10k USD is not a small amount.

And another thing important for you to know. I could be wrong, but insider sources mentioned to me that FSM bonds are "not even held on a custodian basis", so everything is in FSM's name (i.e., on FSM/iFAST's balance sheet).

Buying bonds on FSM platform implies a "private agreement" between you and FSM. If FSM/iFAST went bankrupt, you have to "go to court to show that you have a private arrangement with FSM", as the source asserts.

This is different from IBKR, whose holdings are segregated in a custodian account separated from the broker's holding company.

*Retail investors often forget about counterparty risk.*

Are you referring to cash purchase of SG T-bills or purchase via CPF?

Cash purchase is free on primary market provided you have CDP account. You can of course purchase the bills in secondary market via SG brokers or FSM.

For CPF-OA investments, you need to open a CPFIS account at one of the 3 local banks (DBS, UOB, OCBC) before you can purchase T-bills from primary market. https://investmentmoats.com/saving-and-inve...ills-sgs-bonds/

All 3 local SG banks have quarterly custodian fees of about 2 SGD. See links below.

DBS: https://www.dbs.com.sg/iwov-resources/media...ule_charges.pdf

OCBC: https://www.ocbc.com/personal-banking/inves...estment-account

UOB: https://www.uob.com.sg/personal/invest/fina...nt-account.page

You are welcome to join your SG friends over at HWZ if you would like to know more: https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/...769601/page-629

This post has been edited by TOS: Mar 12 2023, 06:03 PM

As promised, the full article shown below:

The site is ready: https://www.ilovessb.com/sgs

Source: https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/...#post-146663759

Buy from primary market, i.e. directly from DBS/UOB/OCBC via their online portal.

Free of charge for T-bills, 2 SGD charge per purchase/redemption for SSB.

But again, this is limited to those with CDP account only.

This week's MAS Bill auction results:

Tenure	4-week	12-week
Cut-off yield	3.98%	3.83%
Median yield	3.7%	3.72%
Average yield	3.36%	3.28%
BTC ratio	2.02	2.29

Source:

4-week: https://www.mas.gov.sg/bonds-and-bills/auct...date=2023-03-17

12-week: https://www.mas.gov.sg/bonds-and-bills/auct...date=2023-03-17

Both 1 month and 3 month are surprisingly cooler than last week, 1 month BTC almost dropping below 2.

FXFA screenshots for tomorrow's 6M T-bill auction (bid ends tonight at 9 pm).

Offshore EuroSing



Onshore



The rates are pretty low at 3.2-3.5% p.a. Not sure if the FXFA settings have been changed... But this round of auction may throw some downside surprises. One should be mentally prepared.

I double-check with Bloomberg's quote for the latest price for 6M T-bill issued 2 weeks ago. The rates are about 3.8-3.9% p.a.



MAS published 3.91% as the closing yield for the T-bill issued 2 weeks ago, for reference.

https://eservices.mas.gov.sg/statistics/fda...ssuePrices.aspx

This round I bid 3.85% p.a. Tomorrow ikanbilis will post the result here.

This post has been edited by TOS: Mar 15 2023, 06:20 PM

I think tomorrow's number auction number will be messed up...

US 6 month yield just collapsed 4%... a 20-basis-point jump down...

https://www.investing.com/rates-bonds/u.s.-...onth-bond-yield

Expected Fed fund rates are collapsing rapidly. Reinvestment risk is rising.

https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-mark...YQbBAHlXQibfCvI



This post has been edited by TOS: Mar 15 2023, 11:58 PM

It's ok. Credit Suisse stressed us out yesterday. Already warned yesterday that the result will have downside surprises. Also, the Bloomberg numbers weren't messed up. It correctly warned us ahead in time.

% of Competitive Applications at Cut-off Allotted	Approximately 66%
% of Non-Competitive Applications Allotted	100%
Bid-to-Cover Ratio	2.77
Cut-off Yield (Price)	3.65% p.a. (98.18)
Median Yield (Price)	3.58% p.a. (98.215)
Average Yield (Price)	3.41% p.a. (98.3)

Source: https://www.mas.gov.sg/bonds-and-bills/auct...date=2023-03-21

Source: https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/...#post-146722782

----------------------



Source: https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/...#post-146723956

Latest projected SSB yield levels have dropped across all tenor. https://www.ilovessb.com/

It used to be 3.34-3.36% p.a. early last week. Now it's projected to be 3.24% p.a. based on yesterday's (16th Mar) SGS yield curve.

This post has been edited by TOS: Mar 17 2023, 01:03 PM

ilovessb.com has historical SSB rate archiving service. https://ilovessb.com/historical-rates

December issue saw the highest SSB rate ever (3.26 avg rate first year -3.47 avg rate in year 10). January's issue will be lower than 3.24% is you don't hold it till maturity.

You may make a profit if you swap January's issue to the upcoming April issue, but 2 things to bear in mind:

1. 4 SGD service charge (2 sgd for withdrawal, 2 sgd for new subscription)

2. April's SSB rate is not yet finalized. The rates may change anytime. The current numbers are projections only.

This week's MAS Bill auction results:

Tenure	4-week	12-week
Cut-off yield	4.05%	4.04%
Median yield	3.7%	3.83%
Average yield	3.1%	3.5%
BTC ratio	1.84	1.8

Source:

4-week: https://www.mas.gov.sg/bonds-and-bills/auct...date=2023-03-24

12-week: https://www.mas.gov.sg/bonds-and-bills/auct...date=2023-03-24

Both 1-month and 3-month are even cooler than last week, both BTC dropped below 2. COY reaching 4% again.

A busy week of MAS auctions ahead.

1-month and 3-month MAS bill auction this Tuesday as usual, followed by a 15-year SGS auction and 20-year SGS mini-auction in Wednesday, and lastly 6-month T-bill auction in Thursday.

OCBC CPFIS holders still can't apply for CPF-OA investment in T-bill as the system should come online on 31st March, the day after the 6M T-bill auction result is announced.

DBS CPFIS holders should note that the online application for T-bill via CPF-OA monies end one day earlier before the cash application deadline at 12 pm.

UOB CPFIS holders need to wait till 22nd of April for the online system to be ready for T-bill application using CPF-OA monies.

This post has been edited by TOS: Mar 26 2023, 02:58 PM

This week's MAS Bill auction results:

Tenure	4-week	12-week
Cut-off yield	4%	4.05%
Median yield	3.7%	3.9%
Average yield	3.21%	3.33%
BTC ratio	1.92	2.03

Source:

4-week: https://www.mas.gov.sg/bonds-and-bills/auct...date=2023-03-31

12-week: https://www.mas.gov.sg/bonds-and-bills/auct...date=2023-03-31

Both 1-month and 3-month COY holding at about 4%.

Oh shit. DBS service down...

https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-...-down-wednesday

If it's not up by 9pm tonight, I will miss this time's T-bill bidding opportunity...

-------------------------

<Updated 12.49pm>

Access to our digital services (DBS/POSB digibank Online and Mobile, DBS Vickers mTrading, DBS PayLah!) is intermittent and you may experience some slowness during login.
Please be assured that your deposits and monies are safe and secure. We are sorry for the inconvenience caused.

From: https://www.facebook.com/dbs.sg/

------------------------

15-year and 20-year SGS auction results have been published:

15-year: https://www.mas.gov.sg/bonds-and-bills/auct...date=2023-04-03

20-year: https://www.mas.gov.sg/bonds-and-bills/auct...date=2023-04-03

ilovessb.com has some nice and professional data snapshots:

15-year: https://www.ilovessb.com/15-year-sgs-bond

20-year: https://www.ilovessb.com/20-year-sgs-bond

This post has been edited by TOS: Mar 29 2023, 01:33 PM

Looks like DBS is a huge letdown today.

But today's Bloomberg data suggest the yields aren't too enticing either. Offshore yields 3.54-3.62% while onshore yields around 3.86% p.a.



Will be bidding around 3.7%-3.8% p.a., 3.75% p.a. looks about right. But bids are only possible if DBS came back online before 9pm...

Good luck guys. ikanbilis standby here tomorrow at 1pm.

------------------------

In another news, SSB April result was published this afternoon.



https://www.mas.gov.sg/bonds-and-bills/auct...date=2023-04-03

This post has been edited by TOS: Mar 29 2023, 05:37 PM

% of Competitive Applications at Cut-off Allotted	Approximately 12%
% of Non-Competitive Applications Allotted	100%
Bid-to-Cover Ratio	2.23
Cut-off Yield (Price)	3.85% p.a. (98.08)
Median Yield (Price)	3.65% p.a. (98.18)
Average Yield (Price)	3.43% p.a. (98.29)

Source: https://www.mas.gov.sg/bonds-and-bills/auct...date=2023-04-04

lol what rate was you expecting

3.85 about in line with Bloomberg's FXFA numbers.

But ya, comparing with US 6M T-bill, it's behind by almost a full percentage point.

April SSB allotment and 15-year SGS auction results, as reported in BT 300323:

Latest 6M T-bill auction result reported by BT 310323: