My cousin was happily married last Saturday.

She had spent years evaluating guys from various countries before settling with the one from Malaysia.  It pays to broaden one’s universe in the search for a spouse.

In shares investment, it is also good to include overseas stocks in one’s investment universe.  Three years ago, I looked at U.S. stock market and found a banking business called Wells Fargo.  It has prudent lending standards, traded at undemanding valuation and was at the bottom of business cycle.  I bought into the shares and doubled my money within a few years.

However, these events do not necessitate that good people or investments are always overseas.  Singapore is after all a well-run country with many sound businesses.  Furthermore, familiarity with home ground coupled with years of contact with local businesses yields invaluable insights.

My stock pick in Singapore Post, which yielded similar returns to Wells Fargo, is an example of a good investment in Singapore.  Singapore Post is a postal business with monopolistic characteristics.  Like Wells Fargo, it was also trading at an undemanding valuation.

Updated on 1 April 2019