How to Track Your Portfolio the Right Way — A Simple System for Singapore Investors
How to Track Your Portfolio the Right Way — A Simple System for Singapore Investors
A calm, accountant-style dashboard and monthly review process to monitor dividends, risk, and fundamentals — without daily price anxiety.
Published: 15 November 2025 | Category: Investor Education / Earnings Analysis
Key Takeaways (If You Only Have 30 Seconds)
- Track monthly (not daily) to reduce noise and improve decision quality.
- Use one dashboard, one set of definitions — consistency beats complexity.
- Track three views: performance (numbers), fundamentals (business), and risk (stability).
- Keep your tracker lean: 12 core columns are enough for most investors.
- Monitor 7 key monthly metrics (value, cash, dividends, position sizing, fundamentals, risk flags, watchlist actions).
- Add a “Red Flag” column per stock to identify trouble early.
- Maintain a buy/sell journal so your actions stay thesis-driven, not emotion-driven.
Most investors track their portfolios the wrong way. They focus on daily prices, short-term gains, percentage changes, news flow, and analyst target prices.
But these things tell you almost nothing about whether your portfolio is healthy, low-risk, and positioned for long-term success.
A good portfolio tracking system should give clarity, reduce emotional decisions, highlight risks early, show whether fundamentals are improving, and help you allocate capital better.
In this guide, I’ll share a simple, accountant-style system I personally use to track portfolios — designed for Singapore investors holding SGX stocks, REITs, and selected overseas exposure.
1. Big Picture: Portfolio Tracking Is About Process, Not Prices
Most investing mistakes happen because investors stare at prices and feel forced to act. A good tracking process does the opposite: it helps you stay calm and focus on business fundamentals.
Your portfolio tracker should answer three simple questions:
- Am I building wealth steadily through compounding and dividends?
- Are my companies getting stronger or weaker?
- Am I taking risks I did not intend to take?
Notice what is not on this list: daily price movement.
2. Results Summary: The “Right Way” in One Screen
The simplest system that works is:
- Update your dashboard once a month.
- Review three views: performance, fundamentals, and risk.
- Flag issues early using a red-flag column.
- Write down decisions (buy/trim/sell/hold) and the reasons.
This is the same discipline professionals use — just simplified for an individual investor.
3. Income Statement: Don’t Track Prices — Track Business Progress
Many investors track portfolio performance without tracking business performance. That creates a blind portfolio: you see price changes, but you do not know whether the business is improving.
A simple rule: if you own a stock, you should be able to summarise whether revenue and profit trends are improving, stable, or declining. That is where SGX earnings analysis becomes useful — not for prediction, but for monitoring reality.
If you run a school club, you don’t judge success by how loud people talk about it. You judge it by: are more people joining, and are activities running smoothly? For stocks, revenue and profit trends are like “membership” and “how well the club runs”.
- Use the income statement to tag each holding: improving / stable / declining.
- When a stock price moves, check whether earnings fundamentals changed — not the other way round.
- Clean “income statement explained” tracking reduces emotional decisions during volatility.
4. Margins & Profitability: One Number That Exposes Business Quality
Prices can swing for reasons unrelated to fundamentals. Margins usually move for a reason.
If you track just one profitability signal over time, track whether margins are stable, improving, or deteriorating. This is often a better “health check” than daily price changes.
If you sell cookies for $2 and it costs $1 to make, you keep $1. If costs rise and now it costs $1.80, you only keep $0.20. Even if you sell the same number of cookies, your “keeping money” got worse. That is what margins show.
- Margin deterioration is often an early warning (competition, cost pressure, pricing weakness).
- Margin stability signals resilience — especially important for long-term compounding.
- Tracking margins monthly/quarterly helps you avoid “price-only” thinking.
5. Balance Sheet: Portfolio Risk Usually Hides Here
A portfolio can look “fine” when markets are calm, and break during stress. Balance sheet risk is often the reason.
For tracking, you do not need every line item. You need to know whether leverage and liquidity risk are rising.
Think of debt like borrowing money to buy a bicycle. If you have steady allowance, paying is manageable. If your allowance is uncertain, borrowing makes life stressful. Companies are the same: debt is safest when cash flow is stable.
- Track whether debt/gearing and interest burden are rising.
- For REITs, monitor gearing and refinancing pressure as part of dividend sustainability.
- Balance sheet strength lets you hold through volatility without forced selling.
6. Cash Flow: The Portfolio Metric Most Investors Don’t Track
Most portfolio trackers stop at price and profit. But the best sanity check is cash generation. This is where cash flow vs profit becomes practical.
If operating cash flow and free cash flow are consistently weak, dividends and balance sheet strength become more fragile over time.
You can say “I earned $100” but if nobody paid you yet, you can’t buy anything. Cash flow is the money actually received. Profit is the “scoreboard”. A strong portfolio needs real cash, not just a nice scoreboard.
- Track whether each holding has stable operating cash flow over time.
- Free cash flow supports dividends, buybacks, debt repayment, and reinvestment.
- Weak cash generation is a common root cause of future dividend cuts.
7. Dividends: Track Income Like a Business Owner
Many Singapore investors hold portfolios for income. If that is you, your tracker should treat dividends as a core performance output, not a footnote.
Track projected annual dividends and whether income is concentrated in a few names. A portfolio where one counter contributes most of the income carries hidden risk.
If your pocket money comes from one person, and they stop, you get nothing. If it comes from many sources, you are safer. Dividend tracking is about knowing where your “pocket money” really comes from.
- Dividend sustainability depends on recurring cash flow and balance sheet strength.
- Track income concentration and watch for “yield traps”.
- Income growth over time matters more than headline yield.
8. Management Commentary: Your Monthly Review Should Be Thesis-Driven
A good tracker keeps you focused on what management is actually doing: capital allocation, balance sheet decisions, dividend policy, and strategic execution.
This is why journaling matters. If you cannot explain why you own something (in one clear sentence), you cannot track it properly.
9. A Simple Analyst Framework: The System in 3 Layers
Your portfolio dashboard should be organised into three views:
View 1: Performance View (Numbers)
- Total portfolio value
- Unrealised gain/loss
- Realised gains
- Annual dividends (projected)
- Weighted average dividend yield
- Top overweight positions
View 2: Fundamental View (Business Quality)
- Revenue trend
- Profit trend
- ROE / ROIC (where relevant)
- Cash flow quality
- Debt / gearing movement
- Margins trend
- DPU sustainability (for REITs)
- NIM / CASA (for banks)
Without this view, your portfolio is blind.
View 3: Risk View (Stability)
- Sector concentration
- Country allocation
- Exposure to interest rates
- Exposure to leverage
- Number of high-risk counters
- Position sizing discipline
This structure gives you a clear, repeatable monthly process — not a daily emotional rollercoaster.
10. Common Red Flags: What Your Tracker Must Surface Early
Add a “Red Flag” column for each stock. This is one of the most useful tools in portfolio tracking.
- Rising gearing / leverage
- Falling revenue
- Declining margins
- Profit relying on one-off gains
- Negative cash flow
- DPU cut (for REITs)
- Management credibility issues
- NIM declining (banks)
- Occupancy dropping (REITs)
- Rising interest expense
A simple scoring approach:
One or two red flags → monitor.
Three or more → consider action.
Five or more → serious danger.
- Stock / REIT Name
- Ticker
- Sector
- Buy Date
- Buy Price
- Current Price
- Position Size ($)
- Dividend Yield on Cost
- Annual Dividends ($)
- Unrealised Gain/Loss (%)
- Fundamental Trend (Improving/Stable/Declining)
- Risk Level (Low/Medium/High)
Only track what matters — nothing more.
11. My Overall Take as an Accounting-Trained Investor
Don’t look at your portfolio like a video game score that changes every minute. Look at it like a garden. You check it regularly, you remove weeds early, and you let good plants grow.
- What matters most: fundamentals, cash flow quality, dividend sustainability, and risk concentration.
- What to ignore: daily price movement and constant news flow unless it changes the business.
- How this improves decision-making: you act based on a repeatable monthly review, not emotions.
- Why consistency beats prediction: disciplined tracking compounds; reactive behaviour destroys returns.
A good tracking system is not about fancy tools. It is about clarity, structure, and calm decision-making.
12. FAQ
How often should I track my portfolio?
Monthly is a strong default for most long-term investors. It reduces noise and still captures meaningful fundamental changes.
Is it okay if I check prices daily?
Checking is not “wrong”, but it often triggers unnecessary emotion and impulsive action. Use your monthly dashboard as the decision anchor.
What matters more: profit or cash flow?
Cash flow is harder to fake. When tracking business health, “cash flow vs profit” is a key quality check — especially for dividend sustainability.
How do I spot portfolio risk early?
Track concentration (sector and position size), leverage exposure, and a red-flag list per holding. Risk is usually hidden until stress arrives.
Is this tracking framework suitable for REITs?
Yes. Add REIT-specific signals in your Fundamental View (gearing, refinancing pressure, occupancy, and DPU sustainability).
The Accounting Investor (HenryT)
I’m a Singapore-based investor with a Chartered Accountant background. I write calm, evidence-based guides and SGX company analyses to help long-term investors build financial clarity and discipline.
Disclaimer: This article is for education and general information only. It does not constitute investment advice and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any securities. Always conduct your own research or consult a licensed financial adviser before making investment decisions.
Comments
Post a Comment
Thoughtful, respectful comments are welcome. All comments are moderated to keep discussions meaningful.