Preface

I am not Warren Buffett. Neither am I Charlie Munger.

Nor do I consider myself an investment guru.

“What I learnt as an Analyst” was written to share what I learnt in my years as an analyst and a fund manager. This book is not written to glorify any successes or condemn any failures. It is more of equipping the readers with the right fishing rod and technique to fish, and not telling how big a fish I’ve once caught.

This book is divided into two parts.

Part I: Unit Trusts as an Investment is written for individuals who want to invest in the stock market but do not have the interest or resources such as time to conduct analysis on individual companies. For them, the most viable way is through investments in unit trusts. This part will guide investors on the ins and outs of investing in unit trusts.

Part II: Shares as an Investment is meant for individuals who wish to invest directly into the stock market. Rather than jumping in blindly, this part aims to equip individual investors with the basic understanding of financial statements, financial ratios, basic valuation methodologies, and other aspects of analysis to be taken into consideration when analysing a company.

For the unit trust investors, I hope this book will deepen your understanding on the basic mechanism of how unit trusts work.

For investors who invest in the stock market, my wish is that this book will equip you with the basic methodologies and concepts to use to analyse companies before investing into them.

For those who are just starting to learn what is investment and those who wish to have some basic understanding of financial statements, I sincerely wish this book can be your first text book into the investment world.

The thoughts presented in this book are more of personal views and experience. Some may be acceptable to most, and some may contradict the views of the majority.

In addition to being an effort to promote and spread financial literacy among society, all net proceeds collected from the sale & distribution of this book will be donated to Kriyalakshmi Mandir Shree Sai Gurukul Charitable Society (or KMSSG in short), a Non-Profit Organisation registered with the Registrar of Society of Malaysia.

All KMSSG activities are posted on its official Facebook page @ KMSSG Charitable Society.

PART I: UNIT TRUSTS AS AN INVESTMENT  
   
CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS UNIT TRUST? Release Date
Difference between Investing in Unit Trusts & the Share Market
– Investing in the Share Market
– Investing in Unit Trusts		 15/10/2018
  What is NAV?
Types of Charges & Fees
– Direct Charges
– Indirect Charges		 22/10/2018
Management Expense Ratio
Portfolio Turnover Ratio
How does a Unit Trusts Work – From the Fund’s Perspective 29/10/2018
How does a Unit Trusts Work – From the Investors’ Perspective
Impact of Expenses on Investors’ Return 05/11/2018
Types of Unit Trusts
CHAPTER 2: WHEN TO BUY UNIT TRUST?  
What is Dollar Cost Averaging? 12/11/2018
What is the Time Horizon for Unit Trust Investments?
The Fund’s NAV is at its All-Time High. Can I Still Buy?
The Importance of Knowing the Style of Investment
CHAPTER 3: UNDERSTANDING UNIT TRUSTS DIVIDENDS  
The Arguments For and Against Dividends 19/11/2018
CHAPTER 4: UNIT TRUST INVESTMENT INFERIOR TO SHARES?  
Unit Trust Investment Inferior To Shares 26/11/2018
Is it Possible for an Individual Who Invests Directly into Shares to Out-Perform Unit Trusts?
    
PART II: SHARES AS AN INVESTMENT  
   
CHAPTER 5 WHAT IS A STOCK MARKET?  
What is a Stock Market? 04/12/2018
Investing in Shares is Actually Investing in Business
Stock Market is a Collective but Unpredictable Expectation 10/12/2018
CHAPTER 6: WHAT IS COMPANY ANALYSIS?  
WHAT IS COMPANY ANALYSIS? 17/12/2018
Is it a Good Business?
Is it a Good Company? 24/12/2018
How much are We Willing to Pay for the Company?
CHAPTER 7: BASIC GUIDE TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS  
BASIC GUIDE TO FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 02/01/2019
CHAPTER 8: INCOME STATEMENT – MEASUREMENT OF PROFITABILITY  
INCOME STATEMENT – MEASUREMENT OF PROFITABILITY 08/01/2019
Revenue
Gross Profit
Profit from Operations
Profit Before Tax
Income Tax Expense
Is Net Profit an Actual Profit? 14/01/2019
Concept of Core Earnings 22/01/2019
What to Adjust? 28/01/2019
The Seasonality Factor in Earnings
The Seasonality Factor in Earnings – Part 2 11/02/2019
CHAPTER 9: BALANCE SHEET – MEASUREMENT OF FINANCIAL HEALTH  
BALANCE SHEET – MEASUREMENT OF FINANCIAL HEALTH 18/02/2019
Property, Plant & Equipment (and Depreciation)
How should investors look at depreciation? 25/02/2019
Goodwill 04/03/2019
Why Would a Company Pay Higher than the Net Asset of the Acquired Company?
Inventories
Cash & Bank Balances 11/03/2019
Issued Capital & Treasury Shares
Deferred Tax Liabilities
Of Minority Interest, Associates, & Joint Ventures 18/03/2019
Minority Interest
Associates & Joint Ventures 25/03/019
CHAPTER 10: CASH FLOW – THE LIFE LINE OF BUSINESS  
Cash Flow – The Life Line Of Business 01/04/2019
Cash Flow from Operating Activities
What is Working Capital? 08/04/2019
Cash Flow from Investing Activities 15/04/2019
The Concept of Free Cash Flow
Cash Flow from Financing Activities 22/04/2019
Putting it all Together
Does Business Exist to Generate Profit?
CHAPTER 11:PROFIT MARGINS – PROFITABILITY OF THE BUSINESS  
PROFIT MARGINS – PROFITABILITY OF THE BUSINESS 29/04/2019
The Relationship between Margin and Volume 06/05/2019
The Effect of Associate & Joint Venture Accounting 13/05/2019
The Leverage of Low Margin
CHAPTER 12:OPERATING RATIOS – EFFICIENCY OF THE BUSINESS  
OPERATING RATIOS – EFFICIENCY OF THE BUSINESS 21/05/2019
Total Assets Turnover
Days Sales Outstanding 27/05/2019
Days Payables Outstanding
Days of Inventories
Cash Conversion Cycle
CHAPTER 13: FINANCING RATIOS – INDEBTNESS OF THE BUSINESS    
Equity Multiplier 04/06/2019
Debt-to-Equity Ratio
Return on Equity & the DuPont Model 10/06/2019
CHAPTER 14:
THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: HOW MUCH TO PAY FOR IT?		  
THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: HOW MUCH TO PAY FOR IT? 17/06/2019
The Concept of Margin of Safety
Price-to-Earnings Ratio 24/06/2019
Trailing PE and Forward PE
How High is High? And How Low is Low?
Achieved versus Expectation
The Impact of Warrant
The Concept of Enterprise Value 02/07/2019
Dividend Yield Approach 08/07/2019
Sum-of-Parts 15/07/2019
Price-to-Book 22/07/2019
CHAPTER 15: WHEN TO BUY?    
When to Buy? 29/07/2019
Does Industry Matter?
Crisis is Mega Sales 05/08/2019
Only Invest if You Believe in the Product or Services
Long-term Investing – Till Death do Us Part?
CHAPTER 16: WHEN TO SELL & INVESTMENT LESSONS FROM A SEASONED INVESTOR, MR. MAK TIAN MENG  
WHEN TO SELL & INVESTMENT LESSONS FROM A SEASONED INVESTOR, MR. MAK TIAN MENG 13/08/2019
CHAPTER 17: UNDERSTANDING CORPORATE EXERCISES  
Share Split 19/08/2019
Share Consolidation
Bonus Issue 26/08/2019
Rights Issue
Warrants
CHAPTER 18: INVESTMENT AS SOCIAL ENTERPRISE  
INVESTMENT AS SOCIAL ENTERPRISE 03/09/2019
The Creation of iSERF