Large cap overview of the Singapore market.

When entering a local market, it is essential to have a basic understanding of the land.

Singapore is a city-state located at the southern tip of Malaysia, separated from the Riau Islands of Indonesia by the Singapore Strait. It became independent from Malaysia and established the Republic of Singapore on August 9, 1965. At that time, Singapore was just a poor and desolate swampy land. The per capita GDP was only $428, but by 2023, the per capita GDP is $0.091 million, with a compound annual growth rate of 10%. It is truly a miracle.

Small population: Singapore has a population of 5.6 million, with about 4 million citizens. However, the population density reaches 8,634 per square kilometer, second only to Morocco and ranking second in the world.

Multicultural: Singapore's 4 million citizens are composed of Chinese, Malays, Indians, and other ethnic minorities, forming a multicultural society. Different ethnic groups coexist harmoniously, creating a diverse cultural society. There is also a wide variety of religions and beliefs. This cultural diversity is reflected not only in social life but also in food, arts, and festive celebrations.

Based on the environmental description above, from an investment perspective:

Of course, if you buy the STI for the long term, the return on investment may not be high, so it is necessary to select high-quality stocks in the market.

SGX itself is also a listed company, and its historical trend is shown in the chart below:

Chart: DBS's trend since listing, source: moomoo

The performance of DBS is much better compared to the STI of Singapore. So choosing the right index is important, and choosing the right company is even more important.

11) Keppel Corporation Limited - A diversified group with businesses in sectors including offshore and marine, real estate, infrastructure, and investments.

14) Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd (ST Engineering) - a group that provides engineering services and solutions in the aviation, electronics, land systems, and marine sectors.

15) Hongkong Land Holdings Limited - a company that primarily invests in and manages premium commercial properties in Asia.

16) Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd - a company that operates primarily in Southeast Asia, with involvement in the automotive, financial services, heavy industry, and other sectors.

18) ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited - A company providing land transportation services with operations in multiple countries.

19) SATS Ltd - A company providing airport ground services and food solutions.

20) Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Ltd - one of China's largest privately-owned shipbuilding companies listed in Singapore

What's worth paying attention to is more subjective. Here are a few companies I'm personally interested in.

Just a simple one-sentence explanation of why I'm interested. Analysis of individual stocks will be shared in separate longer articles in the future.

Singapore Exchange (Stock Code: S68):The only exchange in Singapore with high stability and low growth rate.

The past 10 years' return rate is about 150%, with a compound growth rate of about 10%. In the future, it is expected to benefit from the status of Singapore as a financial center, and the growth in the capital and financing sectors is likely to continue. However, if there is no breakthrough change in the capital side, it will also be difficult to attract large companies to list. In simple terms, the "pool" of Singapore is too small, which suppresses the scale and number of listed companies, and the trading volume cannot increase. Now the Singapore Exchange is also expanding its market nationwide, and the management's long-term perspective is commendable.

The performance of the exchange may not be particularly impressive, but it is indeed stable. If you are interested in this level of return rate, long-term holding is likely to have decent gains.

DBS Bank (Stock Code: DBS):The largest bank in Singapore with the highest investment in innovation and technological transformation. It has good asset quality and a low non-performing loan ratio. DBS Bank is known for its robust financial performance. Even in a situation of global economic uncertainty and market volatility, DBS is still able to maintain a good profitability and strong capital base. This stability makes it a safe choice for investors in the financial industry.

As a leading bank in Singapore and Southeast Asia, DBS Bank occupies an important position in the retail banking and corporate banking markets. It has a solid market share in Singapore and significant expansion in important markets such as Indonesia, India, and China.

With the rapid growth of wealth in the Asia-Pacific region, DBS's wealth management and private banking businesses have shown strong growth momentum. The expansion of the high net worth client base and the increasing demand for wealth management provide DBS with a stable and profitable source of income.

The model of Sheng Siong is unique to Singapore, not quite suitable for elsewhere. As mentioned earlier, Singapore is a non-competitive market where everything is imported, there are few delivery services, service fees are high, and e-commerce is not well-developed. In addition, the government has transformed Singapore into a community model, where each community forms its own ecosystem. 70% of the houses are government-built HDB flats. In this unique environment, Sheng Siong has streamlined the scale of its stores to the extreme, offering mostly essential household goods and food that every household needs. It focuses on offering the best prices. Stores are located under HDB blocks everywhere on this small island, with nearly 100 outlets. People have become accustomed to buying groceries, cooking, and getting daily necessities downstairs. Based on Singapore's specific environment, Sheng Siong has created its unique ecosystem, establishing an unbeatable advantage.

This is also a feature of Singapore. The most advanced private hospital in Singapore. Singapore's private hospitals are not like those in Putian. They have good treatment and have recruited many good doctors. Rich people love to go to private hospitals, which have good medical standards (compared to local standards) and can enjoy hotel-like services.