The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced that it would launch a SG$5 billion equity market development program to boost the local stock market. Improved regulations will make it easier for companies to list on the Singapore Stock Exchange. The MAS will invest directly in actively managed funds focused on Singaporean stocks. And it will also require family offices to invest a part of their capital locally. More details here.
Post of the week
Last Wednesday, I had the great pleasure of meeting with Boustead Singapore’s (BOCS SP - US$370 million) Chief Investment Officer, Keith Chu, and Head of Investor Relations, Dominic Seow, at their headquarters in Singapore. The geospatial software services business is the company's crown jewel and is doing well, evidenced by the growing deferred services backlog and rapid employee growth. I also learnt that there are hidden values, including a 50% stake in commercial property COMO. These hidden values are now being monetized by moving towards a real estate fund management model. The stock trades at a trailing P/E of 6.8x. Read the complete note here ($).
Tweet of the week
Our friends at Astutex tweeted about Korean game developer Devsisters Corporation (194480 KS - US$262 million). It’s the company behind the mobile game Cookie Run Kingdoms, which has risen to one of the top games on the iOS platform in the United States. The number of weekly subscribers to the Cookie Run Kingdoms also seems to have gone vertical in the last two months, perhaps thanks to an update in December 2024. That bodes well for Devsisters, which trades at 1.06x EV/Sales and 7.8x P/E on forward numbers. You can find the tweet here.
Podcast episode of the week
My favorite podcast episode of the week is this with Mark Holowesko, who began his career working with John Templeton and now runs his own value fund manager, Holowesko Partners. He thinks the US Dollar has become overcrowded among investors, and he thinks that global equities are, therefore, likely to start outperforming. He favors value over growth, especially in the United Kingdom and Japan. While he sees value in Chinese equities, he’s capping his exposure. One of his largest investments in China is KFC-franchisee Yum China (YUMC US - US$18 billion), which has a net cash balance sheet and dominates China’s market for American-style fast food.
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