I REFER to Ben Paul’s Oct 16 Mark to Market column, “Singapore losing listings because the market has performed poorly, and valuations are low”. The article certainly speaks for me.

I made my first investment in Lee Metal Group in 2015 before it was taken over by BRC Asia for a hefty premium compared to its listed stock price. I was based in India then (and since July 2022, in Singapore). That emboldened me to invest more in Singapore Exchange (SGX)-listed stocks. I was attracted to the Singapore equity markets because of strong expected corporate governance norms, zero tax on dividends and individual capital gains. I found well-run companies that were cheaply priced and paying high dividends, which suited well an investor like me, from the Ben Graham school of thought.

So I used to invest family funds every year in well-run but cheap companies – Nam Lee Pressed Metal Industries, KSH, China Sunsine Chemical, JB Foods, and Challenger Singapore. I would call for and read annual reports (Lee Metal was kind enough to ship them to India), attend annual general meetings and feel good that my investments had strong prospective returns. I was probably also carrying over my experience of equity markets in India, where undervalued firms found the gap plugged over time.