Some of you might have recognised today’s email title as a popular and endearing song by the Swedish pop group ABBA.
ABBA ruled the UK and European charts in the 1970s with their distinctive and addictive brand of disco music, of which “Dancing Queen” became a global number one hit.
The band went on an indefinite hiatus since 1982, but are now back in the UK Top 10 with a new song “Don’t Shut Me Down”.
It’s been an almost four-decade wait, but for people like myself who enjoy their tunes, it has been well worth it.
The same can be said for investing as well.
Good things do come to those who wait.
“Gimme, gimme, gimme”
It’s certainly been the case for my ownership of Boustead Singapore Limited (SGX: F9D), or BSL.
I have owned this stock for a grand total of 15 years, having bought my first shares back in September 2006.
This long holding period has yielded two pleasant surprises.
In late 2014, the group announced a spin-off of 49% of its real estate solutions arm Boustead Projects Limited (SGX: AVM), or BPL, that will be separately listed on the Singapore stock exchange.
BSL then distributed three BPL shares for every 10 BSL shares held to all eligible shareholders.
Through this exercise, I obtained shares of BPL free of charge.
And in May this year, BSL declared and paid out a final dividend of S$0.03 and a special dividend of S$0.04, culminating in a total annual dividend of S$0.08, a record for the group.
The big payout comes on the heels of a value-unlocking event for BPL through the divestment of 14 properties into a private fund called Boustead Industrial Fund.
“I still have faith in you”
Another stock that has been worth the wait is financial technology company iFAST Corporation Limited (SGX: AIY).
I first purchased shares in the company back in April 2017 because it had a strong business model, a clean balance sheet and paid dividends quarterly.
Over the next three years, the share price hardly budged, although there were clear signs of business improvement along with higher profits and free cash flow.
The last 18 months saw an acceleration in iFAST’s business as more people went online and opened new accounts for investment.
The result?
iFAST’s share price shot up from around S$1 in May 2020 to the current S$9.94.
It took three years of patient waiting before the share price surged up in response to the group’s growth.
As the two examples above show, if you invest in the right companies, your patience will eventually be rewarded.
“I do, I do, I do, I do, I do”
ABBA has another song aptly titled “Money Money Money”.
In it, they sing:-
“I work all night, I work all day
To pay the bills I have to pay
Ain’t it sad?”
The lyrics accurately reflect the reality of working hard just to pay off your expenses.
Investing, however, can change this equation by helping you to grow your wealth and generate a source of passive income through dividends.
The importance of investing should be clear if you want a secure retirement.
And if you put your money in great companies, you probably won’t need to wait as long as I’ve waited for ABBA to hit the charts again to see your wealth grow.
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Disclaimer: Royston Yang owns shares of iFAST Corporation Limited, Boustead Singapore Limited and Boustead Projects Limited.
