About Me

 Hello, dear reader. If you're reading this, then I suppose your curiosity got the better of you, and you're now stuck wondering who's actually the one behind this blog. I'm here today with this page to answer them. I'm assuming you haven't read my profile, so I'll be including some information from there just in case!

Investment Philosophy

My investment philosophy can be boiled down to a simple strategy; Buy and hold what I believe to be undervalued dividend stocks. Typically, this strategy results in me looking at small and mid cap stocks, since the lower market cap results in lower institutional interest and coverage, presenting an opportunity to buy equities at prices divorced from their intrinsic value. Additionally, I favour dividends as my main preferred method of realised gain as dividends represent a real, tangible return on investment. You can't fake cash being paid out of the company's bank account to yours, coupled with the fact that dividends aren't affected by market sentimentality. After all, “Markets can remain irrational longer than you can remain solvent” -  John Maynard Keynes

With that out of the way, here are some questions I'll answer.

Q: "Who actually are you?"

A: My friends and family are aware of this blog, so they could answer that. Of course, I think that for the foreseeable future, I'd prefer to keep my anonymity. That being said, here's some background information about me...

Firstly, I just completed my JC GCE 'A' Level Education in 2022 and will be enlisting sometime in March 2023 for my National Service (Hooray...).I love cooking/food, nature, and to a certain extent, fitness. Of course, I love finance, which is why you're reading this right now. I fondly recall when I was exposed to "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki back when I was ten and assembly morning readings were mandatory. Yes, I know he's not exactly the most reputable. That being said, I'm intending to pursue Banking & Finance in University (Yes, go figure.) and so far, NTU has captured my heart the best. 

Q: "Why Passive Loss?"

A: Well, you may know that teenagers aren't exactly renowned for their wise decisions.... and I'm no exception. You see, I'm not exactly a stranger to bad financial decisions, per se. I think the 2021 Cryptocurrency Crash needs no introduction, and let's just say I dumped a significant amount back then with leverage to the tune of x100 (Thanks, Binance) and got instantly liquidated. I was eager. Too eager to invest, and I paid the price for it. Now, I've made a promise to myself to invest in things I actually understand. I haven't fully shut the door for Cryptocurrency, but it's out of the way for now. I know this may seem like going off on a tangent, but I promise it's not. Anyways, in JC, my friends were certainly familiar with my failed 'ventures'. Stocks were not spared from this. Before I started this blog, I rushed into stocks and bought stakes in companies that I did not understand, and it resulted in losses. It doesn't help that it was during a period when the stock market wasn't doing too well either. Consequently, my friends and I had this running joke of checking how much I lost after every lesson. This was affectionately named "Passive Loss". Obviously, I'm not seeking to incur further losses, but I like to think that it's a funny title. 

Q: "Why did you start Passive Loss?"

A: As I said earlier, I love food, and I watch a lot of food reviews. What does that have to do with starting a finance blog, you ask? You see, I wanted to start a food blog, but was simply too intimidated. Savoury, Briny, Umami... these words are not words I can comfortably use since I still don't exactly know what's associated with what... So I started with google reviews. After that, I thought - Perhaps I should start a finance blog. You know, actually, pen down my due diligence and share it with others, and I can learn in the process. The thought of starting a successful blog did sound appealing, and after a few posts, it seemed much less daunting. Not to mention, I don't want to lose my hard-earned General Paper proficiency, no matter what level I'm at. 

Q: "What does Passive Loss aim to do?"

A: I aim to do all sorts of things finance-related with my blog. As of right now, I've done mostly equity analysis coupled with sprinkles of macroeconomic topics alongside theory. As I age and gain more experience, I'll be aiming to talk about insurance, credit cards, saving hacks, other financial instruments such as options, bonds etc. I do have some knowledge regarding these topics, but I don't think it'll be wise for me to start talking about them before experiencing these elements of finance first.