard's BND for a moment. I don't really have any disagreement about what the law allows. Specifically, if a "non-resident alien" holds an individual U.S. bond, usually the interest on that bond is U.S. tax free. When a fund holds the bond and then has a NRA fund shareholder, the U.S. tax code allows that favorable income tax treatment to be passed through to the fund's foreign shareholder, provided the fund provides the detailed reporting required for the proper accounting.

My only real concern is how this operationally works for you and other potential NRA investors. Two points:

1. Vanguard is evidently providing that detailed accounting in their spreadsheets posted on their Web site, so that's good. However, take a close look at the figures they give for BND versus the dividends they actually paid in 2018. There's a discrepancy. That is, a portion of the dividend income is still U.S. taxable, and that'd be at the 30% non-treaty rate for residents of Singapore.

2. The other problem -- and it's a bigger one -- is that I'm not sure that a broker would withhold dividend tax per Vanguard's spreadsheet or even could, operationally. The way I think this must work in reality is that your broker is going to have to withhold dividend tax at the 30% on the gross dividends. An annual spreadsheet published in February the following year isn't going to provide any help to a broker who is required by law to withhold dividend tax a certain way, i.e. at the 30% rate on the gross.

Then you're evidently allowed to file a non-resident alien tax return (IRS Form 1040NR) to claw back part of the tax paid since it's subject to the pass through portfolio interest exemption, based on Vanguard's spreadsheet accounting. Assuming the IRS gives you your partial dividend tax refund, that'll be without interest.

I think I'm with Shiny Things on this. Would it make more sense just to head to the London Stock Exchange and invest in an Irish domiciled fund that then invests in the U.S. corporate bonds? Then the whole fund is a non-resident alien, and there's no withholding and tax return to file for a possible clawback.

 

[paythel]

My only real concern is how this operationally works for you and other potential NRA investors. Two points:

1. Vanguard is evidently providing that detailed accounting in their spreadsheets posted on their Web site, so that's good. However, take a close look at the figures they give for BND versus the dividends they actually paid in 2018. There's a discrepancy. That is, a portion of the dividend income is still U.S. taxable, and that'd be at the 30% non-treaty rate for residents of Singapore.

2. The other problem -- and it's a bigger one -- is that I'm not sure that a broker would withhold dividend tax per Vanguard's spreadsheet or even could, operationally. The way I think this must work in reality is that your broker is going to have to withhold dividend tax at the 30% on the gross dividends. An annual spreadsheet published in February the following year isn't going to provide any help to a broker who is required by law to withhold dividend tax a certain way, i.e. at the 30% rate on the gross.

Then you're evidently allowed to file a non-resident alien tax return (IRS Form 1040NR) to claw back part of the tax paid since it's subject to the pass through portfolio interest exemption, based on Vanguard's spreadsheet accounting. Assuming the IRS gives you your partial dividend tax refund, that'll be without interest.

I think I'm with Shiny Things on this. Would it make more sense just to head to the London Stock Exchange and invest in an Irish domiciled fund that then invests in the U.S. corporate bonds? Then the whole fund is a non-resident alien, and there's no withholding and tax return to file for a possible clawback.

1) Good catch on the discrepency. I took a look at another fund that only held treasuries (VEDTX), and there was no discrepency there. I suppose that the tax exemption only applies to bond interest of bonds issued by the US government then? While corporate bonds etc are subject to the full 30% withholding.

2) A user on that Bogleheads thread posted:

"
I am a non-resident alien (NRA) for US tax purposes, living in a country with a US tax treaty.

My experience last year with BND (Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF) held at Interactive Brokers (IB) was that the dividend payments had withholding taken at the treaty rate specified on my W8BEN. Then, earlier this year, IB refunded most of that withholding.

In contrast, BNDX (Vanguard Total International Bond ETF) also had dividend withholding, but no refund the following year."

So it seems to work as a tax refund by the broker after the fact?

No, that's not quite right. Sovereign bonds have a role to play. For example, I happen to think Singapore Savings Bonds are fabulous in the role of emergency reserve -- except for the first 5 weeks or so of the emergency. (SSB redemptions are on a monthly cycle.)

For long-term investors, for the bond portion of a long-term investment portfolio, the investment grade corporate bonds are a better fit.

Hmm, I can see you consider investment grade corporate bonds as the right risk/return mix for a long term investment portfolio, but I'm still curious when you think government bonds like T-Bonds or SGS are appropriate.



Anyway as to an Irish domiciled bond fund being better and more simple... that probably is the case. Which is after all why I currently hold AGGU. Was just somewhat worried about the low volume and AUM.

 

[beefjerky]

Hi can someone advise?

I have sufficient cash in my account, 17sgd, 874 usd. I am trying to buy 14 shares of iwda, at about 59.32 usd. But IB says "your order is not accepted. there is insufficient settled cash (-747.30 usd for 20191028) in your account to obtain the desired position. previously i did change sgd to usd by buying usd via fxconv. any advise?

edit: i am on cash account, and I checked it isnt a public holiday in US now right
edit2: went to read in previous posts. So my understanding is that it takes T+2 days for forex to clear? If thats the case, why is it that in the past, I could just purchase the USD and buy stocks immediately?

 

[BBCWatcher]

1) Good catch on the discrepency. I took a look at another fund that only held treasuries (VEDTX), and there was no discrepency there. I suppose that the tax exemption only applies to bond interest of bonds issued by the US government then? While corporate bonds etc are subject to the full 30% withholding.

No, it’s not quite that simple. I suspect it’s something like non-U.S. corporations issuing U.S. dollar denominated bonds and BND holding a few of those.

2) A user on that Bogleheads thread posted:
....My experience last year with BND (Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF) held at Interactive Brokers (IB) was that the dividend payments had withholding taken at the treaty rate specified on my W8BEN. Then, earlier this year, IB refunded most of that withholding.

That’s really, really odd, but OK. The partial refund is without interest, though, so factor that cost into the equation.

Hmm, I can see you consider investment grade corporate bonds as the right risk/return mix for a long term investment portfolio, but I'm still curious when you think government bonds like T-Bonds or SGS are appropriate.

T-Bills and other SGSes can be great for parking cash for relatively short term objectives, such as an upcoming wedding, down payment on a home, etc.

 

[cassowary18]

Never heard of them, but I can't see anything about their portfolios on their website. Not investing in something if I don't know what they're going to put me into.

So I opened an account and played around a bit. They're a robo-advisor/brokerage hybrid. They have products called "Kristals" which are essentially baskets of ETFs that are actively managed (I'd avoid these). You can also buy some popular ETFs on their platform, and there's some good ones there, including GLD, A35, ES3, CSPX, IWDA, etc. So you can DIY your own portfolio. From comparing the prices on the platform to the stock market quote, there isn't any difference, so there isn't any hidden sales commission.

They also have a robo-advisor that recommends you products to buy based on your risk tolerance, but they only recommend their own products to buy. You're probably better off DIY-ing your own portfolio.

My impression is that it's a good platform to buy and sell without sales charges, as long as your portfolio doesn't exceed USD 50,000. If your portfolio exceeds that amount, any amount above USD 50,000 gets charged at 0.3% of AUM, at which point I would switch over to IB or SCB. The downside is that some other popular ETFs like VWRD/VWRA and EIMI are not available.

Question: Do I need EIMI together with IWDA, or will just IWDA suffice? Was initially looking at a $1950 investment into VWRA every quarter, but now I might just buy IWDA and purchase EIMI every 6 months instead during rebalancing.

 

[imwarren]

So I opened an account and played around a bit. They're a robo-advisor/brokerage hybrid. They have products called "Kristals" which are essentially baskets of ETFs that are actively managed (I'd avoid these). You can also buy some popular ETFs on their platform, and there's some good ones there, including GLD, A35, ES3, CSPX, IWDA, etc. So you can DIY your own portfolio. From comparing the prices on the platform to the stock market quote, there isn't any difference, so there isn't any hidden sales commission.

They also have a robo-advisor that recommends you products to buy based on your risk tolerance, but they only recommend their own products to buy. You're probably better off DIY-ing your own portfolio.

My impression is that it's a good platform to buy and sell without sales charges, as long as your portfolio doesn't exceed USD 50,000. If your portfolio exceeds that amount, any amount above USD 50,000 gets charged at 0.3% of AUM, at which point I would switch over to IB or SCB. The downside is that some other popular ETFs like VWRD/VWRA and EIMI are not available.

Question: Do I need EIMI together with IWDA, or will just IWDA suffice? Was initially looking at a $1950 investment into VWRA every quarter, but now I might just buy IWDA and purchase EIMI every 6 months instead during rebalancing.

I was under the impression that you will simply be given a Saxo segregated account. If I am not wrong, you do need to pay Saxo trading fees, which is not cheap. Do check it out and let us know

 

[Wishdom]

VWRD/VWRA ter lowered from 0.25% to 0.22%. Now just slightly more than IWDA at 0.20%.

List of changes

Equity
Vanguard FTSE All-World UCITS ETF ($3.7bn AUM) down 3 basis points to OCF 0.22%
Vanguard FTSE Developed Asia Pacific ex Japan UCITS ETF ($380m) down 7 basis points to 0.15%
Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe ex UK UCITS ETF ($1.5bn) down 2 basis points to 0.10%
Vanguard FTSE Developed Europe UCITS ETF ($2.1bn) down 2 basis points to 0.10%
Vanguard FTSE Developed World UCITS ETF ($350m) down 6 basis points to 0.12%
Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets UCITS ETF ($1.9bn) down 3 basis points to 0.22%
Vanguard FTSE Japan UCITS ETF ($1.9bn) down 4 basis points to 0.15%

Fixed income
Vanguard EUR Corporate Bond UCITS ETF ($270m) down 3 basis points to 0.09%
Vanguard EUR Eurozone Government Bond UCITS ETF ($240m) down 5 basis points to 0.07%
Vanguard UK Gilt UCITS ETF ($200m) down 5 basis points to 0.07%
Vanguard USD Corporate 1-3 Year Bond UCITS ETF ($190m) down 6 basis points to 0.09%
Vanguard USD Corporate Bond UCITS ETF ($280m) down 3 basis points to 0.09%
Vanguard USD Treasury Bond UCITS ETF ($220m) down 5 basis points to 0.07%

https://www.etfstrategy.com/vanguard-cuts-fees-across-13-etfs-in-europe-94578/

AWESOME NEWS. Thanks for sharing!

Sent from Ilovennp using GAGT

 

[hwckhs]

Hi can someone advise?

I have sufficient cash in my account, 17sgd, 874 usd. I am trying to buy 14 shares of iwda, at about 59.32 usd. But IB says "your order is not accepted. there is insufficient settled cash (-747.30 usd for 20191028) in your account to obtain the desired position. previously i did change sgd to usd by buying usd via fxconv. any advise?

edit: i am on cash account, and I checked it isnt a public holiday in US now right
edit2: went to read in previous posts. So my understanding is that it takes T+2 days for forex to clear? If thats the case, why is it that in the past, I could just purchase the USD and buy stocks immediately?

I believe you exchanged SGD to USD today? If so, there will be a delay to your USD settlement due to Deepavali. For USD.SGD trade, you need to consider SG and US holidays. If there is any market holiday between T and T+2, the settlement gets delayed. Without holidays, T+2 should fall on Oct 28th (Monday). Since, we have Deepavali holiday on that day, the settlement of your USD will be on the Oct 29th (Tue) instead.

When purchasing IWDA, you only need to consider LSE holidays (there is none today or in the coming days). You can place your IWDA trade tomorrow, as T+2 will be on 29th (Tue), the same day your USD settles.

I have these URLs in my bookmark:
- https://www.tradinghours.com/exchanges/sgx/market-holidays/
- https://www.tradinghours.com/exchanges/nyse/market-holidays/
- https://www.tradinghours.com/exchanges/lse/market-holidays/

For people who trade on a fixed schedule (DCA), you can check if your next trade will be affected by upcoming holidays. You can plan around it (like trade USD.SGD a day earlier) to avoid disappointment.

 

[peipei1]

I did replied before about vanguard has a precedent to drop their costs! While BlackRock will prefer to start a new etf when lowering costs. I got this info while researching. It is just at that time, there was no vanguard equivalent on lse.

 

[cassowary18]

I was under the impression that you will simply be given a Saxo segregated account. If I am not wrong, you do need to pay Saxo trading fees, which is not cheap. Do check it out and let us know

I dropped them a message, will let you know!

 

[ftpofmpo]

does anyone of you have confidence in the long term prospects of the sti etf? e.g. sph one of the constituents, don't inspire confidence in the long run

 

[Converged]

Nah, unfortunately; you'll need to redeem from POSB and buy them again at Stanchart. It's not the end of the world, though.

Hi ST, thanks for your reply again! Just wondering, why do I need to sell the G3B stocks that I've in POSB? Can't I just leave them there and only sell them when required ( prob during rebalancing)?

 

[sks888]

Mate, there's a LOT going on here, you have gotten yourself in way too deep. All your bonds are USD bonds, you've got no SGD bond allocation so you've got a huge pile of FX risk. You're taking a yield curve position with IBTM+SDIA, you're buying the short end after the curve has steepened. You're plowing money into A-shares for no clear reason, when A-shares are trading at a hefty premium to H-shares.

If you came to me as a consulting client with that portfolio I'd tell you to toss it all out the window and start from scratch. This doesn't make any sense.

Hi ST thanks for replying. Not too sure about u saying "buying the short end after the curve has steepened"-So will it be good to just go for a longer term US bonds for my portfolio? To eliminate FX risk probably MBH with a dtla(20 yr treasury)is a good mix? But seems like MHB has a low yield of 0.47.

Does anyone know any things below and help clear my doubts? Thanks in advance.
1)ibtm(LSE listed) Vs ief(us listed), do I get tax on this bond dividend? And is ief bond etf counted towards the 60k estate tax exemption?
2)As for how much dividend I'm receiving like ibtm, should I look at weighted average coupon or weighted average YTM ?

 

[Shiny Things]

Hi ST thanks for replying. Not too sure about u saying "buying the short end after the curve has steepened"-So will it be good to just go for a longer term US bonds for my portfolio?

No. I'm saying you do not need ANY USD bonds. Just buy MBH. (And the dividend yield is not 0.47%, it's more like 3%. See below.)

Question: Do I need EIMI together with IWDA, or will just IWDA suffice? Was initially looking at a $1950 investment into VWRA every quarter, but now I might just buy IWDA and purchase EIMI every 6 months instead during rebalancing.

Nah, just IWDA is fine. An allocation to emerging markets in most new investors' portfolios would be too small to make any difference; it's not worth thinking about until you hit six figures or so.

does anyone of you have confidence in the long term prospects of the sti etf? e.g. sph one of the constituents, don't inspire confidence in the long run

1) That's one of thirty index components;
2) The STI might not have the exciting go-go tech stocks that the US has, but it's got lots of solid, boring, unexciting dividend payers that will be around for the foreseeable future. It's fine.

Hi ST, thanks for your reply again! Just wondering, why do I need to sell the G3B stocks that I've in POSB? Can't I just leave them there and only sell them when required ( prob during rebalancing)?

Oh, fair point. I'd just move them because it's easier to have all your accounts in one place (or two places, sometimes).

Hey shiny what are your thoughts on cfa reits?

Flat no. REITs are pointless unless you’re retired and under-provisioned and desperate for income—especially SG-REITs which seem to exist only to continually raise capital to trade assets with each other.

They’ve got the low return of bonds, with all the downside of equities, and they’re marketed to people who don’t know any better. Don’t bother.

To your question however, I do actually believe a Singapore investor should consider bonds beyond MBH, A35 and the CPF "bond-like" allocation.

As for MBH and A35, these are both tiny slices of the bond universe. Both from Singaporean entities, denominated in SGD,

*clap emoji* THAT’S
*clap emoji* THE
*clap emoji* POINT.

Most investors in here are Singaporean, and going to retire in Singapore. They’re going to need SGD. Having Singaporean investors make huge hidden FX bets (by investing in non-SGD bonds) is almost always a bad idea.

If you’re not planning to retire in Singapore (if you might retire in the USA, say), then it does make sense to have some allocation to other currencies’ bonds.

As such, I hold AGGU (iShares Core Global Aggregate Bond UCITS ETF) in London instead. Given the higher volume, AUM, and lower expense ratio, I was wondering if some combination of BND and BNDX in the US might be the better choice.

I want to make sure you know what you actually want to invest in, first, before you start picking particular funds. (At least you’re not mixing up USD bonds with unhedged global bonds, which, points for that.) You were complaining that MBH only gives you corporate bonds and A35 only gives you govvies, but… that’s the majority of what bond markets are.

Hi BBCWatcher, i was comparing the dividend yield between the MBH (0.47%) and A35 (2.20%) for the year of 2019 and was wondering if buying and holding onto A35 would be better in the long term if I intend to live off the dividends?

MBH’s dividend yield is not 0.47%, it’s closer to 3%. It’s only that low because MBH launched late in 2018, so it didn’t have a lot of time to accumulate dividends before paying them out at the beginning of 2019.

 

[MichealScott]

Interesting...0.5% sales charge for MBH and 0.82% for CFA. A game changer, definitely. Would use this over OCBC BCIP.

Here to share that DBS Invest Saver allows you to buy Nikko AM Corporate Bond ETF (MBH) and Nikko AM Reit ETF (CFA) now. It is not official yet, but it is available on the list of ETFs available for RSP. You all might want to take a look.

What the...I just created BCIP..how ah? Can trx the shares over? I only bought for a month

Sent from Stamford Bridge using GAGT