Welcome to my detailed dividend portfolio review. If you are new here, I started this portfolio back in February 2020 with a starting capital of RM5,000. I mainly post my quarterly performance in Instagram.
Only recently, I decided to do this detailed review for my paid subscribers. My intention of doing this is to guide you on how I manage portfolio as a supplement to the book I have written about dividend investing – grab a copy here!
My goal for this portfolio is to generate dividend income that exceeds my expenses. My stock selection criteria are based on the book I have written, here are some of it:
Increasing dividend per share for the past 5 to 10 years
Business model that generates recurring income
Relatively strong earnings power
Decent economic moat or competitive edge
⚠️Disclaimer: Word of Caution!
Please DO NOT take this as a buy or sell signal. When it comes to investing, it is important to have your own judgement. Despite my detailed analysis, mistakes may occur, and blindly following could lead you to make similar errors and financial losses. Furthermore, I AM NOT a licensed financial advisor. I’m merely sharing my experiences and opinions only.
Additionally, please note that I hold positions in these discussed stocks, and my view may be biased as a result.
Summary
The Snapshot: Portfolio value stands at RM 123.5k (-8.8% YTD). The Fed hiked while BNM held, and markets weakened in all three countries.
Malaysia: Heineken fell 31% in the quarter, which I see as an overreaction, so I’m looking to add.
Singapore: FCT is resilient, but MIT is the problem child, so I’m not averaging down.
Hong Kong: Ping An’s business is intact. China Tower’s cash flow is the thing to watch.
Overall Performance Snapshot
I’m a bit late publishing this quarter’s dividend portfolio review because things have been incredibly busy lately. However, skipping these updates is never an option. I find this process essential for organizing my thoughts, pressure-testing my execution, and refining my strategy.
After all, investing without a clear goal and a concrete plan is a surefire way to lose money. Let’s dive into the detailed breakdown for this quarter:
As of 30 Sep 2026, my portfolio's Net Liquidation Value stands at RM123,456.96. YTD, I’m down 🔻8.8% and NLV slipped 3.0% from RM127,325.13 at the end of June. Cumulatively since inception, my ROI is at 26.5%.
ROI since inception = 26.5%
Total dividend generated YTD = RM4,943.02
Overall portfolio dividend-yield = 5.8%
This is 3.2% lower than the same period last year (RM5,105.15). I’m receiving less dividends from below stocks:
Timecom. Its previous significant bonus payout has not repeated this year
Sunway REIT. Lower dividend mainly because I sold 3,000 units in June.
Wellcall and MIT. Both have trimmed their dividends recently.
My previous new buys in China Tower and Tenaga are covering the dividend gap for now.
I’m 95% invested with cash holding of 5%. Below are my detailed holdings as of 30 Sep 2026:
Performance Review of Each Market
#1: Malaysia Holdings
Malaysia is still my biggest market, but it is down🔻6.2% YTD including dividends. Against my cost, almost every stock is still green, except Heineken, which is 35% below my average cost.
What happened to the market in 3Q 2026?
The FBM KLCI hit a nine-month low on 30 Sep, closing at 1,643.96, its lowest since mid-December 2025. It ended September at 1,651.17, then fell another🔻2.15% in October to 1,615.60 on 30 October.
Bank Negara (BNM) kept the OPR at 2.75% on 3 September, the seventh straight hold, because Malaysian inflation is only 1.8% and the economy grew 5.7% in 1H.
While the US Fed raised rates by 25 basis points to 3.75% to 4.00% on 16 Sep, its first hike since 2023. This is because US inflation hit 3.4% in Aug, with oil above US$100 on the Iran conflict. They are anticipating one more round of rate hikes this year as a way to contain the inflation to target level of 2%.
Below are the effects so far:
Money leaves local bonds and equities. A narrower rate gap makes ringgit assets less attractive. Foreign investors sold about RM3.7 billion of Malaysian government bonds as yields rose.
Dividend stocks lose some shine. Malaysian bond yields were at multi-year highs in late September. When a risk-free bond pays more, a 5% dividend yield looks less special, so REITs and utilities usually de-rate first.
Banks are mixed. BNM staying put keeps funding costs steady, which helps margins. But banks were still sold down on 29 September. This is because they are the heaviest components of KLCI. Naturally, they are the first targets when foreign funds exit the market.
Export-based companies benefited. They will experience higher forex gain as they translate revenue back to MYR.
Higher input costs. Companies where its costs are dollar-priced will see their profit margin getting squeezed due to higher costs from raw materials, packaging, etc.
Given my portfolio’s heavy concentration in financial institutions, this drawdown hit my performance hard. In 3Q 2026, several of my core positions experienced significant pullbacks:
Heineken🔻31%
Tenaga🔻9%
Maybank🔻7%
Sunway REIT🔻7%
Timecom🔻6%
Unexpectedly, Hong Leong Bank and CIMB initially defied the trend, rising 8% and 5% respectively during that same period. However, both have ultimately slipped into the red at the time of writing as the selling pressure continues into late October.
Heineken Malaysia’s Overreaction
Heineken closed September at RM13.34, down🔻31% in the quarter and 35% below my average cost of RM20.64. 2Q results were ugly: revenue fell🔻19% to RM434.7 million and net profit fell🔻39% to RM50.5 million, and the shares dropped about🔻6% on results day. The interim dividend still stayed at 40 sen.
I wrote an extensive article on why I think the market has overreacted, you can read it here. The conclusion is that the current price implied FY2026 EPS to drop roughly🔻48% against previous year’s EPS. The market is anticipating HEIM to experience pandemic-level softness in earnings. This is a period where breweries and bars are shutdown.
In reality, the drop in earnings is simply due to local distributors having excess inventories due to them stocking up prior to 2026 excise duty hike. As such, HEIM had to undergo inventory normalization.
That said, there are risks when it comes to investing in breweries:
Younger generation is drinking less alcohol. But this trend is not significant yet. According to Managing Director from Carlsberg Malaysia, those aged 24 to 35 are still consuming beer but at a slightly less volume.
Permanent banning of beer production. Malaysia is a Muslim country. Like it or not, Politicians will use alcohol and gambling in their agenda to gain popularity.
As such, I think HEIM is a turnaround play rather than an investment that you can keep for long term. Their new export business to Singapore is a catalyst to watch closely. I’m looking to add more.
CIMB Heavily Impacted by Indonesia Market
In mid-Oct, MSCI warned it could reclassify Indonesia from an Emerging Market to a Standalone Market, citing ownership transparency, free-float measurement and alleged coordinated trading. The final decision is due in Jun 2027. The Jakarta Composite Index crashed🔻11.57% on 16 Oct to 5,185, its lowest level of 2026. This falls after 30 Sep, but it affects my CIMB position, so I’m including it.
I’m now weighing whether to keep my CIMB position. Three things on my mind:
Currency: Only approx. 60% of CIMB Group’s income comes from Malaysia. The other 40% is split between Indonesia (approx. 20% to 25%), followed by Thailand and Singapore. Over the past 20 years, the MYR has strengthened against the IDR.
Free-float rules: Under Indonesia’s revised free-float rules, CIMB has to cut its stake in CIMB Niaga to 87.5% by Mar 2027 and to 85% by Mar 2028, which normally means selling shares to the public. Analysts speculates that these proceeds could fund a special dividend, but CIMB has made no commitment.
TNG Digital: This is the crown jewel, but CIMB owns only an indirect 45% through Touch ’n Go Sdn Bhd. Even if TnG Digital makes a profit of RM103 million, only about RM46 million goes to CIMB, against Group profit before tax of RM10.7 billion in FY2025. Is it worth holding?
I will dig more into what this means for my position in a separate research piece. For now, I’m most likely looking to divest it and deploy elsewhere.
#2: Singapore Holdings
My Singapore holdings are only REITs: Frasers Centrepoint Trust (FCT) and Mapletree Industrial Trust (MIT). Year to date, my two REITs are down🔻5.5% including dividends. The iEdge S-REIT index, on the other hand, was down🔻12.3% YTD.
I’m not surprised because rising interest rates are generally bad for REITs. They increase borrowing costs, which translates into lower net income, and they make REIT yields less attractive against safer assets. I think this rate-driven weakness is temporary and it will normalize eventually.
FCT’s fundamentals are still resilient. It delivered a record FY2026 DPU of 12.35 cents (up about 2%), with 99.7% occupancy, +6.6% rental reversion and a 3.2% cost of debt. Its price is still near the bottom of its 52-week range because its fixed-rate share of debt has fallen and tenant sales grew only 0.2%. I’m comfortable holding.
The real problem child is my position in MIT, which is 29% below my average cost. It reported a weak quarter:
2Q FY26/27 DPU of 2.97 cents, down🔻6.6% year-on-year
Total net property income fell🔻3.5%
About S$600 million of swaps expire in each of the next two years, so borrowing cost should rise from 3.3% to around 3.5% to 3.6% this year. This will continue to lower DPU.
A lot is going wrong at MIT, and the main culprit is its North American properties. New leases there were signed 10% to 30% below the previous rents. While all of them are data centres, many of these older sites struggle to meet modern AI-era demands due to lower power capacities and cooling systems that are incompatible with heavy AI and hyperscale clusters.
On the bright side, management is actively working to divest 22 of these older data centres, about 40% of its North American assets. The proceeds probably will go towards paying down borrowings or acquiring higher-quality properties.
I don’t expect MIT to recover anytime soon, as it is in a transition phase. I’m not looking to average down my position. At least not until there are signs of recovery, especially DPU. I’ll keep holding for its 4.7% yield on cost. I’ll reconsider to sell at a loss if there are better opportunities.
#3: Hong Kong Holdings
I'm holding Ping An and China Tower for this market. Here is the YTD income from this market:
Income from selling PUTs/ CALLs = HK$376 (~RM192)
Income from dividends = HK$1,899.57 (~RM992.46)
Total YTD Income generated = HK$2,275.57 (~RM1,184)
Including the above income, I’m still down🔻18.7% YTD. In comparison, Hang Seng Index was down just🔻4.3% YTD.
Ping An Insurance: Price has come down🔻19% for the year. Against my cost I’m still up 19.0% including dividends.
China Tower: Price is down🔻22% for the year, and my position is 22% below my average cost. It includes the 2,000 shares I was assigned at HK$11.50 on 30 March.
This quarter itself was quiet. Most of the damage came earlier in the year, with another leg down in October, after the quarter ended.
There are 3 main reasons why this market was heading down:
Fading stimulus hope. Stronger 3Q China GDP reduced the perceived need for support, and the mortgage subsidy was seen as limited.
An AI and tech sell-off. Tech fell 4.6% that day to a two-year low, with Tencent and Alibaba both down at least 3%.
Property and consumer weakness. New presale rules hit developers, and consumer discretionary was down 20% YTD.
Rising US yields probably did not help either, though that is my view.
Regardless, I’m not losing my sleep over both of these position because their fundamentals remain strong.
Ping An Insurance: Fundamentals Intact
Ping An’s share price has come under pressure with the market, but the business has not. Net profit rose 36.1% yoy to RMB92.6 billion. Operating profit, which strips out market swings, grew 8.3% yoy to RMB84.2 billion, and the interim dividend also rose 3.2% yoy to RMB0.98 per share.
Ping An marks a large equity portfolio to market. As of 30 June 2026, equities were about 20% of its insurance funds. A falling market will hit Ping An’s reported net profit and the share price, but not the earnings that fund the dividend. That is probably why the stock is down 19% this year against a 4.3% fall in the Hang Seng. Overall, this company’s business is stable.
China Tower: Turnaround Still On-Track
Plans Ahead
Overall, it is a volatile market this year with all my position in each market are down. These are the time where I should focus more on fundamentals rather than looking at the stock prices and get myself affected emotionally.
What I’m watching next quarter:
Heineken’s 3Q results
MIT’s divestments and refinancing costs
China Tower’s cash flow recovery signs in 2H.
This is the end of my unusually long and detailed review of my dividend portfolio. Hope you do not get bored out of it. Stay tuned for next quarter!
⚠️Disclaimer:
The information provided in this blog post is for informational purposes only and should NOT be construed as financial advice. Investing in stocks and ETFs involves risk, and there is no guarantee of profits. Past performance is not indicative of future results. It is important to conduct thorough research or consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. The author is NOT a financial advisor and is sharing his personal experiences and opinions only.
Additionally, please note that the author holds a position in the discussed stock, and his view may be biased as a result.