Author Topic: UK Expat living in Far East, Portfolio Rebalancing.  (Read 2680 times)

danclarkie

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    • Dan Clarke
UK Expat living in Far East, Portfolio Rebalancing.
« on: April 15, 2015, 01:04:06 AM »
Hi Mustachians.

Last year I came here from advice and the advice I received was invaluable.
So now I return.

I am a UK citizen living in Asia, holding a tax sheltered portfolio in USD.
The portfolio is simple index fund ETFs, REIT ETF, and some Bonds ETF.

I currently have around $25k in cash that I want to deploy and I am considering how to rebalance.

My portfolio currently looks like this:


The individual funds I hold are:
VWRD   59.83%
VBK   5.65%
IWDP   8.04%
LQDE   11.04%
CASH   15.43%

I am looking only for non US domiciled funds (for Dividend tax withholding efficiencies) and ideally USD traded funds.

I have a few options in mind:
Keep on the same track

  • Increase US/Intl Equities
  • Increase REIT
  • Increase Bonds

or

Try and take advantage of the strong dollar, and at the same time add some Geo-Diversification into my portfolio.
Strong dollar & Add geo-diversity

  • Add Asia ex-Japan Index ETF
  • Add European Index ETF

In terms of the Asia ETF, this seems to appeal to me living in Asia (though I see this makes no real sense)
But I like the idea of maybe diversifying my portfolio away from the US so much, and adding in some Asian equities to try and diversify exposure.

I am considering this fund ISFE from iShares which is large cap Asia ex-Japan Index fund.

My biggest concern is that its 27% China and Chinese equities are at some bonkers valuation now, scarily overpriced....

In terms or Euro diversification, this would serve as some additional diversification from the US markets and should take advantage of the strong dollar.
However, my current portfolio does have a large European exposure through VWRD and it would seem that these countries are all held at their FTSE World Index benchmark levels:

VWRD Holdings

My questions then are:

  • Should I look to capitalise on the strong dollar by buying foreign equity?
  • Is my Asia exposure too low, should I add a chunk of Asian equity to my portfolio for geo-diversification reasons?

Heckler

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Re: UK Expat living in Far East, Portfolio Rebalancing.
« Reply #1 on: April 15, 2015, 01:07:31 AM »
For a guy that claims to measure twice...   What's your asset allocation plan? - rebalance to that.

danclarkie

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    • Dan Clarke
Re: UK Expat living in Far East, Portfolio Rebalancing.
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2015, 02:18:16 AM »
For a guy that claims to measure twice...   What's your asset allocation plan? - rebalance to that.

My asset allocation plan was made 12 months ago when I was living and working in a different country, with a different salary, a different cost of living, earning in a different currency, with cash holdings in a different currency.

"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often."
- Winston Churchill

Heckler

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Re: UK Expat living in Far East, Portfolio Rebalancing.
« Reply #3 on: April 15, 2015, 09:00:34 AM »
I don't understand how that changes things, but I've always lived in on country with pretty much the same job.

danclarkie

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    • Dan Clarke
Re: UK Expat living in Far East, Portfolio Rebalancing.
« Reply #4 on: October 05, 2016, 10:39:00 PM »
Hello, Mustachians.

I came here 18 months ago with a similar question on advice for re-balancing my portfolio.
I'm back seeking any more advice as my circumstances have changed quite a bit.

I am now self employed (IT Consultant) in Singapore with 0% CGT and 0% Dividends tax but still adverse to US domiciled finds for the 15% WHT on Divs.

For some reason (perhaps inadvisably) I have switched to 1000% equities and sold off Bond and REIT holdings.
I have also overweighted on a couple of "frontier" markets (Philippines & Indonesia) simply because of my own experience working in these markets and faith in growth.

Current situation:

Age: 29
Salary: ~$125k net
Monthly contributions: ~$5k
Current value: ~$200k.

77.77%   Vanguard Global Equity Index - VWRD
4.16%   Vangaurd Small Cap Growth - VBK
2.46%   Philippines index - EPHE
2.67%   Indonesia index - EIDO
12.95%   CASH




Growth seems fairly slow and I'm looking to take on a little more risk for potential upside.
Friends are advising me to go in on some tech stocks that I know well and have confidence in, but I'm not so sure I want to dump into individual stocks.

I hold no REIT but previously held a global REIT IDWP which seems to perform well in the last 12 months.

I currently have around $15k to deploy (is factored in to CASH above)

Any feedback or advice appreciated!