Weekly Highlights
The biggest event of the past week (other than Trump’s tariffs, of course) is that the Senate in the Philippines has approved the Capital Market Efficiency Promotion Act (CMEPA) bill. This means that the tax on stock transactions will be reduced from 0.6% to just 0.1%, and the dividend withholding tax for non-resident individual investors will fall from 25% to just 10%. I suspect CMEPA will significantly increase trading volumes and perhaps lead to greater foreign interest in Philippine equities. Exchange operator Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE PM - US$258 million) will likely benefit from the new law.
Post of the week
Last Wednesday, I provided another monthly update on my personal, Asia-focused portfolio. I reviewed what’s changed to each of the portfolio holdings. I also discussed how allocations have shifted over the past month. My portfolio has been defensive but is gradually moving towards higher quality, faster-growing businesses. You can find my full post here ($).
Tweet of the week
During last week’s Spring Festival, I read Aaron Low’s new book Boardroom Knockout. It tells the story of how former lawyer David Gerald set up the Singapore Investors Association Singapore (SIAS) in 1999. And how he has been fighting for minority shareholders in Singapore ever since.
What I love about the book is that it gives you a history of key events in the Singaporean stock market over the past 25 years. It also teaches you some of the pitfalls of investing in Asia, from S-chip frauds to related party transactions and lowball offers. If you want to learn more, check out my Twitter thread here.
Podcast episode of the week
I enjoyed this weekend’s interview with Abhijeet Singh from Fidelity’s Emerging Markets Fund. He’s turned bullish on Chinese equities and owns tech names such as Tencent and Meituan. He’s turned cautious on Indian equities due to their high valuations. However, he is finding opportunities among IT services companies as they benefit from a strong US dollar. Abhijeet has also become cautious about AI-related names such as TSMC, whose stock prices have rerated significantly over the past year.
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