Hi shiny. Sorry this may be off topic but can i know some of your thoughts on this statement posted on my thread by someone :
"2017 coming, you still want to join banking ?
if you trade, you should know that any year in the stock market that ends with a 7 is a bad year.
think of it as a 10 year recession itch, even though it will get shorter.
Well this bit is numerology rubbish, for starters - there's nothing inherently bad about years ending in 7. In fact 2007 was a pretty great year for banking unless you worked in asset-backed securities; 2008 was where it all went Pete Tong. Whoever's spouting that into your thread is high.
do note that as a broker whether in house or commission based, your pay is unlikely going to keep up with your peers in other industry"
Would be completing my studies by about that period of time and i am considering to venture into banking/finance industry.
Don't go into finance for the money. The money isn't as fabulous as it was before the GFC (though if I'm honest it's still pretty good), and the workload is horrendous whether you're in investment banking or sales-and-trading.
This might not be a bad time to get into the industry, though: you always want to get in to an investment when it's on the nose, and nothing is more on the nose right now than the finance industry.
Maybe pick something that you enjoy doing, instead of something that you feel like people want you to do?
Hi Shiny,
1. What are your thoughts on PFF (US)? Very decent dividend of >6% but very boring?
I don't do single stocks - I'm bad at stock-picking - but the deal with PFF is that it's an ETF of "preferred stocks", basically the US equivalent of stuff like the DBS preference shares that are listed on the SGX.
This is not a terrible investment, but it's not a particularly exciting one either. Pref shares are vulnerable to falls in equities and increases in interest rates, and the tax treatment on those things is going to be deeply unfavourable for you - 30% tax withholding, no arguments, no way to claim it back.
2. Schroder Global Dividend Maximiser. They sell call option for blue chips they own and generate more than 8%? Is that a sustainable model even if equities go into wild swings?
Nope, it's not. If equities start going down, then they'll start losing money on all those stocks they own. They might still be able to pay an 8% "dividend", but that won't stop you losing money on the stocks - and equally if stocks have a huge rally then this fund will underperform too, because their call options will make them give up all their upside.